CHUGIAK DOG MUSHERS ASSOCIATION
Board Meeting – June 8, 2005
7 pm at the clubhouse, Beach Lake Sled Dog Trails
Hotline: 689-7899 Website: www.chugiakdogmushers.com

Board Members in Attendance:
Ron Kilian – Pres.
Val Jokela – V.P.
Jeanne Carlson – Secr.
Colton Seale – Treas.
Jackie Fabrizzio
Don Keller
Mary Lou Raychel
Dixie Waddell

Excused:
Bryan Bearss

Not in Attendance:
Ed Wood
Ellie Claus

Also Atttending:
Julie Capps
Kurt Jokela
Bill Waddell
Barb Johnson

Board of Directors:
Don Keller is replacing Mellen Shea as board member. Mellen is battling breast cancer and does not feel up to the job. Don was the next highest vote-getter in the recent election and has taken the board position vacated by Mellen.

Treasurer’s Report:
Colton provided a summary of the club’s finances. Our total income from 3/1/05 to 6/7/05 was $4,791 and our total expenses for that same period were $6,669. We recently received the $5,000 grant money from Eagle River Park & Recreation.

Race Committee:
Ron brought up the possibility of changing trophy vendors to the Eagle River vendor, Arctic Trophies. There have been a few issues working with Bovey Trophies lately and it might be nice to support a local Eagle River vendor. Ron will look into the costs at Arctic Trophies and report back to the membership.

Race Poster Committee:
Susan Cantor attended and provided a summary of the poster efforts over the past few years. The poster typically brings in $4000, minus the $320 printing costs. This past year it brought in about $2400, since several ad spaces are given for free. The costs of spaces are $60, $100, and $200. Susan felt that she had done all there was to do to update the poster design. This past year she was able to get the Van Zyle artwork printed in color, which was a big improvement.

Susan then offered the suggestion of going to a calendar style piece. She provided an example and discussed the merits of the calendar design. She also provided a handout about the costs and income that could be achieved. The example she presented was a two-part system in which the club sold days on the calendar. Businesses and individuals could purchase a day, placing a message on that day. E.g., business name, Happy Birthday, Happy Anniversary etc. For additional income, the club could raffle each day, offering a prize every day.

Theresa may be able to assist in the design, digitizing the end result. Susan estimated that it would cost $1000 to print 2000 calendars, potentially with Van Zyle artwork donated (one graphic, with tear off calendar pages). The income could be up to $10,000 from just selling each day’s space. Additional income could come from selling the calendar and/or the gaming portion where raffle tickets are purchased with each calendar and each day is worth a different payout.

The race schedule could be printed on the day of each race as well as in one place on the back or front of the calendar.

Downsides: The labor involved in selling each day’s ad space would tax one person or would need to include many club members. Tracking a raffle would involve lots more labor.

Another suggestion was to continue to produce a smaller poster with a core group of advertisers, printing fewer.

Dixie made a motion that Susan would work with the current Poster Committee to decide among three options for this year:
1) produce just a calendar,
2) produce just the poster, or
3) produce a calendar as well as a small poster.
The Poster Committee would come back to the Executive Board with a recommendation and the Executive Board would decide if any more input was needed. Colton seconded the motion. All were in favor.

Suggestions for any additional advertisers should be passed to Carole Comeau.

Clubhouse:
Ron met with MEA and they said everything looks good for installing electricity at the clubhouse. Parks & Rec has requested that the material cut be chipped. The club discussed renting a chipper or a chipping service to do the job. Ron or Mary Lou planned to look into these options.

An all day work party (10am to 6pm) was planned for the following Saturday (June 11) to finish moving and stacking cut wood and brush.

Harold Capps Memorial:

To date, $910 have been donated to CDMA in memory of Harold Capps. Julie Capps attended the meeting and expressed her gratitude to the club for its support. Thank you to all who donated.

Julie sent out thank you notes for the donations sent to her, and the club will send thank you notes for all donations sent directly to the club.

A fitting use for the donations in Harold’s name was discussed. Julie said that Harold had expressed interest in having the Eagle River Classic catered. Another lasting memorial that was mentioned was trail signage. The club still has some funds donated in honor of Myron Gavin that could be combined to help pay for trail signage.

Dixie suggested that we table the discussion about donations in honor of Harold and the use of them until the next meeting. All agreed.

Political Action Committee:
Val provided information about the recent efforts to update the 1993 Chugiak Eagle River Comprehensive Plan. Val and Dixie are on the citizens advisory committee. They provided a survey to all members asking what was envisioned for the future of Chugiak Eagle River. Val is representing the Birchwood area and Dixie is representing Chugiak.

Education Committee:
Jackie has reserved space at the Sheraton Hotel for the April 8&9, 2006 “Canine Athletes” seminar being developed. Bill talked to Arleigh Reynolds about being a keynote speaker.

Suggestions for education program topics for the upcoming season included gee/haw training and speed training. It was mentioned that the club should put effort into getting participation from the Junior club this year. Jeanne will get the Junior email list from the Junior club so they can be invited to the education programs.

Miscellaneous:
Julie Capps has stepped up to retake her position as Volunteer Coordinator for the club. Shirley Gavin has volunteered to head the Merchandise/Concessions Committee. Thanks!!

Donations to CDMA are tax deductible. Dixie looked into the fine print and learned that, although donations are not deductible in general, the rule does not apply to organizations with annual grow receipts of less than $100,000. CDMA falls within this category, making donations tax deductible.

Mellen Shea is looking for a home for five older sled dogs. They are gee/haw leaders and she would ideally like to see them go to the same home.

Meeting Schedule:
The next board meeting will be held July 6th at 7pm at Ron’s house. Contact Ron at 694-6220 for directions.