Nov 2022 board meeting minutes

Dec. 1, 2022 by Gary "Story Hawk" Henry

Nov. 29, 2022

To:

Todd Chandler, president

Jordan Shrack, vice president

Josh McVey, treasurer

Mike Miley, social media director

Caroline Wroczynski, membership director

Hollie Davis, quartermaster;

Mary Ann Frevert, swagmaster

**From: ** Gary Henry, secretary

Subject: Minutes of Nov. 28, 2022 board meeting

1. Meeting called to order

The Lawrence Trail Hawks held their monthly board meeting 8 pm to 9 pm, Nov. 28, at the Lawrence Beer Company. Present were Todd Chandler, president; Jordan Shrack, vice president; Josh McVey, treasurer; Gary Henry, secretary; Mike Miley, social media director; Mary Ann Frevert, swagmaster; and Eric Deeter, SNAKE RD.

2. Memberships

The board has decided to transition membership sign-up and management from ultrasignup.com to runsignup.com. Several other membership sign-up platforms were reviewed before the decision was made, including Patreon and Square. Runsignup has the features the club wanted, including date-based sign-up, instead of calendar-year. The platform lets members easily check their dues-status, and sends out automatic reminders, none of which is available on ultrasignup.

The plan is to make announcements to the club membership in December regarding the transition. A membership drive will follow in January and February. Todd noted that Runsignup also offers race sign-up and management, but currently there are no plans to switch races from ultrasignup, which would likely be an RD decision in any case.

3. Swag

Mary Ann reported that plans are underway for creating an online store via Lawrence-based Trail Hawks supplier Pride of Gumbo. The idea is to get club-branded gear into members’ hands. The store will likely open for three weeks at a time, possibly each season, offering specific items. Hoodies and long-sleeved tech shirts, for instance, would be autumn and winter items, with ball caps and beanies offered in warmer seasons. T-shirts could be offered year-round.

Mary Ann is working with Pride of Gumbo on distribution issues, and figuring out colors for hoodies and shirts. She hopes to have the link ready for members to click and buy before the new year. The store is not expected to be a money-maker for the club, but just a way to get branded merch on members.

4. Joint disc-golf/trail-running event

The group Friends of Clinton Lake State Park has requested the assistance of the Trail Hawks in creating a joint event with local disc-golfers which is planned to take place at the State Park in late spring or early Summer. The request came via Gary, who also serves as secretary for the Friends group. As both disc-golfer and trail-runner, Josh has taken the lead on developing the event, and he briefed the board on what the event could look like and how it might team up golfers and runners. The next step will be to present Josh’s plan to the Friends, which has strong representation from the Kaw Valley Disc Golf Association, at their monthly meeting, Dec. 10. Josh says the trail-running portion of the event would likely be a 10K. The board expressed approval and asked Josh and Gary to proceed.

5. New event

Trail Hawk Keith Dowell has queried the board about a possible new event using the “Monster” course on the trails and stairs by Campground 1. The “Monster” is a 3.4-mile loop course, starting and ending at Lands End, designed to help runners train for mountain races. It includes six full climbs and descents of the three stairways on each loop, along with technical miles on Red, Blue and White trails. The board was amenable to a fat-ass format for the event, particularly if Keith is willing to RD. Keith was not at the meeting; Todd will get back with him.

6. 2023 Race Schedule

The 2023 race/event schedule is largely settled, as follows.

Frozen Ass 1/7

Cactus Roulette 1/28

Annual Meeting 2/25

Pi Day 3/11

Skyline Shuffle 5/7

Night Hawk 6/24

Snake 7/22

Birthday Run TBD

HAWK 9/9

Shoreline Shuffle 10/7

Prowl, Howl & Growl 10/13 or 14

Sanders’ Saunter 11/14

The board decided to again use magnets for race-schedule promotion.

7. Race scholarships

In keeping with the Trail Hawks’ motto and philosophy of “Kindness to life and land,” the board has decided to offer race scholarships to runners who have the ability and desire to run Trail Hawk races, but not the means. It was noted that other running organizations offer such scholarships. Josh volunteered to head up the scholarship aim and will be the POC for runners who self-identify.

8. Meeting adjourned

With all issues addressed, the meeting was adjourned. Time, date and location for the next board meeting is TBD and will be announced on the Trail Hawks group Facebook page.

Respectfully,

Gary Henry

Secretary

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