Sigdalslag Executive Board Meeting 14 January 2012

Transcription

1 Sigdalslag Executive Bard Meeting 14 January 2012 The Sigdalslag executive bard met n Saturday, January 14, 2012 at the hme f President Jean Knaak in Grey Eagle, Minnesta. President Jean Knaak presided and she called the meeting t rder at 10:20. The fllwing peple were in attendance: Jean Knaak (President), Earl Knutsn (VP Membership), Karen Olsn (VP Culture), Marlys Hnrud Larsn (VP) Dale Buisman (Secretary), Janice Jhnsn (Treasurer), Rd Pletan (Bk Representative),, plus Members: Gerge Olsn. Betty Knutsn Absent were Ed Espe (Webmaster) Sctt Brunner (Saga Editr), Dianne Snell (Histrian) and Garth Ulrich (Genealgy Chairman). Intrductins: Jean riented us t her hme. Earl Knutsn jined 1996, past president, nw VP, Rd Pletan, VP fr 5 years, visited Nrway many times, Karen Olsn, member fr 5 years, bard member fr 3 years, Marlys Larsn has been t Nrway 5 times, varius family members have jined varius lags, has given presentatins in Sweden, Jan Jhnsn, great grandfather was a member in abut 1912, has been t the Stevne a few times befre she became a member. Dale, member fr tw years, new t the bard this year. Interested in grwing the family tree. Jean, Jined t learn abut her family tree befre taking a trip t Nrway, her ancestrs lived at varius farms. Husband als Nrwegian. Additins and Apprval f Agenda: Agenda attached- Earl will have bills t be paid, add t treasurer s reprt. Ensure we discuss prcedures that indicate wh takes care f what items in the rganizatin. Make sure that infrmatin is dcumented s thers culd have access t it. President Jean Knaak requested Minutes frm last meeting t be read. Minutes frm previus meeting: Secretary Dale Buisman read minutes frm Executive Bard meeting n July 14, President Jean Knaak requested additins r crrectins frm the minutes, nne made. President asked fr additins r crrectins t minutes as read, nne made, minutes stand apprved. Reprt frm Treasurer: A Financial Reprt (attached) fr the perid January 1 thrugh December 31, 2011 was passed ut by Treasurer Janice Jhnsn. Discussin regarding PayPal fees unaccunted fr and that Sigdal is prbably the nly lag using PayPal. Rd asked abut schlarship fund, Janice indicated that thse are still in general fund. Discussin abut the schlarship fund. Is that mney still in the general fund? Earl stated that the $6000, fr the schlarship fund may need t be in a separate accunt. Jean discussed fees frm Stevne, mney was gained by having Stevne rather than it being a lss t the rganizatin. Questin abut Birger Men accunt answered. Suggestin was made t have grup review the reprt if pssible instead f just ne persn (David Rkke). President Jean Knaak made request fr additins r crrectin, and Jean cmmended Janice n her wrk and the details f the reprt. Reprt nw n file and ready fr financial review. Stevne Reprt frm President: President Jean reviewed reprt frm last Stevne (attached). Evaluatins cmpleted after Stevne n paper and additinal evaluatin available n line via Survey Mnkey. Reviewed the survey results. Based n survey results, NSI was given the suggestin f having the 2013 Stevne at the Crwne Plaza Htel in Brklyn Center. Discussin regarding the reasnable fees as cmpared t ther facilities clser t dwntwn. Jean cmmends rganizatin fr gd wrk dne n last Stevne in Farg, Nrth Dakta.

2 11:25 break fr restrm and stretching. 11:35 resume meeting Reprt frm President: Cntinued: NSI Reprt: Reviewed reprt. Jan reprted n financial reprt frm (Nrwegian Stevne's Incrprated) NSI, reprt passed ut fr review. Request fr reimbursement frm Membership VP: Earl presented bills that he needs t be reimbursed fr. Karen read frm bylaws: President and treasurer may apprve reimbursements. Earl indicated that previusly he had nt been ging thrugh the bard fr reimbursement. Will discuss subject further with treasurer s reprt. Reprt frm Treasurer: Treasurer Janice Jhnsn indicated errr in balance sheet, verpayment t NSI. Discussin with grup as t what t d with this verpayment f $ MOTION was made and carried t allw the verpayment t NSI stand and be applied as a dnatin. Janice discussed need fr better accunting f Stevne as well as prblems in registratin at Stevne. Janice and Jean will bth be signatries n bank accunt. Reprt frm Secretary: Minutes frm last meeting read earlier. Dale raised questin abut receiving PayPal ntices. Mst bard members receive this receipt; Jean and Marlys d nt receive the receipt and wuld like t be added t the list. Will discuss with Ed. Dale als questined wh needs web access. Earl presented histry f treasurer f US checks ging t Amy and Canada checks ging t Garth. Earl nw tracks all new membership. Discussin abut Earl tracking members r shuld secretary have this duty. Decided that Earl shuld cntinue with tracking renewal and memberships. Jean and Dale d nt have passwrd reset access. Earl infrmed bard that all members have access t change their wn passwrd, but that t change smene else s passwrd is restricted. Earl will shw us his administrative access during break. Will have Ed give access t all bard members t reset passwrds. Jean suggested that a nte be placed in Saga abut passwrd resets ging t Earl as Membership VP. Reprt frm Vice President (Membership): Earl Knutsn presented membership reprt (attached). Discussin abut 63 free e-memberships fr Nrwegians. These are E-membership, d nt get paper cpy f Saga. Jean discussed ther Lag's and membership. Need t be mre specific f what member benefits are. Indicate what members nly area f website is. Rd pinted ut, that E-membership cst is $0.00. Will call Ed at break t see what passwrds were given t E-members. Reprt frm Vice President (Culture): Karen Olsn Reprt sent n line (reprt attached) Reprt frm Vice President (Undefined r Genealgy Crdinatin r Assistant): Marlys Larsn. N reprt- will discuss respnsibilities. Questin abut Saga indicating that VP s are numbered which is nt crrect. Will need t have that changed t nt indicate numbers. Reprt frm Genealgist: Garth Ulrich - See reprt (attached). Discussin f immigrant bituaries that are being cllected. Rd questined is it just the immigrant r des it include further generatins f descendants. Will need t have input frm Garth. Garth recmmends that Genealgical Cmmittee be made up f thse wh are string material. Currently cmmittee is Garth Ulrich, Brigitta Meade and Dnna Kulenkamp,

3 It was reprted by Garth Ulrich that Cynthia Delan is nw string the immigrant files (the grey archival bxes cntaining envelpe files and arranged by emigrant name) and the micrfilms. She will als have the respnsibility f adding any new material t these files and sending cpies t the duplicate files held by NAHA, NAGC and the museum in Prestfss. Mtin made and carried that at request f Garth Ulrich that Cynthia Delan be appinted as a furth member f the Genealgical Cmmittee added t the cmmittee. Jean discussed new histry bk cmmunicatins frm Stevne celebratin and family histry. We want family histry added t new bk if yur ancestrs are nt listed in previus vlumes. Will ask fr a later deadline f June fr submissin f family histry and new article in Saga reflecting the date change. Will als try t requests. Suggested that a mdel f the bigraphy be made available Reprt frm Histrian: Diane Snell (See attached). Discussin f bk that was temprarily missing. Bks are n display in genealgy rm, d we want t make them secure, d we have a sign ut sheet. Will recmmend that sign ut sheet be made fr individuals wanting t brrw a bk, will discuss with Garth. Reprt frm Webmaster: Ed Espe - (reprt attached) Earl discussed imprvements made by Ed t new website. Reprt n Bk Sales: Rd Pletan (reprt attached) Discussin abut damaged bks, nt being sld. They are t damaged t be sld. Shuld bard receive a cpy, versus setting bk ut at meeting. Sme were given away already. Rd has discretin t dispse f bks as he see fit. Rd will distribute the damaged bks tday. Rd als reprts pht f 1913 was scanned and individuals are being identified with numbering system. Rd suggests that mre data be placed n website. The meeting recessed fr lunch at The meeting resumed at Reprt frm Saga Editr: Sctt Brunner See attached reprt. ONGOING BUSINESS: Stevne Evaluatin and numbers in attendance ( ed earlier, cpies available)- Items were discussed earlier in Stevne reprt Sigdalslag Bk. The last newsletter did nt include the final dates fr submissin f family stries. Shuld there be smething special abut this sent ut? Need t send ut reminder. Web administratrs have access t addresses. The next bk will be titled Sigdalslag 2013 and deadline fr submissin is June 30 th The 2012 Sigdalslag Nrway tur ( ed infrmatin plus handuts available). Jean suggested we lk at Telemark newsletter and the tur they have set up. Discussin f the exchange rate tday, makes cst very high. Cmpare Telemark tur with Breke tur and Brtn tur. Jean discussed ways t decrease cst d Sigdal tur n yur wn rather than bus, htel and fd prices are reasnable. Discussin abut htels in Sigdal and will the decreased cst frm eliminating that frm tur wrth extra wrk by thse t find their wn husing. In rder t use different airlines and htels, wuld need t have a fixed date. Culd set up tur that des nt include air travel- a land nly tur package. May need t crdinate service frm htel r airprt. Tw package ptins are available frm Brtn turs. Price

4 wuld lk smaller if n airfare included. Sme peple wuld find this ptin cheaper if they can find cheap airfare. Will explre a land nly trip, city f Osl tur, trip t Sigdal withut mtr cach, peple wuld then need t find persnal transprtatin. Rd pinted ut that there are limited sites t see in Sigdal. Earl discussed his past trips and sites t see. Rd discussed the pssibility f having dinner with the Nrwegian turists that were here last year. Perhaps Garth culd lk int the genealgy fr cusins in Nrway fr thse n tur. Leave Sigdal and then take fjrd cruise t Bergen. Discussin f hw much can be dne n yur wn if nt familiar with Nrway, sme peple may want mre guidance. Jean will explre these ptins and get back with thse wh have already have expressed interest. Saga editr psitin Sctt wuld like t give up his duties as editr f the Saga. Jean suggested that smene else culd mail Saga. Sctt is busy wrking n bk, will cntinue t February Saga. Cynthia Delan has expressed interest in helping with the editing f the Saga, but nt take n full respnsibility. Earl suggests that the new editr cmmit fr 5 years and put ntice in Saga that we are in need f a new editr.. Discussin ensued cncerning the 3 VP psitins and respective duties. Earl reprted that prir t Sctt being editr there used t be 2 peple wrking n the Saga. Jean suggested that Marlys as VP take n duty f mailing and printing Saga. There are 3 VP s and each ne culd be respnsible ver individual areas. We culd make a transitin and let the 3 VP s pick up the prgram areas f the lag: Publicatins, Culture and Membership. Earl is Membership VP, Karen is Culture VP and Marlys culd be Publicatin VP. Genealgy and Technlgy are nt VP psitins but are being verseen by thers already. Discussin abut getting these rles and respnsibilities defined.. Earl brught up assigning the respnsibility f printing and mailing t the Secretary. Discussin abut printing less and ing mre f them. Telemark n lnger mails a paper cpy if a member has an address. We need t encurage members t take electrnic cpy. May need mre input frm Sctt abut these rles. Decided we need a bard actin as t wh will take n this rle. Dale will cmpare cst frm Sctt n printing and take n duty f printing and mailing. NEW BUSINESS: Cffee respnsibility fr the Ocnmwc cnference- Karen Olsn will take care f cffee Sigdalslag meeting at Ocnmwc. Registratin- Marlys Larsn, Janice Jnsn and Karen Olsn Prcedures fr the Schlarship Prgram - Handut frm Earl- Reviewed infrmatin abut prgram. Discussed each pint. Changes made t dcument as fllws Eligibility Criteria change wrding f t indicate that ne must have been a member fr 2 years already and is n their 3 rd year. been a member fr at least 2 previus years. Grant Amunt change frm date f July 1 t December 31 f previus year Schedule change t the due date frm Octber 31 t read applicatins are due befre Octber 31 f each year Applicatin Frmalities change that applicatin will be addressed t the President f

5 Sigdalslag instead f secretary. Discussin abut whether this is an endwment fund versus schlarship fund. Shuld the principle be used r nly interest? The bard can increase the amunt in the fund s the $6,000 remains intact. Suggestin made fr clarifying wh are family members, des it include step children. Manager will be assigned t past president. MOTION was made and carried t accept edited versin and be sent ut t executive bard by February , 64 free e-memberships given t Nrwegian turists that ended 12/31/11 (includes Birger Men, Sigrid Kvisle, Kjell Varsla) Jean pinted ut that we want t increase membership but nt give away everything. In the past, when membership expires, we gave ne mre year f cmplimentary Saga. The e-members can g t website, but cannt have member nly access. Will ntify the 64 Nrwegians that ne free year membership has expired and encurage them t purchase membership. Jean asked if there were US citizens that are receiving free Saga. Earl will lk int this. Review the plicy fr "administrative access" t the membership data base. Dale and Jean will btain administrative access frm webmaster Revisit the questin f wh shuld lg in the new/renewing members Earl will cntinue in this rle. Review respnsibilities fr the 3 VPs. Lack time t finish this tday. Shuld be respnsible f the three prgram areas, membership, culture and publicatin. Earl asked abut a VP taking care f Schlarship. Jean suggests we discuss this later. Rd suggested that we take mre time in this area. Need t cmpare with abilities f individuals. Need t define wh des what duties nw and hw we can have cntinuity fr the rganizatin. Prpsed new Standing rule 1a: Presented by Earl- Currently standing rule 1 states- Dues, payable January 1, are ten ($10) dllars per year r twenty-five ($25) dllars fr three years in US currency fr members in Canada and the US. Fr members elsewhere dues shall be twelve ($12) dllars per year r thirty ($30) dllars fr three years. (Spuse is autmatically included). This change has been discussed but never apprved. Want t clarify benefits f membership. Add subsectin t rule 1 t becme 1a- Dues received prir t June shall be applied t the current year and back issues f the year's Saga shall be mailed made available. Dues received after June shall be credited t the fllwing year and the current year's Octber Saga shall be sent gratis. MOTION was made and carried that standing rule 1a be brught t next Stevne fr a vte. PayPal infrmatin wh shuld receive these receipts? Has already been addressed. Web access fr passwrd resets- Dale des nt have that access, discuss whether r nt secretary shuld have that and clarify hw it is t be handled. Previusly discussed - Dale and Jean will receive access Rd asks if there is a prcess in place t dnate t Sigdalslag. Discussin abut level f giving $250 requires different rules than mney greater than that amunt. May nw be allwed as 501c3 t take dnatins. Rd suggested talking with David Rkke. D we need

6 t give paper indicating the dnatin? Karen and Jean will lk int subject f cash and material dnatins. Hw t add new members and yung members? what is fcus f lag? Have by-laws, standing rules, and prcedures, need t clarify at later meeting Need t encurage yung members t get invlved. Karen said the 7 lag shuld be invlved in this since the activity is in the Stevne. Jean discussed that encuragement be given t NSI. Genealgy is perhaps an incentive. Website is very imprtant fr yunger peple and this is imprtant t draw peple in. Rd and Jean pinted ut that schl children are required t investigate their genealgy and we can recruit them as lk int t their ancestrs. Als discussed the schlarship and that it will generate interest. Rd discussed that even a small amunt in schlarship mney will increase interest. Jean pinted ut that last year s Stevne it was better fr yung peple and need t keep that up. Other lags may nt be as interested in encuraging children t attend Stevne. Jean has cpy f digitized cpy f ur banner, wants additinal cpy made. Dale will take cpy Diane Snell had Stevne phts n CD, need t make peple aware f it Map f Sigdal needs t be replaced. Karen Olsn will wrk n that. Name tags are left ver frm previus year, what t d with thse? Wh prints thse ut? Last year chamber f cmmerce did it fr us. Janice has sme as well, will cnslidate thse. Past years the lanyard had the lag name imprinted as well. Rd brught pictures f ld Stevne that have been repaired, Jean will stre them. Rd als prvided cd f pictures that Jean will stre. Rd suggests that pictures and banner picture be laded n website. Fellesraad delegates - Meeting in 1 st Saturday in May. Jean and Marlys will attend. Meeting adjurned at Grup picture f the bard was taken.