Voting Members Present: Jerry McDaniel, Jennifer Hay, Jeanne O’Kon, Peg Griffin, Allen Blay, David Yon, Mary Jean Yon, Herb Wills, Tom Perkins, Mark Priddy, Robert McNeal, Tina Bahmer, Mark Tombrink, Elizabeth Kamerick. Voting Members Absent: Beverly Harrell, Debbie Peters, Robert Skrob, Judy Alexander. Non-Voting Members Present: Bill Lott, Emily Webster, Carter Hay.

I. Opening and Introduction: Jerry McDaniel opened the meeting at 7:02 p.m. A motion was made to approve the minutes of the November 13, 2024 meeting. Motion was seconded and passed.

II. Announcements from Officers: Jeanne asked the Board members to sign up to host one of the 2025 Board meetings.

III. Old Business:
a. Turkey Trot Update: Mary Jean announced that the Turkey Trot had a good year. Just under 6400 people registered. There were 5,695 total finishers with the largest number (4232) participating in the 5K race. They are working with Peg on the race closeout and they are waiting on sponsor checks. They will probably clear $54,000- $59,000, and they plan to have the same four-way split of the proceeds. A number of t-shirts and medals were re-ordered since they ran out.

b. Springtime Beneficiaries: Jerry reported that that the two beneficiaries will be the same as last year: NAMI and Holy Comforter Episcopal School. Motion was made and seconded to approve these beneficiaries. Motion passed.

c. GWTC Mailbox: Robert McNeal discussed the responsibility for picking up checks and depositing them. Robert keeps the membership records, but another person is needed to pick up mail and checks from the mailbox. Jeanne volunteered to pick up the mail and take any checks or bills to Peg and save the rest. Allen Blay will hold the back-up post office key. For tabling events, Robert will help with others as needed.

IV. New Business:
a. RRCA Membership Renewal and Liability Insurance: David Yon reported that it is time to renew the RRCA membership for the club and purchase liability insurance. He selected the $2 million coverage. Motion was made and seconded to approve the payment for the insurance. Motion passed.

b. Ideas for new GWTC Board Appointees: Jerry would like to appoint someone who has good technology skills. Jennifer has a list of possible members that responded to the request in Running Shorts. There are so many technology issues involved with the club that a person with those skills is needed. This includes setting up races on RunSignUp, preventing data breaches, working on the web site, and other important issues.

c. Renaming the Ultra 50K race: Allen Blay discussed the possibility of renaming the Ultra 50K the “Hillison 50K” in honor of Bill Hillison. Bill ran the race 30 times. Motion was made and seconded to change the name to the Bill Hillison 50K. Motion passed.

IV. Reports:
a. Treasurer’s Report: Peg Griffin reported that as of November 30, the net assets are $269,734.35, and net income as of November 30 is $12,363.05. Much of the Marathon money has already come in, while very few of the expenses have been incurred yet. RunSignUp makes a deposit at the beginning of every month; the most recent deposit did not include receipts for a two-week period, due to an audit initiated by RunSignup. Peg was assured that the funds will be included in next month’s deposit.

b. Triathlete Club: Tina Bahmer reported that elections were held. Matt Vermeer will be the president, and Brittany will be the Vice-President. There are eight Board members total. The Past President seat has been eliminated from the Board. The date for the Duathlon has not yet been set. The Tri Club was a huge help during the Turkey Trot.

c. Race Director Coordinator: Mary Jean hopes to hold a Race Director meeting in January. They will meet with Jon Brown soon to talk about the Sickle Cell 5K race.

d. Newsletter: No report. Articles and submissions are always due by the 20th of the month.
e. Membership: Robert McNeal reported that there are currently 1,319 members (compared to 1254 members last year at this time), and 760 memberships (712 memberships last year at this time).

f. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Gabrielle Gabrielli sent a report saying she submitted an article on DEI for the newest Fleet Foot newsletter, providing the notes from the discussion at Ology Power Mill on October 22.

g. Education and Lecture: Mark Tombrink thanked everyone who attended the event on October 22.

h. Website: Nothing to report.

i. Chenoweth Fund: Stanley Linton is going to represent GWTC in the USATF Cross-Country competition in Lubbock, Texas on January 11, 2025. He requested $285.96 from the Chenoweth Fund to support his travel there. Motion was made and seconded to provide this funding. Motion passed.

j. Merchandise: Sherri Wise sent in a report stating that Monogram Art is sending the club $165 for the last few months of sales. The owner feels that the number of sales is quite low. The online store remains open at present. Sherri is looking into options to encourage sales. She is working with the Marathon Committee on some special order shirts and caps that will be offered as a preorder item. There will be walk-in sales of club merchandise at the expo, also.

k. Equipment: Bill Lott was able to find replacement handles for those broken on five of the water coolers. The handles were $5.99 each and will arrive this week. There are no other equipment issues to report at this time.

l. Chip Timing: In November, one non-Club race (Memorial to Memorial Veteran’s Day 5K) and one Club race (Tallahassee Turkey Trot 15K/10K/5K/1M) were chip timed. During December, three Club races (GWTC 10 Mile & 5 Mile Challenge; Tallahassee Ultra Distance Classic 50M/50K/Marathon; and Tannenbaum 6K) will be chip timed. Scheduled to be chip timed in January are three Club races (Swamp Forest Trail Run; GWTC 30K/15K; and Bowlegs 5K Run for Scholarship). The revenue from chip timing non-Club races held to date since July totals $3,713.00.

m. Grand Prix Report: Lisa Unger sent in a report. Elizabeth Kamerick has served three terms on the Grand Prix Committee and is rotating off. Lisa thanked Elizabeth for her service. Jennifer Hay has served in the role of President/Vice-President ex officio, but she will change roles in 2025, so Allen Blay will need to replace her. The Bylaws requirement for a Board member to be on the committee is fulfilled by Jeanne O’Kon. Lisa also reported that the committee is working on the Grand prix Awards and the Annual awards. Nominations for Annual awards will be accepted through Dec. 15. The committee is also working on the verification of volunteer service for potential Grand Prix award winners.

n. School Grants Coordinator: No Report.

o. Training Groups Coordinator: Emily reported that the Half-Marathon training group is going well with about 30 participants. A few pacers have gotten injured. The holiday scavenger hunt on Facebook is going well. The idea is to increase traffic on the page. Jo Lena Pace is directing the training group for Springtime. Beverly volunteered to be a co-leader in the coming year with the Beginning Running group.

p. Social: Tina reported that she had to select the date (Dec. 7) for the Christmas Party months in advance. The party was successful, and they ran out of food and dessert. The expenses were $64 over budget total. Some children’s activities were added and a photo booth was there. Tina received positive feedback and asked for any additional feedback about the party.

Meeting adjourned: 8:15 p.m.

Jeanne O’Kon, Secretary