Brainerd Lakes Curling Association Board of Directors Meeting

April 15, 2008

6:00 p.m.

Board Members present:  Jill Anderson, Marty Richards, Tom Jones, Kim Deiss, Mike Deiss, Jack Christofferson, Andy Miles, Dave Lekatz, Caren Bedard, Jan Axtell

Committee Chairs: John Raboin

Board Meeting Minutes and Approval:  Minutes approved.

Financial Update: Dave Kapitzke unable to attend.

Expenses reviewed.   USCA Dues  approx. $2000

                                   Ice time - $5250 for 10 sessions

                                   (Breakdown is $75 for 5 hrs per night – 1 hr. prep and 4 hrs play time)

New Business:

Open House Planning: John Raboin

Location is Brainerd Area Civic Center.  Possible dates are Aug. 24, 30 or 31.  After discussion Jack made a motion, Dave seconded the motion, that John Raboin is authorized to set up the open house with Wayne. Preferred date is Sunday, August 24 from 1 to 4 p.m. If a four hour minimum is required then Noon to 4 p.m..  To promote more attendance it was discussed that publicity should start earlier.  In the past we have done a news release, posters, hand out cards at the county fair, headline marquee at Brainerd Civic Center, chamber of commerce billboard, sign on Washington St.  Publicity responsibly is deferred to the membership chair.

Rock Purchase

Hibbing Curling Club has corresponded to us that the price of the rocks has increased from $180 per rock to $200 per rock as there is another interested party. Therefore, the cost of 64 rocks or 4 sets is now $12,800. As a concession for increasing the price they will not require that we loan them back once a year for their year end bonspiel.  The Hibbing president has reported that their club would like the money up front but he has agreed to pitch a payment plan.  If needed, John Raboin has offered a no interest loan for the balance of the rocks purchase. Dave made a motion, Kim seconded the motion, that John be authorized to purchase the rocks at $200 per rock.  The board wishes to have a verbal confirmation as well as a letter of confirmation that we will pick up the rocks on August 1, 2008 and payment will be made at the time of pick up.

There was discussion that we will need to return our current rocks and that we will incur the expense of new shipping boxes.  Kim will make a call to start arrangements to return the rocks.

By-Laws: Tom Jones

Tom brought up various points of the by-laws to confirm that what we are currently doing concurs with what is written in the by-laws. Items discussed were;

• Ages and membership rates of Youth and Junior members were discussed. A Youth is ages 14 & under, each youth pays $5 each time they pay. A Junior member is ages 15 to 21 yrs. This age bracket is conforming to the USCA guideline. If we wanted to lower the age from 21 yrs. to 18 yrs. the membership would need to vote. (The Junior rate was not mentioned.)
• Minutes of all board mtg. are to be on the website.
• There is to be an annual audit of the financial books.
• A committee chair is authorized to spend $200 without board approval.

No changes recommended at this time. 

Website maintenance – Tom Jones

Dave Lekatz is our club webmaster and is doing a great job. CTC has donated space for our website. (approx. 10 meg.). The history of BLCA board meeting minutes is set upon the site for a 12 month cycle.  The winners of year end club championship will be posted on the site.

The board thanked Dave for his work and suggested that he start training a replacement for when the time came that he needed help or that he no longer wanted to volunteer his time. Someone with Front Page experience is not easily found and perhaps we should be proactive.

Committee Updates:

League Planning – Tom Jones (Allan Rogers absent)

League standings –We had excellent feedback from posting the standings in the newspaper.  It became an advertisement that BLCA does exists.  At times the standings become inaccurate as to whether games were won based on skill as there are forfeits, cancellations, or impromptu substitutions.  While this is true, it was decided that we are there for fun.  With our present 8 man teams, it is not as if we play the same people on a team each league night.

Area Bonspiels – Ideas were discussed to encourage members to attend bonspiels hosted by neighboring clubs. First idea, if 2 or more members would go to a bonspiel the team, that team would automatically receive a win. Further thought would be needed on this idea as the majority of teams have more than a 4 man team so they can be more flexible when they were not able to play. If the team attending the bonspiel was a 4 man team and received an automatic win it would not be fair to the team they were scheduled to play. Second idea, we could have a scholarship fund to help pay for members to attend Bonspiels. Third idea, we could publicize bonspiels by e-mail and posting on the bulletin board.  An extra effort  should be made to publicize the bonspiels which are scheduled on the weekends that we do not curl due to hockey tournaments.

Opening League Bonspiel – One of our members felt that the round robin 2 game schedule that was done this past year was a great opportunity for learning.

Membership – John Raboin

Jill Anderson volunteered to be chair of this committee.

The master list of members needs to be updated.

Action needs to be taken soon if we are going to have a booth at the county fair. The cost is $150 for the booth plus $30 for a background drape. Members will need to cover the 5 day/12 hrs per day schedule.  This year’s dates are July 29^th to August 2^nd.  A raffle, slider game, guess the wt. of the rock, hand out card with the date of the open house were discussed to attract people to stop at the booth.  Caren made a motion, it was seconded, that John Raboin should do the needed paperwork to reserve a space for BLCA.

Youth Committee – Tom Jones

Goal is to have four youth teams. Players should be 14 years and under.

Marty brought up the idea that BLCA could host the Boy Scouts one evening. Consent forms would need to be available in advance.

Fund Raising –

A new chair person is needed.  Perhaps Mike Hoff would be available.

The paperwork for the brat sale at Cub has been turned in.

We need to find an event that would bring a crowd, so people are coming to us.

Building Committee: Mike Deiss

Due to weather the meeting that was scheduled in March needs to be rescheduled.

The building committee would like to change their scope to include raising money for the building.

At this time the committee sees that the Fairgrounds as the best option for the location of the new club building. The Fairgrounds has agreed to let us build on fairgrounds land for free. Obtaining a liquor license is a stumbling block.  Ron Everson is trying to find a permit with the county.

Paul Bunyan is another possibility.  With this business, there is a bankruptcy risk with owners.

Cost of proposed new building is $578,000, building size 200’x 68’ with a sand floor.

Equipment – Marty has volunteered to be the chair of this committee.

A suggestion was made to invite a vendor who sells curling brooms, sliders, shoes etc to come.  We could also charge the vendor a fee for this selling opportunity.

Technology – Dave Lekatz will continue to be the web master.

Next Meeting:

Date and Time: Tuesday May 20, 2008 @ 6 p.m.

Place: John Raboin’s office

Minutes respectfully submitted by Janet Axtell