SLAGA Board Meeting

December 19, 2016

6:00 PM, Chemical Interchange Building

Attendees – Kathy DeWitt, Tony Colter, Bill Lange, Patricia Hutchison, Dave DeWitt

                The meeting was called to order at 5:57 pm, with Bill motioning and Kathy seconding.

                Motion to approve the November minutes was made by Tony, seconded by Kathy.  Board unanimously approved the minutes.

                Treasurer’s report, provided by email, was read by the board members as Laura MacLeod was not in attendance.  Motion to accept treasurer’s report was made by Patricia and seconded by Tony.  Board unanimously approved the treasurer’s report.

Old Business

• Brochures are still in process, per Kathy.

• Newsletter is postponed until next year.

• Event Recap

¨       Holiday Party

• Nan-D1955 hosted.  About thirty to forty people showed up to the event, despite the icy weather and a great time was had by all.
• Nan reported via text message that 91 cans of food were donated, which she took to Circle of Concern in Valley Park on 12/19/16.
• Patricia headed up the toy drive.  While she did not count the donations, she did collect four large bags of toys which she delivered to Crusoe’s Restaurant in South City.  Crusoe’s was still collecting toys for a local charity, Toys for Kids.  Toys for Tots closed out their collections earlier in the day and we had to look for an alternative donation site.  As a thank you for the donations, Sean, the manager at Crusoe’s, gave Patricia a small stack of ‘Bonus Gift Cards’, which can be used at their restaurant for $5 off.  Kathy suggested these be used as door prizes at the next event.

• E-mail blast/Upcoming Events: 

¨       Milestones

• Recipients must notify SLAGA of eligibility by 12/28/16 to be recognized.
• A second email went out around 12/21/16 as a ‘last call’ for eligibility.
• Kathy mentioned to Bill that he needs to remember to ask for the discount when he places his order for the milestone coins.

¨       Save the date – Went out in early December.

¨       New Year’s Day Hike – 1/1/17 – Tony may not be able to make it, as it’s on a Sunday.  Suggested that we contact L Frank for possible sources of firewood.  It was also suggested that temporary caches be placed to allow people to cache by ‘geosense alone’.  There are published caches in the area, but they are few and far between, and being in a state park, temporaries make more sense, because permission would not have to be obtained beforehand as the caches would be set out and picked up the same day.

¨       Winter Potluck – 1/28/17 – Cache page is live (GC6X1ZQ) and L Frank is hosting in the shelter at Jefferson Barracks.  Ray Bernecki has achieved 25,000 finds and will be honored with a jacket at this potluck.  Bill has found a jacket; Kathy will call to verify that the embroidery will not interfere with the jacket’s features.

¨       Spring Picnic – 5/6/17 – Nan-D1955 will host.  The Kirkwood pavilions have been secured and paid for.

¨       Summer Picnic – 7/15/17 – We called Mike Rogers and spoke to him about the possibility of having the summer picnic in his area.  He agreed.  Arthur of Arthur & Trillian is hosting at Rock Bridge just outside of Columbia, Missouri.  Attendees will provide their own food.

¨       Fall Picnic – Patricia suggested 370 Park, which is expensive, but Pete Shaw knows somebody out there that might negotiate on the cost.  This picnic is currently tabled.

¨       Halloweenie Roast – Larson Park is already paid for; we just need a date and a host.  This event is currently tabled.

¨       Spring Picnic, 2018 – Queeny Park has been suggested with the further recommendation that caches currently in play be replaced with new ones, excepting the oldest ones, for those players who need ‘dated’ caches.  This picnic is currently tabled.

• Classes

¨       Canoe – We called Pete Shaw to discuss canoeing instruction.  He recommended May 1 – October 1 with promotions beginning before then.  Canoeing and kayaking would be offered, but not the same day.  Classes would be limited to about 10 participants.  Pete recommended the Meramec River between Simpson Park and Emmenegger Park.  It was also mentioned that Korriaan may be able to procure canoes for those who may need them, but we will have to look into this further to verify.

¨       GSAK – We called Jason Collier to discuss the GSAK classes.  There are currently three – 101, 102 and 201 – which have been written up.  Pete is proofing the 201 class documentation.  Jason forwarded the 201 information to the SLAGA officers.  Classes will be taught by Jason and Pete.

¨       Cache Publication & Placement – Tony Colter is teaching this how-to class on May 6, 2017 at the South Grand Library from 9 am – 2 pm.

¨       Queeny Park – Bill is planning to contact Queeny Park to inquire if SLAGA can hold classes in their facilities.

• SLAGA Geocoin

¨       Geocoin – This issue is tabled, per Tony.

¨       Pathtags – This issue is tabled, per Tony.

• BLR – The trail has been popular.  People love the coins and there is currently plenty of stock.

• Paypal – Dave DeWitt contacted them and found out that nonprofit status requires a 501C(3) educational nonprofit is required; SLAGA is a 501C(7) recreational nonprofit, so we are back to square one with regard to needing a SSN for the account.

• Bank Accounts – Laura is on the accounts, but is having issues with the online banking.  In addition, Kathy gave her two check registers – one for SLAGA, the other for Geocoinfest – and a deposit was made into the wrong account.  Kathy is correcting it.

• Website Training for New Officers

¨       Laura needs to know how to update memberships.

• Liability discussion

¨       Girl Scouts – Bill spoke to Nancy Gelb regarding GSA liability.

¨       Boy Scouts – Dave spoke to BSA about liability.

• If they call us and ask for instruction, liability is on them.
• If we call them and offer instruction, liability is on us.
• Troops that request instruction in geocaching should be asked to provide a copy of the insurance contract from the BSA.  All scouts are insured up to $1m for activities sponsored by the BSA, according to information Dave acquired from his contact.

New Business

v  Future Meetings

• Meetings will be held the first Thursday of the month at 6:00 pm at the Chemical Interchange Building.  The following schedule was approved.
  • 1/5/17
  • 2/2/17
  • 3/2/17
  • 4/6/17
  • 5/4/17
  • 6/1/17

v  Adjournment

• Patricia motioned for the meeting to be adjourned and it was seconded by Bill.  The meeting adjourned at 8:06 pm.

There was some sidebar discussion between Kathy and Patricia regarding correspondence between SLAGA and its members for certain circumstances.  This issue was spoken on by the other officers and agreed upon.  The secretary handled the follow-up for said circumstances.