September 11, 2007
Bridge and Games Studio
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm. Board members present were: Norm Gautier, Bert Onstott, Karen Nimmons, Marsha Bernstein, Jolie Hess, Joyce Ryan, Bobbi Kauffman, JoDene Bond. Also present were Jim Woodward, Treasurer, Eric Snow, Dist. 16 Rep., and Bill Baker, Publicity Chairman.
Eric reported on District 16’s meeting.
· Liz Ghrist is organizing an article to appear in the Medical Center’s magazine.
· We need to forget about advertising in the Chronicle and focus on the local newspapers and magazines.
· An article was published in the Bellaire Buzz and pictured was two well known bridge players in the community.
The unit remains in good financial condition.
· As of September 11, 2006, there’s $11,562 in the checking account.
· MOTION: to approve checks #2285-2296 and items 85-91. It was seconded and approved.
· MOTION: to approve redeeming $85,000.00 in CDs at Sterling Bank, moving $5,000.00 to checking and buying a CD for $80,000.00 at Amegy Bank at 5% interest. It was seconded and approved.
· MOTION: to approve spending $2,500 to have our books audited by David Miller. It was seconded and approved.
MOTION: to approve the minutes of the August meeting as discussed. It was seconded and approved.
· Marsha received $35.00 from Randalls.
· October Sectional flyers went out to all the clubs in the Unit.
· 46 plaques remain out of the original 100 we ordered.
· Nothing new to report.
· 58 tables participated in the 299er tournament at Bridge Club of Houston.
· Joyce uploaded the new player packet contents and the education packet contents to the www.box.net website.
· Joyce lined up Julie Halperin to speak on doubles and Natalie Greene to speak on balancing at the I/N section for the October Sectional.
· Names of teachers and volunteers are being collected in regards to teaching bridge to the KIPP students.
· A middle school program is being organized by Sandra Clark using the Easy Bridge materials and Junior McKay is interested in starting a school program in Brookshire.
· There are about 120 books in the inventory and the teachers are busy ordering books with many new students interested in learning the game. Joyce will need to order new books in January.
· No activity concerning NAP.
· Kevin Perkins will be available to direct our Unit GNT game scheduled for 2/18/2007. As soon as those details are in order, I will finalize a proposal for a contract between us and B&G to cover the event.
· A proposal was submitted to amend the Conditions of Contest so that it will not be necessary for the District Coordinator to evaluate proposals for substitutes and/or augmentation of teams after the event has started. It was sent to DeWitt Hudson, who forwarded it to Sandy Campbell.
· We had a very successful Stac tournament this time with 26 clubs participating. There were a total of 716 tables bringing in a total of $5,728.00 and with expenses we netted around 1100.00 Since there were quite a few complaints from our members in our unit, there was a long discussion whether we should allow other clubs not in our unit to participate in our StaC.
· MOTION: was made that only clubs in Unit 174 could participate in our StaC game. Was seconded and approved.
· It was also decided not to establish our own Conditions of Contest but to adhere to the ones set up by ACBL.
· The time clocks cannot be repaired and we need to buy new ones. MOTION: was made to buy 2 new clocks not to exceed $1200.00. Was seconded and approved.
· The pencils are still being looked at at various websites along with pencil clips.
· Unfortunately, due to time constraints, this tournament had to be canceled.
· Jolie is working with Lora regarding Bryan.
· Jolie contacted Humble Civic Center for a new contract for Oct. of 2008.
· Teresa Cole of the Shriners would like to contact the chairman of the April tournament regarding catering. They do that now.
· Jolie is waiting to hear from Tom Whitesides as to who will direct the October tournament so hotel reservations can be made
· The wording needs to be looked at on the contracts received from the Shriners before any signing is done.
· Jolie passed out the tournament schedule for 2007.
· Membership is down one from last month. Currently we have 2274 members.
· Nothing new to report on the directory.
· It was a nice tournament considering the smaller location. Just a few complaints about it being hot during the start of Friday’s afternoon event, but once the air conditioning started, everything was fine.
· Table count was down a bit, but that turned out to be in our favor since it would have been too crowded if we had a large attendance.
· The 650 strat break was disapproved by Memphis. Bert and Jolie decided to make the break at 750, which balances the strats better than 500 does.
· They will visit the warehouse to check on supplies and order what they need. They plan not to exceed the budget amount of $550.00.
· Reservations for the directors and Sandy Bippert have been made.
· Sandy Stevens says she has most of the caddies lined up.
· Nothing new to report at this time.
· Nothing new to report at this time.
· Nothing new to report at this time
Clear Lake has about 5 tables each week and at B&G they’ve been having about 5-6 tables. BCOH has had to discontinue their game due to poor attendance. Jerry Earnest was sent materials and supplies for her group.
Bert said he needs to purchase 2762 smiley faces for each bidding box in our Unit. He is investigating the cheapest alternative and will have more to report next month.
Marsha will speak at some of the various clubs regarding zero tolerance and will organize a speaker program.
· Nothing new to report at this time.
The board was in executive session around 15 minutes.
· Of the hotels we have looked at, the only one that may be a viable option for 2011 and after is the Wyndham Greenspoint. Discussions with their management are ongoing.
· Anne Page is actively looking for news items for her column in the Scorecard. Each board member is encouraged to let her know of potential items on a current basis. We have committed to letting her know of board decisions quickly so they can be considered for inclusion. Anne can be reached via e-mail at page@ev1.net.
We all reviewed the manual and made a few changes.
· Bert is taking over for Shawn Quinn as her travel schedule restricts her commitment. He has more than a dozen teachers signed up and about nine saying they’d like to help out.
· He’s received class material from ACBL for the students.
· The dates and locations of the classes need to be finalized and then teachers assigned. The teachers will be asked to find their own helpers.
· Since this is going to be a multi-year effort, the board may want to consider creating a “Bridge in Schools Coordinator” position.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:50 pm.
The next board meeting will be on October 9. Future meetings will be on November 6 and December 4. All are welcome to attend.
Respectfully Submitted,
Karen Nimmons, Secretary