Semi-Annual Meeting 2011                             (posted October 7, 2011)

• President Brent Mackie called the meeting to order at 7:34 p.m. and welcomed everyone in attendance.
  
  
• Secretary Vic Palles read the customary notice of the meeting.
  
  
• There was a moment of silence in memory of departed club members with special mention of Past President and HLM Russ McCreedy who passed in August. 
  
  
• The minutes of the Annual meeting held May 24, 2011 had been distributed to attendees.  The requested motion to adopt the minutes was made by Cliff Murphy and seconded by Bruce Kerr.  Bruce McBeth raised a question re business arising out of these minutes. He  asked about the status of the attempt to ease the Secretarial workload of Vic Palles. Brent Mackie responded that the ideal candidate would be a retired individual that could  dedicate the time the position required. No progress reported to date as we are just back starting to plan this transition of duties.
  
  
• There was no new correspondence to highlight.
  
  
• The Chairs of the various committees were then invited to present their reports for this new season.
  


• Dan Sul asked Treasurer Bruce Kerr to start off with a review the club's financial status. 
  -Bruce referred to the copies of the Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss Statements that had been made available to the attendees. 
  On the Balance Sheet report Bruce noted that the total cash in all the club's bank accounts is just under $57.5K.  This was broken down to approximately $43K in the checking account, $2.5K in the Calcutta account, $2K in the Grey Cup account, $6.5 in the Building account and a $1K bar float.   Accounts Receivable stands at $169.  The Inventory account is at $8.4K  and includes an inventory count done as of the end of September. The bar is stocked and ready for the start of the season.  The Prepaid  account includes expenses for the surround sound system bought last year for the TV lottery that did not take place.  The new Curl MB fee line item refers to the amounts collected to date from Mens Leagues members.  This is a pass through account to Curl MB.    
  On the Profit & Loss Statement, Bruce noted that kudos should go to Frank Mitchell for the collection of membership fees and locker rentals.   They are well ahead of last year.  Expenses to date are slightly less than last year.  The Insurance and taxes are paid. The Repair & Maintenance - Ice account includes  over $7K for the compressor rebuild.  Gas and Hydro expenses are down from last year.  The gas was turned off in the kitchen this summer and made a difference.  The plant was not on as long as it was for last year's off season work parties.
  Ian Mahon  asked about the reason for the large increase in the Executive Meetings expense item. 
  Brent Mackie responded that this included the food for the outgoing president's meal this year as well as the usual Annual Meeting, Golf day and board meetings refreshments. Brent promised to keep closer watch on this expense item.
  -Dan Sul  then read the House report.
  The  ice is in and in great shape thanks to Hal and our Junior Ice Maker, Brandon Cohoe.  Our ice plant had its compressor overhauled this summer, so it is hoped that this sound preventative maintenance and our ice crew will help us maintain quality ice all year.
  We dug some exploratory holes to gain a better access view of the gluelan's lower base, inside and out  One of our club members Tom Wojtowicz who works within an engineering firm was generous with his time and inspected the dig site. Dan is  waiting for a preliminary report.  Dan noted that we have been focused on the repairs needed on the Gulams and hope to have a plan this year. Another large item requiring our focus is a De-Humidifier. We are eager to install a unit that will make our ice conditions even better, especially at the start and end of our curling year. A few facility repairs are going ahead like a replacement dishwasher in the bar, repairs to out fryers and a new small freezer for the kitclren/bar to utilize. 
  Dan commented that he  was hoping that one of our TVs would be hung over the catering window by now, but that has been delayed due to contractors timing.
  Dan Stated that he was  very happy to say we will enjoy the company of Jodi and Shirley and a new face you'll see behind the bar,  Rose. As well Bruce and Debbie will continue to provide our members qualify food this year.
  As far as grants go, Dan needs to get final payment confirmation on the compressor overhaul and will then submit our reimbursement to the City for final payment.
  Our gulam repair and De-humidifier project are items that we would like to be included in the next grant application to help cover costs.
  
  Bruce McBeth then asked Dan  when we might expect to see the engineering report on the glulams.
  Dan responded that we definitely need an engineering stamp to go forward and hopes to have the report by the end of the year. 
  
  Bruce McBeth  then asked to be allowed to comment of this year's Grey Cup Ticket sales fundraising efforts.  He noted that the tickets are ready to be distributed to teams starting next week.  Super sellers are already going with their  sales.  There are a few more pages of documentation to update to reflect the changes in the lottery licensing process.   Bruce commented that this will be his last year of running this fundraiser and he is looking to recruit his replacement.  Hopefully this can be taken over by another past president.
  
  Ian Mahon  asked that the Board consider subscribing to the TSN Jets TV channel to provide coverage to all Wpg. Jets hockey games in the lounge.  This would start in December as it is free on our Shaw cable service until then. The cost is $10 per month. There was some discussion that we should not forget that this is a curling club and that curling tv coverage should take preference in the lounge.  However it was felt that with our plans to have 3 wide screen tvs for viewing that we could accommodate multiple sports viewing at the same time.  
  
  There was a motion by Ian Mahon to add the the TSN Jets TV channel to our SHAW cable tv coverage when it becomes a pay channel in December.  This was seconded by Bruce McBeth and carried via show of hands.
  
  
• Frank Mitchell, chair of Membership and Draw was not able to attend but had prepared a report which was read by Vic.
  - Frank was happy to report that our Men's evening draws are almost full. We have one spot on Tuesday evening to fill. He will be sending out a mass email to current and past members asking if anyone is interested in forming a team and hopefully we can get Tuesday filled. We had an excellent turnout at registration night that he felt is due to the great advertising campaign spearheaded by Doug Mackie.
  We have approx. 65% of membership dues paid up, with the remaining being collected through the 1st few weeks. The locker registration has been going smoother this season and Frank will be pursuing the non paid lockers once he has the regular dues under control.
  We will be contacting all the skips shortly for the first draw times once we have all the draws set.
  Frank stated that he would like to thank Dan Sul for his guidance with this chair as well as all the other board members that assisted registration night it is much appreciated.
  
  
• Dan Rosentreter, chair of Entertainment, was not able to attend as well but had prepared a report which was read by Vic.
  - Dan reported that Frank and he were able to meet a few weeks ago and Frank did a fine job transitioning the roles and responsibilities over  to him. The Calcutta license form has been filled out and was to be submitted on Wednesday October 5th. He also had discussions with Deb from the kitchen on upcoming events including having sandwiches for the Semi Annual meeting. An entertainment sub committee meeting had been scheduled immediately after the October  monthly meeting. 
  
  
• John McLachlan, chair of Promotion & Publicity was up next to read his report.
  -Over the past few weeks he has been contacting our sponsors from last year regarding whether or not they would be interested in renewing their sponsorship for this up and coming season.  All seems to be going well as no one has rejected to renew their sponsorship although there are a few that have been difficult to contact.  All of our in ice sponsors have agreed to renew as well as the back wall advertisements with the exception of one who is out of town until early next week.  He did not have a email contact address. John will be providing an up dated spreadsheet to Bruce Kerr over the next few days so he can begin invoicing.
  John asked if there was any opposition to removing some of the antlers mounted at the far end of the arena to make room for more large advertising panels.  The ones removed would be the antlers mounted on each side, leaving the center  antlers in place under the clock.  Nobody saw any problems with this. 
  
  
• The Junior Curling report was presented by Vic Palles
  -Vic noted that Doug Bauer has joined the board to act as the Junior Director.  The accounting will be done through Bruce Kerr using Deer Lodge's bank accounts.  The old credit union account previously used is being closed.  Doug Bauer will be leading up the Bantams section while John McLachlan will take on the Little Rocks.  Registration Night in September was a very good start in recruiting for this year.  Rob Cornelius helped out considerably with gathering a number of applications.  John noted that the latest count includes 30 Little Rockers and 20 bantams.  We are reaching levels where we may have to increase the number of sheets to be used.
   
  
• Curl Manitoba and WCCA update
  - Vic Palles commented that he had attended a combined Curl Manitoba Winnipeg Regional Information Meeting &  WCCA Meeting
  7:00 pm September 28, 2011 at the Heather Curling Club  
  Vic provided highlights from his notes that are now posted on our website (see ... Sep 28 CurlMB/WCCA notes).  
  -Ginette Furney expressed interest in attending the "Business of Curling Seminar"  to be held later in October.  Vic was to follow up with more details and a copy of the application form after the meeting. (note : John McLachlan later expressed interest and may also register).
  -Garry Parker asked if there had been any discussions at the CurlMB or WCCA meetings about the possibility of once again holding the Safeway Select in Winnipeg.  It has been absent from our city for a long time.  Vic commented that there had not been any  discussion  of this topic this year but it had been a topic a while back.  The discussion concerned having a big enough venue that was available for the elapsed time required.  The new MTS Iceplex was approached but they were not interested as they were filled with hockey. The same seems to be the case with the Civic Center.  Freeing up a building for the time required seems to be more doable in rural locations.
  
  
• Next on the agenda was the President's Report.
  -Brent welcomed everyone back to Deer Lodge for another season and read from his report.  A new curling season lays ahead. All of the board members have been working hard in order to get the club off to a good start  This last summer an updated alarm system was installed and the number of false alarms have decreased significantly.  Also the ice compressor had a complete rebuild so we should be good for a few years to come.
  With the early start this year the unseasonably warm weather has created a number of troubles with the ice for Harold and Brandon. The need for a dehumidifier has become very apparent. 
  Brent noted that he was unable to attend the MJCT ev€ent due to prior commitments but he heard it was a success once again.
  Brent stated that he is surrounded by hard working board members, who understand there is a great deal of work ahead for of us, but he is confident that the club is on tack for a successful future.
  
  
  
• The standard motion from the floor was requested in order to renew the Club's liquor license for the next season.  The motion was made by Cliff Murphy, seconded by Bruce McBeth  and carried by a show of hands.
  
  
• New Business
  None.
  
  
• At 8:29 pm the motion to adjourn was made by Bruce McBeth.
   
  Refreshments followed.  Thanks go to Dan Rosentreter for organizing the food and Jody for providing bar services.
  

Last modified: Oct 7, 2011, 3:00 pm