Executive Committee Meeting January 6, 2016

Executive Committee Meeting 6 Jan 2016

The meeting was held at Christie and Kevin’s house in Montpelier and was called to order Wed 6 Jan 2016 at 7:07 p.m.

Officers Present: Reidun Nuquist, President; Kathy Gohl, Vice-president; Ken Hertz, Treasurer; Christie Carter, Membership Coordinator; Kevin Ryan, Publicity Coordinator; Steve Bailey, Trails and Shelters Coordinator; John Buddington, Webmaster; Nancy Jordan, Trail Talk Editor, Mike Wetherell, GMC Director.

Absent: Eric Seidel, Alternate Director; Steve Lightholder, Secretary.

Minutes

  1. The minutes of the September 30, 2015, meeting, as published on
    gmcmontpelier.org/executive/2015/0930/index.htm,
    were approved without objection.
  2. President’s report
    • The November 6, 2015, membership meeting at the Wood Art Gallery was attended by more than 50 people.
      GMC Executive Directory Mike DeBonis presented Doris Washburn with an album.
      George Longenecker showed slides of his hikes in Utah.
    • Terms of current officers. The President, Vice President, and Treasurer have served the maximum of 3 consecutive terms. Eric has completed the first of two allowed three-year terms as Alternate Director; he is permitted a second three-year term. Reidun will appoint a nominating committee.
    • Reidun and Andrew Nuquist will present a Taylor program “They Call It Walking: Exploring the Trails of the United Kingdom” on Friday, February 26, 7 P.M. at the GMC Visitor Center, Waterbury Center.
      Kathy will contact Caitlin Miller and arrange for cider and cookies.
      Kevin will create a poster.
  3. Vice President’s report.
    • Deadline for scheduling spring outings is 20 January.
    • Typically 6-7 people attend our recent outings. After gentle prodding by Ken, trip reports are forthcoming.
    • 2016 Section annual meeting will be Saturday, April 9, 2016.
      Elected officers are expected by submit reports by the end of March.
      Various names were suggested as speakers.[The committee: Kathy (chair), Andrew, Christie, Ken and Reidun.
      The committee will do much of its business by e-mail. Kathy will call meetings as needed.
      Steve is considering organizing a singing group, and will let the committee know if it is a go.
      Kathy’s deadline for the annual meeting packet is the last week of March. Venue, hand-out, guest speaker, awards ,”Green Mountain Club Walking Song,” etc.
      Summary by Reidun 7 Jan      ]
  4. Trails and Shelters Coordinator’s report.
    • Fall work hikes were well-attended and included students from UVM and Champlain College.
      We were joined by the Sterling Pond adopters, Petra Halsema and Ben Lange.
    • Steve and Heather Bailey have adopted the LT from Sterling Pond to Chilcoot Pass.
      This section is well-maintained in the summer by the Sterling Pond caretaker.
    • Tools have been inventoried. John will take surplus tools, including those acquired for the Bamforth Ridge Shelter construction, to GMC.
    • Winooski River Valley LT will be relocated from near Wiley/Buchanan Lodges (1949-1983) to Honey Hollow trailhead, avoiding the road walk. The trail from Gleason Brook to the current parking lot becomes a blue-blaze.
    • In Smugglers Notch the Burlington Section’s LT on the west side of VT108 has been laid out.
      The section on the east side, ending at Barnes Camp must be completed before the Barnes-Camp to Elephants-Head-Picnic-Area-Spur section is made the LT.
    • Do we want to join Meet Up? The consensus is that we would gain little by publicizing events in this way. Members can join as individuals.
  5. Treasurer’s report:
    • Expenses and revenue are as expected. Ken said the $2,000 authorized at the 2015 Annual Meeting to donate to GMC was available.
    • Ken motioned (John seconding) to send $2,000 to GMC. The motion carried unanimously.
  6. Membership Coordinator’s report.
    • Membership is stable at around 375.
    • Do we want to continue calls to new members? About half of new members were contacted.
      After discussion, it was decided to continue calling, as long as we have volunteers willing to make them, with this advice:

      • Call and leave a message once or twice; do not persist.
      • Call anytime in the first months of membership.
      • State that the purpose of the call is not to solicit donations.
  7. Director’s report. The previous Board of Directors meeting was in September so there is no new news.
    No new events from YAC. Mike is organizing the All Stars membership meeting for Wednesday, January 27.
  8. Publicity Coordinator’s report.
    Kevin continues to use the World, Front Page Forum (maximum 2 submissions a month), the Times-Argus, and The Bridge.
    Ken will send $50 to the Bridge as a contribution in gratitude for publicizing our events.
  9. Webmaster’s report
    The List Serve function is primarily used by Kevin and 2 trip leaders.
    Ken has sent the 2015 archive to the Vermont Historical Society.
  10. Editor’s report. Calendar events for March through May are due 20 January.
    Trail Talk will be mailed 10 February.

    29 members have requested to receive Trail Talk electronically.
    [Their names will be removed from the address labels provided by GMC.]
    When the newsletter is sent to the printer Nancy
    will email those persons with the URL of small (2MB) and large (17MB) PDF files.
    The PDF version will be available to everyone who clicks on our website. We can only reduce the number of newsletters printed in decrements of 25, thereby
    reducing the print run from the current 400 to 375..
  11. New business
    • Ken reported that a new GMC website will be phased in this winter.
    • Mike reported that Union Elementary School is interested in building a trail in Heaton Woods (the
      area bounded by Loomis, Liberty, and Harrison). They seek our advice.
  12. Date for next EC meeting: Wednesday 20 or 27 April were proposed.

As motioned by Steve and seconded by Nancy, the meeting was adjourned at 9:14 pm.

Submitted by John Buddington