Sons in Retirement Branch 146 Walnut Creek Area Devoted to the promotion of Independence and the Dignity of Retirement

Minutes of the Branch Executive Committee Meeting
October 8, 2009

I. Call to Order, Opening Remarks and Introduction of Guests

Big Sir Stu Somerville called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m.
As a part of his opening remarks, he congratulated Don Nunn and Vince Rettew for organizing and coordinating a wonderful Dinner Party (and some dancing also took place).  The food was very good and everyone appeared to be having a great time.

Dean Steichen, Area 2 Governor, was introduced.

II. Members in Attendance

Officers and Directors:
Somerville, Hallett, Burk, de Golia, Fuchs, Binder, Darius, Mitchell, and Rettew
Committee Chairmen and others:
Yolland, Meehan, Calloway, Lyman, Wilson, and Ahlf
Guests:
Nunn, Baily, Steichen, Roberts, Kan, Thompson, and Tutton

III. Secretary’s Report

In Secretary Gates absence, Assistant Secretary Burk stated that the Minutes of the last BEC Meeting on September 10, 2009 had been distributed to BEC on September 17th.  He called for any comments and corrections.  The Minutes were approved without change.

IV. Treasurer’s Report

Treasurer De Golia reported that September Revenues were $6,208 and Expenses were $6,021.52 resulting in a net gain of $186.48.  Cash available in the bank is 6,282.76.  There was a gain of $203 for the luncheon.  For the 9 months of 2009 ending on September 30, 2009 Revenues were $68,866.24 and Expenses were $64,788.19 resulting in a net gain of $4,078.05.  This is a very good result compared to where we were about one year ago.  The referenced gain above was assisted by the voluntary contributions received from the members. 
Voluntary contributions as of 10/4/09 now stand at almost 90% of membership with 231 members participating and 26 not participating.  The collection of contributions from the remaining members continues to be an active project, with the understanding that there will definitely be some cases where collection will not happen for reasons of health, etc.  It has been determined that Branch administrative expenses approximate $5,400 per year.  Thus, we may need to consider increasing the $20 contribution per member in 2010. 
De Golia recommended that he place an abbreviated Treasurer’s Report in the SIR Call every month to keep the membership informed of the Branch financial status.  He further commented that the Activities Chairs have been doing a very good job to ensure that expenses do not exceed the revenues collected.

V. Little Sir’s Report

Our luncheon speaker is Carol Louisell, Program Manager – Caring Hands Volunteer Caregivers Program – John Muir Health.

The Veterans Day – November luncheon speaker will be Alan Cruz, Col. USMC (Ret).  He will speak about his experiences in the Marine Corps and in particular his deployments on active duty in Vietnam and the Middle East.
Hallett also addressed three other subjects:
(1) 2010 Member Directory:  He reported that we have been informed that the Golden Gate Tours travel company will no longer be able to publish this directory for us free of charge.  It is hoped that we will be able to secure the disk from them so that we will not have to create all of the information from scratch.  Various alternatives were discussed:

• Staples will do the job for a charge of $500 for 250 copies
• The publisher of our newsletter may be able to do it, and Ahlf will secure a price.
• Richter will be asked by Big Sir Somerville to contact Golden Gate Tours and see if they would do the job for a price and how much would that be
• Somerville will approach CourseCo with the same question
• Do we know of a member who would be capable and free to do the job?
• Who do the Women’s golf groups use for their directory?

The 2010 Member Directory will need to be published early in January, 2010.  Members should send changes in their listing information to Hertweck as soon as possible.  We hope to have a solution to this Directory issue by our November meeting.
(2) Christmas Luncheon Entertainment Fee: He reported that quality entertainment all request a fee for their engagement.  We also need money for table decorations as well.  After discussion, a motion was made and passed to increase the per person price for the luncheon to $30 to cover these two expenses.
(3) Boundary Oak Clubhouse Audio System – Need to Upgrade:  He affirmed what most members have felt for some time.  The audio system in the Clubhouse needs to be upgraded.  It was speculated that the City of Walnut Creek did not want to spend the money to accomplish this upgrade at this time.  Burk volunteered to speak with both the City and CourseCo to understand their position.  Binder volunteered to speak with his son who is in the audio-visual business about the problem.  Area Governor Steichen offered that Branch 8 has accomplished a similar project at the Walnut Creek Elks Club under the guidance of member Dick Chaffee.  Burk will contact Chaffee to learn what was done in this latter case.

VI. Committee Reports
Member Recruitment and Retention Committee
-Recruitment Recognition:
Callaway reported that the drawing of a member’s name who has recruited one or more guests for the year of 2009 will take place at the November luncheon.  Guests invited to the November luncheon will count on behalf of the inviter and thereby increase the chances of winning.  He encouraged members to continue to recruit enthusiastically.  There will be 3 new inductees; 1 inductee previously approved; and 4 guests at today’s luncheon.
-Member Survey:
He reported that 120 members filled out a survey and turned it in at or following the luncheon of September 10.  He reported on some of the opinions coming out of the survey.  Callaway will write up a summary report and place it in the SIR Call so as to inform the membership on the general nature of what was learned.  Any action taken on the comments in the survey will be up to the BEC.  He indicated that in his opinion we should continue to periodically have mixed seating so as to enhance getting to know other members within the Branch.  In addition, we should review our Branch procedures and agenda for the luncheon that has developed over the years.  Changes may be advised to make things less routine.
-Next Project – Luncheon Attendance:
Callaway reports that his group will next take on the matter of luncheon attendance, or lack thereof.

Luncheon:
Lyman reported that membership now stands at 259 and 84 have asked to be excused from today’s luncheon.  There will be 4 guests and 2 speakers.  He is expecting 184 to be in attendance.

Membership 
Somerville reported for Hertweck that 4 men are up for induction at today’s luncheon.  They are Steven Jacobs (Sponsor, William Holly), Clifford Melikian (Sponsor, Tom Morgan), Richard Kincaid (Sponsor, Vince Rettew) and Walter Schmidt (Sponsor, James Meehan).
Motion was made and passed to approve the induction of these men into the Branch.  It was also reported that Bill Ennis has resigned.

Others
SIR Call Editor
Ahlf reported that we are approaching the time when we may have to increase the pages in the SIR Call to accommodate the increase in demand for newsletter space.  This action will carry with it increased costs for paper and postage.  He will continue to watch this possible development.

Honorees
Yolland reports that we will honor a member turning 90 years of age at the luncheon today (Bob Wheaton).

Unfinished Business
Donations
Somerville expressed that this matter is an ongoing project and that he will continue to review the list of members for whom donations have not been made and sensitively assess whether further follow-up and telephone calls should be made.  Hallett expressed that during some of the calls he made it was evident that some of our older members are confused as to whether we are still collecting an extra dollar at the luncheon for administrative purposes.  In addition, they are unclear as to where they should send their check.

New Business
HLM: Are they supposed to call in regarding luncheon attendance?  There are a couple of HLMs that do not call at all.  After discussion, Don Nunn volunteered to contact the “active” HLMs and reinforce the requirement to call if they are not going to attend the luncheon.

Last Call
There being no further business to bring before the BEC, the meeting was adjourned by Somerville at 11:01 a.m.

Jim Burk
Assistant Secretary

Final: October 31, 2009
Revised after BEC: November 12, 2009