Club Documents:
By-Laws
Corporate Certificate
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Positions to be Filled
Interested in volunteering? We need help in the following areas:
Junior Rockhound Director
Historian Committee
Yearbook Committee (compile photos, event notes, etc.)
If interested, contact Michelle at michelesminerals@yahoo.com
Equipment Certification
We are now certifying members to use each piece of equipment. This is to protect the user and the equipment. Once certified, instructors will be available to consult, to observe proper equipment use, and to collect shop fees.
We have created a certification card to show which equipment the member can use without being overseen by an instructor. This will be especially useful when using equipment at other clubs.
November 15, 2011
Meeting called to order - 7:32pm
Stood for Pledge of Allegiance
Presidents report – Michele Bogle
Tonight is our election night as we all know. But first I would like to go over a few things, and I want to ask members to allow the Officers to give their reports without interruption. If you have any questions; please hold off until I ask for old business/new business, as that is more for our general discussion time.
This past year I have been wanting to revert some of our by-laws back to their original order with some amendments. By law discussions were tabled due to all board members not ready. Tonight, the board agreed to make a change in one of our laws. In the past, the 1st VP was a separate seat from show chairman. One of our past presidents merged the two into one .This for one made our board of directors smaller and put more responsibility on one individual. We elected to separate the two again. The only thing I am amending to that is the 1st vice president will be co chair to the show chairman. This will give the 1st VP plenty of the shows responsibility, but he/she will be working with the show chairman. Also, amending 2nd vice presidents responsibilities as in the past, 2nd VP handled memberships; which were given over to the treasurer. The 2nd vice president will aid the president on projects in the event a committee cannot be raised to assist the president. Projects include, but not limited to educational awareness at our shows and other events.
Michele asked members to raise their hands if in agreement with by law changes. All members raised their hands.
Michele asked if any opposed, none opposed.
So we have a unanimous decision for changes to by laws dated this date Nov. 15, 2011
Most of you know I have been trying to work on some projects for our show. While I was able to print out a lot of literature and pictures, I didn’t get the chance to compile the together on poster board.
You will notice that you didn’t get a newsletter for last month. I didn’t get one out. I apologize for that. It’s a bit hard to host a meeting and take notes. Also, my spare time was designated in other areas. So I will be sure to get you December’s newsletter out as soon as possible.
The Christmas party will be the same as always, with it being at time of our usual meeting. So for all the new members, there will be no meeting the 3rd Tuesday of December. Instead we will have our usual food, friends and fun with some Christmas spirit. Members generally bring a covered dish or desert. But you don’t have to. We still want you and your family to come share some of the Christmas season with us. Also, we have a gift exchange for those who want to participate. You’re not obligated to do so. If you would like to exchange gifts, please bring a wrapped gift marked male, female or either. Be sure to have all family members that come with you that want to participate bring a gift for exchange. No gag gifts please. Limit is $20.00.
Party to start at 7:00pm with members arriving at around 6:30pm. Tuesday December 20th.
On to our Elections. The nominating committee passed out the Ballots.
Winning positions are:
President – Michele Bogle
1st Vice President – Byron Wertz
2nd Vice President – Gordon Oakley
Secretary – Anna Eckerd
Treasurer – Fred Tunderman
Show Chairman – Paul Hayes
Congratulations to our newest board members. I look forward to working with all of you. I believe we’ll make a great team.
I would like to comment on our Show. I was pleased with all the vendors. In talking with most of them, I didn’t hear any negative remarks. They all seemed pretty pleased even though we were slower than usual. Saturday generally being our busier day was very slow with Sunday having a steady flow. Even though we were slower, the visitors that did come, came to buy. This was good. I believe most have requested a contract for our spring show but I’ll let John report on that.
I think it is important that the kids that come to the show have a way to stay active. Kids tend to get bored with their parents shopping. When children get bored they start to get a little fidgety; which can result in mom getting frustrated with them and leaving earlier than they want to leave. It is one of my goals to expand the kids area and provide more activities for them. Not all of which will cost them money. This is the first year we had the kids sand dig and also I added a coloring area. Both seemed to do well for the small amount of kids that came through the door. We had a lot less kids this show. The coloring area was a plus for kids and adults as the adults used the area to sit and take a break. We even had a couple of adults draw on the sketch paper provided. I also posted a kids coloring contest with three age levels. All of the kids that participated will receive a prize because to me they were all winners. I will select some small minerals and rocks from my stock for a beginners’ collection. Older kids will receive a variety of shark teeth.
The sand dig didn’t do as well as I expected, but again we had a small turn out of kids. The kids that did participate had a lot of fun and found a lot of rocks and fossils. Hopefully next show we will have a larger youth crowd. It is important to add to our advertising that we are family friendly with kid activities.
It is also my goal to have more educational awareness displays throughout the building. I’ve mentioned this in the past and have been working on some of them and hope to have a few ready for next show. I would also like to have some mineral identification photos posted in the kids’ corner. If anyone has any ideas on this, I would love to hear them, also I would love to have help putting it all together.
I know that some of you have heard that Sal had to opt out of show chairman due to his job requirements. I want to say that this is very understandable. I know how our jobs can interfere in our club activities. Sal did not realize he would be called away for all of Saturday. In realizing this, he chose to step down for the better of the club. I am happy to announce that he is still going to be an active member.
One last note, when we are setting up the show there is some stress involved, but mostly we all have fun doing it. But the break down is a bit hectic. Everyone is in a hurry to go home so the stress levels rise and we get aggravated. We need to remember that we all have things to do and we get to them as quickly as we can. So let us please not make remarks that will reach others’ ears and cause friction. When we volunteer to help out at the show, we need to just be ready to know that breaking down takes time. It can be done in a fun friendly manner. To all of the volunteers that helped out, let me say that you guys were incredible. Everyone did a great job and I am very thankful to all of you and appreciate all of your hard work. It is a lot of hard work and without your help we couldn’t host our shows. So thank you again. I had members of other clubs come to me several times and comment that they don’t know how we can do two shows a year. So be proud to know that you are the reason that we can. I don’t know of any other clubs in our area that have two shows because of the work involved.
John is ready to begin making and selling the pit meat he has been discussing over the last months. We are going to try this out at our monthly rock fests. Hopefully we’ll get the Rockfest going in the direction I have envisioned. Mom & Dad bringing the kids for sandwiches, while the parents shop for rocks and jewelry, the kids will have fun in the sand dig and sluice. Hopefully this will take off, but we know it may take a little bit to get the word out. Be sure to show support to your club by coming over for one of Johns sandwiches. They are delicious!! Take some home for later too.
Vice President- John Piziak
“I would like to thank all the volunteers for all of their hard work at the show. Unfortunately some things didn’t go as planned. We had a new Show Chairman that was being trained but unfortunately his job took him away for the better part of the show. Paul Hayes stepped in to help out so we made it through. In the past I used to get a lot of complaints from the vendors. This was when we had a much larger show. So in hosting two smaller shows, we keep our expenses down and the vendors stand a better chance in making money. With the economy at a low and the area in which we have our show it is more economical to have the two smaller ones versus one larger one. We have been looking into different locations for future shows. Some of the problems I have run into is not enough square footage, not enough parking or the costs of rents. But I will keep looking. This is all I have to say, and again, thanks to everyone that helped out, you all did great”
2nd Vice President – Bob Cole
No report – in Hawaii
Treasurer – Winn Taylor
Winn was absent due to illness. Michele gave report. Winn sent a brief run-down on the show expenses. Also the monthly expenses were gone over with a current bank balance. Michele added that she received a letter from the Eastern Federation stamped urgent. This is our insurance through the federation and it is due November 30th 2011. She is sending it over to Winn tonight for her consideration.
Also, as part of Winn’s’ estimated expenses, the second half of our Attorneys retainer was due in Nov. Our attorney allowed us to pay her retainer in two payments. Half at time of contract with the balance due after our show. In speaking with attorney Michele Beicker, just this day, she stated she would NOT charge us the balance as our insurance attorneys are picking up our suit. We were liable to pay this by contract, but thankfully attorney Michele Biecker has a big heart. So I would fully recommend her to anyone needing legal representation. She also is a Fla. supreme court Certified Mediator for Circuit & -County Civil. Appellate. If you are in need of a mediator you may contact her at ‘Sandollar Mediation, LLC’ 407-425-2773 www.sandollarmediation.com, Michele@sandollarmediation.com. Just let her know you are a member of this club and be sure to thank her for her hard work and her caring heart.
In saying, this money was added back into our estimated balances.
This has been a really bad year for us financially. In my long term membership to this club, this is the worst year we have had. So we really need members to encourage their friends, family and co workers to join and take classes. Since our move, our classes have fallen down drastically. I have witnessed in the past some times when our shop had a slow period, but we always picked back up. So please, if you haven’t taken any classes recently, please consider doing so in the very near future. Our clubs survival depends on it. I really hope in 2012 we have a much better year. It is my goal to try and change our financial status over the next year.
I have some ideas on having sponsorships available for different price ranges. I have spoken to a few members regarding this. Anyone wanting to know our financial status may contact the Treasurer as figures are not posted.
Secretary – Angie Howard
Angie absent due to illness - No report
Show Chairman – Acting, John Piziak
The official report for the show is not finished at this point. I can’t give out any figures until it is done. We’ll have it ready for the next meeting.
Field Trip co coordinator - Paul Bordenkirchner
Paul has had some personal matters to attend to and hasn’t been able to come in since he took over as our field trip co coordinator. I recently spoke with him and he has assured me that he will be looking into a spot for us to go collecting soon.
Director of Events – Michele Bogle
The Central Florida Fair is fast approaching. I look forward to another year there; it’s always so much fun. For new members, our club has been attending the C.F. Fair since we were pretty much a new club. We are invited each year as a club to demonstrate what we do. We generally take a faceting machine and one of our cabbing machines and do demonstrations thru-out the two weeks of the fair. We also set up a mineral display in a cabinet provided by them. Each year I try to do a different mineral type with educational literature posted and have extra literature available for school teachers or families that request it. We also have an additional cabinet that members who volunteer to man our booth may show off their Lapidary skills. You may choose to sell your pieces while you are there. This year, I would like our club to offer items for sale. We really need the financial help this year so I am hoping we will be able to sell some Gem Trees, tumbled stones and any other item that pertains to our club. If you have a mineral specimen, cut stone or a piece of jewelry you made and would like to donate it to our cause; it would be greatly appreciated. Please contact Michele Bogle or drop it off at the club with a note attached reading ‘donated for fair sale’. Also, if you would like to help out at our booth, we could use the help. Mostly we need week day volunteers. Through the week, the fair generally opens at around 4:00pm. So it would be to open or close or both. Weekends we pretty much have set from past members, but you still may feel free to drop by and see if you can lend a hand, or give some of us a small break. Passes to get in will be given out by Michele, you will need to contact her and discuss a schedule with her and let her know how many passes you will need. If you just want to take your spouse & kids to the fair without volunteering, then also see Michele to get passes to get in. This year the Fair is beginning March 1st. It runs for 11 days.
Instructors report –
Michele reported that our cabbing machines need new grinding wheels. She says we can’t replace them if we don’t have people attending classes as our school monies helps to maintain our equipment. So please come take some classes.
John reported that casting classes will be started by the end of the year. Yay! We have 2 members other than John that has volunteered to instruct this class.
Tom reported that his advanced silversmith class will resume next month (Dec.) His foot in on the mend.
Linda said she had people ask her about day classes. She would be willing to do this. Michele let her know that Instructors can make their own schedule as long as it doesn’t run into same type class at same time/day. Be sure to check her schedule on the website to see her wire wrap class availability.
Michele did report that classes that are not bringing in students may be shut down. Thurs. nights were bad for our last cabochon instructor, he resigned. Byron decided to teach advance wire wrap with Barbara teaching intermediate cabochon. They have not had any response. So members, if you want these classes on this night, then please move on it or it will be gone. We can’t keep opening up for no reason. It is costing us money.
Fred says he has been trying to contact past students via email.
General Discussion –
Old Business - Gordon brought up the subject of our insurances. We basically have two that we pay. We have Ladd’s’ and we have the Eastern Federation. It turns out the Eastern Federation covers us as much as Ladd’s’. The Eastern Federation insurance is also handling our lawsuit, whereas Ladd’s would not. So we need to think about dropping one, probably Ladd’s. Gordon will research both insurance before we make a decision and make sure we will be completely covered in all areas by just the one. He’ll let us know when he is done and we will have a board meeting regarding it.
New Business – Discussion on the possibility of classes at the Fair and at our shows.
Gordon let us know he has begun acting on sponsors. Michele has an idea regarding this. It has not been put to paper yet. Gordon has gone to a Greek restaurant; Mediterranean Blue, and spoke with them as well as his VFW post. Mediterranean Blue is thinking of sponsoring us. We will add them to our website as well as other type advertising.
Michele gave a briefing on her idea regarding this. We would have different levels of sponsorship in various price ranges. Businesses would be advertised at our shows, on our website, with or without a link to their website. Have flyers and business cards available. She will discuss this more after she goes over it all with the board of directors.
Show & Tell - none
50/50 won by – Ray Miller AGAIN!! J (he has a juju doll)
Door Prizes won by –
Henrick Alanson – he donated back to club
Tom Davis Paul Hayes
Debra Linda
Anne Piziak
We had one new member.
22 attended the meeting.
Motion to adjourn @ 8:38 pm excepted by Fred and Linda
Refreshments provided by Betty Sumner & Jim Johnstone
