Board Meeting Minutes December, 2016

Dec. 19, 2016 by Gary "Story Hawk" Henry

From: Gary Henry, secretary

To: Trail Hawks membership, via Trail Hawks board of directors

Subj: Minutes of Dec. 14 board meeting

The Lawrence Trail Hawks board of directors held its monthly meeting at Josh McVey’s house, Dec. 14. Attending members: Sherrie Klover, president; Benita Jones, acting vice president; Josh McVey, treasurer; Gary Henry, secretary; Caroline Wroczynski, membership director; Jeff Triplett, webmaster; Ami Hyten, co-RD HAWK; Mary Ann Frevert, co-RD Night Hawk; Kara Protasio, prospective secretary; Paul Endacott, committee chair. Sherrie called the meeting to order about 7 pm, following a potluck dinner.

Treasurer’s report: Josh will query Star Insurance about the possibility of getting one insurance document to cover all races throughout the year. Mary Ann has already gotten buy-in for this from Corps and State Park. Meanwhile, the club’s RRCA insurance policy is paid for 2017. Current club balance is $8,979.47, with estimated expenses so far for 2017 at about $4,392, including insurance. Sherrie noted that membership dues pay for many of these standing expenses, such as insurance and the club’s storage facility rental. Josh is also planning an RD conference in early January to train RDs on a new paperless expense tracking and reconciliation system for races. The system is expected to make such accounting faster, easier and more accurate than the current system in which all reporting must go through the treasurer.

Webmaster’s report: All 2017 races are now listed on trailhawks.com. Jeff is considering ways to pull information from the Facebook group page onto the website.

Sanders’ Saunter: Sherrie reports that she considers 2016 Sanders Saunter a success, raising $3,650 for this year’s beneficiary, Baby Jay’s Legacy. Event had 175 runners broken down fairly evenly across all three races. Sherrie is considering an 11-hour cut-off for 2017, since all runners came in well under the 2016 12-hour cut-off.

HAWK: Sherrie has officially named a new co-RD for the HAWK, Ami Hyten. Twenty four runners have signed up for the 2017 HAWK so far, many more than had signed up this time last year. Ami is developing special promotions and giveaways to encourage more early-bird sign-ups. Sherrie, Ami and Gary have also worked together to develop official race deferment and cut-off policies they feel will protect the race and volunteers, while giving runners the best chance to finish, and options in case of adverse circumstances before the race.

Frozen Ass Run: Caroline reports that plans are well underway for the Frozen Ass fat ass run set for Jan. 7. Event page is coming, but the course is approved by the state park and Kansas Trails Council. Course is a 5K loop on white and blue trails out and back from Lands End. Rental cabin has been procured. No entry fee, but suggested $5 minimum donation benefits Relay for Life.

Pi Day: This year’s event will sell neck gaiters with a map of the river trail system. Hoodie zipper sweatshirts will also be available. Celestial Bakery returns as a race sponsor providing pies. Garry Gribbles is also a race sponsor. Garmin is paying race entry fees for any of their employees who would like to run Pi Day. Discount for dues-paying Trail Hawks is set at $10 for 2017. In addition to age-group awards, there will also be Clydesdale and Athena awards, for top finishers meeting weights and heights to be listed. Awards are set to be engraved pie plates.

Membership: Caroline reports the club currently has 175 dues-paying members, and encourages everyone to ensure their dues are current by checking with ultrasignup.com, where you can also pay your dues. Dues are $20 per year individual, and $25 for families. Caroline requests if you get a family membership that you email her the family members included. She’s also working with ultrasignup.com to capture this information on future signups.

All Hands Meeting: Scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 21, at Holcomb Recreation Center. Starts at 6 pm with setup/meet and greet, and meeting beginning at 7. Info on Facebook group page. Kara is setting up a Facebook event page for the All Hands.

RD/Run Leader recognition: Paul Endacott reported on his committee’s plans for current RD and run leader recognition. The board notes that these Trail Hawks give unstintingly of their time and effort to help the club and trail running community, asking nothing in return, and that these exceptional contributions should be recognized at the upcoming All Hands meeting. Since many of the board members are RDs/Run Leaders, Paul has assembled an anonymous Trail Hawks committee to decide appropriate recognition, and avoid conflict of interest.

Marketing/Advertising policy: Josh noted that as the club grows, it becomes an ever-more inviting target for marketing and advertising. To protect the club’s members and Facebook pages from a growing onslaught of marketing and sales messages, the board is considering guidelines.

Volunteers sought: The board is seeking two volunteers to take over responsibility for the Saturday Long Run. The board also seeks a volunteer to oversee Trail Hawks equipment and supply inventory, so RDs don’t have to scramble to track down tables, jugs, coolers and other equipment before their races. For more details on these two positions, contact the club secretary. Details will also be posted on the club’s Facebook pages.

Relay for Life: The board voted to continue sponsorship of Relay for Life, a June 9 running/walking event that raises money to help communities fight cancer. Sponsorship includes the loan of equipment to help put on the event. If any Trail Hawks are interested in forming a team to participate in Relay for Life, contact Caroline.

Storage update: Sherrie reminds all RDs to ensure equipment is returned to the storage unit in a timely manner, and put back clean and in organized fashion. The board authorized purchase of more marking materials, specifically straight-ahead signs. Since a few runners appeared to miss wrong way signs during Sanders’ Saunter, Sherrie will investigate getting wrong way signs printed in red, thought to have increased visibility for daydreaming runners.

Club tech shirts: Benita is continuing to work on getting Trail Hawks technical shirts for sale at cost to club members. She reports she hopes to have options of tanks, short-sleeve and long-sleeve tech shirts for members to decide on at the All Hands meeting.

With no further business, the meeting adjourned.

Respectfully,

Gary Henry, secretary

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