DISTRICT 6 BOARD OF DIRECTORS ANNUAL MEETING

 

24 August 2002

 

The District 6 Board of Directors Annual meeting was called to order by the President at 10:30 AM at Hunt Valley, MD.

 

            Present:  President:    Bill Cole

                            Secretary:    Bette Dudka

 

            Unit Presidents:  Lynn Rattinger (231), Ethel Klavens (135), Mike Fine (109)

                                         Barbara Doran (147). Bruce Culmer (218), Jim Vroom (Proxy Kay

                                         Afdahl), Kathleen Ritchie (Proxy Ginger Cordle) 

 

Representatives:  Gloria Brown, Anne Duty, Darwin Afdahl (146), Michael Carroad, Rae Dethlefsen ,  Millard Natchwey (147). Margot Hennings (218), Patricia Wilson, Donna Bowser (135), Andre L’Heureux, Past President 

                                                         

            Guests:  Ron Kral, Wyatt Mapp, Charity Sack, Don Berman

 

1.  Minutes: The minutes of 12 January 2002 were approved as presented.  The Secretary reminded Unit Presidents that it was District 6 policy to order and pay for the Mini-McKenney medallions every year for the Units.  These will be ordered around 1 October and will be sent to Unit Presidents.

 

2.  Treasurer’s Report:  On behalf of Mr. Robinson, Michael Carroad distributed a written Treasurer’s Report to the Board indicating a checking account balance of $9,938.29. 

 

3. District Coordinator’s Report:  No report.

 

4. Finance Committee Report:  Andre L’Heureux stated he had received a proposal (not to exceed $500) from Ron Kral requesting money for Easybridge! programs in Northern Virginia.  He stated he felt it was not the responsibility of the Finance Committee to approve such a  request in that authority was given to the Education Committee, chaired by Kay Afdahl.  Mr. L’Heureux stated he turned the request over to the Education Committee  

 

5.  GNTs Coordinator’s Report:  Rae Dethlefsen reported that one pair of the winning team of  one of the flights of the District GNT competition did not play enough boards according to the CofC to qualify for reimbursement for the national competition.  They asked that the District Board vote to set aside the rules and give them the same compensation as the other District representatives. Rae Dethlefsen said she was not in favor of this.  The rules have been in place for many years and team captains who had members of a team who might be faced with the possibility of not being able to play some sessions had spoken to her about the rules and were aware of them.  She did not feel that this pair should be accorded any special dispensation.  After minimal discussion, Andre L’Heureux moved that the Board not reimburse. Bette Dudka seconded.  Motion carried.

 

Ms. Dethlefsen stated the Club qualification period would again run from October 15 – April 15.  For District Finals we only have one site for the unlimited game which will be the weekend of 15-16 February 2003 and the final weekend is set for April 5-6. At this time, our intention is to hold Flight B and C in the north on February 1-2.  March 29-30 for X, B, and C in a southern site.  She noted that we were gong to try to have a southern site for the 0-5000 flight, but only if 5 teams pre-registered for the event.  May 17-18 – 0-5000 – northern site.  May 31- June 1 – 0-5000 second weekend OR June 7-8.

 

6.  NAPairs Coordinator’s Report:  In Barbara Doran’s absence, Bill Cole said at the last meeting we passed a motion which said we were going to follow the ACBL guidelines on reimbursement.  However, the ACBL guidelines go over $600 per person, and the District has always had a policy not to reimburse over $600 per person.  We need a motion that states we will follow the ACBL guidelines but cap off reimbursement at $600 for any one player. Mike Fine so moved, Andre L’Heureux seconded.  Motion carried.

 

7.  District Director’s Report:  In the absence of Nadine Wood, there was no report.

           

8.  Charity Report:  Gloria Brown stated the District-wide charity game is tentatively set for March 26 (AM) and March 27 (PM).  Mr. Nachtwey said he would look at the 2003 calendar for other possible dates. 

 

9.  STaC Report:  Michael Carroad stated the StaC which is run for the benefit of the District and the Clubs didn’t make enough money to make the income exactly even, so we gave the clubs  $2.00 a table and kept the rest.  We actually gave the Club StaC more money ($2091.00) and the District ($1738.86).

 

OLD BUSINESS:

           

Election of Officers and MABC Representatives:  The President called upon the Elections Committee for their report:  Andre L’Heureux, Chairman. Barbara Doran and Gloria Brown, members.  The nominations of officers for the District are:  Bill Cole, President; Kay Afdahl, Vice President; Steve Robinson, Treasurer; Bette Dudka, Secretary.  Since there was no opposition, the officers were elected by acclamation.   The candidates for MABC Representa- atives are:  Jennifer Christman, Margot Hennings, Charity Sack, Wyatt Mapp, Kathryn Kiley, Anne Duty, Lynn Rattinger, Barbara Moomy, Pat Wilson, Kay Afdahl, Jim Hooven, and Dianne Morton.   Each candidate present gave a short speech as to why they wanted to serve in this position.  Bruce Culmer called for weighted votes.  The Secretary announced how many votes each Unit had.  After tallying the votes, the following candidates were selected to serve:  Margot Hennings, Charity Sack, Wyatt Mapp, Kathryn Kiley, Anne Duty, Pat Wilson, Lynn Rattinger, Barbara Moomy,  and Kay Afdahl.  There was a tie vote between Jennifer Christman and Jim Hooven.  Jennifer Christman won the tie.  Jim Hooven was designated  alternate.

 


NEW BUSINESS:

 

District 6 Magazine:  Bill Cole stated that in January 2003, the ACBL would no longer  publish a Bulletin in its present form.  They are publishing a magazine-type bulletin, and we are going to have to fend for ourselves for advertising our Sectionals and Regionals.  A committee has been appointed to format our magazine, but we haven’t decided on a final size.  Probably 5 ½ x 8 ½ with 32 pages.  We are distributing a survey to everyone so that they can express their opinion.  We hope to have more information and a final format at Virginia Beach.  

 

Easybridge! Program:  Ron Kral stated he had run the Easybridge! Program for over two years very successfully, but it was not an easy program to run.  Finding presenters is very difficult so he has been doing all the presenting himself.  He has a database of 600 names, 400 of which are e-mails.  Easybridge! is a not a teaching program, it is a marketing program.  Mr. Kral gave the Board a briefing of how he ran his program and the cost of running the program.

 

Mike Fine stated that Richmond has a very successful program.  He gave the Board statistical information and stated that Richmond registered 93 new ACBL members.  The most important thing is to have dedicated presenters.  Richmond spent $3300 of their own money to start their Easybridge! Program, but now have $3600 in the bank from that program.

 

            The President stated the reason he invited Ron Kral and Mike Fine  to make presentations   because he would like to begin a start-up program with written guidelines and accountability.  It doesn’t have to be Easybridge!, but some kind of a start-up program to generate more bridge-playing members.  We will try to come up with ideas on programs and how much money they would cost  since, at the present time, ACBL is not funding any start-up programs.  We would like to have some ideas to present at Virginia Beach.  The Education Committee is authorized to spend $500 between now and Virginia Beach to promote start-up games. 

 

District 6 Web Site:  Don Berman, District 6 Webmaster, informed the Board that at the present time, he had a lot of  free space on the District 6 Web Site..  He invited Units and Clubs to avail themselves of this space for advertising their games.  Contact Don Berman via e-mail at districtsix.org for more information.

 

District 6 Foundation:  Andre L’Heureux informed the Board that Steve Robinson and Joe Weintraub established the 501c3 foundation for District 6.  The name of the foundation is ACBL District No. 6 Foundation.  The initial Board of Directors are Steve Robinson, William Cole, Bette Dudka, Andre L’Heureux, Mike Fine, Barbara Doran, Juanita Strawn, Ethel Klavens, Bruce Culmer, Lynn Rattinger, Ed Tomlinson, and Jim Vroom.  Mr. L’Heureux said he was officially notifying the members of the Board of Directors that a meeting would be held in Virginia Beach on Thursday, 7 November 2002, between sessions.  The purpose of this meeting will be to review a proposed set of bylaws so that we can officially file them with the State of Virginia and then start using the 50lc3 for any of our bridge foundations. 

 

Funding for Future NABCs:  Bruce Culmer  stated that the cost for hosting a NABC is astronomical and it is very difficult to raise money.  He said that Philadelphia has been putting money from every Sectional toward their fund for the last 10 years.  They raised $250,000 for their NABC next March.  We should start thinking about doing something in a like manner.

 

Margot Hennings distributed  a proposal for District 6 and MABC which would assess Sectionals (25 cents) and Regionals (50 cents), with no cost to the players, to build up a treasury.  Funding is a very controversial subject and an early resolution is not expected – but we should get something started.

 

The President thanked Margot Hennings, her staff, and many volunteers for putting on a great Nationals.  The hard work and dedication showed throughout the tournament.

 

District 6 Bylaws:  Andre L’Heureux stated that in his capacity as Elections Chairman, he noticed a gaping hole in the District 6 Bylaws.  We do not have a process for choosing or voting for our MABC representatives.  He asked the President to appoint a Committee to study the Bylaws to see if anything needed to be modified or changed.

 

  Past District 6 Presidents:  Mr. L’Heureux recommended that all Past Presidents be invited to the Annual Meeting each year if they wished to attend.  They all worked very hard during their reign and it would be a nice gesture.

  

The President thanked and congratulated Patricia Wilson and her hard-working staff for their great hospitality and for hosting another BIG, successful Hunt Valley Regional.

 

    Date of Next District 6 Meeting: The next meeting will be a breakfast meeting at the Virginia Beach VA Regional on Saturday, 9 November 2002, at 10:30 AM. 

 

There being no further business, Andre L’Heureux moved that the meeting be adjourned.  Kay Afdahl seconded.   The meeting stood adjourned at 12:10 AM.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

BETTE DUDKA         

District 6 Secretary