March Executive Committee Minutes
By Mark Tumarkin
We had a large turnout for the first Exec. Committee meeting of Richard's term as Primary Fermenter. Present were Sue & Wayne, Mark & Anne, Dave P, George P, Richard P (that's a lot of p's in the pod… sorry), Richard F, Craig, Dr. Bob, Greg & Sandra, and Fredric. This level of participation is what we need to keep the club healthy & growing. It helps insure a steady stream of fresh ideas and a wide variety of viewpoints are represented.
A lot of issues were discussed, and a lot of beer was consumed. These are not necessarily separate issues. A preliminary financial report was presented, though Wayne didn't have all the expenses totaled up - a final reporting will be presented once taxes and all other expense have been wrapped up. Suffice it to say, that though we had bad weather the second weekend, we ended up doing ok at the Faire. And a good time was had by all.
How to spend our money was one of the primary topics. It was agreed that we while we have plenty of money, we need to budget for expected expenses rather than go on a spending spree. It was also agreed that the money should be spent in ways that benefit the club. We decided that Competition entries benefit the club in a number of ways and that the club will pay for both entry fees and shipping to Florida comps, the AHA Nationals, certain regional competitions (mainly the Gulf Coast circuit events), and MCAB qualifying competitions. It was generally agreed that while entering a comps for feedback or trouble shooting is a valid reason for entry, we can get this type of feed back from the growing number of BJCP judges in the club. This type of entry won't be disallowed, but it is strongly encouraged that entries paid for by the club have a chance of winning and thus contributing to the reputation of the club. It was also decided that a per diem would be paid for judges and stewards going to out of town competitions. A specific amount has not yet been set, but something in the area of $20-30 dollars was mentioned. A donation of $100 for the HBD server fund was approved, as was a payment of $140 dollars to Christie, our new mead provider for the Fair. She had paid this amount out of her own pocket to cover shipping costs to be sure we had the mead in time for the first weekend. More about these issues at the regular meeting.
New logo wear was also discussed. We are looking into embroidery rather than printing as a possible option. We will not be getting more plain t-shirts this year but will rather get more long sleeve t's, polo shirts, etc. Hats are also being explored as an option. Glass ware will be limited to a new style of tasters.
Greg wants to see the club be more involved in community and charitable events. With this in mind the club is sponsoring him in a charity bike ride. The possibility of the club doing a Saturday work day for Habitat for Humanity was also brought up. George P is now our Charitable Works Chairman. Sandra will be our new Events Committee Chair. She will be in charge of planning for canoe trips, pub crawls, etc. It already looks like she'll be doing a lot of delegating (won't she, Greg, ?... I wonder who she'll get first?).
The next beer dinner will be at Nancy & Craig's on March 22nd. The theme will be Cajun Creole. The next one will be a Mexican dinner, to be held sometime around Cinco de Mayo. The next will most probably be Italian. If you haven't been coming to these events, you really should plan on coming. This club has some great cooks and these events have been a lot of fun.
We are planning to hold a full BJCP competition this fall, probably in October. Dave Perez will be the Organizer and will be coming up with a few dates for our consideration. This event will require participation from a large portion of the club to make it a success. We'll be discussing the issues and details at future meetings (both Exec & Monthly).
We will be holding another BJCP Exam study group. This will be held at Sara & Dave's every other Sunday for approx. 5 months. We'll then hold the exam here in Gainesville in mid to late Summer. So far those interested in taking the exam include: Dave P, Craig, Fredric, both Richards, Dr. Bob, and myself. Anyone else interested is heartily encouraged to join us.
There may have been other topics covered, but that's the extent of my notes. If I missed anything, I'll just blame it on the copious quantities of great beer that was going around.