Minutes of Golden Racquets
Executive Board Meeting
King’s Park Library, Annandale, Virginia
11 January 2011
Ed Byrne, President Joan Linthicum, Membership
Chuck Tonkin, Interim Vice President Pat Jordan, Social
Bob Westall, Treasurer Sally Hanlein, Web Master
Charles Russo, Past President Ray Hanlein, CIO
Fred Hart, Rating Chair, Ops and Planning Bill Summerson, Caring
The Meeting was brought to order by President Byrne at 10:05 AM.
A Motion to dispense reading of the Minutes of the December 3, 2010 Executive Board Meeting was passed unanimously. Motion to approve the Minutes was also passed.
As a result of the surveys conducted by Golden Racquets proposing to offer two new tennis sessions in the summer: a Women Only, and a 3.8 Rating and Above, both at Four Seasons, it was agreed to dispense with the venue for women because of lack of interest. The 3.8 and Above venue will be offered this Summer Season.
Charles Russo suggested that a women’s venue be explored for the next Winter Season.
Five proposed changes to the Constitution and By-Laws were discussed and voted on.
CHANGE ONE. Amend Section 2 of Article IV of the Constitution to add “Membership Chair” to the Standing Committees.
A Motion to approve passed unanimously.
CHANGE TWO. Amend Section 7 of Article IV of the Constitution to read as follows:
“Section 7 Secretary Duties—The Secretary shall record the proceedings of all Board and Membership Meetings and perform other duties assigned by the President or the Board.”
A Motion to approve passed unanimously.
CHANGE THREE. Add a new section 17 to Article IV of the Constitution, as follows, and renumber present Section 17 to make it Section 18: “Membership Chairperson—The President shall appoint, with the approval of the Board, a Membership Chair. The Membership Chair is responsible for both the promotion of the Club and for the processing of new member applications.”
A Motion to approve passed unanimously.
CHANGE FOUR. Amend Paragraph 12 of Administrative in the By-Laws to read as follows:
“In the interest of obtaining more optimum mixes of playing skills, and at the discretion of the Board, minimum and maximum skill levels may be imposed at selected sites.”
A Motion to approve passed unanimously.
CHANGE FIVE. Amend Paragraph 11 of Administrative in the By-Laws to REMOVE the sentence which reads: “With the approval of the Captain, or Vice President if a Captain has not yet been assigned, sub 3.0 members may be considered for play in selected venues.”
After a lengthy discussion, President Byrne called for the Question and a vote was taken on Change Five.
A Motion to approve passed with 8 voting FOR, 2 AGAINST, and 2 ABSTENSIONS.
A Motion was proposed to hold a Special Membership Meeting on February 8, 2011 to present the above Changes to the Membership. The Motion passed unanimously.
The Notice of the Special Meeting will include Proxies for those members who will not be attending the Meeting.
Charles Russo suggested that, if Change Five is passed by the Membership, Golden Racquets might consider offering a venue for players restricted to 3.5 and below.
The Golden Racquets Activities Calendar was discussed with various changes and additions made.
A Membership and Summer 2011 Sign-up Sheet was presented to include Members’ Cell phone numbers and an additional Friday site at Fairfax. Various format changes were suggested. All Captains have been assigned with the exception of the new Friday venue.
Joan Linthicum, Membership Chair, reported that five applications had been received since November, two have been rated and three are pending. Fred Hart presented GR business cards to be handed out to prospective members. A number of changes were suggested and these will be redone. A question was asked about persons wishing to become members who live outside the Northern Virginia Area. The Constitution states that such persons must be approved by the Board. The possibility of two persons who reside outside Northern Virginia being accepted as applicants was tabled until further information is obtained from them
Ray Hanlein, CIO, reported current membership stands at 284.
Sally Hanlein presented the Web Master’s Report. Changes of Board member names, and Membership contact person have been updated. Board Meeting dates will be posted. Sally suggested filling space on the Home Page with Snow Policy information.
Bill Summerson presented the Caring Committee report. Five Get Well cards have been sent. One death was reported for which a Memorial Gift has been sent.
Carol McAlee presented the Newsletter report. The next edition will be her first. GR has purchased Publisher software which she will be learn to use. A number of procedural questions were addressed.
Pat Jordan, Social Chair, reported she is planning Tennis Socials for April and August at Fairfax Racquet Club, and a Bowling Party for February 13 if the venue is free. She will do a flyer as soon as this is firmed up.
Bob Westall, Treasurer, gave a rundown of current Club finances. As of January 1, 2011, there was $21,807.61 in the checkbook. Contributions to the Park Authority have now reached $8,000. Golden Racquets have no outstanding debts.
There was considerable discussion of the financial situation vis-a-vis annual dues and court rentals. Bob suggested charging those members with email access an extra $7.00 for postage.
A Motion to keep the dues at the same amount for all members passed without dissent.
A Motion to increase the dues from $15 to $20 did not pass. Five voted FOR, seven voted AGAINST.
Bob Westall offered to do all printing for Golden Racquets for one year in order to cut down on the cost of printing. His offer was accepted although not everyone was in favor.
The Interim Vice President did not have a report.
Fred Hart presented the Rating Committee Report. Two new members were rated in December and five are coming up. He has the list of people who are due for re-rating on the “every five years” plan. There was discussion about Captains being the pivotal people to report to Fred anyone they think is over or under rated.
Under Operations and Planning, Fred addressed the policy regarding inclement weather. It was reiterated that “If schools are closed or plan to close early, there will be no SCHEDULED play.” Captains may tell their group that they can play if they can get to the courts, but there will be no organized play. The Racquet Club Management should be informed if some courts will not be used. Racquet Clubs in our area never close except on published dates. Paragraph 2 of the present Operating Procedures states that “Captains are authorized to cancel scheduled play because of inclement weather or extreme heat. In such a situation, individual members can play at their own discretion.” President Ed Byrne stated the Board will revisit the wording of the present Operating Procedures’ language at the next Executive Board Meeting.”
Fred is planning a current Captains’ meeting in the near future, date to be established.
A motion to close the Meeting passed unanimously. The Meeting was closed at
12:10 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Ann F. Gratz,
Secretary
Jan 11, 2011