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 ACBL Unit 114

Minutes of Board Meeting

Conyers Sectional

Saturday, May 21, 2011

President Ann Hedden called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM.

Officers in attendance were: Ann Hedden (President), Nancy Motes (Treasurer), Nicolas Hammond (Secretary).

Area representatives in attendance were: Rebecca Lee (South), Donna Parker (Northwest), Ken Parker (Northwest), Ron Cadora (Northeast), Elsie Hathorn as proxy for Judy Bailie (Northeast), Larry Rich (Metro Atlanta, Bob Heller (Metro Atlanta), Lucille Torre as proxy for Betty Myers (Metro Atlanta), Marty Nathan (Metro Atlanta), Ina Parry (Metro Atlanta), Tarokh Taefi (Metro Atlanta), John Jernigan (North Central), Jimmy Lord (South Central), Lynne Ogden as proxy for Harpe Suggs (South Central).

Others attending were Mike Kovacich, Barbara Heller, Dan Osburn, Josie Mitchell, Marjorie Hall and James Dover.

The minutes from the previous meeting were approved.

Officer Reports

President – Ann welcomed everyone and did introductions. Ann explained that the previous President’s resignation had uncovered some issues in the Unit By Laws that she would be asking the By Laws Review Committee to investigate possible changes to our By Laws. Ann announced the appointment of Nicolas Hammond as Vice President, the board approved. This then opened up the position of Secretary. Ann announced the appointment of Dan Osburn as Secretary, the board approved. Both of these appointments are through the end of the unexpired board term (through February 2012).

Treasurer – The treasurer’s report was e-mailed out prior to the meeting. It is copied below. Nancy reported that we have approximately $254,900 in assets as of 4/30/2011. Of this approximately $152,177 is designated for the Nationals.

      In response to some questions from the floor, Nancy reported that $1,380 in tournament expenses is $1,500 for prepaid expenses for the current tournament less returns. The Programs at Clubs for $2,500 is two quarterly payments to Atlanta Junior Bridge[1].

Old Business

[To improve the flow of the meeting, Ann deferred discussion of some of the Old Business to the end of the meeting. All Old Business issues that were discussed are listed here even though this was not the necessarily the chronological order of the meeting].

1.      Marty Nathan reported for Jack Feagin (who was unable to attend) about the ACBL Teacher Accreditation Program (TAP) for the upcoming Atlanta Regional. Jack had feedback that it may be better to run an Easybridge! training program rather than a TAP. The consensus was that it is too late to run either program as there is not sufficient time to properly market the event (i.e. not enough time to get in the ACBL Bulletin). Therefore the TAP (or Easybridge!) is deferred. Discussion on which program to run (TAP v. Easybridge!) was tabled.

2.      Nancy Motes reported that she had filed the appropriate paperwork with the Secretary of State to correct an ancient misspelling of our official name with different Federal/State agencies. Our official name on all paperwork is now “American Contract Bridge League Georgia Unit 114, Inc.”

Sportsperson of the Year

There were 4 nominations. Information about the candidates was e-mailed to the board prior to the meeting.

After a secret vote, Mike Kovacich from Atlanta was elected as the Unit 2011 Sportsperson of the Year. Jerry Tift from Macon was second. Per Unit policy, Mike will play for free at Unit sectionals for the next twelve months, Jerry will play for free at one Unit sectional of his choosing within the next twelve months.

Committee Reports

[The committee reports are presented in alphabetical order for the Minutes. To improve the flow of the meeting, Ann asked that some reports were presented at different times therefore the chronological order of the Committee Reports was different from that listed below.]

Atlanta Junior Bridge – No report.

By Laws Review – No report.                                     

Charity – No report.

Conduct & Ethics – No report.

District 7 Meeting Report – Bob Heller reported there were no Unit winners at the recent GNT finals. The District will be re-examining the locations of the finals. Bob reported from the Mid Atlanta Bridge Conference (MABC) meeting that the MABC Regional entry fees are going up from $10 to $11 effective at the Reston, VA Regional. This is the first increase in ten years. February 2013 is the date of the first Macon Regional. It will be held at the Convention Center.

Education and Outreach – No report.

Elections – Donna Parker reported that the election of the Metro Atlanta Area Rep positions went well. Steve Callaham, Jack Feagin, Bob Heller and Larry Rich were elected.

Entitlement – No report.

Finance – No report.

Goodwill – Barbara Heller reported that the Goodwill dinner would be held at the Charlotte Regional.

Grand National Teams (GNTs) – No report (everything already covered in Bob’s report). Bob congratulated Ina Parry on running the most GNT qualifying events in the District.

Hall of Fame – No report.

Hospitality – No report.

Intermediate/Novice – No report.

Membership – Ann Hedden reported that we have over 3,100 members.

National Committee – No report.

NAP – No report.

Policy & Procedures – Marty Nathan presented a section on Board Meetings that included proxy voting and meal costs. The section on proxy voting will be modified and re-presented at a subsequent meeting. The section on meal costs was approved. Ann clarified that she expects Marty to write the various sections that committee chairmen have not done.

Publicity – No report.

Tournament – James Dover reported that all of 2011 tournaments have sanctions, most of 2012 have sanctions and he is working on 2013. He will email out the current list to the board.

      Bob Heller clarified that the sectional was changed from Atlanta in December 2011 to Roswell on November 9-13, 2011. Ann said that there will be a Board Meeting on November 12 during this sectional. Previous minutes, agendas and our web site had listed the December 2011 date.

Trophy – Dan Osburn reported that the trophy list is on the same spreadsheet as the Unit tournaments and will go out at the same time.

Unit/Novice Games – No report.

New Business

Marty Nathan requested that tournament chairs check the Georgia Department of Transportation information for any possible problems regarding transportation to tournaments and board meetings. [There were major road works on I-20 that caused an approximate 30-45 minute delay in reaching the tournament/meeting if coming through Metro Atlanta].

Bob Heller stated that there would be a celebration reception on July 2, 2011 at 6:30 p.m. at the Atlanta SuperSectional to honor Patty Tucker’s induction into the Unit Hall of Fame and also for being selected as the ACBL Goodwill Member of the Year. This is consistent with past practice of honoring Unit Hall of Fame inductees. Duplicate Bridge Association of Atlanta (DBAA), as host of the sectional, has offered to pay half the costs of this event. The event is open to all players. The total cost is not expected to be more than $2,000. The motion “that the Unit co-sponsors with the DBAA and agrees to pay up to $1,000 to honor Patty Tucker’s election into the Unit Hall of Fame” was made. Discussion clarified that the total cost was not expected to be more than $2,000 and that the Unit was being asked to provide half of the cost. The motion passed.

Bob Heller discussed the on-going practice of the Unit buying pages in the District Bulletin After discussion, Ann requested that Bob present a motion at the next meeting, with expected costs, of making this a recurring event so that we may not need to present a motion every time there is a District bulletin. The motion “that the Unit purchase two pages in the November District bulletin” was approved.

There was some discussion about the Columbus Bridge Club and the fact that it “was moribund” and “dying”.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:00pm.

Future Meetings:

August 13, 2011 – Macon

November 12, 2011 – Roswell

March 3, 2012 – Roswell – AGM and board meeting

Respectfully submitted,

Nicolas Hammond

(Last act as outgoing Secretary)

Treasurer’s Report:

UNIT114-All Accounts                                                    5/16/11

                                 Balance Sheet

                                 As of 4/30/11

                               Acct                   Balance

               ASSETS

                 Cash and Bank Accounts

                   Investment Acct - Assets (Mkt)     143,929.88

                   Investment Acct - Money Mkt        101,172.69

                   Suntrust                                 0.00

                   Wachovia National Acct               5,089.92

                   Wachovia Operating Acct              4,707.32

                 TOTAL Cash and Bank Accounts         254,899.81

                 Other Assets

                   Prepaid Expenses                         0.00

                   Receivable                               0.00

                 TOTAL Other Assets                         0.00

               TOTAL ASSETS                           254,899.81

               LIABILITIES & EQUITY

                 LIABILITIES

                   Other Liabilities

                     Unrealized Appreciation           12,374.21

                   TOTAL Other Liabilities             12,374.21

                 TOTAL LIABILITIES                     12,374.21

                 EQUITY                               242,525.60

               TOTAL LIABILITIES & EQUITY             254,899.81

UNIT114-All Accounts                                                    5/16/11

                            Profit & Loss Statement

                            1/1/11 Through 4/30/11

                                                        1/1/11-

                Category Description                    4/30/11

       INCOME

           Div Income                                            616.40

           Interest Inc                                            2.29

           Membership fees                                     5,180.28

         TOTAL INCOME                                          5,798.97

       EXPENSES

           Administrative Exp                                     27.48

           Board Expense                                         613.29

           Legal                                                  50.00

           Office Expense                                        352.62

           Program Expense:

             Administrative; Marketing;Print       1,400.00

             Awards                                   65.95

             Free Play Reimbursement                 225.00

             Programs At Clubs                     2,500.00

             Tournaments                           1,380.00

           TOTAL Program Expense                               5,570.95

           Web hosting                                           200.00

         TOTAL EXPENSES                                        6,814.34

       TOTAL INCOME - EXPENSES                                -1,015.37