ESQHA General Membership Meeting

 

President Regina Kernin called the membership meeting to order on December 3, 2006 at 10:10 a.m. at the Sherwood Inn, Skaneateles, NY. Those directors present were: Gayle Farr-Moore, Tom Hatch, Ed Brenkus, Linda Connors, Charlotte & Larry Jaynes, Dan Bergstresser, Patti Hole, Lee Davidson, Andy & Cathy Damiano, Rick Kenyon, Dave Phillips, Sylvia Farr. Karen Kulha attended the youth meeting. Absent were: Ginger Tomassini, Gene & Wendy Bingman, Sandy Burback and Ann Manion.

 

Minutes of the November 5, 2006 meeting were read. It was noted that Tom Hatch’s trip to the affiliate workshop in Amarillo will be paid by ESQHA and not AQHA, and Gayle is also making phone calls for awards. Minutes were approved with these corrections.

 

Members in attendance were introduced.

 

Treasurer’s report showed an ending balance of $58,049.18 as of 11/30/06. Ed advised that the Ontario National Bank has been bought by Community Bank. He believes that Pat Porter is still holding our CDs and he will contact her. It was noted that our treasurer’s report was to be posted in the newsletter on a quarterly basis. Ed apologized for the oversight and will get the information to our newsletter editor in the future. Ed will also have extra copies of his report available at the meeting for any members in attendance.

 

Correspondence:

• Regina had some people contact her with questions on year-end points.
• An exhibitor at the fall show requested we refund entries and help pay her horse’s vet bills due to an injury sustained at the fall show. It is our policy not to refund entries and the exhibitor was referred to the NYS Fairgrounds with any further complaint concerning the grounds.
• The Board received Andy Damiano’s resignation with regret and thanks.

At this point Regina turned the meeting over to Gayle Farr-Moore.

 

Committee Reports:

            Convention: Deadline for reserving rooms with Holiday Inn is January 5, 2007.

 

            Awards: The majority of awards have been ordered. Promotional and trail riding awards have been received. Regina is still waiting on AQHA for the forms to order the affiliate trophies.

            Newsletter: Regina reported that 325 newsletters were printed for November at a cost of $710.24. Postage totaled $81.39. The November newsletter consisted of 28 pages with one insert. Regina has received three addresses for places to send the newsletter for distribution to the general public and is still looking for additional places.

 

            Incentive Fund: Rick has the final points, and will have the results calculated for the January 2007 meeting.

 

            Spring show: Larry reported that AQHA would not give us our May dates, but offered June 30^th and July 1^st. Larry offered the possibility of obtaining special events to bridge the days until the youth shows and run our spring show and the youth shows as an eight-day circuit. Expenses could be shared and there would be only one fee for renting the fairgrounds. Ed pointed out the hazards of trying to keep the finances separate. A motion was made to accept the June 30^th and July 1, 2007 dates from AQHA for our spring shows, seconded and carried.

 

            Fall show: The schedule will be reviewed for 2007.

 

            Novice show: Sandy Burback contacted Julie Young and reserved July 22, 2007 pending AQHA approval.

 

            Region 5 show: The show will be in Virginia in 2007.

 

            AIM: Our 2006 follow-up report and 2007 AIM plan were forwarded to AQHA and AQHA verified receiving this information. Grant money was requested for fixing our booth to take it to the Horse Expo, money for the youth “YES” convention and for the novice show. Regina asked AQHA for information to start the board assessment process and received a Facilitator Indication Form that must be returned to AQHA before proceeding.

 

            Marketing: Dan Bergstresser will come up with a packet for members to go to local businesses and solicit sponsorships for the January meeting. Anyone interested in joining the marketing committee should contact Dan.

 

            Membership: Cathy has mailed membership renewal cards.

 

            Finance: Ed distributed a proposed budget for 2007 for consideration. It was suggested that the line item budget for donations be increased to $1,000 since we have already committed to spend more than half of the amount listed. The incentive fund disbursements will be amended to $3,700. Some questions arose concerning convention expenses and what members pay vs. what the club pays. Each committee is responsible for setting specific financial goals based on an income and expense budget and is required to submit a financial report at the completion of their event.

 

            Promotion/Trail Riding: Dave reported that he had 16 promotion riders, 7 trail riders and no youth participants in the 2006 program. All participants will be listed on the website and in the newsletter for recognition.

 

            NYS Horse Breeders: Dues are due.

 

            Chemung Horse Council: December 6, 2006 is the next meeting.

 

            Ride 2007: Lee will try to hold two rides in 2007. Mendon, Brookfield and the Syracuse area have been suggested as locations. Lee would like to purchase a belt buckle again this year. A motion was made for Lee Davidson to purchase a Montana Silversmith belt buckle to be raffled off at the trail ride. Motion was seconded and carried.

 

            Website: Tom would like to get the show schedule together but doesn’t want to list anything on the website until all dates are confirmed. The December meeting information, and meeting minutes from October and November have been posted. Tom created a slide show of pictures from the Regional show. Tom also reported that he has finished setting up the new youth domain name, esqhya.org. The old site is still up and is a duplicate for now.

           

            Youth: Karen Kulha reported that the youth will hold a live auction at the banquet in January. Bill Hopkins has been hired as the auctioneer and they are looking for large items to be donated. Election of officers was held: President, Todd Bednarek; VP Kristin Williams; Secretary, Hillary Huttleston; Treasurer, Amanda Wendt; and Newsletter Editor, Erica Wilson. The youth will add NYS Horse Council and Cuse Classic classes to their horse shows if Empire holds them at their shows. Information on these medallion classes will be published on the website. The hypology team placed 5^th and the judging team placed 8^th, at the Congress with the team coming in 33^rd overall in the team tournament. The group is reviewing their fundraising options and are sending school supplies to a school in Kenya.

 

            Other: Linda Connors introduced Gordon Sprutels, director on the board of the New York State Farm Bureau. Mr. Sprutels gave a brief overview of how the Farm Bureau addresses legislation issues concerning the equine industry and requested our support. Motion was made to put an application for the New York State Farm Bureau and the New York State Horse Council on our website and in the newsletter from January – March 2007. Motion was seconded and carried.

 

            Linda Connors advised us that Jim Barton has established a permanent scholarship which will be available to members of the ESQHYA exclusively.

 

            Scott Perkins brought up the idea of a Professional Trainers Association in NY. Many ideas were discussed and it was decided to form an ad hoc committee within the marketing committee to address this issue.

 

No other committee reports were made. Motion was made to accept the committee reports, seconded and carried.

 

Old Business:

• Secretary cast one ballot for the following slate of officers: President, Gayle Farr-Moore; 1^st VP, Tom Hatch; 2^nd VP, Karen Kulha; Treasurer, Ed Brenkus. The secretary cast one ballot for the following list of directors elected to a two-year term: Gene Bingman, Sandy Burback, Ann Manion, Larry Jaynes, Sylvia Farr, Dave Phillips, and Mike Bednarek.

 

New Business:

• We will need a new chairperson for the novice show. Contact Gayle if you are interested.
• Barbara Moran would like us to be the Affiliate sponsor of a second novice show at her farm. There is a possibility of a date in May being open. Will need to get more information from Barbara before requesting approval from AQHA. If we sponsor a second novice show in 2007 we would qualify for a saddle from AQHA.
• March 10^th was suggested as a possible date for the board assessment workshop. Regina and Scott will concentrate on obtaining a facilitator.
• Motion was made to donate $250 to the Lothlorian Therapeutic Riding Center, seconded and carried.
• There will be no change in our policy for granting ESQHA points to shows in New York State in 2007.
• It was noted that the May show previously called the Junior/Amateur show, held at the fairgrounds in Syracuse, has moved their show to Father’s Day weekend in June.
• Motion was made for pay our dues to the New York State Breeders Association in the amount of $100, seconded and carried.
• Shannon Richer commented on some changes we could make to the newsletter and website format to coordinate the information and make them more user-friendly and encourage more advertising. Shannon and Tom will get together and discuss options.
• Secretary read the proposed letter to AQHA concerning special events and the impact they have on our horse shows. A motion was made to send the letter to AQHA, seconded and carried with a unanimous vote.
• Lee Davidson presented Regina with a bottle of wine as a thank you for her support of the trail rides the last two years.

 

Future meeting dates:

 

January 20, 2007, Holiday Inn, Waterloo. Meeting at 2:30 p.m.

February 18, 2007

March 11, 2007

 

Meeting adjourned at 12:45 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

Catherine S. Reetz, Secretary