Maryland Volkssport Association
Minutes of Meeting
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Columbia, Maryland

Officers Present: President, Bob Schmick; Vice-President, Skip Coburn; Treasurer, Kenneth Wilson; Secretary, Steve Arnett; Dennis Lynch (Past President).

Club Delegates: Bob Wolfe (Freestate), Sandy Lynch (Worldwide Walking Club), Jim Hathaway (Sugarloafers), Sue Kenyon (BWC), and Mike Quinlan (CBCW)

Guests: Linda Hassell (Freestate) and Phil Wilder (Freestate).

The Meeting was called to order at 1:01 PM by President Bob Schmick

Bob greeted all in attendance.

REPORTS

• Minutes from the August 29^th, 2009 meeting were approved.
• Treasurer's Report: Treasurer Ken Wilson presented the monthly balance sheets September, October, November, and December. He stated that checks intended for the Atlantic Region Conference in March should be made out to the MVA, not Bob, Ken, or anyone else.
  
  The report was accepted.
• MVA Audit: It was reported that Rich Long has performed an audit for 2007 and 2008. His report stated that the financial records have been inspected, transactions traced through various links, and that NO financial discrepancies were noted.
• Future of the Sport: The MVA statistics the past 4 years:

  		2006	2007	2008	2009
  Events #		48	47	51	38
  Avg # Attendees		117	150	98	109
  YRE #		70	74	78	79
  Avg # Attendees		103	89	86	61

• C&O Canal: The C&O walks attracted two busloads of walkers.
• Webmeister: All clubs are requested to update their information on the website concerning events available via Metro.

OLD BUSINESS

• Atlantic Region Conference: The biannual conference is scheduled for March 19 to 21, 2010. There will be a speaker at the dinner Saturday evening, and Bob Wright will hold a workshop Saturday afternoon. The Naval Academy will likely provide a speaker. There is a need for 50 people to stay in the hotel to retain the $99 special rate for rooms. Volunteers are needed for the conference events, and each club is requested to provide two persons. The Seneca Valley club is handling the event registrations, The Columbia club is totally handling the Sunday event at Savage Mill, and Linda Hassell of Freestate is coordinating the volunteers. There will be one meal, and a brief meet and greet.
• 2010 YREs: There will be a new walk at the Arboretum in D.C. sponsored by the Annapolis Amblers. The Amblers will also be taking over a Seasonal event at Downs Park. The WWW club will have a Seasonal in Harper's Ferry, WV, and the Freestate Wanderers will sponsor a bike in Indian Head, MD. The Crisfield YRE will not be renewed.

NEW BUSINESS

• Regional Director Awards: Members of CBCW, Freestate, and Annapolis clubs received longevity service awards. Bob received a 10 year award.
• Rediscover Maryland Program: Members of the Baltimore and Annapolis clubs received awards.
• AVA: The AVA has a new online reporting system for after action reports. The Freestate Club will use the old paper system today, and the new online system for the Jan 1^st event.

CLUB REPORTS

• Annapolis Amblers: The Amblers held their Christmas party on Dec. 6^th, and had great turnout. The club will be adding two new walks this year. They are taking over Downs Park from CBCW, and starting a new walk at the National Arboretum.
• Baltimore Walking Club: The next BWC event will be a one day event at DuBurns Arena in Baltimore, MD in February. There will be two trails, and the YRE boxes will be located at the event for the day. There will be a walk on April 10^th in Baltimore, MD. A walking weekend will be held in Western Maryland over the Memorial Day weeks based in Cumberland, MD with a coal heritage theme. A walk will be held in Lutherville, MD on June 26^th.
• Chesapeake Bay Country Wanderers: The CBCW will closing down at the end of 2010. They drew over 300 walkers for the two day event at the Navy Dairy Farm in Gambrills on Dec. 7^th and 8^th. The final CBCW event will be held in Rosaryville SP in Upper Marlboro, MD on May 9^th. This meeting will be the site of the next MVA meeting. There are a variety of Volksmarch supplies available from the club.
• Columbia Volksmarch Club: No Report.
• Great Greenbelt Volksmarchers: No Report.
• Freestate Happy Wanderers: The Freestate Club thanked all who attended the event today here in Columbia, MD. The next event will be in Danville, MD on Feb 20^th. There will also be events on April 17^th at Fairlands in Laurel, MD, and in Solomon's Island, MD on June 19^th. The club will hold a group walk at their Chesapeake Beach, MD YRE on June 20^th.
• Piedmont Pacers: There were 160 participants at the Hagerstown, MD event this year. The club will hold 2 more events in 2009, including Brookeville, MD at the Rachel Carson Conservation Park on Sept. 12^th, and the Frederick, MD Octoberfest on October 3^rd & 4^th.
• Potomac River Volksmarching Club: There may be a Global this year, but is very uncertain. There will not be a Spring walk on Bolling AFB this year due to security issues. There are 2 spaces open for the trip to Europe in September.
• Seneca Valley Sugarloafers: The Sugarloafers will hold an event on the C&O Canal in January. Pre registration is required. An event will be held on the Bethesda Trolley Trail on March 6^th. There will be two indoor YREs.
• Washington DC Area Volksmarch Club: The DC Club will hold its usual 5 night walks during the year starting at the library in Old Town Alexandria. There will be two planned events at this time.
• World Wide Volkssport Tours: Sandy Lynch is working on 4 events, 2 each in San Juan, Puerto Rico and St. Thomas, Virgin Islands in conjunction with 2 cruises in January and February from Fort Lauderdale, FL. The back to back 7 day round trip cruises depart on January 30^th and February 6^th. The club will have 3 Seasonal/YRE events in three different states in 2010. The will be at Harper's Ferry, WV, Anne Arundel Mills Mall in Md, and in Bethany Beach, DE.
• Regional Director Notes: Jackie Wilson is retiring from the AVA HQ. The NEC is collecting for a gift by Feb. 15^th. A motion for the MVA donate did not pass. Donations only from individuals accepted, and will passed on to the NEC.

The next MVA meeting will be at the CBCW event in Upper Marlboro, MD on Sunday, May 9^th, 2020 at 1 pm.

The meeting was closed at 2:05 PM.

Respectfully submitted