Our thanks to all those who serve on the BOD for Unit 103 to make bridge in MN as fine as it can be - particularly in such difficult times! You're great!
UNAPPROVED
American Contract Bridge League
Minnesota Gopher Unit 103
Board of Directors Meeting
Thursday, December 17, 2020
Via zoom
On line were: Warren Nelson, Kathy Beckman, Larry Huiras, Tom Owens, Matt Belau, Sue Greenberg, Keith Thompson, Amy Dutton, Connie Nelson, Lance Chamberlain and Patti Huiras
Meeting was called to order by President Warren Nelson at 4:00 pm
Minutes of the October 15 meeting were presented and a motion to accept was made by Sue, second by Tom, unanimously approved.
No financial report at this time because we are not at the end of a quarter. Lance did ask about paying the Board members the stipend of $35 per Zoom meeting and Warren said that was established at a prior meeting.
Old Business:
- Non-profit filing status is due on Dec. 20. Warren said that he went in to the site and realized this is due every 2 years, not annually. So December, 2021 that will need to be updated. He did see the address listed was probably for Gus. Warren will change the address to his (as President) that would be the appropriate address to use.
- Unit and ACBL Membership: From Oct. 1 to Dec. 1 the unit lost 25 members, which is the largest drop since Covid19. Since March we are down 4%. ACBL is losing members at a 3% rate. Larry reported that the St. Paul club is down about ½, but donations are up.
- Retention: Raj is receiving the monthly report from Warren and following up. Connie asked to see the list to see who has not renewed. Warren will forward the report monthly to the Board.
- Education Fund: Larry had a hand-out for “Resources for Bridge Teaching Programs”. He will update the hand-out with some additional information. He had recently talked to Unit 131 in Kansas City about their program. They do run advertising to get people to class. They reimburse half the advertising cost and the ACBL reimburses them forthe other half. They also pay for the student’s tuition. They also indicated they would be interested to send their members to our classes. Question was raised if we need to restructure our program. Sue likes the grants that the unit has and adding the advertising in. Warren doesn’t want to eliminate the program that is in place but would encourage clubs to advertise. They can already be reimbursed half their advertising expense from the ACBL. Larry will look into updating the Policy Manual and report back to the board at our next meeting.
New Business:
- Returning to face to face play: Connie presented a survey she had conducted of the St. Cloud club. After much discussion it was decided that the Board come up with a policy statement that would be revised and voted on by the Board at the next meeting and then sent to the Clubs after that. The statement that is under discussion for the next meeting is:
Local clubs may make the decision to open based on ACBL and CDC Guidelines, when the members have been vaccinated. Masks will still be required.
- On-line bridge playing will probably continue once clubs open. Sue said that Rochester has renewed their sanctions except for the Thurs. evening game. Warren said Duluth now has more games and will continue the Tuesday on line. Larry said that keeping night games on-line might be more viable in the post Covid19 future considering our demographics.
- Next Meeting: February 18 at 4:00 pm via zoom
Motion to adjourn made by Kathy, second by Amy. Unanimously approved.
Submitted by Patti Huiras, Secretary
Comments