ESQHA General Membership Meeting

 

President Gayle Farr-Moore called the membership meeting to order on November 4, 2007 at 11:03 a.m. at the Holiday Inn, Waterloo, NY. Those directors present were: Tom Hatch, Karen Kulha, Ed Brenkus, Linda Connors, Regina Kernin, Charlotte and Larry Jaynes, Ginger Tomassini, Wendy and Gene Bingman, Dan Bergstresser, Sandy Burback, Patti Hole, Lee Davidson and Sylvia Farr. Those directors absent were: Rick Kenyon, and Ann Manion. Dave Phillips arrived late.

 

Minutes from the September 30, 2007 meeting were approved.

 

Treasurer’s report showed an ending balance of $52,949.96 as of October 31, 2007. Proceeds from the trail ride were adjusted to $215. A motion was made to donate the profits to the Lothorien Therapeutic Riding Center, seconded and carried. Ed noted that the balance in the youth account is $14,014.10.

 

Ed distributed an update of our 2007 budget and a proposed 2008 budget. The projected annual total still shows a deficit. Linda Connors suggested that the financial committee review the proposed budget and bring any revisions back to the board prior to adoption.

 

Communications:

• AQHA reminded us that they must approve the delegates to the affiliate workshop prior to expense reimbursement.
• Gayle received a letter/complaint from a fall show exhibitor that was forwarded to AQHA. Larry Jaynes gave the background details of the incident. A motion was made that in response to this complaint, the secretary will send a letter to AQHA supporting Larry’s actions as show manager. Seconded and carried.
• Julie’s Barn sent a letter of introduction to their online research source for everything relating to horses, including free classified ads.
• Real estate pamphlet for farm in Bath, NY.
• Thank you letter from Linda Wendt for the financial support we gave to the Congress horse bowl and hippology teams.

 

Committee Reports:

            Newsletter: Ed made a suggestion that we consider going to a bi-monthly newsletter to reduce our annual cost. The job description of the newsletter editor was discussed, although no one had a copy at the meeting. Linda Connors suggested that an ad-hoc committee be formed to review the newsletter editor’s responsibilities and come back to the board with some suggestions for improving the content of the newsletter and the annual cost. Linda Connors, Scott Perkins, Lee Davidson and Tom Hatch agreed to participate on this committee.

 

            December meeting/brunch: Linda Connors has reserved the Sherwood Inn for our December 2, 2007 meeting and Christmas brunch. The cost to the club will be $25/person and we will charge our membership $15/person. Coffee and pastries will be available from 9:00 a.m. with brunch at 12:30 p.m. Be sure to get your reservation to Linda ASAP.

 

            Membership: Ginger received the names of new AQHA members for the third quarter of 2007, consisting of amateurs, open and youth members from NY. Ginger is in the process of comparing this list with our membership list and she will send our brochures to new AQHA members from New York as a way of introducing them to our organization.

 

            Dan mentioned that several barrel participants who placed at Congress were from New York and not Empire members. With our membership declining every year, we need to find ways to encourage other riding disciplines to join.

 

            Charlotte has the name of a person interested in joining. She will mail them a membership pamphlet.

 

 

            Breeders: Any QH class/schedule changes for 2008 should be directed to Kim Connors. We need to decide if Empire wants to sponsor another fundraising dinner.

 

            Directory: Regina reported that last year our directory cost $86.58 and suggested that we increase the ad prices for 2008. A motion was made to amend the cost of directory ads as follows: $60 – full page

               $40 – half page

               $85 – front inside cover or inside/outside back cover

               $150 – center spread

               $25 – business card

The motion was seconded and carried. The deadline for submitting ads is January 18, 2008.

 

            Trail Ride: The buckle was raffled off at the fall show. Charlotte turned over the remaining raffle money to Ed at the meeting.

 

            Spring show: Discussed under old business.

           

Old Business:

• Joe Connors inquired about RFD-TV advertising for our club and discovered that the advertising is done on a national scale and is not affordable for us. Joe referred the company to AQHA as a possible way for AQHA to advertise state affiliates.
• Dates affecting our spring show were discussed. Races at Watkins Glen, the wine festival events and Elmira College all have an impact on the availability of hotel rooms for both our shows and the youth shows. Another consideration is whether AQHA will allow us to move our dates. Regina has compiled all the horse show dates in NY as a reference in avoiding conflicts. It was noted that July is flooded with shows, while April seems to be a good month. The state fairgrounds (coliseum) has an available opening June 12-15, 2008. A motion was made to approach the youth club with the suggestion that we combine our shows with theirs and hold them June 12-15 in Syracuse and split expenses and profits 50/50. Seconded and carried. Missy Butler was in attendance at the time and said she would contact the youth right away and get back to us with their response. Charlotte will reserve June 12-15 in Syracuse and apply to AQHA for these dates. Charlotte also gave us a summary of the rate increases at the Chemung County Fairgrounds.
• There are four applicants for the executive secretary position. Three came in for interviews prior to the meeting and the fourth will be interviewed within the next two weeks. Dave suggested we hold a board meeting before the December 2^nd meeting and all agreed to meet at Linda Connor’s house on November 24, 2007 at 3:00 p.m.

 

New Business:

• AQHA notified us that they received a request from a private stable for six special events in the coming year. The dates requested were January 13, March 1 & 2, April 5 & 6 and a date to be determined in October, 2008. A motion was made to notify AQHA that we do not support this request for six special events, seconded. Discussion continued on this subject. The board was reminded that AQHA will notify us each time a request is made and we are able to make a decision on an individual basis, taking into consideration whether the requested special events are stand-alone events. Motion was carried and secretary will notify Lisa Pond by phone and letter.
• The convention will be on January 18-19, 2008 at the Renaissance, Syracuse, NY. Linda suggested inviting Peter Cofrancesco and Angelo Bizzarro to the board meeting on Friday night. Linda is planning on having speakers for Saturday and is contacting someone from the Unwanted Horse Coalition out of Washington. Dave Phillips mentioned that Karin Bump (Cazenovia College) is the coordinating person in New York. Linda is looking for someone from the equine program at Penn State and will also contact AQHA to inquire who is available. Information on the convention will be mailed.
• The AIM workshop will be held at Linda Connor’s home on November 24, 2007 at 1:00 p.m. Regina offered to send out the workbooks by e-mail or mail to each board member.
• Pat Faitz has offered to donate a breeding to Smart Equilizer. Ginger agreed to take the lead in looking for a way to use this breeding as a fundraiser.
• The year-end points have been completed and will be on the website.
• Joe Connors reported on the horse council meeting concerning the dirt in the Syracuse coliseum. Some shows early and late in the year will have the option of removing this new substance, but shows in the middle of the summer will have to pay the expense of removal. More sand will be put down as a base and the fabric pieces will be taken out. Other state fairground facility repairs and ground improvement discussions will be coming up at future meetings.
• Sandy Burback suggested that we try to have our novice show on the same weekend as a regularly scheduled show. She will work with Charlotte to get a date, possibly at the youth show which is being moved to Syracuse. Sandy also mentioned that Julie Young will start advertising our novice show along with her shows if we want to continue to hold a show at her barn. There is a possibility of doing two novice shows this year and thus qualify for a saddle from AQHA.

 

Future meeting dates:

 

November 24, 2007 – Linda Connors’ home, AIM Workshop at 1:00 p.m. followed by Board of Directors at 3:00 p.m.

December 2, 2007 – Sherwood Inn, Skaneateles, 10:00 a.m. meeting time followed by brunch

January 18, 2008 – Board meeting at convention, Renaissance Hotel, Syracuse, NY

January 19, 2008 – General membership meeting at convention

 

Meeting adjourned at 1:15 p.m.

 

 

 

Catherine S. Reetz, Secretary