Minutes of the Golden Racquets
November 8, 2011
Kings Park Library
Chuck Tonkin, Interim Vice President Bob Roeder, Social Chair 2012 Peter Koenig, Vice President Elect Carol McAlee, Newsletter
Charles Russo, Former President Bill Summerson, Caring Chair
Ann Gratz, Secretary
Bob Westall, Treasurer
Fred Hart, Ratings, and
Operations and Planning
ABSENT: Ray Hanlein, CIO
Sally Hanlein, Web Master
Pat Jordan, Social Committee
President Ed Byrne brought the meeting to order at 10:30 AM and welcomed all present. Ed introduced Pete Koenig--our newly elected Vice President, and Bob Roeder--our newly appointed Social Chairman.
A Motion to approve the Minutes of the August 9 Board Meeting as distributed electronically to the Board was passed.
There was no Vice President’s report.
Joan Linthicum, Membership Chair, handed out a list of new members. Since January, 50 new people have signed up, and Joan had received four more calls during the past week. Joan said that several contacts had come from the Beacon publication but most were from word of mouth. Charles Russo congratulated Joan on her successful efforts at advertising Golden Racquets resulting in many new members.
There was some discussion of getting Golden Racquets on Facebook but any decision was deferred until Sally Hanlein can be present.
Ann Gratz reported that Pat Jordan had not received any reply to her question to the Ski Club about advertising with their club.
There was discussion with regard to getting out the names of new members as substitutes, and suggestions that Captains should be encouraged to recommend new members to their venue players. This was also deferred to a later date.
There were no CIO or web site reports.
Bill Summerson, Caring Chair, was pleased to announce that there had been no deaths or serious illnesses reported since the October Annual Meeting.
Carol McAlee reported that the next Newsletter is due February 2012. She thought that some items need to be fleshed out, more pictures would be good and the whole newsletter “jazzed up.” Bob Westall suggested including Henry DeHaan’s article on his tennis career, and Charles Russo suggested listing all Golden Racquets Life Members in each issue.
Ann Gratz reported that Pat Jordan’s Social Committee report was the same as presented at the Annual Meting.
Ed Byrne talked about the January 1, 2012 informal tennis party at Fairfax Racquet Club. He estimated that about 45 people might attend and we can probably have 10 courts. Bob Roeder agreed to do a flyer. Ed reiterated that this will be purely tennis with socializing at PJ Skidoo’s afterwards for anyone interested.
Bob Westall presented the Treasurer’s report. The checkbook balance is $34,070.92 and there will be a balance of $24,344.02 by the end of this year. The general opinion is that we should reduce the balance somewhat and there followed a lengthy discussion on various ways to accomplish this. Bob presented informative charts showing the results of various actions. Chuck Tonkin noted that our net worth HAS to come down. Suggestions included lowering the cost of court time, lowering the cost of the Annual Meeting Luncheon, lowering the annual fee, etc.
Charles proposed that a Budget Committee be formed to delineate Golden Racquets monetary policy. It was decided that Ed Byrne and Bob Westall meet to discuss frugal means of slightly reducing costs, thus lowering the net worth.
Ed reported for the Rating Committee in Larry Hyer’s absence. He said that 11 people had been recently rated and most were at 3.5 or above.
Fred Hart reported on Operations and Planning. He and Ann Gratz will be working on Golden Racquets shirts. He had sent a letter to a member considering his unsportsmanlike conduct and had received an apology from the person involved. There are some problems with habitual no-shows and late arrivals and the Constitution has ways to deal with this. There was discussion about getting the names of new members to players and captains at the appropriate venues. There is a need for a few long-term substitutes for “snow birds”, etc. Some new members had substituted at open venues and decided that the level of play did not interest them enough to stay with Golden Racquets.
Charles Russo reported on the results of the Open Venue Committee and its recommendations to the Board. There are two recommendations:
1. Open Venue Explanation—described in Attachment 1,
2. Captain Mentor(s)—described in Attachment 2.
These Attachments will be attached to the file copy of these Minutes.
Charles presented a Motion that the Board consider and adopt the concept of a description of the variety of venues offered by Golden Racquets. This was seconded by Joan Linthicum. The Motion was passed.
Ed Byrne agreed with the concept but wants to change the description to include more information on efforts to successfully pair players.
Charles presented a second Motion to the Board in the form of a concept to adopt a position called New Captain Mentor(s). This was seconded by Fred Hart. The Motion was passed.
Ed Byrne thought this is a good idea but there is some conflict with the rules of the Operating Procedures. The Operations and Planning Chair is charged with supplying initial support to captains. Should the mentor(s) be under the auspices of the Operations and Planning Chair? It was thought that some captains might not want to be “mentored.”
Charles noted that, although this did not come within the purvue of the Open Venue Committee, the members felt strongly that there should be a system of New Member Mentors, as in a “buddy” system. Carol McAlee noted that new members who had been involved in a questionnaire some time ago said that they did not need a buddy system.
Ed Byrne decided that the subject should be tabled until the next Board Meeting.
Pete Koenig reported on information received about possible weekend play at Wakefield. It seems that courts can be made available for a fee. The Fairfax County representative was very receptive to the idea. The time suggested is 7:00-9:00 pm on Saturdays. Ed had checked with indoor venues. He had no response from Burke, Fairfax RC is full, and 4 Seasons would have space starting in January.
Bob Westall proposed a Motion to advertise Summer Outdoor Play on four courts from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM on Saturday evenings. The Motion was passed. Pete and Ed will work on this together.
A motion was proposed and passed to adjourn the meeting at 11:57 AM.
The next Board Meeting will be on January 10, 2012.
Attachment 1: Open Venue Explanation
Attachment 2: Captain Mentor(s)
Respectfully submitted
Ann F. Gratz, Secretary