Minutes
of the Branch Executive Committee Meeting
November 13th, 2008
I.
Call to Order
Big Sir Jeff Baily called the
meeting to order at 10.00 am
Jeff extended a welcome to
guests Gary Pelton – Region 7 Director and Jim Stedman soon to be Region 6
Director.
Bob Darius was introduced as a
new backup editor of the Sir Call.
II. Members in Attendance
Officers and Directors:
Baily,
Committee Chairmen:
Marchione, Wilson, Yolland,
Roberts, Mitchell, Jackson, Ahlf, Root, Stedman, Obera, DeVoe, Freeman, Nunn, Bobinecz
and Gorman.
III. Secretary’s Report
Hallett explained that the
minutes of the October 9th, 2008 meeting are to be amended to reflect
two additional “Nay” votes, namely
The minutes, as amended, of
the October 9th, 2008 BEC meeting were approved.
IV. Treasurer’s Report
Thomson presented the
Treasurer’s report as of October 31st, 2008. At month end the bank balance was $2609.42. BEC
accepted the report.
Thomson introduced Ron
DeGolia as the new Treasurer, effective January 2009.
With regard to the Christmas
ladies day luncheon, Thomson proposed the following motion:
“Remove the $ 60.00
restriction on decorations for the Christmas ladies day luncheon and rent the poinsettia
table decorations” .Seconded by
After discussion Thomson
amended his motion to read as follows:
“Remove the $ 60.00
restriction on decorations for the Christmas ladies day luncheon and leave
Steve Dawkins to come up with a cost effective way to have a gala Christmas
ladies day.”
Seconded by Binder. Motion
carried.
The BEC congratulated Thomson
on the fine job he has done over the past year.
V. Little Sir’s Report
The Big Sir Elect had been
requested to appoint members to the Nominating and Audit Committees.
The appointed members are as
follows:
Nominating Committee:
Jeff Baily, Chairman
Jack Calloway
Don Nunn
Jim Stedman
Audit Committee:
Ron De Golia, Chairman
Joe Fuchs
Finally, a Sirs training
session for 2009 Officers will be held on December 1st 2008. Those
attending from Branch 146 are Somerville (Big Sir), Hallett (Little Sir), Gates
(Secretary) and De Golia (Treasurer).
VI. Big Sir’s Report.
1) Luncheon Arrangements
& Location Contingency Plan:
The existing catering
contract with
A presentation was made by
Terry Marchione and Jim Burk of a contingency plan should Branch 146 encounter
an emergency need to relocate their monthly luncheon. A copy of the plan is
attached for reference. The BEC thanked Terry , Jim and Joe for their efforts.
Joe Fuchs was busy collecting money at the welcome table.
The BEC recommended a
committee be formed early in the new year to commence negotiations with Course Co,
Inc and if necessary other companies mentioned in the contingency plan. The BEC
also concluded that all Branch members need to be surveyed before any decision
is made to move from a Served to a Buffet style lunch.
2) 2009 BEC Changes.
Due to his moving away from
the area, Terry Marchione is unable to serve as Assistant Secretary in 2009.
The Nominating Committee has selected Jim Burk as Assistant Secretary and Bob
Darius as Director. Their election will be proposed to our Branch members at
today’s luncheon.
3) State Rule Changes.
On June 10th, 2008
the State Board of Directors eliminated Rules 75, 76 and 77 which had
authorized maximum Branch memberships and waiting lists.
The following new rules were
unanimously approved on November 11th, 2008.
Rule 72: Applications shall
be processed through the Branch Executive Committee without delay and approved
applicants shall be inducted within 90 days of application submittal.
Rule 74: Any restriction in
the size of a Branch is against the principles and intent of Sons in Retirement
and is therefore prohibited. Branches shall not establish maximum memberships
nor inhibit recruitment and induction of new members by any means, including
waiting lists and moratoriums on application submittals. Any exception to this
Rule proposed by a Branch Executive Committee shall be submitted through its
Area Governor and Regional Director to the President for consideration. The
exception must be adopted by the State Board of Directors.
VII. Membership Report
Jim Jackson gave the
membership report.
A motion to induct Ronald
Louis, Charles Bates and Robert Bogardus was proposed by
As a result of today’s three
inductions and the resignations of Paul Yee, Don Martin, Bruce Gilbert, and
Stan Jackson our total membership will be 265 (Inc 4 HLMs).
Our Waiting List is now zero.
Jim introduced Dale Hertweck
as the new Membership Chairman effective January 2009.
The BEC thanked Jim for his
five years of service as the Membership Chairman.
VIII. Luncheon Report
Bill Root reported the lunch
count for the November luncheon is 203 with a guarantee to
Bill advised that Bob Lyman
will be the new Attendance/Luncheon Chairman effective January 2009.
The BEC thanked Bill for
stepping in and handling the luncheon arrangements until a new Chairman became
effective in 2009. Job well done.
IX. Old Business
None
X. New Business
None
XI. Committee Reports
-Nominating Committee:
Jim Stedman gave a report on
the activities and procedures of the Nominating Committee. He mentioned that
general membership is also invited to nominate candidates.
-Travel:
None
XII. Good of the Order
None
XII. Adjournment.
The meeting was adjourned at 11.16
am.
Dennis Hallett
Secretary
Attachment:
SIR
CONTINGENCY
PLAN
Luncheon
Arrangements & Location
November 1, 2008
BACKGROUND
Commencing on or around
OBJECTIVE
In order to provide SIR with
a contingency plan should it be necessary to locate either a temporary or
permanent alternative to Boundary Oak, Big Sir Jeff Baily requested that Sir
Terry Marchione put together a committee to develop such a plan. Sir Joe Fuchs and Sir Jim Burk generously
agreed to assist in this endeavor. At
our initial meeting, it was agreed that we would limit our study to locating a
luncheon facility that would work
and not address any golf course issues.
Therefore the basic objective of the committee was to research various
eating/restaurant facilities to
determine which, if any, might serve as an alternative to Boundary Oak.
FACTORS CONSIDERED
Several factors were
considered and each facility was evaluated on these factors:
·
Parking—(at least
100-125 spaces)
·
Capacity—(250
people)
·
Location—(Convenient
to the majority of members)
·
Equipment—(Basic
audio/visual equipment)
·
Bar
Arrangements—(liquor license)
·
Menu choices—(A
reasonable variety)
·
Cost—(No more
than we are currently paying)
·
Plated meals vs.
buffet
·
Separate room for
BEC meetings
RESULTS
Many facilities were
evaluated. Several were visited, some
were contacted by phone and some were rejected out of hand for obvious reasons
(location, size, no liquor license, etc).
No facility was rejected because of parking issues since the committee
has a recommendation in that regard (see “carpooling” recommendation below).
In general, hotels were
rejected due to cost and most private clubs were rejected due to an inability
to guarantee dates (member events take priority).
Taking all things into
consideration, the committee identified three potential facilities that could
serve as either temporary or permanent replacements for our current location at
Boundary Oak.
Zio
Fraedos
Contra
Costa Country Club
WALNUT CREEK ELKS
This would be the first
choice of the committee. Both Branch 8
and Branch 116 of SIR currently meet here and are very satisfied. Their lunches are currently catered by Stan
Gideon of Corporate Cuisine and are served buffet style. The facility has a very nice bar and the
dining room can hold around 250. Stan
Gideon currently charges $11 per person for the buffet which includes salad,
entrée, sides and dessert. In addition, The Elks club charges $620 which
includes facility rental and 2 bartenders for 2 hours. This results in an
overall cost of around $15 per person. The only possible issue here is parking. They have around 100 spaces with an
additional 25 or so at an adjacent office building (currently not
occupied). With aggressive car pooling
this number of spaces should not be an issue.
[As stated previously, we have a recommendation regarding parking here and
in general.] As far as the buffet is concerned, with 2 lines Gideon says they
serve Branch 116 in about 20 minutes using both sides of the line.
They
are quite anxious for our business.
ZIO FRAEDO’S
As our former meeting place
many Sirs are familiar with this location.
Capacity is around 225. Current
pricing is $22 for a plated meal consisting of salad, entrée, sides and
dessert. There is a full bar
available. While the capacity is
somewhat limited if we actually ever get 225 at the luncheons, we feel it could
at least serve as a temporary solution.
As everyone knows, parking is an issue.
They do have around 100 spaces but some of these are used by regular
patrons. The recommendation of the
committee regarding car pooling would, once again, come into play here.
Tony
also is very anxious for our business.
CONTRA COSTA COUNTRY CLUB
Located in
Being located on a hillside,
there are some issues for those with mobility issues getting from the lower
parking lots to the dining facility.
However the club provides a shuttle and there is an elevator in the
building to get to the dining room.
There are possible problems
with conflicts with member events.
However if the facility were available on the second Thursday, it would
suffice as a temporary location. Further
if we were interested in making it a permanent location, it’s possible they
would be willing to get our event on the annual calendar thus guaranteeing
availability.
ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS
As a result of our endeavor,
the committee has three recommendations that are beyond the purview of the
committee.
The first has to do with
car-pooling. For several reasons we feel
it is time for the group to seriously encourage car-pooling even if we end up
staying at Boundary Oak. Given the cost
of fuel as well as the limited parking at many locations we suggest the BEC put
together a committee or task force to develop a plan for all Sirs to give it a
try. Putting together a roster by zip
code or some other means and sharing this info with members might encourage
greater use of car-pooling.
The second suggestion is
related to golf. In the course of
discussing our objectives the thought came up that we should consider more away
golf. As a start, we might consider
using the fifth Tuesday of a month (when that occurs, and in 2009 there are
four months with 5 Tuesdays). Many other branches use this approach and it is
our guess it would be popular with Branch 146 golfers. The way things are going in golf many deals
are available at other courses. This
idea has been passed along to Jim Baldridge and Dick Richmond.
A third suggestion has to do
with making a move to the Elks Club, for example, beginning in January,
2009. The following thoughts pertain:
(1) While we have a contract
with
The merit of moving earlier
than originally planned to this new location is the significant reduction in
price that could be realized. Obviously,
such a plan would have to have the concurrence of the membership because it
would include the change to a buffet format.
For those members who have physical limitations, it is understood that
other members would need to assist our fellow members in securing their food
and helping them get to their table.
(2) If