PLAIN Monthly Meeting
August 7, 2008
The meeting was called to order at 7:47 p.m. by Gwyneth Butera.
Attendees: Gwyneth Butera, president; Lalah Manly, Vice President; Mary Stuckey, Treasurer; Linda Orgain, secretary; Cheryl Feenan, Candy Howland, and James Schwarzlose.
The minutes for the July 10, 2008, meeting were submitted and accepted.
Treasurer’s Report. Mary Stuckey submitted the Treasurer’s Report for July. She mentioned that we had a commercial service charge and she will inquire about that.
A check for the balance in the Watershed account was written to the City of Pine Lake, but it hasn’t been cashed yet. Mary also wrote a check to KABOOM from the Playground account. In addition, she made an ATM withdrawal to refill the cash box for the July breakfast.
We also received a $100 donation to the Tree Fund in honor of C.K. Braswell, Jr., in memory of his wife Peggy Lanford Braswell.
Old Business:
Non-Profit (501c3) Status Update. Mary still needs to get together with K.C. Wildmoon to make sure work this work is completed.
Membership Drive. PLAIN memberships were due to be renewed for all members on July 1. Mary thinks we are now closer to having 50 families as members. She will give the group updates so that we can remind members who have not renewed that it is time to renew their memberships.
Movies on the Beach. There was discussion about sponsoring a movie on the beach this Fall. Lalah M. says there are some plans for the Saturday night (October 4) during Lakefest that are currently under discussion. Depending on what happens with that discussion, Nicky R. will follow up about the possibility of showing a movie. It was advised not to purchase the license until we know that we can show the movie at that time. Nicky will coordinate with Mike Tarnower about obtaining a permit.
October Lakefest is being planned. The dates are Saturday, October 4, and Sunday, October 5. There is a need to recruit more artists to have booths during Lakefest. The costs for Artist Booths are $40 for residents and $75 for nonresidents for a 10×10 spot. Plans for Lakefest will be finalized after August 23.
PLAIN Talk. The August PLAINTalk has been delivered to Cree Sechrist. Gwynneth will request the PDF file to post it on the PLAIN Web site It was decided that the newsletter cannot become primarily paperless until an article about this change is run two to three times. An article about this does appear in this month’s newsletter.
Officers’ Duties. To date, Gwyneth has received a description for the duties of PLAIN president, vice president, and secretary. She still needs a description for the treasurer. Gwyneth will compile these in a document and send it out for comment.
“Greening” of Pancake Breakfast. Cheryl Feenan attended the meeting to give feedback on behalf of the breakfast crew. She said that at the August PLAIN breakfast, we ran out of food sooner than in the past. She said that since people brought their own plates, with plates that don’t bend, people pile the food higher, so we ran out of food sooner. Because many people brought their personal mugs, which were larger than our styrofoam cups, we also ran out of coffee. (Brewing a new container of coffee takes 45 minutes.) In addition, people entered the kitchen and shoved past the breakfast crew because they wanted to wash their dishes. This created problems as the breakfast crew was trying to clean up. This month, there also was more activity because of the various activities and meetings held after the breakfast. Cheryl also asked that we put out a gentle reminder about what we do and do not serve at breakfast. This is in response to some complaints received at this breakfast about some foods that were not available (e.g., milk). However, such complaints are not normally received. In addition, some people thought that we would keep serving beyond 10:30 a.m. She recommended that we remind people to be considerate of our neighbors. Gwynneth will draft an e-mail on this topic and send it for review. It was also suggested that we have signs to encourage people to be courteous to our PLAIN volunteers.
New Business
Community Announcements. It was brought up that there had recently been a need to notify Pine Lake residents about emergency conditions, e.g., when the sewer line was damaged on Ridge Drive. Although many people receive the Pine Lake listserve announcements, there are many older residents who do not have access to e-mail. Candy recommended that the Neighborhood Watch Committee look into this since they are supposed to have a telephone tree to provide information during neighborhood emergencies. The individual block captains could assess who needs a personal telephone call. Gwynneth will check with Greg Creech and Faye Ridling to see if they could develop volunteers for notification of community emergencies. Gwynneth also suggested that everyone be assigned a buddy who they would be responsible for notifying about emergencies.
Cheryl Feenan said that we used to have a telephone service for this purpose and other last minute announcements. It was used for PLAIN meetings, city council meetings, etc. because it was free. We could put a message on it and people got called. Mary said it was discontinued because people weren’t using it. The service played an announcement first and some people were offended by this. She noted, however, that people could opt out of the service.
International Dinner. The International Dinner is scheduled for Saturday, September 20, to begin at 5:30 p.m. We will need volunteers for set up, clean up, advertising, and signs. We will put an article about this in the September issue of PLAINTalk. Marie Andrade has coordinated this in the past, and Nicky R. has also been involved. It was suggested that we have international music. If you bring a family sized dish it’s free, if a person doesn’t bring a dish, it’s $5.00. PLAIN provides the beverages. Mary suggested that people bring their own dishes and utensils. Linda O. volunteered to help set up and to purchase beverages. James S. also will help with the set up and clean up.
Volunteers. There was some discussion on how to get more people to attend the PLAIN meeting. There is an e-mail notification prior to each meeting. We also have signs and will start using them again. There was some consideration of having snacks at the meeting. However, people expressed that we have many opportunities to socialize with Pine Lake residents.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:25 pm.