Plain Monthly Meeting
May 7, 2008
The meeting was called to order at 7:41 p.m. by Gwyneth Butera.
Attendees: Gwyneth Butera, president; Linda Orgain, secretary; Greg Creech, Faye Ridling, Mary Stuckey, and Veronica Wright.
The minutes for the April 3, 2008, meeting were submitted, reviewed, corrections made, and were accepted.
Treasurer’s Report. Mary submitted the treasurer’s report for April, and reported on the deposits. There were additional funds deposited for PLAIN, the Tree Fund, and the Playground Committee.
She has received the post office key, to receive bank statements and bills.
Old Business:
Non-Profit (501c3) Status. Mary reported that she provided last year’s spreadsheet to K.C. Wildmoon.
Financial Policy: This was written by Kathie deN, and had been reviewed by the group. Mary S. moved the PL financial policy be accepted as amended by the various PLAIN officers and members. The motion passed.
Several donations have been received for Nancy Napier. Mary will make out a check and mail it to her.
E-mail Announcement List. Gwyneth reported that this is going well. There are currently 150 subscribers.
PLAIN Talk. Payments – Mary is going to call the printing company and have Mark Resources mail the bill directly to us at the PLAIN Pine Lake post office box.
Veronica asked about having PLAIN Talk as a Web-only publication. Thus far, 5 people have volunteered to not have it delivered, but to just view the electronic version on the Web. There was discussion about how to change this to electronic delivery. This will result in a savings of approximately $200 to PLAIN each month. On the floor was a proposal from Gwyneth that beginning with the July issue, only people who request PLAIN Talk as a paper copy will receive a hard copy. Linda did not think this was a good idea; rather, she proposed that people “opt out” of hard copies, rather than “opt in.” Greg C. thought a lot of Pine Lake residents would want to receive it electronically. The decision is that Gwyneth will write an article about this policy for the June issue of PLAIN Talk. Greg suggested that it be framed that we are “going greener” effective July. He said that we will have to let the advertisers know about this change in policy regarding circulation.
Memorial Day Event. The Memorial Day Events will be held on Saturday, May 24. PLAIN will be hosting an ice cream after the cookout. Kathy and Faye will pick up the ice cream, cones, and sprinkles.
Volunteer Fair. Along with the Memorial Day celebration, there will be a volunteer fair. In addition, Volunteers will be recruited during the June 7 PLAIN Pancake Breakfast. It was suggested to Kathy that she add PLAIN Talk writers and someone to be responsible for advertising to the list of volunteer needs.
PLAIN Annual Membership Drive. Candy Howland is responsible for writing a letter to encourage Pine Lake residents to become PLAIN members that can be sent by e-mail. If an individual/family renews their membership at the June breakfast, they eat for free. New members who paid after March 1, 2008, are “grandfathered” in for this year. If someone joined between Dec. 31 and March 1, their renewals will be $12.50.
Greener Breakfast. Gwyneth made some suggestions for having a “greener” breakfast. For instance, an individual could get 50 cents off the cost of breakfast for bringing their own plate/silverware/mug. Veronica suggested finding greener ware; we can check into whether Sam’s Club has “greener” items? Gwyneth also suggested having cloth napkins. Pam currently washes the table cloths after each use. Other ideas for greener practices included having people bring their own mugs instead of using the styrofoam coffee cups, or using recyclable hot cups. Gwyneth asked whether there was any way to “go green” with the food provided, e.g., using real maple syrup instead of artificial maple syrup. Sharon Day has said that she would be willing to supply the maple syrup. It also was proposed that a source for locally-raised eggs could be used. Mary S. said that the issue with some greener practices is both cost (higher) and convenience, and this is asking a lot of the breakfast crew. Veronica mentioned a local source for egg-laying chickens. Mary suggested that this issue be discussed with Pam and Cree, who coordinate the monthly breakfast. This issue will be discussed again at the June meeting.
Nominations for PLAIN Leadership and Annual Meeting. Nominations for some PLAIN board members were made at the May meeting. Although the nomination forms should have been given out at the May breakfast, this did not happen. The current slate of officers is willing to serve. Candy Howland has communicated that she will not serve beyond this term, so there is a need for a new vice-president. Gwyneth said that there is a need for a nominating committee. There will be a vote for all officer positions during the June meeting; the officers terms begin in June and they serve for 1 year. The next meeting will be Thursday, June 5, at 7:30 p.m. at the Clubhouse.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:21 p.m.