Details

Written by Patricia Hutchison

Published: August 05 2019

Last Updated: August 29 2019

Hits: 508

SLAGA Board Meeting

July 18, 2019

6:00 PM

Chemical Interchange

Attendees – Steve Bromley, Bill Lange, Patricia Hutchison, Jan Salvaggio, Carolyn Jaycox, Jason Jaycox, David DeWitt

​The meeting was called to order at 6:01 PM.

​Motion to approve the June minutes was made by Carolyn, seconded by Jan.  The minutes were unanimously approved.

​Jan presented spreadsheets for March through June.  Motion to approve the June treasurer’s report was made by Carolyn, seconded by Bill.  The treasurer’s report was unanimously approved.

​

Old Business

New Business

Next Meeting

Details

Written by Patricia Hutchison

Published: June 24 2019

Last Updated: June 24 2019

Hits: 530

SLAGA Board Meeting

June 20, 2019

6:00 PM

Chemical Interchange

Attendees – Steve Bromley, Bill Lange, Patricia Hutchison, Jan Salvaggio, Carolyn Jaycox, Jason Jaycox, John Elfrank

                The meeting was called to order at 6:03 PM.

                Motion to approve the May minutes was made by Carolyn, seconded by Bill. The minutes were unanimously approved.

                The Paypal account was unavailable due to issues. Steve will contact Paypal to find out about closing the current SLAGA account and opening a new one. Motion to approve the available May treasurer’s report was made by Patty, seconded by Carolyn. The treasurer’s report was unanimously approved.

Old Business

• Newsletter/Email blast – Steve will put out an email calling for officer nominations. Nominations close at the SLAGA Summer Picnic on July 20, 2019. Nominees will be contacted to determine their willingness to run. Electronic ballots will be created and voting emails will be sent to all SLAGA members. The voting process will begin a week after nominations close.

• Upcoming Events:
  • 2019 SLAGA Summer Picnic – GC86RH9, Mexico, Missouri, 7/20/19.
  • July Adopt a Highway CITO – GC88JWX, SLAGA MoDot CITO, 7/21/19. There will be a drawing for a CITO coin at this event. Candy Grisham has accepted via text the responsibility of keeping a year’s worth (4) of CITO coins to have on hand for the required quarterly CITO events as contracted with the Adopt a Highway program.
  • 2019 SLAGA Fall Picnic – GC page to be created, Officer Snyder Park (formerly Clydesdale Park), 10/19/19.
  • The board discussed future locations of the four SLAGA-sponsored picnics.
• The Winter Potluck is held the Pavilion at Lemay in Jefferson Barracks Park. This will continue for as long as SLAGA is permitted to hold the event there.
• The Spring and Fall Picnics will be limited to being held at a location no further than 30 miles from the St. Louis Arch grounds/Downtown St. Louis. The board made this determination due to a variety of reasons, including the need for a central location for maximum member attendance for milestone awards, officer nominations and announcements, as well as other SLAGA business which is generally conducted at these events. If a host would like to hold an event beyond this limit, s/he will need to obtain permission from the SLAGA board.
• The Summer Picnic may be held anywhere within the 100-mile radius of SLAGA territory.

• Geocaching 101 Classes
  • The next class is September 7, 2019. Volunteers should contact Bill Lange.
  • Dates need to be chosen now for inclusion in the Fall/Winter County Parks catalog. SLAGA has chosen March 28, 2020; June 6, 2020; and September 12, 2020. These dates have been submitted to Laura McLeod to determine availability of facilities and to submit them for publication in the activities catalog. Laura verified by text that she had received the request.

• New Banners – The new banner is working well for setup in the classroom setting, but the board has determined there is a need for a banner for outdoor use. Additionally, the SLAGA banner, traditionally hung at picnic events, still needs to be replaced. Steve will look into another resource for a banner with a different design and contact Dave DeWitt for additional assistance if necessary.

New Business

• Expense Approval – The Nelsons, who are hosting this year’s Summer Picnic, have rented portable toilets for the event and have requested reimbursement from SLAGA for the cost. Motion to approve the expense was made by Jan and seconded by Bill. The motion passed unanimously.

• SLAGA Merchandise Storage – The board discussed options for storing SLAGA merchandise (travel bugs, shirts, SWAG, etc. – as well as SLAGA equipment (GPS units, AV equipment, etc.) and determined that these items should continue to be in officers’ possession. If someone is in need of these items (GPS units for a scout demonstration, for example), that individual should contact the SLAGA board member responsible for the needed items at least one week in advance and arrange to take possession and responsibility for those items.

• Event Checklist – A checklist is being created for those who host one of the four SLAGA-sponsored picnics. This document will be posted on the SLAGA webpage to be used as a resource for future hosts. A rough draft is being prepared for previous hosts to review and make suggestions for improvement. It will be considered a ‘living document’, subject to modification as needed.

• SLAGA Procedures – A list of officer duties is being created so that those people who may decide to run for office will know exactly what is expected of them if they are elected to a board position. Like the Event Checklist, it will eventually be posted on the SLAGA webpage to be used as a resource for future candidates. It will be considered a ‘living document’, subject to modification as needed.

• Short Discussion Topics:
  • Discussed age restriction (13 years old) for Geocaching accounts.
  • SLAGA County Parks Account – the board determined that this is no needed at this time.
  • Milestone Submission Deadline for presentation at the Fall Picnic is September 15, 2019.
  • MOGA 2020 – John Elfrank advises that a theme is needed for this event. Submit suggestions to John Elfrank or the SLAGA board.
  • New PA System – This issue was discussed but no solution has been reached. Steve will visit a local retailer to get more information on PA systems in general and bring his findings to the next meeting.
  • Gift Cards – This subject is tabled until the next meeting. The board is requesting a tally from the informal survey that was posted on the SLAGA Facebook page, before making a determination.

Next Meeting

• The next meeting will be held July 18, 2019 at Chemical Interchange at 6:00 pm.
• Adjournment – Motion to adjourn was made by Carolyn, seconded by Bill and passed. Meeting adjourned at 8:01 pm.

Details

Written by Patricia Hutchison

Published: June 07 2019

Last Updated: June 07 2019

Hits: 564

SLAGA Board Meeting

May 13, 2019

6:00 PM

Chemical Interchange

Attendees – Steve Bromley, Bill Lange, Patricia Hutchison, Jan Salvaggio, Dave DeWitt, John Elfrank; via phone, Carolyn Jaycox

                The meeting was called to order at 6:00 PM.

                Motion to approve the April minutes was made by Bill, seconded by Carolyn. The minutes were unanimously approved.

                Motion to approve the April treasurer’s report was made by Patty, seconded by Bill. The treasurer’s report was unanimously approved.

Old Business

• Newsletter/Email blast – Steve will put out an email calling for officer nominations, volunteer to host the fall picnic, and geocaching class information. Bill will send out an email requesting assistance for teaching the class June 1.

• Event Recap:
  • MOGA 2019 – John reported on Will Attends versus Attended logs for the various MOGA events. He also gave a count on the leftover awards and his plan to alter them so they may usable for next year. There was also discussion on a possible kid’s competition and the addition of course monitors for 2020.
  • 2019 Spring Picnic – Successful despite the rain.
    • Discussion about the safety of the Ammo Can Toss; while no one was hurt, some people were standing alongside the field where the can was thrown and could have been injured if the projectile had gone off course.
    • Discussion about the need to get people to post their Will Attends and possible solutions including announcing on the event page that people who log their Will Attends prior to the cutoff date will get to line up for food after the volunteers while those who don’t log Will Attends will go last.
    • Additional suggestions for picnics: possibly add attendance drawing to get those who have paid and obtained their name badges; possibly add attendance drawing for those who recorded their Will Attends prior to the cutoff date; possibly add a second drawing for those who turn in their name badges at the end of the event.

• Upcoming Events:
  • 2019 Summer Picnic – Hosted by Quailman2, who have requested some supplies from the SLAGA trailer. John will bring those items but not the whole trailer.

• Geocaching 101 Classes
  • The next class is June 1, 2019. Bill is asking for volunteers to assist.
  • Upcoming class: 9/7/19.

• Adopt a Highway –Signs should be up soon and CITO events will be planned.

• Award Coins Update – Carolyn noted an issue on the SLAGA site regarding the recording of awarding of coins. Dave fixed the information in the system at the meeting.

• New Banners – Dave presented the revised banner and the board agreed to order one banner. If the board is satisfied with the new banner, we will order a second one.

New Business

• Budget – Budgets were submitted to Steve, who presented them to the board. Event budgets average about $500; Cachemas budget runs about $150; Grave Hop budget for 2019 will be $240.

• SLAGA Event Insurance Policy – SLAGA had to turn down the opportunity to participate in the Life Outside because our organization does not carry its own insurance. After some discussion, the board decided against purchasing a policy at this time.

• Trailer Inventory/Duties – Traditionally, the secretary has inventoried the trailer’s contents and determined what needs replacing, but Steve said that this duty should be shared among all the officers or that the job be added to the volunteer signup sheet for events. John reported on various items regarding the trailer, including: he repaired the roof cracks with sealant; the wooden shelf at the rear of the trailer is moldy and needs to be replaced; the tables are moldy and require cleaning; the spare set of trailer keys are missing and that he will obtain two additional sets, one of which will be kept in the treasurer’s cash box as a backup; and one of the storage tubs needs to be replaced.

• SLAGA Equipment – Steve will research options for replacing the old amplifier/speaker.

Next Meeting

• The next meeting will be held June 20, 2019 at Chemical Interchange at 6:00 pm.
• Adjournment – Motion to adjourn was made by Bill, seconded by Carolyn and passed. Meeting adjourned at 8:12 pm.

Details

Written by Patricia Hutchison

Published: April 26 2019

Last Updated: April 26 2019

Hits: 524

SLAGA Board Meeting

April 18, 2019

6:00 PM

Chemical Interchange

Attendees – Steve Bromley, Bill Lange, Patricia Hutchison, Dave DeWitt, Kathy DeWitt, John Siebert, Terri Nealon; via phone, Carolyn Jaycox

                The meeting was called to order at 6:16 PM.

                Motion to approve the March minutes was made by Carolyn, seconded by Bill. The minutes were unanimously approved.

                Kathy reported that MOGA is currently down by about $70, but with the remaining t-shirt sales, should cause MOGA to break even. The SLAGA Treasurer report is tabled until next month.

Old Business

• Newsletter – Articles are needed. SLAGA members are encouraged to submit short write-ups of their geocaching adventures to appear in the newsletter and on the SLAGA website. Articles can be submitted to SLAGA via the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. email address.

• Email blast – The next email blast will be about SLAGA picnic and upcoming events.

• Upcoming Events:
  • 2019 Spring Picnic – 4/27/19, GC84AZ8 SLAGA 2019 Spring Picnic event has published. Discussion about picnic details such as gift cards for prizes, cash box, bingo sheets, food order, etc. Nominations will be open for the next vice president and secretary. The current office-holders have declined to run again.

• Geocaching 101 Classes
  • Bill reported on the class held on 3/30 as having several challenges including being overbooked – for which two troops opted to reschedule – as well as inclement weather and another event encroaching on room space. New volunteers showed up to assist.
  • Other upcoming scheduled classes are: 6/1/19, and 9/7/19.

• Travel Bug Race – Several announcements have been made and information is published on the cache page. The board will request monthly updates to be posted on the SLAGA website.

• Adopt a Highway – Briefly mentioned; the board needs an update from Candy Grisham.

• Award Coins Update – Carolyn has awards in hand for the recipients at the spring picnic. She also reported that she has procured travel bugs for SLAGA to sell at $5 each for the travel bug race, should anyone wish to purchase them. CITO coins are in stock for providing to CITO hosts for drawings.

• Event Check Lists – A ‘to do’ list to make the quarterly SLAGA events run smoothly – such as the arrangements for food, games, setup and tear down, the purchase of gift cards for prizes, milestone awards, etc. – needs to be formalized.

• New Banners – Dave presented two mock-ups of potential banners. Discussion resulted in a few suggestions for change, so Dave will provide a new mock-up via email. The board will order one banner to begin with to see how it does before possibly opting to purchase a second.

• Swag Replacement – Dave brought in the new swag – bouncy balls – and promotional products – whistles and carabiners – and transferred them to Steve’s possession.

• Budget – Steve asked for budgets to be submitted to him in writing so he can present them all to the board at the same time.

New Business

• Nancy Gelb has a Shaw Nature Reserve event which is being held at the same time as the spring picnic. She needs volunteers. The board will encourage announcements on the SLAGA website and Facebook page for future events to help prevent scheduling conflicts. Additionally, Kim Balek is moving the same day and has requested help.

• Steve will contact Mark Derr about holding a CITO coin drawing for his pet cemetery CITO and SLAGA will mail out the coin to the winner.

• Discussed a disputed MOGA shirt sale and issues with cash transactions at events.

• New Officer Nominations – This will be announced at the Spring Picnic. Bill recommended that each candidate, once they accept their nominations, should provide a short bio so that SLAGA members can know more about the individuals for whom they are voting. A summary of position duties should be available for candidate so they may make an informed decision on whether to accept nominations.

• Dave reported on a variety of items, including the expiration of GEOSTL.com; Paypal; and that there were several MOGA shirts not picked up at the event and that he will bring them to the spring picnic to attempt delivery to recipients there.

Next Meeting

• The next meeting will be held May 8, 2019 at Chemical Interchange at 6:00 pm.
• Adjournment – Motion to adjourn was made by Patricia, seconded by Bill and passed. Meeting adjourned at 7:37 pm.

Details

Written by Patricia Hutchison

Published: March 20 2019

Last Updated: March 20 2019

Hits: 641

SLAGA Board Meeting

March 14, 2019

6:00 PM

Chemical Interchange

Attendees – Steve Bromley, Bill Lange, Patricia Hutchison, Jan Salvaggio, Dave DeWitt, John Elfrank, Kathy DeWitt, Carolyn Jaycox, Jason Jaycox, Ethan Rogers

                The meeting was called to order at 5:56 PM.

                A brief discussion was held regarding a special project, which included the board wanting to thank the individual who took on the task. Motion was made by Steve and seconded by Bill to present the project manager a token of the board’s gratitude. Motion passed unanimously. Steve will handle the details.

                Motion to approve the February minutes was made by Bill, seconded by Jan. The minutes were unanimously approved.

                Kathy presented the MOGA treasurer’s report as well as the February SLAGA treasurer’s reports. Motion to approve the February treasurer report was made by Patricia and seconded by Carolyn. Motion passed unanimously.

Old Business

• Newsletter – Articles are needed. SLAGA members are encouraged to submit short write-ups of their geocaching adventures to appear in the newsletter and on the SLAGA website. Articles can be submitted to SLAGA via the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. email address.

• Email blast – The next email blast will be about MOGA.

• Upcoming Events:
  • MOGA – 4/6/19.
  • 2019 Spring Picnic – 4/27/19, GC84AZ8 SLAGA 2019 Spring Picnic event has published.

• Geocaching 101 Classes
  • The 3/30/19 class has at least 6 participants signed up.
  • Other upcoming scheduled classes are: 6/1/19, and 9/7/19.
  • We need other people to lead the geocaching classes. Bill will send out an email requesting volunteers who are willing to take on the task of teaching.

• Add New Treasurer to Bank Account – This has been accomplished.

• Adopt a Highway –Candy Grisham has signed and submitted the contract for the Adopt a Highway and is currently awaiting a response from MODOT. The proposed area is near Beckemeier Conservation on Olive Street Road.

• Award Coins Update – Milestone coins have been ordered from Cache Advance.

• Event Check Lists – A ‘to do’ list to make the quarterly SLAGA events run smoothly – such as the arrangements for food, games, setup and tear down, the purchase of gift cards for prizes, milestone awards, etc. – needs to be formalized.

• New Banners – Dave presented a variety of options for banners to the board. After much discussion, Dave is taking the board’s questions to the vendor and will follow up at the next meeting.

• Swag Replacement – Dave presented options and the board voted to replace our current swag stock with additional whistles, carabiners and bouncy balls. Motion was made by Carolyn and seconded by Jan. Motion passed unanimously.

• Brochures – Dave presented his updated version of the SLAGA brochures, which are used at non-SLAGA events. Dave will make a few more revisions and bring them to the next meeting.

• Budget – Steve asked for budgets to be submitted to him so he can present them all to the board at the same time.

• MOGA:
  • Status – John Elfrank reported on his progress in setting up caches and related items. He has several teams assisting but will accept other volunteers for both set-up processes and to help at the events. There was extensive logistic discussion, including the request for printing up the punch cards, sign up sheets and waiver forms. Kathy and Dave will take care of the printed materials.
  • Tee shirts – Tee-shirt sales are closed.

New Business

• Milestones – Awards for milestones to be presented at the Spring Picnic have been ordered.

• New Officer Nominations – This will be announced at the Spring Picnic.

• Special Project – The board listened to a presentation on the special project, which included discussion about system bugs over which the reporter has no control. The reaction to the special project was overwhelmingly positive.

• Announcements – The deadline for announcements to be included in the next email blast is 3/31/19.

Next Meeting

• The next meeting will be held April 18, 2019 at Chemical Interchange at 6:00 pm.
• Adjournment – Motion to adjourn was made by Patricia, seconded by Bill and passed. Meeting adjourned at 8:20 pm.