Minutes of the 2010 annual meeting

WILLAMETTE VALLEY CHAPTER OF NAVHDA

January 31, 2010

The Willamette Valley chapter annual meeting was held at the Cascade Grill in Albany.  Members present: Phil Swain, Jeff Merriman, John Tacke, Jay Welch, Jim Donovan, Kathy Steele, John and Grace Lucini, Carmen Spencer, Kyle Davidson, Kirsten Fulk, Grant Beem, Allen Powell, Maureen Conley, Ryan Sexton, Chancellor Archie, Howard and Vicki Meyer. 

The meeting was called to order at 2:08 pm by President Howard Meyer.  A current membership list was distributed for any updates.  Minutes of last year’s meeting were circulated and accepted as presented (Donovan/Swain).  Howard indicated that the annual membership dues will remain at $20.

Jeff Merriman presented the 2008 Treasurer’s report showing a net income of $534.72 and an ending balance of $4,479.29.  The spring test showed a profit of $320.86 while the fall test lost $362.25 – the primary difference was an addition $750 in judges expenses for the fall test when we were required to bring in an ‘outside region’ judge who came from Pennsylvania.  Test birds continue to be a major test expense and bird costs are likely to increase again this year.  We were fortunate to receive a gift of $400 from the Pacific Northwest chapter as a ‘profit-sharing’ from the 2009 national NAVHDA meeting that they hosted in Portland.  The financial report was accepted (J. Lucini/Fulk).  Howard thanked Jeff for his excellent work as treasurer. 

Jeff then gave an update of his efforts to achieve IRS 501(c)(3) status as a charitable organization.  After months of effort and endless paperwork, Jeff has received verbal confirmation that our case has been approved.  IRS regulations are very specific as to wording of our by-laws; several of the needed changes were proposed at the 2009 annual meeting and subsequently ratified by email voting of members.  Additional required changes have been accommodated by Articles of Incorporation, copies of which were circulated to meeting attendees.  One final minor change remains to be made to the final item (Article 6) of the chapter by-laws, Assignment of Chapter Assets Upon Dissolution; that will be circulated to chapter members by email for ratification.

Additional discussion of the current chapter by-laws centered on voting rights at annual meetings and steps/procedures to circumvent chapter takeover by individuals or groups who may be opposed to activities of the chapter.  Examination of current existing by-laws indicated that voting is restricted to ‘Adult Membership’ defined as ‘one adult and all members of his/her immediate family and requires current membership in NAVHDA.  Voting privileges are restricted to one vote per adult membership’.  While the requirement of current membership in NAVHDA (International) would preclude voting rights to individuals paying annual dues for the first time at the meeting, it also leaves in limbo members who join the chapter but are not members of NAVHDA International.  It was moved/seconded (Swain/Donovan) that an additional membership category of Adult Associate Membership be added to the by-laws.  The description of Adult Associate Membership would be essentially the same as Adult Membership but not require membership in NAVHDA International and would not provide for voting privileges.  The motion carried and will be circulated to chapter members by email for ratification.

Howard asked Jeff for a report on the chapter website (www.wvnavhda.com).  Jeff said that due to problems with the previous host server he had moved the site to the RackSpace server, a top-of-the-line service which was being provided at a fraction of the normal monthly cost.  Discussion ensued regarding updating of website information such as the membership list.  Jeff explained that information came to him from various directions such as renewals, joining at training days, joining with test entries, etc. and that the data was not always complete (or legible).  Additional confusion arose from members re-joining after one or more years in the ‘inactive’ file.  Coordination efforts between Jeff and the test secretary should remove some of the past glitches.  The big annual update occurs after purging of non-renewals (due March 1) and Jeff will try to update monthly thereafter.

The Spring test has been approved for May 1 & 2 and will include both NA and higher testing.  Judges are Bob Farris (Idaho), Melissa Herz (OR) and John Kohnke (WA).  The test will be held at Luckiamute Valley Pheasant Preserve and Jay Welch is test secretary.  Entry fees for members are $120 for NA and $140 for UT and UPT.  Entry fees for chapter non-members are an additional $20.  Howard pointed out that we now have three NAVHDA judges as members of the WV chapter: Phil Swain, Larry Stone (Bend) and Kurt Merg (Spokane).  NAVHDA has relaxed the stipulation for ‘outside of region’ judges from being required once every second test to every third test.  Hence, we were not required to get an outside judge for the spring test nor for the forthcoming fall test but will need to budget for one for the Spring, 2011 test.

The Fall test is tentatively scheduled for August 14 & 15.  Howard will be contacting prospective judges shortly and he has reserved birds with Duck Haven Farms.  Additional potential test sites have been suggested and will be examined but Howard has requested St. Louis Ponds as a backup.

Training days were discussed.  Howard has visited with Dean Barton and received approval to again use his farm near Brownsville as needed.  It appears that the ‘maturation’ of the club is resulting in increased interest in testing of UT and UPT dogs.  A show of hands indicated at least eight people were interested in higher level testing and training days aimed at UT training.  Phil Swain suggested that a one day mini-Handlers Clinic could be organized for interested members; he and Howard will explore the subject and circulate information to members.  Phil also indicated that he frequently trains at St. Louis Ponds and invited interested members to join him there for late afternoon sessions as the days get longer.

Howard vacated the chair for vice president Jay Welch to initiate the election of officers.  Phil Swain inquired if the sitting Board members were all willing to assume another term.  All board members being willing, Phil then moved that the slate of sitting officers be nominated and elected by acclamation.  The motion was seconded by John Tacke and passed.  Chapter officers for 2010-2011 are: President Howard Meyer, VP Jay Welch, Secretary Vicki Meyer, Treasurer Jeff Merriman.

Jay Welch described hiccups from the Fall test and steps to make the Spring test go more smoothly.  Items included the need to seek out raffle items from donors (Kirsten Fulk indicated she would solicit items from a number of her contacts); several folks should bring cameras to generate test photos for the chapter website; information packets are being prepared for anyone interested in running a dog in one of our tests.  He and Jeff will coordinate to get the information on the chapter website so it is readily available.  Pacific Northwest chapter guidelines regarding refunds and handling fees for dogs withdrawn from tests were discussed – the membership agreed that charging of handling fees was appropriate.  Lastly, a volunteer is being sought to arrange the food for the Spring test.

Howard raised the matter of a ‘social secretary’ for contacting and follow-up of entrants to our Spring and Fall tests.  Phil Swain and John Tacke volunteered to take on the role.

Motion to adjourn (G Lucini/Donovan) passed and the meeting closed at 4:01 p.m.

Vicki Meyer

Chapter Secretary