Aug 2016

New Mexico Dressage Association

Board Meeting

August 10, 2016

At PRE House, 115 Elm, Albuquerque

(Note: Bold indicates “to-do” items.)

 

Board members present: Barbara Burkhardt, Dawn Foster, Cindy Kavan-Winfield, Winnie Fitch, John Collins.

Board Members absent: Harold Baskin, Gina McKay

The meeting opened at 6:30 pm.

Officer Reports:

Secretary: The Minutes of the July 14, 2016 Board Meeting, with changes incorporated, were accepted.

Treasurer: The July Financial spreadsheet (YTD – through 7/31/16 – attached) – reconciled with 7/31 MyBank on-line statement – notable items: MyBank 6-month CD matured; $2.66 interest earned; next mature date is 1/11/17.

  Financials C&B review by Winnie, and accepted by BoD in meeting. Vote passed 5-0.

        Dawn gave Barbara the two “Trailer Rental Damage checks for Aug 21, 2016 Juan Tomas Hound show – (Nancy Bonadeock # 3163) & State Fair (Sept 7-8, 2016) (Nance McManus check # 4505). Barbara will return these checks when the Equipment Trailer/arena is returned undamaged.

        The Board approved reimbursement to Barbara for a new trailer tarp ($29.98). Vote passed: 5-0.

Committee Reports:

Membership: Winnie reported still 138 members. Barbara commented that in July 2015 NMDA had 155 members and in 2014 171 members. Both membership and Schooling Show entry numbers are slipping downward.

Schooling Shows: Cindy reported that the Espanola show (Aug 14) has 25 rides. We’re not sure if there will be a concession and may need an extra runner or gate person.

Youth: No report.

By-Laws Sub-Committee: (Dawn reported:):  Progress is ongoing. Proposed 2016 By-Laws Amendment Schedule:

          *”Restated By-Laws/SR changes emailed to Board on July 20 with August 5th deadline for Board members to provide comments to By-Laws Sub-Committee (comments received from 3 Board members, other than Cindy and Dawn).

          * September 1 (at the latest) – ‘publish’ the restated By-Laws ‘for comment’ to the membership via email and the web site; in same email provide 3-week notification to the membership of a (General Membership) meeting to discuss restated By-Laws, i.e. document identifying proposed major changes will be provided to membership.  Need a quorum of 10 members, including 4 Board members in this meeting, then theBoD must vote on final version of the restated By-Laws to be presented to the membership (at a later date) for membership vote. (This is required per the current By-Laws.)

          * At or after this Gen. Membership Meeting the Board will vote on the final version of By-Laws to be published for membership vote. An effort will be made to send the By-Laws voting ballot with the annual Election of Officers Ballet. Deadline for mailing Election ballots is November 15th – it was agreed that this should be earlier – perhaps Nov. 1 or late October.

       Dawn, on behalf of the By-Laws Sub-Committee, requested approval by the Board to spend $200 to have Allegra Hanson, Esq. review By-Laws changes in light of 501(c)3 status change and assure compliance with NM Nonprofit Corporation Act 8. Vote passed: 5-0.

Nominating Committee: (Cindy K.W.(Chair), Lily Luman, and Karen Page) Cindy reported that the NM Nonprofit Corp. Act requires that 2 Board members must be on all committees. Winnie was approved as the 2nd Board member to the nominating committee.

Old Business:

“Mini” Grants: At the January 5, 2016 Board Meetingthis program was voted to replace “The New Mexico Dressage Association Education Fund (Voucher Program)” with “Education Fund Mini Grants”. Cindy presented an “Application” for applying for an Education Fund Mini Grant by applying volunteer hours toward a grant to apply toward NMDA sponsored educational activities. Basically, 8 hours of verified volunteering will get $25 in grant credit. Maximum for one year is $75. Vote to accept: 5-0. Cindy will make minor changes to the “Application” and send it to all members through an email blast and post on the web site.

Member Appreciation & Awards Banquet: The Banquet Committee is: President, Vice President and Awards Chairperson (Cindy, John & Barbara). There was some discussion about changing the name and purpose of this event (taking “Appreciation” out and including the annual membership meeting with the award banquet). It was decided to leave it for now. The Board would like it to be more than just an awards banquet. This may be discussed at a later date.

·       Date: The 3rd weekend of January 2017.

·       Place: Probably the Veterans Bldg on Kirtland AFB. John will reserve the venue for Saturday 21st, 4 to 10 pm (start time 6 pm). If it is not available Saturday, Friday or Sunday would be alternate dates. John and Cindy will look into caterers.

·       Possible awards: Saddle pads with a decal or some other useful item.

·       The Committee will report at Board meetings.

Schooling Show (SS) Ribbons:  Two proposals were presented for changing the method of giving out SS ribbons. At this time SS classes are quite small, sometimes only 1 or 2 rides per division and test. Almost everyone gets a blue ribbon with almost no competition. The two proposals are:

        John proposed that in classes of less than 3 entries only give a blue ribbon if the highest score is equal or better than the USDF “Qualifying scores” (to qualify for Regional Championship classes). In classes of 3 or more entries give the usual place ribbons. (In classes of only one or two entries the 2nd place gets nothing.)

         Barbara presented a method where all rides get a ribbon in accordance with their percent score:  Blue = 65 % or better; Red = 60 to 64 %; and Yellow = 59 % or lower. This method places the emphasis on scores not placing above or below others. “Percent ribbons” might cost a few pennies more than the generic ribbons we now purchase.

          Board members should question members to get a consensus of what exhibitors would like. Alsosuggested that Gina should talk to Junior Exhibitors. Table a vote until next Board Meeting.

Senior Olympics: Winnie reported that the 2019 Nationwide Senior Olympics will be held at the NM State Fair Grounds in Albuquerque. A member had asked if NMDA would support an Equestrian Division in the Olympics. The current Board said they would support it but could not speak for future boards.

Awards Discussion: Several ideas were briefly presented, for further discussion at a later date:

·       Volunteer requirement for a Year End Award.

·       Require submittal by member to Awards Chair

·       Delete the Rated Awards

·       Include other Rated shows in NM in our awards.

·       Convert to an “Achievement Award” system (a plaque or prize for say 5 scores of 60 % or better. Can take multiple years to achieve an award (per level) – but once an Achievement Award is won at a particular level, that rider, or horse, or combination, cannot win that level again.

The Meeting adjourned at 8:00 pm.

Respectfully submitted, Barbara Burkhardt, Secretary

Attachment:  YTD Financial Report (7/31/16)