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Western Pennsylvania Garden Tractor Association
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WPGTA Plow , Pull and show day at the Beacon Hotel
January 15, 2012 Meeting Minutes
Chapter 34 Cub Cadet
January 15, 2012
The meeting was opened by Pres. Joe Hnatkovich with the pledge to the flag. The meeting was held at the Clarion Fire Hall, 525 Wood St . , Clarion , PA
Roll call of officers and directors: Pres. Joe H, V Pres. Bob Francis, Treas. Joe Rice, Sec. Inez Jordan, Mark Campbell, Charlie Jordan, Ray Freedline, Bob Francis, Denny Engle. Absent was Wally Whitfield. Also attending the meeting were: Kenneth Boyle, Stephanie Stewart, Don Dugan, Bill Dugan, Don Kellar, Matt Addison, Mike Dugan, Cliff and Betty Campbell, Casey and Tammy Angeletti and Ace & Brooke, Mark Campbell, Austin Campbell, Jared Campbell, Mary White.
The secretary read the minutes of the October 9, 2011 meeting. No additions or corrections, the minutes stand as read.
The treasurer reported a balance of $2,999.66 excluding bills of $156.62 for KFC and supplies.
Ray F. stated Carrie sent her thanks for the money.
Fund Raising – Denny stated nothing is going on right now and Mike Dugan is willing to take over as Fund Raising chairman. A motion to nominate Mike Dugan was made by Bob F., 2nd by Denny E. Carried.
Denny will help as an advisor. All items for sale have been paid for so anything sold is profit. Keep your ticket from the door prizes as Denny has donated a Cub Cadet car which will be awarded last. Thanks to Denny for organizing the door prizes today.
Newsletter – Carrie is not doing the newsletter and Wally is in Florida for the winter. Ray F. is thinking about doing the newsletter.
The meetings for 2012 should be held each quarter. 1st. quarter meeting is today, Jan. 15, 2nd quarter meeting will be April plow days at Renfew, 3rd quarter meeting should be sometime in August, maybe here at the Clarion Fire Hall with a picnic, 4th quarter, Nov. 3, Renfew for a plow day.
At the April meeting the date for the August meeting will be decided, place to be held and if we will have a picnic.
Charlie J. stated is there enough interest to keep Chapter 34 going? Denny E. stated with the new members, there seems to be a new interest in keeping the club going and growing.
Bob F. asked about money for plow day expenses. He needs about $500 for the expenses. Denny stated that there was $1,500 for the 50th Anniversary show items but only about $500 was spent and those items were sold at Renfew. There are a lot of items we can get to sell. We need a place to buy T shirts. Joe R. can get hats. Denny E. has a new distributor, Key Industries in GA.
You must use a credit card to pay for the first order from Key Industries. Denny E. ordered items and submitted the bill to Joe R. and he sent a check for the order. To buy from Hoovers , you must be IH or Chapter 34. Joe R. will get a debit card for buying items. Contact Joe for the debit card number.
Chapter 34 January 15, 2012, page 2
Wally W. would like to have a summer tractor show at the Beacon Hotel at Renfew. If we do anything but show tractors, such as games, etc. then we should have insurance. The club can’t do tractor rides or hay rides as we don’t have insurance coverage.
Bob F. stated Blue Knob wants us to come to their show. We can’t be involved as a club but could go as individuals. As a club we can’t be involved if there are tractor pulls. Blue Knob is featuring International tractors.
Beacon Hotel can have a tractor show. We would need a rider to have Chapter 34 sponsor it. Denny E. state when Chapter 34 had plow –tilling days at Luthersburg, they had an insurance rider. Beacon Hotel would have to carry insurance to have a tractor show. You must be a national member but you do not need to be a Chapter 34 member to be covered by the insurance.
Bob F. stated the forum cost $90 for the 1st year and $120 for the next 2 yrs. Do we want to keep the web site? Denny stated that Wally has done a good job on the website. Bring up the cost at the Nov. meeting.
Bob F. asked if a 50/50 can be held to help pay for the internet? Wally wants to have 2 plow days and a tractor show at the Beacon Hotel.
Charlie J. stated he is against having an internet meeting. Bob F. stated it would only be for members who couldn’t be at a meeting. Denny E. stated the club use to do that many years ago. Casey A. stated that when a motion is made and 2nd and then the secretary would poll the members and it could take up to 40 + minutes for all the members to vote. All minutes could be printed out. If you couldn’t be at the meeting, you could go back to read the minutes.
There was much discussion on a 9 member officers/directors board. Directors terms are for 3 years and staggered.
Wally W. nominated for president by Mark C., 2nd by Denny E. Carried. Mike Dugan nominated for director by Denny E., 2nd by Mark C. Carried. Casey Angeletti nominated for director by Denny E., 2nd by Ken B. Carried.
Officers for 2012 are: Pres. Wally W., V. Pres. Bob F., Treas. Joe R., Sec. Inez J. (appointed)
Directors: Charlie J. 2013, Joe R. 2015, Mark C. 2014, Ray F. 2015, Mike D. 2015, Casey A. 2015. Denny E. will be an advisor.
Voting on officers and directors will be held at the November meeting and new officers/directors will take office in January.
Denny E. mentioned that PPMA has plow days in April if anyone is interested. Also PPMA has a spring show on the Memorial Day weekend at Sykesville.
Discussion about having a consignment auction at the plow days at Renfew in April. Wally W. wanted a consignment auction at April plow day. Ken will see about getting an auctioneer. Consignment auction usually gives 90 % to the person, 10 % to the club and the auctioneer does the auction for free.
Chapter 34 January 15, 2012 page 3
There was much discussion about small games of chance raffles. We would need a small games of chance license from the county. If we have a 50/50 raffle in house, we would not need a license. If you chance off prizes, you must decide how to deliver the prizes to the winners. Info on tickets include date of drawing, where the drawing is held, the club sponsoring the raffle, address of the club and a contact for the club.
Mike D. made a motion to get a small games of chance license, 2nd by Bob F. Carried.
Motion to adjourn made by Bob F. 2nd by Mark C. Carried.
Respectfully submitted by Inez Jordan, Secretary
A delicious luncheon from Kentucky Fried Chicken was served.
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Chapter 34 Cub Cadet, October 5, 2011 Meeting
The meeting was opened by Pres. Joe Hnatkovich with the pledge to the flag.
Those attending: Pres. Joe Hnatkovich, Treas. Joe Rice, Sect. Inez Jordan, directors: Denny Engle, Mark Campbell, Charlie Jordan. Absent were: V. Pres. Bob Francis, director Wally Whitfield. Attending were: Ray Freedline, Austin Campbell, Bill Lesnett, Stephanie Stewart, Deven Gaston.
The treasurer Joe Rice reported balance of about $2,900.
Minutes of the April 30 meeting were read by Inez Jordan. No response, stands as read.
Denny E. stated everyone should have the national dues renewal information. The secretary’s dues will be paid by the club.
Denny E. stated the line of communication is broken. Carrie stated she never got her check. Joe R. sent the check but no canceled check came back. Joe will write new check today for $125 to Carrie for her work on the newsletter. Joe will stop payment on the missing check. Ray Freedline will deliver the check to Carrie. Secretary will send e mail to Carrie about the check.
Election of officers – Denny goes off as a director this year and doesn’t want to be a director as he has been a director for 10 years. Jim Bagley has resigned as a director.
Joe H. does not want to be president for another year.
Charlie J. stated that he doesn’t see how we can keep this club going. He can’t see where we are really a club due to lack of interest. He doesn’t know what ramifications would happen if the club is dissolved.
Denny stated that all money would be turned over to the nationals. Chapter 34 would still be a club and could be started up again in the future.
Denny stated the club changed the by laws so now the club members run the club and not the officers. Mark C. also stated that if anyone wants to start up the club again, they can.
Some discussion.
Denny stated the club got into the registry to have insurance for plow days. It is not Dave’s or Denny’s way but they knew what needed to be done to keep the club going. Denny has done the plow days for many years and would like to plow at Renfew.
Word is that Dave wanted to close down the club after the Millville show. Chapter 17 thought 34 would help with the show but we couldn’t get enough help so Chapter 17 voted against the Cub Cadet 50th anniversary show. Instead they are having a fall show at Millville on Oct. 22.
Denny has always been the fund raising chairman and he would like some one to take charge of the merchandise and sell the items.
We need to mail a letter to go out to the members to have them decide to keep or disband the club. We don’t even have a picnic, the only activity is the plow days and then we only have a handful to help with that. Charlie J. made a motion to send a mailer out to see if the members want a club, if no answer that means a “yes” to disband. If you vote to keep the club, you must attend a meeting and help. 2nd by Phil Lesnett. Passed.
An answer to the mailer could be e mailed or sent by mail.
Mark suggested the letter state come to spring plow days and support the club and decide the club’s future.
Page 2 Chapter 34 meeting
We discussed having a meeting in Jan. and info about the meeting would be in the letter.
The meeting will be Jan. 15 or 22 depending on the weather, 2 PM, at the Clarion Fire Hall, 525 Wood St., Clarion , PA. Come to the meeting, we need your participation in the club. We need to elect a president and vice president. Will you help?
We will have a catered lunch from Kentucky Fried Chicken about 4 PM. Guests welcome, cost is $4 for the lunch for each guest. Menu is chicken, cole slaw, potatoes and gravy, macaroni and cheese. Please RSVP by Jan. 3 to the secretary. There is a parking lot behind the fire hall. Please use the door by the parking lot.
Ray Freedline for director. Motion made by Joe R., 2nd by Denny E. Unanimous.
Plow day is April 28 at Renfew , Pa. You must be a member of the national to plow due to insurance purposes.
We talked about 2 other plow days the same day as Renfew, one at Fort Allen and the other at Cochranton so we may not have many attend.
Dues are now due.
Motion to adjourn the meeting made by Mark C. 2nd by Ray F. Unanimous.
Respectfully submitted by Inez Jordan, secretary
From Brian Albrecht
His response to the Oct. 5, 2011 meeting.
Hi Everyone,
Thanks for the information. I had suspected that sooner or later the issue of what the future of the club will be would come up. When I took over as membership secretary from Betty Peters in 2006 membership was over 100, with people spread over a wide region. Since then membership has declined at a fairly steady rate, with the members now mostly concentrated in PA. This is mainly due to the plow day being there, and plow day being the biggest benefit of membership. This year's renewals are also running behind last year. Usually by the middle of November I have most of who is going to renew signed up. At the current pace that will be roughly 40 members, with the majority of the membership in PA.
I'm not sure how to proceed. For people like me, making meetings isn't much of an option between my work schedule and the 1000 mile trip to PA. The original intent of the club was to have meetings more internet based so people could join in from wherever they were, but that fizzled in 2006 after the director reorganization that occurred. I'm not what you would call an active member I guess, but I'm happy to be in the club and do what I can to help out. I would suggest that any decision about what to do result in the club sticking around until after plow day next spring. For people who have their national dues paid through Chapter 34, and have renewed this year, they will be national chapter members until next fall no matter what because their dues have already been paid for the next year. I think the club might be more successful with a more regional approach (like maybe just a PA club). Honestly, I think some other chapters suffer some of the same issues. They just have a larger group of people to draw membership from because more people collect the ag equipment than Cadets. I also think a lot of the chapters have a fairly small number of members who keep things running year to year, but with larger membership that means maybe 10 to 15 people out of 150 instead of 5 or 6 out of 50. Maybe some of the national directors have some advice to offer?
-Brian Albrecht
A reply to me (Wally W.) from Robert Laloud Presdent of IHCC about some here talk about Disband Chapter 34 and how the motion was worded.
I do not have a majic answer to how to get members involved. You will find in most organizations that 10 % of the members do all the work. The rest do not get involved for many reasons, but still like to belong. If you have a core group and directors and officer that want to keep going, do so. When you have officers and directors that have lost interest then the end is neer or time to change directions.I spoke with our lawer, Dick Forster, and he will contact you. Most of the chapters are having the same problems with declining membership. Econemy, lost interst, joined in the heat of the moment, The list goes on. In owr chapter the biggest meeting is the winter banquet, We have a dinner, meeting and a program. What works for us may not work for anyone else. Do not give up., a small chapter that is active is better than a large one that is not.
Thanks. Bob
April 28, 2011 meeting minuutes
Cub Cadet Chapter 34
April 28, 2012 meeting
The meeting was called to order at 1PM by Pres. Wally Whitfield at the Beacon Hotel, Renfew , PA with 32 attending including 2 guests.
Officers and directors attending were: Pres. Wally Whitfield, V. Pres. Bob Francis also a director, Treas. Joe Rice also a director and Sec. Inez Jordan, directors Ray Freedline, Charles Jordan, Mark Campbell, Mike Dugan. Advisor Denny Engle. Absent was director Casey Angeletti. Fund raising chairman Mike Dugan.
The minutes of the Jan. 15th meeting were read. Motion to accept made by Mike D., 2nd by Mark C. Denny E. suggested ask for corrections or additions, if none minutes stand as read.
The treasurer’s report was read by Joe R. Balance is $2,910.94, bills paid were $151.41 and $60.69. No corrections or additions, treasurer’s report stands as read.
New business –the 3rd meeting for this year will be at Luthersburg.
Wally W. wants to change from IH backing and only be Chapter 34. He would like to go back to the old days of Chapter 34.
Denny E. stated the spring and fall plow days at Paradise is where Chapter 34 started and was hosted by PPMA. With PPMA you had to be a resident of PA and ones from other states couldn’t plow so Chapter 34 went to Luthersburg for 5 yrs. to have plow days. The chapter has been here at Beacon for 4 yrs.now. Many have split and gone to Fort Allen . Some only wanted farm tractors and no lawn tractors.
Wally there have been new members join and he has been putting news on the forum. He wants the good yellow feeling back like he felt years ago…
Wally was talking to IH registry and they only check every 3 years. We can’t have hay rides, pulls, parades, etc. He wants Chapter 34 to grow and stay together so we can be non profit and get away from IH. We need $125 for non profit status and a new set of by laws. We need a new unique name for the club. Denny E. has suggested Western PA Vintage Garden Tractor Assoc. If any one has a suggested name let Wally know.
Wally asked IH what we can and can’t do. We can’t do anything on public roads, no participation in events sponsored by another organization. All participants must be an IH member. The national board does not want to tell the local chapters what to do but they have so many activities we can’t do and that makes it difficult for us to have the activities we want.
The insurance agent that will tell us about a new insurance plan for the club already insures the farm where the club plays today. We need to be non profit status.
We can get general liability and bodily or property damage coverage that will cover all events/activities.
There is mobile insurance for lawn mower races, etc. that would cover hay rides and parades that would be on public roads.
The insurance would cover all participants and club members.
The policy is broad and is based on membership of 58 members.
One million dollars coverage is $298.
A policy to cover everyone with $15,000 medical coverage is $553.
The insurance company will write insurance for clubs who have broken off from other clubs.
Any questions? Thanks to the insurance agent for his report.
Denny E. stated that we could have a slow tractor race. The winner is the slowest tractor down the track.
Mark C. stated that every penny in the treasury must be returned to IH.
We need a new set of by laws that state no one can make a cent from the club.
Wally W. stated the Oct. 1 the IH membership is done but the grace period is until Dec. 31.
We need to make a decision about the new club name, by laws, etc. There is no money to start up another club or pay for insurance.
Denny E. suggested having a show or fund raiser maybe have something at the Luthersburgshow in August. There was much discussion. Denny suggested a pig roast.
Wally will donate $100 to get a new club going.
We don’t have a small games of chance license and money from that must go to charity.
Wally stated we have a forum and anyone can make contact on the forum.
A motion to start a new club was made by Joe Schroeder, 2nd by Mike Dugan. Carried.
Any money donated today will be kept separated from IH. Joe Rice could still be treasurer if he wants to for the new club.
We will have to pay $6 a person to plow at Luthersburg in August.
Motion to have the 3rd meeting at the Luthersburgshow August 18th made by Wally W., 2nd by Joe S. Carried. This meeting will be to finalize the new club name, activities and fund raising.
Wally will see about having the new by laws done by June 1. They will be patterned after the IH by laws.
Denny E. stated that when Chapter 34 is done, you can start a club by contacting IH and Chapter 34 can be restarted. That club number is always there at IH.
Denny stated we need someone to keep track of the auction money.
Wally asked if anyone wants to sign up for the new club today can do so.
Motion to adjourn. Unanimous….
Respectfully submitted by Inez Jordan, Sec.
Notes about April plow day….
Consignment auction $41, Coffee donations $7.50, Auction $785 (used $15 membership money for start up)