CHUGIAK DOG MUSHERS ASSOCIATION

The meeting came to order at 7:17pm. Meeting minutes for January 4th were read and approved.

Treasurer’s Report
Checking $8,518.04 Gaming $1,362.26 Savings $8,704.14 TOTAL $18,584.44

The club’s total income for 10/1/05-1/16/06 was $3,984. This included income from the poster ads, concessions and merchandise sales, membership dues, races fees, and donations, including donations in memory of Harold Capps.

Expenses for that same time period were $6,502.16. This included race expenses, poster production, a race banner, trophies, trail maintenance and grooming, gas and electric, telephone, outhouse maintenance, and other miscellaneous items.

Trail Committee

Bill says that the Classic could be run on the 12-mile, Klune Lake, or Beach Lake. He has groomed all of these trails. It isn’t possible to set a snow hook on the middle of the lakes but snowmachines will be out there for the race to assist if needed. After discussion about which route to use for the Classic, Nathan Sterling put forth the motion that the race be run on the 12-mile and Beach Lake, which would be 14 miles. Jennifer Payne seconded the motion and it was passed.

Bill will talk to Linda at Parks & Rec about getting some signs posted along the Fort Rich border to discourage crossover in vehicles, which has been a continuing problem.

Businessperson’s Race / Eagle River Classic

Right now, 19 businessperson mushers are signed up and matched with teams. Melinda Miles, Ron Kilian, and Ed & Jo Wood can provide all or part of a team if more teams are needed.

Jackie will be sure to bring membership forms and media releases to the sign-up and bib draw on Friday night.

Tickets for the Classic banquet are printed and available. The tickets are printed as $20. Earlier discussion indicated tickets would be $15. Tickets were $20 last year to cover the tip and that is the reasoning behind the $20 price this year. Jeanne put forth the motion that we sell the tickets for $20, covering the tip for the banquet, Val seconded, and the motion was passed.

The Banquet will be at Bella Vista. Five menu items will be available. For the Friday sign-up and bib draw, also at Bella Vista, a limited menu of pizza and finger food will be available as well as a no host bar.

The Classic purse is $3,000 and entry fees range from $64 for member to $84 for non-members ($20 membership fee included).

There are lots of good items to be had at the Chinese auction at the Banquet. Ron will try to get some Juniors to help collect cash during the auction and someone will check into a few possibilities for auctioneers.

Jo has taken care of the ISDRA sanctioning paperwork for the Classic.

Julie requested volunteers for a chute judge for the 6-dog, 8-mile; Val volunteered. Dixie will look into finding a few sled decoration judges for the Businessperson’s Race. Jerry Tokar will be race marshal on both days.

6-dog, 8-mile Race

The route for the 6-dog, 8-mile race, to be held on Sunday, was determined. Jennifer Payne moved that the race be run entirely on the 8-mile trail. Julie and Nathan seconded this and the motion was passed.

Old Business

Recognition – Val talked to Stan about his wishes for how the club might recognize all of his hard work. He requested that whatever funds were designated should be put toward a prize in one of the races. The club discussed various ways to carry out these wishes, including adding one more place to one of this weekend’s races, adding a humanitarian award, and drawing a finisher at random to receive the prize.

Jerry put forth the motion that the club draw a finisher’s name randomly from all finishers of the Classic and announce a special prize in recognition of Stan Smith’s hard work and his wishes. Dixie seconded the motion and it passed.

Elections – Lexi Hill, Lynn Hornbein, and Val Jokela volunteered to be the nominating committee for the elections, so no board meeting will be held next week.

Gaming – Melinda sent the permit renewal application to Juneau this morning so we should be all set to hold an auction this weekend.

New Business

Catering – One of Harold Capps’ wishes for the club was to provide good food at events, especially the Businessperson’s and Classic weekend. Julie requested that some of the donations given to the club in Harold’s honor go toward catering this weekend’s events. Dixie/Ron shared an email from a mobile concessioner who sells items at Alaska events, including mini-donuts, nachos, and others. The club agreed that it was too short notice to contact this person for this weekend. Bill suggested platters from Fred Meyer.

Julie put forth the motion that the club purchase platters for about 100 people, Bill seconded the motion and it passed. Jeanne will order platters from Fred Meyer and Jennifer will arrange for someone to pick them up on Saturday. Sunday’s races will do concessions. Jo will restock the concessions items.

ASDRA Race – ASDRA is interested in holding another race at Beach Lake on the weekend of January 28&29. The club would like to potentially hold the Orville Lake Memorial Race on those two days. Bill moved that the club invite ASDRA to hold a race, Nathan seconded, and it passed. Bill will find out at the ASDRA meeting on Thursday night if they plan to hold the race. Jeanne will check with Susan Wagnon to determine how the finances of the race are split between the two clubs. The race, if held, should occupy the trails from about 11am to about 2pm. Signs will be posted in the parking lot and emails will go out to let club members know the race is taking place and training schedules may need to be adjusted.

Latseen Benson Fundraiser –All but a few bags of dog food are sold and the proceeds were $2,590. Rural Discount Center will receive $600 of this for transporting and storing the food. The remainder will go to Latseen Benson. Diane Benson, Latseen’s mother, may come to a meeting or race to receive the check personally.

The meeting adjourned at 8:17pm.

Next Meeting

The next general meeting will be Wednesday, February 1st at 7pm at the clubhouse. An education program is at 7:30pm. Susan Whiton will discuss Planned Parenthood for Dogs: To Breed or Not To Breed.