American Contract Bridge
League Unit 522 – Fresno, Inc.
A Non-profit Corporation
Serving
DRAFT
March 28, 2010
DIRECTORS PRESENT: Richard
Meffley, Kay Chrisman, Laura DaCosta, Dora
Gostanian, Jill Wood, Michael Molinari,
Linda Coppersmith, John Simpson and Bert Rettner.
DIRECTORS NOT PRESENT: Doris
Frazer
Richard Meffley called
the meeting to order at 10:00 a. m.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
The
minutes of the February 7, 2010 meeting of the Board were read and discussed. Michael Molinari made a motion seconded by Dora
Gostanian to approve the minutes as corrected. The Board unanimously approved
the minutes.
BOARD VACANCY: Richard
Meffley asked the Board for nominees to fill the Board vacancy left my Mary Jo
Davila. Kay Chrisman nominated Anthony
Toto which was seconded by Dora Gostanian.
As no other nominations were offered, the nominations were closed and
Richard asked for discussion. When the
vote was called, the Board unanimously approved Anthony Toto to fill the
position. Michael Molinari then called
Anthony by phone and asked if he was available to join in the remainder of the
Board meeting. Anthony was available and
joined the meeting within a few minutes.
TREASURER’S REPORT: John
Simpson reported on the January through March 2010 Profit and Loss.
·
Net Income for the quarter was $1,245.72. This is misleading because the net income is
only in the positive because of a paper entry, moving prepaid rent in the amount
of $4,570.95 from the Asset category to income.
Without this entry, the total YTD net income would be -$3,325.23. This negative net income is actually less
than the Board projected. Because of the
increase in monthly lease payments, the Board projected a shortfall of $1,500
to $1,800 per month.
·
Fund balances:
Building Fund: $183,246.55; Clubhouse fund: $55,001.97
·
John reported that one of the CDs is maturing. The account was earning 2.05% but to renew,
the best rate to be offered is 1.50%. John
suggested moving funds into the account to make the balance $100,000 which
would then qualify for Jumbo account rates.
·
John reported net income from the Sectional to be
$1,700.
·
John reported that, at no cost to the Unit, John
Renna prepared and filed the Unit’s tax returns. Thank you, John Renna.
A motion was offered by Michael
Molinari, seconded by Kay Chrisman to approve the Treasurer’s report and the
Board unanimously approved the motion.
EDUCATION RECRUITMENT COMMITTEE:
·
Michael Molinari reported that his class on Defense has eleven students
and Richard Meffley’s class on Defense has ten students.
·
Michael reported that beginning May 1, 2010 the series of Bridge Lessons
will again start from book one offering “
·
Michael resigned as Committee Chairman and asked the Board to appoint
Anthony Toto as the new chairman. The
Board accepted Michael’s resignation and immediately appointed Anthony as
Chairman of the Education Recruitment Committee.
CLUBHOUSE:
·
Kay Chrisman reported that the Unit is now selling travelers and
convention cards to Club Owners. Payment
for the supplies can be made in cash or paid along with rent at the end of the
month.
·
Laura DaCosta reported that one of our fine members offered the Unit a
used Printer/Scanner/Copier. Laura asked
the board if there was a need to be able to scan or copy documents because the
printer we currently have is sufficient for the Unit’s needs. The final decision was to thank the member
very much for her generousity, but to decline the offer.
SECTIONALS:
·
Michael Molinari reported on the success of the
Winter Sectional. As reported in the
Treasurer’s report the sectional netted $1,700.
Michael stated that the change from 299’er sections to 499’er sections at
each game was very successful and allowed for sufficient tables to make a
separate section at most games. However,
Michael suggested that at the next sectional we restrict the section to
NLM/499’er. After much discussion, the
Board unanimously agreed.
·
Michael suggested that at the Halloween Sectional we
have a pair on standby at each game to fill half tables. This would eliminate the opportunity for the
ACBL Director to play to make a full table.
·
Michael discussed the purchase of DEALER 4. Dealer 4 is a machine, which works with
computer software, to deal cards that produce hands with a specific theme.
1.
This is very valuable to the ongoing bridge classes. Whatever the topic of the class, hands can
be generated to specifically address the topic allowing students to practice
what they learned in class.
2.
For Sectionals, all the hands for each game could be
downloaded from ACBL to Dealer 4 and the machine would generate the boards for
each game of each day. This would
eliminate the sorting and making of each board by the players which takes about
30 minutes at the beginning of each game.
Plus the need for players to move and/or the boards to move to another
table prior to play would be eliminated.
3.
For STAC games or any ACBL special game, software
can be downloaded from ACBL to the Dealer 4 machine and the hands will be
generated. This is very valuable to any
Club Owner or Director who chooses to use the machine rather than make the
hands themselves.
4.
The Dealer 4 would be used at all Unit games, with
the machine gererating random hands.
This would save time at the start of the game because the boards would
already be made up and as a bonus, all players would be provided with a handout
after the game showing the hands played.
Michael
discussed how to pay for the Dealer 4.
The cost of the machine is approximately $4,500. Michael and other members have graciously
donated $3,000. Michael recommened the
Unit pay the remainder of the cost. After
much discussion, John Simpson made a motion, seconded by Kay Chrisman to do
fundraising for the remainder of the cost.
Several fund raising suggestions were made and the Board unanimously
approved the motion. A suggestion that
the Dealer 4 could be a continual source of income to the Unit by charging Club
Owners and other Clubs a small fee to use the machine. After much discussion, Anthony Toto made a
motion, seconded by Bert Rettner to table the discussion for another time. The Board unanimously approved the motion.
Member donations towards
the purchase of Dealer 4 would be welcomed and appreciated.
·
ROSTER: Jill Wood presented each
Board member with their copy of the new Member Roster. Jill wrote a member’s name on each roster and
placed it in alphabetical order in a box.
Jill suggested that members could retrieve their roster from the box and
those left over would be mailed to the specific member. Jill stated that 140 extra rosters were
printed. Non-members wanting a roster and
members wanting more than one roster will be charged $2 for each roster.
NEW BUSINESS:
1.
Bert Rettner presented the Board with his research into the Unit’s
ability to hold Bingo games at the clubhouse.
The documents were turned over to Anthony Toto for his review and further
recommendations.
2.
Richard Meffley stated that some members feel the small side tables are
unstable. Kay Chrisman reminded the
Board that the brown tables were purchased because they were heaver and more
stable than the existing green side tables.
John Simpson advised the Board that he was investigating ways to make
the tables more stable and would report back to the Board.
3.
Laura DaCosta reported that she and Mary Lou spend a great deal of time
each week sorting the recycle containers, removing trash and garbage. It seems our members can’t use the proper
container even though they are clearly marked.
Laura suggested that we no longer provide a recycle container in each
playing room and make the large white container in the kitchen the only place
to hold cans and plastic bottles. The
Board agreed to this as a possible solution to the problem.
4.
The need to build attendance in the Sunday afternoon game was brought up
for discussion. Some suggestions were offered.
·
A mentoring program was discussed and as it was very successful the last
time it was tried, the Board agreed to start it once again.
·
Holding a Pro/Am Potluck each month was discussed and agreed upon.
·
Other special events to be scheduled as often as possible on a Sunday.
5.
REVIEW OF
FINANCIAL STATIS OF THE UNIT: John Simpson reviewed for the
Board members, the shortfall in net income each month due to the increase in
rent payments. John reminded the Board
that this was a known fact at the time the decision to move was made and the
Board voted to take the shortfall from the Building Fund. However, John stated that it would be prudent
for the Board to address the financial status of the Unit every six months and
look at all available options to offset the shortfall. Options:
1. Increase player fees; 2. Fund raising; 3. Generate income in other
ways. After much discussion and some good suggestions for raising money, John
Simpson made a motion, seconded by Linda Coppersmith to not increase player
fees at this time but readdress the subject at the November 2010 meeting of
the Board. The Board unanimously
approved the motion.
6.
SPECIAL EVENTS SCHEDULING:
o April 18, 2010 will be an
Anniversary party celebrating the Unit’s one year anniversary in the new
clubhouse. Board members will provide
the food for the luncheon and a Unit Championship game will follow at 1:00
pm. Also members will be able to “BUY A LIFE
MASTER” by bidding on a life master for a game of bridge.
o May 2, 2010 is the annual
PEGGY OCHS MEMEMORIAL party and potluck.
Lunch is provided by the players and a special game to follow at 1:00
pm.
o June 27, 2010 is the
annual GRADUATION PARTY potluck, where all new Life Masters will be
honored. Players to provide lunch
followed by a Pro/Am pair’s game at 1:00 pm.
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board
of Directors will be held on May 2, 2010 at 10:30pm.
AS THERE WAS NO FURTHER BUSINESS TO DISCUSS, THE
MEETING WAS ADJOURNED AT 12:46 pm.