USS TOPEKA (CLG-8) Reunion Association, Inc.
BOARD of DIRECTORS MEETING
AUGUST 23,2002
Meeting Minutes

1. Call to order. The meeting was called to order at 10:00 AM in Room 600, Denver Hilton Tech South.

Don Anderson, Board member was not present, he had advised he would be unable to attend.

2. Review of Board Meeting Minutes: Jack Timmons read the minutes of last Board of Directors meeting held in Atlanta, GA on October 13, 2002. Minutes were approved as read.

3. Treasurer’s Report as of August 19,2002. We remain solvent.

Ship's Store report provided by Jill Connery is was provided: (not made public.)

A. Dudley Cass stated Jill Connery has done a great job, she has turned the Ship's Store operation around and has it on a sound financial basis. Dudley Cass said he had been hoping to make it so that the ship's store would not require the annual loans and it appears as if we are close to achieving that.

B. Calendar year 2001 tax return status - Our CPA has obtained an extension for 2001 taxes. The cost to prepare is expected to be $400.

C. We have received preliminary info from Insurance Broker re obtaining Insurance for Oct 2002 through 2003. The expected charge is to be $400 for the year including liquor liability coverage.

Dudley Cass questioned whether the insurance premiums were being charged to the Reunion Fund, when it appears for full year coverage, it should be charged to the Operating Fund. Jack Timmons assured the board that the insurance charges are charged to the Operating Fund for 2001 and 2002.

Jack Connery had a question about the Herb Hedge Fund, where the money came from and whether we had ever used any of those funds to assist indigent members to assist them in getting to a reunion. Jack Timmons responded that the initial funding came from Herb Hedge who left a bequest to the Association in his will. In accordance with Herb Hedge's request, he funded a round of cocktails for members attending the Seattle Reunion. Jack stated that we have offered financial assistance to at least three members, to date none of those proud old sailors has accepted any assistance. John Reynolds opined that we may well never get any takers, and postponed any decision as to what to do with this fund.

Note: In my review of this issue, we have used small amounts ($25) from this fund as a memorial gift to a Leukemia organization for a deceased member and a like amount to assist with funeral expenses for a deceased member.

Dudley Cass questioned the expense for Tax Preparation, he said it seemed high. Jack said we are getting a bargain rate and had we not used the CPA, we would not have known about the existence of a required California Form that carried financial penalties if not filed on time and no extensions are allowed.

Dudley Cass requested the Secretary/Treasurer to develop at least a rough budget for the next year. Jack Timmons said he would develop a budget for 2003.

4. Membership Report: Jack Timmons presented the membership report as of 08/19/2002:

There are additionally 104 members who are inactive, including those few who have opted to have no further contact with us, deceased members, and those who we have lost contact with due to no valid mail address.

5. Old Business:

A. Domain Name Registration: Ken Noble told us that we needed to renew the Domain Name Registration this year. He sought guidance as to how long we should extend the registration. The board directed Ken to find the best deal he could get for us for a likely three year period. (This subsequently was done and we have extended the registration for the period 6 Nov 2002 through 6 Nov 2005 at a nominal charge of $69.99).

B. Newsletter: Dudley Cass asked who had received the August 2002 Newsletter and asked Jack Connery when it was mailed. Jack Connery and Jack Timmons believed it was mailed on Friday, August 9,2002 and certainly no later than Monday, August 12,2002. Jack said the check to Admail (which is the bulk mail house) was mailed August 5 and should have been received no later than Friday. None of the Board members other than Ken Noble who had a copy mailed first class mail for inclusion on the Web Site had received the newsletter before we left home on August 20.

Jack Connery outlined that we have used bulk mailing on the May 2002 and August 2002 mailings. On the May newsletter, there was a notice "Return Service Requested." Jack had to pay postage on the some 30 returned newsletters and re-mail them with first class postage. Based on recommendations from the mail house, the August newsletter did not have the "Return Service Requested."

Dudley Cass asked why we were using the bulk mailing and Jack Timmons said that there was a considerable cost reduction when using bulk mail. The Tulsa Newsletter Printer (Meek's Lithographing) in February started charging us for affixing the mail labels and the first class postage stamps. The mailing of the February 2002 Newsletter cost us $940 for 1000 newsletters of which some 900 were mailed. Jack compared this to the May mailing which cost $456 for Meek's to print 1000 newsletters and a $289 charge for Admail to handle and ship the 900 newsletters for a total cost of $745.

Dudley Cass wanted to know why we have quarterly newsletters, it appeared we could cut back to three issues a year and still get our members all the information they need to know about the reunions. This would allow sufficient cost savings to allow sending the newsletters using first class postage at all times which would allow the newsletters to be forward in most cases and allow timely receipt of the newsletters.

Jack Timmons spoke in favor of keeping quarterly newsletters because for instance while we only have approximately 120 persons at the Denver Reunion, we have the rest of the membership wants to know what is going on. Jack Connery also spoke in favor of keeping the Newsletter on a quarterly basis.

A motion was made and seconded to have the newsletter to be issued three times a year and to be mailed first class. A vote was taken, Jack Connery was the only dissenting voted and Secretary/Treasurer Jack Timmons is not allowed a vote under our bylaws. The motion carried.

Dudley Cass said we should give the newsletter editor guidance as to when the three newsletter issues should be issued. It was determined that the newsletters should go out in October, March and May each year. This would allow sufficient time to get out all the required information on the annual reunions.

6. Correspondence: Jack Timmons reviewed correspondence received.

A. American Red Cross letter of Dec 5,2001 acknowledging receipt of our gift of $655.00 on Oct 30, 2001. $250 from our treasury as voted at the General Meeting in Atlanta Oct.13, 2001 and the balance from cash contributed by our shipmates at the Atlanta reunion.
B. US Naval Home letter dated Oct 21,2002 in receipt of our donation of $370 on Oct 13, 2001.

7. New Business:

A. Naval Home Letter:The Treasurer has prepared a letter to US Naval Home making a donation of the $308 which is the balance of the Navy Home fund account.
B. Volunteers needed to join our leadership team.
Dudley Cass wants to get more members involved in the leadership of the organization. He offered ideas such as:

    (1) Offer free dues for the period a person serves.
    (2) Offer paying reunion fee for leaders.
    (3) Any other incentive the board can offer.

There was considerable discussion of these issues. Ken Noble offered to speak at the general business meeting of members to say that being a reunion coordinator was not all that much work, especially with the considerable capable assistance offered by Ruth Cass. I believe it was the consensus that financial rewards would not motivate folks to aspire to leadership positions in the organization. We will have to continue to work to motivate and get more members interested in doing the work of the organization.

C. 2004 Reunion: This year we were supposed to hear from Chuck Northrup who volunteered at the 2001 Reunion in Atlanta to have a reunion in Tampa Bay in 2004. We have not heard from Chuck Northrup and he is not attending the Denver Reunion. John Reynolds said we would have to defer a decision on the East Coast Reunion site until the Portland Reunion in 2003.
D. Slate of Board Members:The slate of Board Members is to be voted on at the General Business Meeting on Saturday. Dudley Cass indicated the existing board was willing to continue to serve. John Reynolds said he would propose the incumbent board to the membership for reelection.

Dudley Cass determined after consultation with John Reynolds and a review of our by-laws that the Board of Directors elects the officers. The board is elected by the membership. There being no interest expressed by anyone else in becoming President or Secretary/Treasurer, likely the current office holders would remain in place another year. The Board voted to make John Reynolds President and Jack Timmons Secretary/Treasurer, since there would not be another board meeting after the General Business meeting.

8. Close Meeting: There being no further business before the board, the meeting was adjourned at 11:30 AM.

Respectfully Submitted,
Jack E. Timmons
Secretary/Treasurer