General Membership Meeting
November 18 2005
The meeting was called to order at Fiddler's Green Restaurant at 2008 by Commander Katharine Law. Present were 26 members, constituting a quorum, and 4 guests.
INVOCATION: The invocation was offered by P/C Jerry Donovan. Mention was made of the recent passing of P/C Lois Stanford and of Marian Bridge, for whose families special intercession was asked, as well as for P/C Bob Hubbard's wife, Liz Hubbard, who was in ill health.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: The pledge of allegiance was led by ExO Tom Fota.
MINUTES: The minutes of the 6 May, 10 July and 16 September General Members Meetings were approved as posted.
RECOGNITION: Commander Law recognized the attendance
of the following persons:
P/R/C Ed Mraz and Pauline Mraz
P/D/C Tom Swift
and Polly Swift
P/C Shaun McArdle
P/C Ron Weiner and Suzanne Weiner
P/C Jerry Donovan
P/Lt/C Virginia Prutow
and Dick Prutow
P/Lt/C Gordo Parham and Carol Parham.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
The commander announced that the
final CNC event would occur the following day.
The December CNC on 3 December
will be a training session.
She reminded members that the District 28 Winter
Council meeting would occur on Saturday, 3 December, at Southwestern Yacht
Club and urged anyone who could do so to attend this meeting.
She thanked
those who had attended the Fall Conference in October.
The annual "Parade
of Lights" social will take place on 11 December, with fliers for
that occasion on the tables. This gathering, near the Tuna Fishermen's
Monument on Shelter Island, will feature Dave Baer's famous chili, with
hot and cold adult beverages. A sign-up sheet is on the website.
The 2006
San Diego Boat Show will be 5-8 January and Shaun McArdle will need watch-standers,
who can also volunteer on the website.
The commander will be out of town
at the USPS annual meeting in Orlando at that time, and ExO Tom Fota, will
be the officer-in-charge.
The SDSPS annual meeting will be at Southwestern
Yacht Club on Friday, 13 January, and the Change of Watch dinner will be
on Saturday 21 January 2006, also at SWYC.
OFFICERS' REPORTS:
Commander Katie
Law thanked the members of the D28 Fall Conference committee, P/C Bob Hubbard,
P/C Ron Weiner and chaired by P/D/C Bill Bridge. She noted that the committee,
ably assisted by P/C Marie Baer at the Friday Night Hospitality Suite and
Lt/C Barbara Goddard, the raffle chairman, had been responsible for the
success of the conference arrangements, which were thought by all to have
been a great success. Katie also thanked all the members who had contributed
prizes and acknowledged the AO for her organizing efforts. The commander
noted with regret the passing of P/C Lois Stanford, the first female commander
of the San Diego squadron, and of Bill Bridge's wife, Marian Bridge, a
woman certificate holder who had devoted countless hours to the squadron
and was a great help at the Fall Conference. She then asked for the prayers
of members for P/C Bob Hubbard's wife, Liz Hubbard.
ExO Tom Fota reported that P/Lt/C Gordo Parham had submitted additional vessel safety check (VSC) reports. as the result of which the squadron has been credited with 83 vessel exams, second only to the Balboa squadron. He also stressed the need for watch-standers at the Boat Show and urged people to sign up for hours on the website. The commander added that, as the result of a vote at the November ExCom meeting, participants in next year's Sail Fleet races will be required to have a VSC before they can be officially entered. The San Diego Cruiser Association also requires this as a condition of participation, so the squadron will now be on record as having adopted the VSC for all official on-the-water contests.
SEO Mike Fontaine congratulated all the students who took classes in 2005. All courses were given except for Navigation, which will not be offered in the immediate future as P/C Steven Bakalis has taken on new duties at SWYC. Thanks to Ed Mraz and the Carlins, five Boating Course and Boat Smart were given. He acknowledged, congratulated and thanked all instructors. The class schedule for 2006 is posted on the website but Mike asked that people planning to attend a course let the teachers know in advance in order for there to be enough supplies on the first night of class. He encouraged people to check out the Education section of the USPS website, where many special member benefits are available, including MapTech products at wholesale prices. NobelTech also offers a 25 percent discount to our members. These software products are especially useful for predicted log races. Further, showing one's copy of a VSC report will entitle boat owners to buy safety products at West Marine and Boat/US at a 10 percent discount.
AO Nancy Renzi thanked all who had worked to make the Fall Conference a success. Details on the food for the annual meeting and the Change of Watch will be published in the Jan/Feb issue of The Ship's Mail. She called on P/C Ron Weiner to report the final accounting. He noted that all arrangements were satisfactory except for the fact that the banquet food arrived cold, as a result of which we gave rebates to people who attended the dinner. Even with the rebates, we still made money which he attributed to the hard work of Lt/C Barbara Goddard, raffle chairman, whose efforts achieved an unprecedented $1,000. The bottom line was that the squadron made a $475 profit. "Happy/Sad Dollars": The commander announced that, in tribute to the success of the Fall Conference, she would contribute "happy dollars" to the squadron treasury. Gordo Parham put in a happy dollar to congratulate his wife Carol on being listed in the latest edition of "Who's Who of American Teachers." Tom Swift, Jerry Donovan,Jay Garcia, Ron Weiner, Suzanne Weiner, Polly Swift and Jean-Jacques Bellier also contributed. Shaun McArdle threw in a happy dollar for the fact that the San Diego Maritime Museum displayed a shot of the "California" flying a USPS burgee on the cover of its scholarly publication, Mainsail Haul (distributed to museums and university libraries nationwide), as well as on its local publication, Full and By. Carol Parham threw in a dollar in gratitude for the materials on boating safety she received from HQ to pass out to her 100 first graders. Treasurer Trish Carlin summarized the squadron's financial position as of the end of October 2005, noting that we are in excellent financial shape even after paying district dues. Trish gave details as to the status of the checking and money market accounts, as well as the Education Fund. She added happy dollars at the prospect of ending her term as treasurer in January.
Secretary Barbara Goddard reported receiving the report from the Nominating Committee and noted that there was one open position: Administrative Officer. Copies of the report were available on the tables and would be mailed to members as soon as she gets a set of roster labels from Tom Fota. Anyone interested in serving as AO should contact the NomCom chairman, P/C Mel Mones, or speak to Ron Weiner or Ken Glaze after the meeting. IT Chairman, Tom Fota, reiterated that there are sign-up links on the website for upcoming events, including the Boat Show, the Annual Meeting and the Change of Watch.
OLD BUSINESS: There was no old business.
NEW BUSINESS: Commander Law announced
that she had two USPS "Power of One" pins, received at the D/28
Fall Conference, to be awarded to members who had recruited at least one
new member. She awarded these pins to Ken Glaze and Trish Carlin. She also
awarded two certificates to Dan and Trish Dan Carlin for having completed
the USPS Operations Training program.
SEO Mike Fontaine then presented
the SDSPS "Instructor of the Year" trophy to Trish and Dan Carlin,
for their outstanding service in teaching three Boating courses. Mike commented
on the great success of the Carlins for their team-teaching efforts, as
a result of which we have gained quite a few new members.
The meeting was adjourned at 2049. The next meeting will be the Annual Meeting to be held at Southwestern Yacht Club on Friday, 13 January 2006 at 1800.
Following a short break, Mike Fontaine noted that one of the highlights of the Education Department year was offering the new Instructor Development course, taught by Karen Glaze. Two presentations developed in the class were shared: Ken Glaze introduced the use of our new InFocus projectors with flash memory, and a presentation on "Becoming a Vessel Examiner," developed by Bob Hubbard (who was unable to attend because of his wife's illness), was given by pinch-hitter Katie Law.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara A. Goddard, P Secretary
Members in attendance:
Commander Katharine S. Law,
SN
Lt/C Mike Fontaine
AP
Lt/C Barbara A. Goddard
P
Claudia Bowler, AP
Lt Ted Bowler, AP
P/D/C Tom Swift, AP
Lt/C Nancy Renzi, P
Lt/C Trish Carlin,
S
1st Lt Dan Carlin, AP
Julio R. Garcia
Mike Sampsel, SN
D/Lt/C Ron Weiner,
P
P/Lt/C Virginia Prutow,
AP
Richard Prutow, SN
P/C Shaun McArdle, P
Pauline Mraz, P
P/R/C Edwin Mraz,
SN
Jean-Jacques Bellier
P/Lt/C Gordo Parham, P
Lt/C Tom Fota, P
Tom Hazen
Karen Glaze, S
Ken Glaze, AP
Guests:
Polly Swift
Carol Parham
Suzanne Weiner
Dee Hazen