Meeting Minutes Feb. 1, 2014

[Russell Albright]

The February meeting for the NORPAC Santas took place at the Claim Jumper Restaurant, 5901 S. 180th, Tukwila, WA.

Greetings. Santa Dennis Simpson opened the meeting at approx. 12:10 PM. A total of 49 individuals were in attendance, including Santas, Mrs. Clauses, and visitors. This number included several who were new to NORPAC – Santa Mark Davison, Santa Ron Price, Santa Steve & Cindy Collier, Santa Randy & Marsha Mawdsley, and Santa Ray Loosveldt. Welcome to all! Some difficulties occurred because the meeting room couldn’t comfortably accommodate our numbers, but we made the best of a crowded situation and Dennis said he’d seek facilities with greater capacity for future meetings. We agreed that having larger than expected attendance is a good “problem” with which to deal.

Meal Blessing. Santa Ron Kearns gave the blessing.

Santa Oath. Santa Trever Waltos led us in the Santa Oath.

Minutes from Previous Meeting. Minutes from NORPAC’s meeting of Nov. 7-9, 2013 at the Great Wolf Lodge were available. Dennis S. asked if there were any corrections or additions. Hearing none, he declared the minutes approved as written.

Treasurer’s Report. Santa Dennis Gorley shared the Treasurer’s Report as of February 1, 2014. He reported a year-end balance (for 2013) of $3821.93 with $105.26 in Savings and $3,716.67 in Checking. He further reported that the 2013 convention generated $2,888.00 in revenues and $2,753.36 in expenditures for a net balance of +$134.64.
The year 2013 ended with 47 NORPAC members (up 8 from 2012); a 48th individual has joined since the beginning of 2014; and additional members are joining during today’s meeting.
Dennis G. also noted that the Washington State Dept. of Revenue Filing for 2013 has been complete and that he’s also completed and filed IRS Form 990 required of non-profit groups.
A proposed NORPAC budget for 2014 was presented to and approved by the Executive Board when they met recently on January 18th.

Reports.
Upcoming Santa Gatherings: Claus Fest, March 15-19, 2014, Gatlinburg, TN
IBRBS, May 15-17, 2014, Tampa, FL (Two of our members, Santas Scott Sherlock & Scott Schmittler, have recently won drawings for complimentary rooms at this event).
Discover Santa 2016, July 6-9, 2016, Branson, MO

Social Media (website) Santa Trever told us that in addition to our NORPAC website, we are also on Facebook and Twitter and he encouraged us to access those sites if we’re not already doing so. He also reminded us of the links to a variety of helpful resources that we can access through the website itself. There was some discussion as to whether to delete the background music from the website. It was shared that individuals who don’t want to hear the music can mute it by clicking on the small “stop” icon in the upper left hand corner of the website.

Biggest Loser Contest Postponed until next meeting.

New Business
Election of Officers Chair of this year’s Nominating Committee, Santa Ron Kearns, distributed a ballot nominating the existing officers for re-election. These included Dennis Simpson (Co-chair), Trever Waltos (Co-chair), Dennis Gorley (Treasurer), and Dale Scott (Secretary). The Executive Board also includes the past chair (Ron). Ron explained that his committee recommended the four current officers continue for another term to provide continuity for our relatively young organization.
Ron further explained that while no one asked to be on the ballot to compete with an incumbent officer, four members (Jerry Galland, Vinnie O’Conner, Gene Sanders and Scott Schmittler) all expressed interest in serving on the Board. The nominating committee therefore recommended adding two “at large” positions to the Board and those four names were on the ballot for the “at large” positions. (The intent of these two new positions is to assume some of the committee leadership responsibilities). After ballots were counted, Ron announced that the current Board officers were re-elected, along with Jerry and Gene as the “at large” representatives.

Sharing. Most of the rest of the meeting consisted of various individuals sharing favorite incidents and stories from the recent Christmas season. Further informal sharing and visiting continued throughout the meal that everyone seemed to enjoy.

50/50. Santa Dennis G. announced that $134 had been collected for the 50/50 drawing. Raffle tickets purchased by Santa John Enoch and by Marcie Kearns were drawn and each received a NORPAC mug. Santa Ken Sager won the 50/50 drawing and received $67.00 (of which he donated $17.00 back to the treasury—thanks Ken).

Adjournment. Dennis S. adjourned the meeting at 2:30, followed by group photos taken outside the restaurant.

Next NORPAC meeting Tentatively April 5, 2014, location to be announced.

Future NORPAC meetings June 7, Panorama City, Lacey
Aug. 2, Picnic @ Santa Ernie Walker’s home, Lakewood
Nov. 6-8 Conference @ Great Wolf Lodge, Grand Mound

Respectfully submitted,
Dale Scott, Secretary

[Author]

Posts