October board meeting minutes

Oct. 13, 2016 by Gary "Story Hawk" Henry

The Lawrence Trail Hawks Board of Directors held its monthly meeting Oct. 11, at Treasurer Josh McVey’s house in Lawrence. Attending: Sherrie Klover, interim president; Benita Jones, acting vice president; Josh McVey, treasurer; Gary

Sherrie called the meeting to order.

Treasurer’s report: After expenses, the club’s operating fund contains $5,689. Josh is working on a Google interactive financial report spreadsheet that will let RDs enter deposits and expenses, so they can have a real-time view of the financial progress of individual events. Josh hopes to schedule RD training on the format in December or January. He also hopes to get confirmation that all RDs plan to continue in their roles for 2017. Financial questions for the membership at the upcoming All Hands meeting, tentatively scheduled for Saturday evening, Jan. 21 at the Lawrence Community Center, include: What does the club want to invest money in? Should the club adjust race entry fees down, to keep them affordable?

President’s report: The 2017 Clinton Lake calendar goes into effect Nov. 1, so it’s important that all RDs set race dates. RDs, please contact Benita with your 2017 dates. Benita will check the Trail Nerds schedule to avoid conflict with their events for the 2017 SNAKE 10-Miler.

Vice President’s report: Benita suggested consideration of a club buy-in contract with Mile 90 to automatically shoot all Trail Hawks races – could be one less thing for RDs to worry about. Same for event timing. Buying a timing system for the club was also brought up, in the wake of problems with vendor timing at the HAWK.

2016 HAWK report: Ami Weidler-Hyten has accepted co-RD responsibilities with Sherrie for the 2017 HAWK. The 2016 event was similar to to 2015, but had more marathon entries. The race earned about $2,500 for the club. Cost per runner was within $0.03 of last year. Attendees bought lots of merchandise, and Sherrie felt the race food was well-organized. Plans for 2017 include:

a. A written race-deferment policy b. Formal course map, including alternate road course c. Correcting the chip-timing problems d. Limiting costs to 2015 levels

Sherrie also reported that a cabin is reserved for the 2017 race, though it’s the next-to-the last cabin, instead of the last cabin on the row. Also, the belt buckle and sticker supplies are good, so won’t add to 2017 expenses. The race made a $200 donation to the State Park, and paid a $75 event fee to Corps of Engineers. Question for the All Hands meeting: should the race consider donations to the Kansas Trails Council, Lawrence Mountain Bike Club and the HAM radio operators club – all of whom supported the race. Ami suggested getting a vinyl or laminated dry-erase poster-sized map of the North Shore trail system, with smaller versions for aid stations, with distances printed on the back. Sherrie would like to buy a few more 6-foot tables for the aid stations, so there’s enough room for prepping and cooking during the day and evening.

Storage unit: Ami also suggested investing in more shelves for the storage unit; uniform-sized industrial-strength totes, including standardized totes for each aid-station with inventories, that RDs would restock after each race, to be ready for the next race. Gary reported that the storage unit lock box shackle no longer locks, and brought the lock box to the meeting for examination. Josh will purchase a replacement. Meanwhile, Gary is holding the key to the unit.

Club tech-shirts: Benita is looking into technical running shirt options, and plans to bring three possibilities to the All Hands meeting for members to decide on.

Grants: Ami is looking into grants that the club could be eligible for.

Sanders Saunder: The 2017 race is about 50 percent ahead on entries compared to this time last year, with 83 runners signed up across all three races – the 10k, the 25k and the new-for-2017 50k. Race sponsor Klover Architects has covered the cost of race awards, which will boost the donation to the designated race charity, Baby Jay’s Legacy of Hope. Sherrie is trying for a $3,000 donation. The charity raises money to support the families of children diagnosed with cancer. All money raised goes to the families.

Whitewater development: Gary briefed the board on a meeting he recently attended hosted by Parks and Tourism, in which representatives from the U.S. National Whitewater Center outlined their potential plans for a whitewater rafting park using the western third of Clinton State Park. Impact on the park would be severe. Important questions at the meeting, such as how would this affect trail access, including events, went unanswered. All indications were that the club’s ability to put on events would be curtailed, if not eliminated. Currently, the possibility of the development taking place seems remote, but the club, along with the Kansas Trails Council, will continue to monitor.

Awards and recognition committee: The board plans to recruit members for a small committee to develop ideas for recognizing the contributions of RDs and other members who have contributed substantial time and effort to the club.

All Hands Meeting: The All Hands meeting is tentatively set for Saturday evening, Jan. 21, 2017, 6 – 10 pm (includes set up and clean-up), at the Community Building, 115 W. 11th Street. It’s the same facility we’ve met at the past two years. It’s tentative because reservations aren’t open until Oct. 21 (three months in advance).

Board member elections: At the All Hands meeting, members will be called on once again to elect new board members, or confirm current members. Currently standing for election are Matt “Civil Hawk” O’Reilly for president; acting VP Benita “Novocaine Hawk” Jones for vice president; and Kara “Red Hawk” Protasio for secretary. Josh “Free State Hawk” McVey is standing for a second term as treasurer. If you would like to toss your hat in the ring, please send a brief statement on why you would like to serve and your qualifications for doing so to Secretary Gary Henry at [email protected].

Next board meeting: The next board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 7, 6-9 pm at Josh’s house. The meeting will include a potluck dinner with a Mexican theme. All members are invited to attend. # # #

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