Maryland Volkssport Association
Minutes of Meeting
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Eastport, 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), Joanne Merkel (Piedmont Pacers), Jim Hathaway (Sugarloafers), Mike Quinlan (CBCW), Sandi Cahill (WDCAVC), and Marie Wiser, (Annapolis Amblers).

Guests: Sam Tollett (Atlantic Region Director), Carolyn Quinlan (CBCW), Jone Parr (Sugarloafers), and Chuck Merkel (Piedmont Pacers).

The Meeting was called to order at 12:48 PM by President Bob Schmick

Bob requested that all in attendance introduce themselves.

REPORTS

• Minutes from the April 26^th, 2009 meeting were approved.
• Treasurer's Report: Treasurer Ken Wilson presented the monthly balance sheets May, June, July, and August. He stated that all of the 2nd Quarter reports were received on time. It was noted that Ken's wife is not doing well. Refund checks for participation in last year's YREs were distributed.
  
  The report was accepted.
• Future of the Sport: The statistics for 2007 show an upward trend in participation.
• C&O Canal: No Report
• Webmeister: No Report

OLD BUSINESS

• AVA Convention: The biannual convention was held in June. Curt Myron ran unopposed for AVA President. The events were well put on, but the weather was very hot. The next convention will be held in Des Moines, IA in 2011, but no decisions were made for the future. Bob has 10 awards booklets if anyone wants one. There were 12 President's Awards presented. Two were given in Maryland. They went to Donald Conway, and to Phil Wilder.
• Club Social Activities: Bob repeated his request that clubs hold more social activities.

NEW BUSINESS

• Club Service Pins: Sam Tollett requested all club presidents provide him with information on how many years all members of their clubs have participated in Volksmarching.
• YREs Via Metro: Bob requested clubs update their information on walks reachable by metro in the DC and Baltimore areas for the MVA website.
• Atlantic Region Conference: The next Atlantic Region conference will be held in Annapolis, MD on March 19^th and 20^th, 2010. There are still 2 events needed, as well as an idea for a workshop. Bob reported that John Dye stated the Columbia club will hold one event.
• Atlantic Region Director: Sam Tollett was elected Atlantic Region Director.
• YREs in 2010: Maryland will have one less event in 2010. CBCW is dropping Downs Park, but Annapolis is picking it up as a Seasonal. MVA is dropping Crisfield, MD. Clubs should check to make sure all special programs are listed in Starting Points. Starting in 2010, all special programs will start on Jan 1^st, and end on Dec 31^st.
• 20th Anniversary: The Freestate club has received their 20 year flag.

CLUB REPORTS

• Annapolis Amblers: Marie Wiser thanked all who came to the Ambler walk today. Future events are the annual Octoberfest event in Annapolis on the first Sunday in October, and the Boat Parade event on Saturday the second weekend in December in Eastport from the same start location as today.
• Baltimore Walking Club: The next BWC event is a new walk in Joppatowne, MD. The MVA pays the sanction fee for new events.
• Chesapeake Bay Country Wanderers: The CBCW will closing down at the end of 2010. Their next event is a 20th anniversary event at the Navy Dairy Farm in Gambrills on Dec. 7^th and 8^th. This was the location of the first CBCW event. CBCW is paying the walk fees for all participants. There will be a Spring event to be announced. The club has renewed all YREs except for the Downs Park event.
• Columbia Volksmarch Club: The next event will be in late September in Ellicott City, MD.
• Great Greenbelt Volksmarchers: The next Greenbelt event will be at the College Park Airport on Saturday, Sept. 19^th.
• Freestate Happy Wanderers: The Freestate Club next event will be their annual 9/11 event in Laurel, MD. They will also hold a September event in New Market, MD on Sept. 26^th. They may possibly add a bike event next year to their Indian Head, MD YRE.
• 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 will be no Global this year for the first time in 25 years.
• Seneca Valley Sugarloafers: The Sugarloafers will hold an Octoberfest event at Kentlands, MD on October 11^th. The club will also hold a night walk in Seneca Creek State Park on Nov. 1^st. Events are being planed for the Bethesda Trolley Trail and Rockville.
• Washington DC Area Volksmarch Club: The club is celebrating its 30^th anniversary this year, but cannot get on Andrews AFB, which was the site of the first event. The substitute event trail will be across the Wilson Bridge from VA into MD starting from the public library in Alexandria. This is the same start point used for the club's night walks. There will be a cake and punch, as well as free old medals for participants. The Christmas event this year will be only held on Saturday, Dec. 5^th from the same library.
• 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 cruises each cost about $1000 per person.

MVA: Bob is hoping to get a speaker on Civil War history in the area for the conference in March. The York, PA club is taking over Shepherdstown, WV, and the MVA will operate the Harper's Ferry YRE in 2010. There are thoughts of using virtual start points for the Western Maryland, C&O, and Allegheny Passage walks.

The next MVA meeting will be at the Freestate Happy Wanderer event in Columbia, MD on Thursday, December 31^st, 2009 at 1 pm.

The meeting was closed at 2:22 PM.

Respectfully submitted