USS TOPEKA (CLG-8) Reunion Association, Inc.
BUSINESS MEETING
2002 REUNION, DENVER, CO
AUGUST 24, 2002

1. John Reynolds called the meeting to order at 9:30 AM, Saturday, August 24, 2002.

2. Review of Minutes of last Business Meeting held in Atlanta, GA on October 13, 2001 were read and accepted as read.

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

B. The Ship’s Store Report provided by Jill Connery was provide, information is not public:

C. Calendar Year 2001 Federal and California Tax Return Status. Our CPA has filed for an extension for the filing; expected cost for tax preparation is $400.

D. We paid $400 last year for liability insurance. We have received preliminary information from our insurance broker that the Insurance for Oct 2002 through Oct 2003 will remain at $400, including liquor liability insurance. The insurance premiums are no longer charged against the Reunion Fund, they are charged to the Operating Fund since it covers the whole year, not just the reunion.

4. Membership Report: As of August 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 with whom we have lost contact due to not having current mailing addresses for.

5. Old Business:

A. Status of Baka Hachi revision. Postponed. Perhaps the new Baka Hachi will be available by the Portland Reunion in 2003, according to Jack Connery, Newsletter Editor. Jack Timmons says that he is holding $200 that has been prepaid for the eventual release of this publication.

B. Incorporation Status Report: CA & Federal Tax Free Status is confirmed.

6. Correspondence:

A. We have received a receipt from the American Red Cross for the
$655 we donated, $250 from our treasury and $405 collected by passing the hat. The bequest was expressly for the victims of the September 11, 2001 attack on America.

B. We received a receipt for the $370 that we donated to the Naval Home in honor of our shipmate ETC Victor Hammond. The receipt states in part "This contribution will be used for the benefit of fellow shipmates living at the home."

7. Board of Directors Meeting:
President John Reynolds asked Chairman of the Board Dudley Cass to tell the membership what was accomplished in our Board of Directors Meeting:

A. Dudley said Jill Connery should be commended for putting the Ship’s Store on a sound financial basis.

B. We talked about the Herb Hedge Fund which has never to date been used to assist shipmates to attend reunions. No decision was reached.

C. Dudley Cass has asked the Treasurer to prepare a budget for coming years.

E. The Webmaster is to find the best deal for our Domain Name Registration.
Ken Noble subsequently obtained a Domain Name Registration three years $69.99.

D. Newsletter. Dudley says due to the increased costs of the quarterly newsletters, the Board has voted to have the Newsletters issued three times a year instead of quarterly. It was also decided to not use bulk mailings, all newsletters will be sent by First Class Mail. Those newsletters should go out in the months of October (post Reunion), March, and May of each year in order to get timely information to members about the coming reunion.

E. Dudley Cass spoke to the need to get more and different members involved in the actual running of the organization. It is hard to get folks to step up to volunteer to be Reunion Coordinators, and those reunion coordinators need help from folks in the reunion area. Dudley offered some ideas and asked the membership what might be done.

F. Dudley Cass reported John Reynolds was Reelected President and Jack Timmons continues as Secretary Treasurer.

8.New Business:

A. John Reynolds advised the membership the next task is to elect a Board of Directors. The Existing Board of Directors are all present except Don Anderson, and they have all indicated a willingness to continue to serve. The slate for Board of Directors presented to the membership for a vote included the present Board members who are:

Dudley Cass, Jack Connery, Jerry Judge
Jerry Pennington, Ken Noble, Don Anderson

The existing Board of Directors was reelected by acclamation.

9. Ship’s Store Operator Change. Jack Connery announced that Ike and Linda Roberts have volunteered to take over the Ship’s Store operation. Jack reported that they would shortly begin the process of mailing the materials and once Linda got a checking account established for USS Topeka (CLG-8) Reunion Association, they would transfer the funds to Linda Roberts for deposit to that account. Linda Roberts is now the official Ship’s Store operator, and is so listed in the Newsletter.

10.Reunion Site for 2003 is Portland, Oregon. John Keith says we have arranged to have the Reunion at the Doubletree Hotel Portland, Lloyd Center which is downtown and next to the light rail. He is looking to have a city tour, possibly tours of the Mt. Saint Helens area and possibly a Columbia Gorge tour. There are many museums; there is underground Portland, the Lewis and Clark Interpretative Center. The Pendleton Woolen Mills are close by. There are many exceptional wineries nearby. Oregon is a beautiful state and he will try to arrange tours so we can see it. The contract has already been signed with the hotel to get us better prices.

11. Proposed Site for 2004. John Reynolds opened the discussion, saying that this will be an East Coast Reunion. Chuck Northrup at the Atlanta Reunion in Oct 2001 said he would be interested in hosting a reunion in Tampa Florida in 2004. But since he was not present to present his site, we cannot vote to confirm Tampa.

Ray and Kathy Spatz said they would be interested in looking for a reunion site in New York City, and would be prepared to make a presentation in Portland next year.
Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, Coney Island, USS Intrepid and the whole city could be very interesting place to have a reunion.
There were also discussions about perhaps having a reunion in the Baltimore area (Perhaps Ernie Villamil to host).

12. Proposed Site for 2005. John Reynolds opened the discussion, saying this would be a Mid West Reunion. Mike "Doc" Phillips said he would like to host a reunion in Minneapolis, Minnesota area. There are lots of things to do in Minnesota, including the Mega Mall, Lake Minnetonka Dinner Cruises, there are theaters, old fashioned trains, Stillwater for crafts, and there are arts and Museums, Golf courses and Wall Eye Fishing. Mike said there are lots of hotels for less than $100 a night. Don Nelson, Cal Ladd, Joe and Valarie Nolan have said they would be willing to assist him according to Mike.

No other Mid West Locations were proposed.

13.Other Business. There was no other business to be discussed.

14. John Reynolds closed the meeting at 10:15 AM.


Respectfully submitted:

Jack E. Timmons; Secretary/Treasurer
August 30, 2002
C: Official file
Sec/Treas file