Board of Directors Meeting
February 4, 2009
Hampton, MN
Attending Officers and Board Members
Lori Conway, Laura Mickelson, Jill Frieders, Roberta Lembke, John Diedrich, Anita Grant, Hillary Hoffman, Pat Swenson, Miriam McGurran
Attending Delegates and Committee Chairpersons:
Members and Guests:
Excused Absence: Toni Marie O’Daniel, Ann Benson, Penny Gute
President Lori Conway called the meeting was called to order at 7:00.
President’s Report
Lori reported that she is completing a deal with the Holiday Inn Express to get a block of rooms at 1/2 price for the Spring Fling Show. In exchange we will add the Holiday Inn Express link on our website for the show.
Minutes
Lori Conway motioned to approve the January 6, 2009 minutes. Jill Frieders seconded the motion. Motion approved.
Treasurer’s Report
Jill Frieders reported that the club has cash assets of $72,540.12. Jill reported on her progress to simplify the chart of accounts. Laura Mickelson motioned to approve the Treasurer’s report. John Diedrich seconded the motion. Motion approved.
The Board discussed the projects, activities and budget parameters for the current fiscal year. The Board acknowledged the tough economic times and agreed that we would need to re-evaluate the financial standing through out the year and make adjustments in spending as needed. Of special note for this years’ budget include the Board allocating $1000 to the youth judging team to offset travel expenses, $250 for awards for the Adult High Point program, $200 to fund special awards for a distance ride, and $100 for the MAHA trail ride. After a lengthy discussion the Board agreed on the basic budget parameters. Laura Mickelson made a motion to accept the budget parameters. Anita Grant seconded the motion. The motion passed.
Website/Express/Facebook
Roberta Lembke reported on the recent web update and asked that everyone get their web materials in by the end of the month. Roberta hopes to publish another edition of the Express at the end of March.
Hillary Hoffman reported that she is going to update the MAHA Facebook group to include a link to the website.
MN Horse Expo
Lori Conway talked with Glen Eaton about the Horse Expo and our stalling. The Expo is scheduled for April 24-26 at the MN State Fairgrounds. This year our stalling will stay in the same location but the Board hopes by next year to work with the other clubs to have a unified front.
MN Horse Council
Miriam McGurran shared a document about a youth judging team event at University of Wisconsin, River Falls.
Spring Show
Teresa LeFever reported that everything is on track for the show. O'Brien and Wolf Law Firm will sponsor Friday coffee. Conway Arabians and Hesten Park are sponsoring Saturday and Sunday coffee. They are working to finalize volunteers for the show but expect to have sufficient help.
WSCA Shows and Arabian Open Show Championships
Laura Mickelson reported that the committee met to continue to work on the show details. The show is scheduled for September 6th at the Washington County Fairgrounds. The class schedule has been finalized. The show will start one hour earlier as an attempt to get the show completed earlier in the day. Laura announced that Ann Graney Hoffman has agreed to judge the WSCA show for a fee of $125. A judge has not been hired for the AOSC Championship classes
Spring Meeting
The spring Annual Membership Meeting will be held at Conway Arabians on April 4. In addition to the meeting, Conway Arabians have arranged for a number of mini-clinics and workshops and a showing of horses. The event will go from 10:30 to 4:00.
Fall Classic Show
Lori Conway is contracting with Mary Tronson to serve as the show secretary. The board discussed possible judges for the show. We agreed that we would go with a small “r” judge.
E-Mail Blasts
The Board discussed the need to minimize the number of e-mail blasts we send to the members so that they don’t start to ignore the messages. The Board did discuss that we need to encourage members to renew their memberships and an e-mail blast would be method we may need to turn to.
Survey Monkey
Roberta Lembke and Pat Swenson submitted questions that the Board will consider for a possible future member survey. The Board will discuss the survey at a later date.
MAHA Youth
Teresa LeFever reported that the MAHA Youth have booked Liz Bentley for a clinic scheduled for January 2010. Teresa would also like to have another clinic for the youth this summer but has not yet begun planning for the event. Teresa also announced that she will organize a treasure hunt this spring for the youth.
Banquet
Hillary reported that the banquet will be November 14th at the ChartHouse in Lakeville.
Black Stallion Literacy Project
Hillary Hoffman has scheduled a meeting with Kara LaVenture to talk about locating an appropriate school district or two to participate in the program. Kara is interested in doing a summer school program the summer following the program.
Trail Ride
Pat Swenson reported that she met with Roberta Lembke and Anita Grant to discuss non-show activities. Pat recommended that MAHA sponsor two trail rides. The first will be June 27 at U More Park. The trail ride will start at 10:00. Pat wants to run groups of 4 to 6 riders maximum for safety reasons. The second ride will be October 10th at a location to be determined.
2009 Meeting Dates
April 4th, 10:30-11:00 Board Meeting,
1:00-4:00 Clinic, Open House, and Showing of Horses. Conway Arabians, Chatfield
May 6th, 7:00PM Black Stallion Restaurant, Hampton
August 5th 7:00PM Black Stallion Restaurant, Hampton
September 6th, MAHA WSCA and Arabian Open Shows Championship
September 19th, MAHA Fall Classic, MN Equestrian Center.
October 7th 7:00PM Black Stallion Restaurant, Hampton
October 10th, MAHA Trail Ride
November 14th Banquet
John Diedrich motioned to adjourn the meeting. Laura Mickelson seconded the motion. Motion pass and the meeting adjourned.