American Contract Bridge League District 16
Minutes of Meeting of the Board of Directors Held July 4, 2009
A regular meeting of the Board of Directors of District 16 of the American Contract Bridge League was held at the Omni San Antonio Hotel in San Antonio, Texas at 10 a.m. on July 4, 2009.
Board members present (Units represented in parentheses): Ira Hessel (172), Guillermo Poplawsky (173), Betty Starzec (1747), Bob Butterfield (176), Howard Wilkins (224) and David Pennington (223).
Committee Chairs and others present: Dan Morse, Dewitt Hudson, Charles Price, Lew Levy, Betty Starzec, Ellen Hessel, Bob Gerberich and Phyllis Harlan.
The meeting was called to order by President Ira Hessel.
The minutes of the meeting held February 7, 2009 were approved as presented to the meeting with one addition.
District Director: Dan Morse reported that the ACBL has selected its new headquarters building, which is located in Horn Lake, Mississippi, a suburb of Memphis, Tennessee. He also introduced Phyllis Harlan, the District 15 representative to the ACBL Board of Directors. He also pointed out that there will be a District-wide charity game in October.
Executive Treasurer: Lew Levy distributed and discussed the District's financial statements as of and for the six-month period ended June 30,2009. He pointed out that (i) revenues exceeded expenses by $7,407 for the six months and (ii) the total assets of the District exceeded its total liabilities by $31,670 at the end of the period. He pointed out that the results include wit respect to the Puerto Vallarta Regional relate to the tournament held in 2008 but that all other entries relate to 2009.
A discussion followed concerning the advisability of investing the District's funds that are not immediately needed for operations. After discussion, upon motion duly made and seconded, the following resolutions were adopted by the Board:
RESOLVED, that the Executive Treasurer of the District (currently Lew Levy), is authorized and directed to invest in his sole discretion (after taking into account the District's need for timely access to its funds), from time to time, District funds in certificates of deposit and other accounts, provided all such investments are fully insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or another agency of the United States of America; and
RESOLVED FURTHER, that the Executive Treasurer of the District is authorized and directed, in the name of and on behalf of the District, to take all such actions and to execute and deliver all such documents, as may, in his sole discretion, be deemed to be necessary or desirable to implement and carry out the intent of the foregoing resolution.
Unit Growth: Betty Starzec, who is Chair of the new Unit Growth Committee established by President Ira Hessel, reported that her committee will focus on efforts to keep current players involved while bringing in new players through teaching programs and marketing strategies. She stated that teaching programs are essential to growth. Great materials are on the ACBL website, including marketing ideas that have worked in various Units. Betty distributed a handout which included, among other things, certain helpful materials available on the ACBL website and a newsletter for novice players published by the Austin Unit. She pointed out that the ACBL's cooperative advertising program is available to partially fund Unit-level advertising designed to attract new players. She stated that she has sent an email to representatives of other districts asking what they are doing to attract new players. Dan Morse encouraged all Units to try to get bridge columns that are provided free by the ACBL included in community newspapers. He pointed out that weekly papers often need, and would welcome, such content.
Awards: Howard Wilkins stated that there have been three nominees for this year's Jacoby Award. He indicated that not all Units designate members to receive Texas Star awards or Goodwill awards, even though they are entitled to do so and this is an excellent way to recognize people who have made valuable contributions to Unit activities or Unit morale and could encourage others to do so.
Grand National Teams: There was a discussion of whether the District should make payments to members of the team that represents the District in the Superflight Division in the GNT finals to the same extent that payments are made to teams representing the District in the other GNT Divisions to assist them in offsetting their expenses in attending the finals. It was pointed out that, in recent years, there haven't been any sponsored teams in the GNT Superflight Division from our District. After discussion, upon motion duly made, the following resolution was adopted:
RESOLVED, that the District pay each team representing the District in the Grand National Teams finals this year (including the District team in the Superflight Division) $1,000 (total for the team) to assist them in paying expenses incurred by them in attending the Grand National Teams finals.
Tournaments: Charles Price noted that the next regional tournament in the District this year will be the Fort Worth Regional to be held September 1-7, 2009. Howard Wilkins noted that Beaumont will host the Split-Regional being held this year to enable Abilene to avoid a conflict with the Regional being held in Ruidoso, New Mexico. After this year, the original rotation schedule will resume. Dan Morse stated that, if our District's membership increases to 9,000, we can apply for an additional Regional and that our chances of getting one probably would be good. Betty Starzec raised the issue of whether the lower brackets of Knockouts should be handicapped. After discussion, Ira Hessel asked the Tournament Committee to consider this matter and make a determination of what should be done.
Mexico: Guillermo Poplawsky reported that things are going well in Mexico and that reservations are good for the upcoming Puerto Vallarta Regional.
New Business: Ira Hessel stated that he has appointed a committee to consider tournament standards, and distributed a handout setting forth ideas for the committee to consider. He asked that anyone interested in serving as a member of the committee contact him.
Ira Hessel recognized and commended Unit 172 for the excellent work done in putting on the San Antonio Regional.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.