SECRETARY'S REPORT- January  2020

Charlie opened the meeting by asking Stuart Shepherd to prey for those of us about to attempt to plan. In doing so, Stuart implored God to grant us wisdom and enjoyment in each other's company. Had God bestowed these blessings? We immediately set out to put it to a rigorous test.

Roger Dahnert is working on lining up mini tech sessions for our monthly meetings and major tech sessions for week-end fun and edification. He would welcome suggestions for topics. If you would like to volunteer to host or present a tech session yourself please contact Roger.

It was confirmed that our monthly meetings will take place at John's Family Restaurant as previously, but please note; NOT IN JANUARY. The planning meeting is the January meeting so do not show up at John’s in January, at least not if you want the enjoyment of the company of others, other than John that is.

Treasurer Ted Sjolander gave his financial report. He told us how much money is in the main club account and our special account. He had also distributed a printed report detailing income and expenditures. He commented that the club membership grew by 5% over 2019 and that at our current rate of expenditure we have enough cash on hand to last for the next five or six years.

Jack and Annette Porter are taking over membership. Jack stood up and talked for a few minutes about ways to increase it. He has already had some success approaching people who have joined the national club but not our local group. He will continue this gentle arm twisting and would welcome other creative suggestions for roping in new members. He has some membership applications printed up. If you would like to have a few to carry in your car ready to hand out to new people you might meet, please contact him. We also discussed having some club business cards printed up with contact details on them to be carried by members. Charlie shouted out the word “yes” to this.

Bill Walton gave his report as national club delegate. He pointed out that if we accept our regular spot in the rotation we will be due to host Southeastern Classic again in 2022. He also read out some suggestions he had gleaned at the national meeting for increasing membership and participation. The group decided to discuss some of these in depth at upcoming monthly meetings. But not in January.

Stephanie Delaney gave a report on regalia. She has found a company who will use our logo and allow us to
order from a catalog. They are located close to Stephanie’s home so she could pick orders up in person and deliver them to meetings, thus saving on shipping costs. She suggests we consider using this company.

Ann Jones gave a roadside care report. Edie, we hope your new hip is wonderful and that we will see you again soon.

Carl Brown says all is well with the club’s Facebook page.

At this point Charlie opened the floor to discuss the proposition that in future we might consider having our monthly business meetings at different locations and having them as part of fun Saturday drives. It was sug-gested we might try to do this about four times per year. It is beyond the ability of the secretary to convey with written language the cacophony that ensued. The secretary twice attempted to obtain clarification and of some of the things being shouted simultaneously during this maelstrom of sound, but these attempts merely added to the din. Suffice to report, it was decided to keep our business/monthly meetings in one location (but not in January) and at other times to ride around for pure joy, unalloyed with dull workaday care.

At this point it was suggested we have more “on tour” car magnets made up in order to properly label our joyful driving.

Charlie then went through the event calendar for the upcoming year. This calendar is printed in the newsletter you are reading.

It was pointed out (and rightly) that we ought to make better use of the cooler months for out driving joy. The calendar is less crowded, cars don’t overheat, and ice cream melts more slowly.
Stephanie brought up one last order of business. She suggested the time has come to stop producing our own Christmas party and let a restaurant do the work. Her reasoning was convincing and no one spoke up against it. Several of us spoke up in agreement. She is making arrangements with Jimmy”s Restaurant in Mint Hill.

We had one new member in attendance, Ken Pusser. The poor fellow had never attended a meeting before and had the misfortune to chose this one as his first. If the secretary spelled his name incorrectly she is blaming the maelstrom of sound.
If you’ve gotten this far, thank you for actually reading the minutes.

Minutes submitted by

Lisa Bond, Secretary