November 9, 2019 East Texas Bridge Association
Unit 225 Board Meeting Minutes
The meeting was called to order at 11:30 by President Linda Harrison. Mary Ramsey was excused absent, while Linda Harrison, Janie Wolaver, Phyllis Alvarez, John Hamilton, Sandra O’Bannon, Jo Ann Zastovnik, Jo Ellen Wade, Rathnam, Carol Kinsey, Susan Ford, and Tom Spradlin were in attendance.
By voice vote the Board approved the minutes from the October, 2019 Board meeting.
Sandra O’Bannon presented the treasurer’s monthly report for review. The unit made a profit last month of approximately $1,134, 00, due mostly to the October NAP game and the ACBL Member Reimbursement of $1,113.54. By voice vote the Board approved the treasurer’s October report as submitted showing a balance of $41,981.09.
Linda reported that she has spoken with Tyler city authorities, who confirmed to her that our rent will remain stable and that we will also continue to use our storage facility that is included in our monthlyrental. After brief discussion of an alternative site being considered by Sandra O’Bannon, the Board preferred to stick with the Senior Citizen Center.
Jo Ellen Wade presented a table of sanctions for 2020 games, club unit games, and tournaments, along with tournaments in 2021. They have all been sanctioned by ACBL.
President Linda Harrison has called a Special Meeting of the unit for 11 AM, December 12, 2019, at the Tyler Senior Citizens Center. Among other things, the meeting will be used for the membership to vote on Unit 225 bylaw changes. These changes have been approved by petition of the board with a positive response by 8 board members via email votes to Linda. The Secretary will provide 30-day notice to directors about the meeting, and Linda will send an email blast to all members.
Sandra O’Bannon reported she has received a letter from IRS about our tax-exempt status, but it is still unclear whether our application is complete. She will continue to monitor this.
Linda has requested hotel contracts from the Holiday Inn in Tyler for the 2020 Tournament of Roses. The $5,000.00 cost for the tournament covers rental of banquet room, side rooms, and all food, including the lunch for the Sunday Swiss Team event. The board discussed an alternative site, but approved by voice vote the use of the Holiday Inn again in 2020.
With respect to the Tournament of Stars, Janie reported that everything is set with the hotel. Mike and Shirley will meet with the Board in January to discuss their plans. Jo Ellen will check with ACBL to determine whether a regional tournament can be less than 7 days.
The annual Christmas party is set for December 14, 2019. Lunches have been arranged for 90, and we will ask directors for a lunch headcount. Twenty members will be given awards. Sandy Hilliard will deliver the plaques to John Hamilton, Awards Co-Chair and Phyllis will take pictures of winners. Note that the time of the meeting has been changed to 11 AM because of a busy agenda, and to allow more time for lunch.
Linda reported that she has been informed by ACBL that they plan to begin using an outside vendor to support emails blasts, and that in future the unit will have to pay a nominal fee for such support. The anticipated cost seems modest. By voice vote the board approved having Linda sign up for Unit 225 to continue this email blast service as it is an easy and effective tool for communication to the Unit or tournaments.
The Charity Game on December 14 will support Santa’s Kids. Sandy Hilliard asked to have announced that club charity games are welcome to support that charity, but directors are still free to choose.
The Board discussed the effect of the NAP game in October on unit game attendance. There are a good number of ideas for how to handle unit games, and NAP games, but the issue was tabled.
Carol Kinsey asked permission to pursue purchase of software for managing pictures for the unit’swebsite. The Board authorized expenditure of no more than $100 for this purpose.
The meeting adjourned at 12:30.
Tom Spradlin, Secretary
