Itascatur Outdoor Activity Club
Annual Meeting January 20, 2019
Present:
Officers: Renee Brauer, Maurice Spangler, Barb Jauquet-Kalinoski, Candy Malm, Eric Haugland, Diane Brophy
Members: Keven Brauer, Kathy & Salvador DaSilva, Florence & Carter Hedeen, Jill & Deane Johnson, Jo Judson, Greg Kalinoski, Brita & Phil Sailer, Carolyn Spangler, Barb & Mark Thomason, Paul Wibe.
Other: Allan Forseth
The meeting was called to order by Secretary Barb to (1) approve amendment to the bylaws, (2) approve 2018 annual meeting minutes and (3) elect officers.
Bylaws: Florence/Kevin moved to add the position of “Past President” to Itascatur officers. Carried.
Minutes: Kevin/Jill moved to approve the minutes of the January 6, 2018 meeting. Carried.
Officers: Kevin/Candy moved to approve new officers: President Renee Brauer, Past President Sandy Perez, Member-at-Large Diane Brophy and Bike Director Richard Jarret. Carried. Phil and Nikki were thanked for their service on the board. President Renee presided over the remaining meeting.
Treasurer’s Report
Maurice 2018 Income/Expenses: Maurice reported 2018 income of $19,533.26, expenses of $ 16,618.17 and a checkbook balance of $21,443.94.
Old Business Action PR – Renee gave an update.
New member sign-up form and Discussion Forum. Renee Members/new members are encouraged to complete the “sign-up” form on the Itascatur website to enable a new Discussion Form to be effective. The Forum will store members discussions by date and topic for easy reference, thus eliminating the need to save individual emails of member discussions.
Hubbard County Bicycle Plan Kevin, Maurice, Eric Members met with MnDOT, HRDC and the Hubbard County Highway Department to develop a comprehensive bicycle plan in Hubbard County. In their first meeting, they identified areas needing improved bike routes for safe biking.
Heartland Spur Project Eric The route from the Heartland Trail to Itasca State Park has been determined. The next step is to gain financial support from the Mn legislature to build it. Eric also reported that minutes from Spur Project meetings are now housed on the “Action Park Rapids Lakes Area” website.
Soaring Eagle Trail update Candy The first 2019 open house was a huge success with 75 people attending. A lack of snow has caused cancellations of open houses but hopefully this will change soon. Candy noted there’s much public interest in the trail, based on the number of hits on the website.
Headwaters 100 Renee The bike event is scheduled for September 28, 2019 and we’ll celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2020! Diane suggested reaching out to additional vendors for printing T-shirts with the goal of having them done by late July. Phil and Diane will work with Nikki on this.
Second Street Stage Renee The price of sponsoring a band is now $1,000 per event or $250 per hr. Renee will check to see if Itascatur can share sponsorship with another organization.
Bike Racks Kevin The question of where to place additional bike racks was discussed. The Nevis Coffee Shop and Deane Park are possibilities. Diane suggested offering the Headwater 100 portable bike racks to the city for use at community events. The racks are housed in city offices so it’s easy to transport them to events. Diane will contact the city about this.
New Business
Relay for Voices Maurice Maurice was contacted for Itascatur’s participation in the “Relay of Voices: the Great River Run.” It involves 6 relay runners who will run from the mouth of the Mississippi River to Louisiana, visiting communities along the way. Park Rapids is the first community. Itascatur participation would involve finding six people for the relay runners to visit (to hear their stories, the “voices” that connect to the river), provide a community meal and housing for the runners.
Marketing the Headwaters 100 Barb Barb reviewed the current marketing for the Headwaters 100 and presented a few ideas for additional marketing. The membership gave her their input.
X-Country Ski Races Maurice Maurice presented the idea of offering the Soaring Eagle trails to area high schools with x-country ski teams to practice and possibly sponsor small meets.
Memorial for Janine Weideman Renee & Kevin A memorial for Janine, who served as Ski Director for many years, was discussed. Members decided to place a bench at the entrance of the snowshoe trail in her honor and to name the snowshoe trail after her. Deane & Mark will work on this. Phil suggested placing a photo of the trail’s founder in the warming house as well.
Kevin/Marked moved to adjourn the meeting.
A pot-luck followed.
1/21/19 Addendum to meeting: An electronic discussion of Board members occurred on 1/21/19 regarding financial contributions to the Second Street Stage and park sculptures. The group decided to not support requests that fall outside Itascatur’s mission of “outdoor activities.”
3/14/19 Change to Headwater’s 100 Registration fee
Board members conducted an electronic discussion of an increase in the Headwater’s 100 registration to offset increased costs in registration software. It was agreed to increase the pre-registration fee from $40 to $45.
5/29/19 Appointment of Membership Director with the resignation of Arlette Van Wyhe. Candy moved/Barb seconded to approve of the nomination of Kevin Bauer.
Motion carried.
5/29/19 For the years 2019 and 2020, Maurice Spangler and Renee Brauer will be authorized to sign checks for the Itascatur account at Citizens National Bank of Park Rapids. Sandy Perez will no longer be authorized to sign checks.
Barb J-K moved/Kevin seconded to approve the minutes and addendum to minutes as of May 29, 2019. Motion carried.
Spending Committee: Kevin moved/Mike P seconded to approve up to $3,000 to purchase bikes for the Park Rapids Community Ed Spinning Class. Motion carried.
It was also noted that Itascatur members should add the website to their list of contacts to assure they receive communications. The address is webmaster@itascatur.org