Maryland Volkssport Association
Minutes of Meeting
Saturday, September 16, 2007
Upper Marlboro, Maryland

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

Club Delegates: Bob Wolfe (Freestate Happy Wanderers), Bill Guion (CBCW & Webmeister), Sue Kenyon (Baltimore Walking Club), Sandra Lynch (World Wide Volkssport Tours), Rich Long (Columbia), Jim Fons (Annapolis Amblers), and Sandi Cahill (WDCAVC), and Jerry Baugher (Piedmont).

Guests: Barbara Fons and Pat Arnet

The Meeting was called to order at 1:02 PM by President Bob Schmick

Bob Schmick opened by thanking Skip Coburn and the Potomac Club for providing the location for the meeting. He also thanked those who provided event brochures.

There was a brief discussion about Special Programs, and Freestate reported that their Rivers and Railroad programs have provided "major money" for their club and the AVA.

Jim Fons presented a compilation of the number of events by club for 2006, 2007, and those sanctioned so far for 2008. He requested that those submitting sanction requests continue to notify him. He also reminded everyone that they have until the end of September to edit their YREs for the 2008 Starting Point.

REPORTS

• Minutes from the previous meeting were approved.
• Treasurer's Report: Treasurer Ken Wilson submitted financial statements for April and May, June, and July 2007. The major disbursement was $500 in May for the expenses of the MVA delegate to the AVA convention. The cash balance as of August 23rd was $5139.78, but copies of the August statement were not available. The financial report was approved. Ken also presented a revised Proposed Budget for 2007 which showed a shift of $500 to be used for publicity, and the deletion of $1500 budgeted donations.
• By-laws: Bill Guion has updated the By-laws on the MVA web page.
• IVV: Skip Coburn discussed the controversy concerning the IVV issues following the meetings where forced elections resulted in no English speaking members on the IVV Council. Skip said this was a move by the original IVV participants to regain control. There have been several proposals within the AVA, some of them affecting AVA participation in the IVV. Skip's preferred approach is to wait and see what happens, thus unless something negatively affects us, "who cares". Some of the proposals in the AVA are to request by-law changes to these events from being repeated, and to submit letters of protest. It was noted that the AVA shows little participation in the IVV events, as the IVV only lists 200 YREs in the U.S. and very few regular events. Most events in the U.S. are sanctioned later than the deadline for being listed by the IVV. It was stated that clubs should make an effort to sanction events earlier in the year so that the events can be included in the IVV Book.

OLD BUSINESS

• AVA Convention: The participants felt the events were fabulous. The only recurring complaint concerned the lack of sufficient food at the Meet And Greet.

NEW BUSINESS

• Publicity: Skip Coburn reported that he is dropping work on a proposed MVA publicity brochure, since the AVA is distributing one. He stated that the clubs can order those from the AVA. He also recommended clubs order business cards from the AVA. The discussion then moved on to an extended one concerning producing a brochure similar to the one Pennsylvania does each year which includes a map of the state showing the locations of all YREs. If this type of brochure is desired, all clubs should send Skip the electronic version of the details of their YREs. A layout of a map of the state would be required on which to show all MD YREs. Steve Arnett will contact Tom Baerwald for assistance in preparing a base map for this purpose. Someone will need to contact the proper individuals in Pennsylvania for details on how their brochure is prepared, and to determine their costs.
• Event Sanctioning: The MVA By-laws place a limit of 2 events in MD on the same day. There has been discussion of limiting events to 1 per day since many events are only 1 day events lately. Events should be limited to 1 within 50 miles when possible. Bob's position is that there will be no change in the official policy, but when more than one are scheduled for the same day, he will contact the clubs involved to see if one could move to another day. If they cannot be changed, both will be sanctioned. Skip Coburn, as Atlantic Region Director, has been pushing for a requirement for earlier sanctioning of events. The AVA has a 90 day rule for sanctioning events. Clubs will be encouraged to sanction events as early as 120 days in advance if possible, with 6 months being preferred for sanctioning and brochure acceptance.

CLUB REPORTS

• Annapolis Amblers: The Amblers last event for 2007 will be with the Annapolis boat parade on December 8^th. Events are being planned for Greenscape in Annapolis, the Bay Bridge, and St. Michaels in 2008.
• Baltimore Walking Club: Upcoming events include the Baltimore Hamden area walk after Christmas to finish 2007. Reservations are recommended for those wishing to eat at the Cafe Hon. In 2008, there will be a series of 6 walks around the Baltimore Beltway, including Arbutus, Parkville, and Towson among others.
• CBCW: The next event will be at Bowie, MD on December 16^th.
• WDCAVC: The last of 5 night walks was held on Tuesday, September 18^th. The 25th annual Old Town Alexandria event will be held the first weekend in December with two trails. The DC Club is attempting to find locations for 2008 events in Maryland.
• Columbia: There will be events in Ellicott City on October 27^th, and at the John Dye residence in Columbia on December 17^th.
• World Wide Volkssport Tours: There is nothing scheduled this year. There will be a Caribbean cruise sailing on February 16^th, 2008, with sanctioned walks in San Juan, PR and in St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands.
• Piedmont Pacers: The Pacers will hold an event on October 11^th at the Lingomere Winery at Mt. Airy, MD. In 2008, they will participate in the 4-State Weekend over the Memorial Day weekend. They will also hold events in Hagerstown, Westminster, and at Piney Run. There will be a new YRE in Mt. Airy, MD in 2008.
• Potomac River Volksmarching Club:There will be an event on Bolling AFB in Washington, D.C. on April 12th and 13th in 2008. Pre-registration, and photo IDs will be required to get on the base unless you have a Department of Defense ID.

The meeting was closed at 2:28 PM.

Respectfully submitted