Minutes 1/14/2023

Saturday, January14^th, 2023

The business meeting was held at the Short Stop, Wakarusa Ind. The meeting started at 3 PM and the meeting was opened in due form by President K Holmes.

President K Holmes gave the opening (and closing) prayer.

President K Holmes declared the business session open.

1. Roll call of Officers: Completed by Secretary Jeff Schrock.
2. Reading of Membership Applications: President K Holmes introduced Dave Mickelson (Jr) to the BoD, explaining that Dave has been an interictal member of the bike program. Dave wanted to formalize his membership in FSO. E Dir S Holmes made a motion to accept Dave as a Volunteer Member. J Schlorke seconded the motion, and the motion passed.
3. Reading of the minutes: Secretary J Schrock read (emailed) the minutes from the last meeting, and asked if there were any corrections or amendments. Seeing none E. Dir S Holmes made a motion to accept the minutes as read. V.P. F Schlorke seconded the motion and the motion passed.
4. Treasurers Report: Treasurer A O’Toole reported. H/R Dir J Schrock made a motion to accept the report, subject to audit. E Dir S Holmes seconded the motion, and the motion passed.
5. Bills: E Dir S Holmes made a motion to suspend the reading of the bills.  VP F Schlorke seconded the motion, and the motion passed.

Unfinished Business: 1) President K Holmes brought up the fundraising dinner in May (20^th). The following are assignments/topics of discussion. Entertainment; we do NOT want the band (Just Cause) from last year. We still want Sam Brown to play easy listening guitar for pre-dinner/dinner activities. The band will play afterwards. J Schlorke will coordinate. Food; J Schrock will coordinate w/Tony Allberry and get suggested menu. A food committee will be crated for the catering and appetizer(s). The theme will be The Korean War. F Schlorke will coordinate the drink(s) as well as the Happy Hour drink. J Schrock will do the food, J Schlorke will do the appetizer(s), and be the committee. Theme; the “theme” was decided as “The Korean War”. Venue; J Schrock will coordinate the VFW Banquet Hall. He will go to the monthly meeting to secure the donation of the hall again, and coordinate the date w/Club Manager Jerri Stutzman. Speaker & MC; K Holmes already secured Casey Hendrickson and Scott as above talent. Flyer(s); K Holmes already put together a DRAFT copy and passed it around. Other than confirming the band and menu, it’s ready to go to the printers. On the normal size poster(s) (8 x 10) there will not be sponsorship listed. On the 11 x 17, it will be. (see the following for additional on this item) Presentation Rights (fee); it was decided to make the presentation fee $4,000. As in, the dinner and evening are presented by XYZ and Freedom System… Last year it was 95.3 and it is hoped they will “sponsor” the dinner again. Donation Letter(s); letters asking for donations will be sent out soon, as normally companies get their donation lines in their budgets done early in the year. We MUST also do a follow-up on these letters this year. Underwriting; we must do a better job this year with getting underwriting on key expenses (i.e. Food, band, etc.). We need to type up a professional letter. It was also suggested that we send them to Goshen Health and Beacon Health to which would like to underwrite over the other – part of sponsorship. Letters would also be sent to local large companies, asking them to help local vets, LCI, Thor, Jayco, Elkhart Brass, Keystone, Bennington, etc. Donated Item(s); J Schrock will get with Caleb Denny and Ana Schue to ask them to start getting items donated. Both work for Lippert and have strong contacts. We will be asking for items to raffle off as well as auction items. K Holmes reported he would contact the range in Wolcottville, to see if they would donate range time. A O’Toole is going to contact Kodiak to see if they would also donate range time. There is also a range in Osceola, A O’Toole is going to check with them to see if we could raffle off a 1-year membership. M Kauffman is also going to check with the Nappanee Conservation Club, to see if we could raffle off a 1-year membership with them too. D Mickelson reported that the Golden Bear Bike Shop already agreed to donate! Sponsorship; when selling tables for the dinner, ask (politely) how many will be attending, for food count. Also, it looks bad when tables are only half (or less) filled. See notes for S Holmes for sponsorship amounts/levels. S Holmes is going to be working on a list of contacts, to both mail letters and to personally make contact. It was also suggested that Casey might have a list of contacts! Merch; S Holmes and K O’Toole will coordinate (and set up) merch items/tables. K Holmes asked for new t-shirt designs, something new for the event. Items being considered: water bottles (for bikes), hoodies (both pull-over and zip-up) w/FSO logo, leather goods, hats, and… wait for it… Challenge Coins! Gun Raffles; J Schrock will be in charge of the gun raffles. Suggestions were to get two (2), something tactical – as that is a hot item right now. Specifically suggested was Smith & Wesson MP Shield; and a Kel-Tech shotgun, 12-G. Volunteer(s); S Holmes reported she already got Brandy Elliott for the ticket taker at the door. M Kauffman will again be in charge of the volunteers working the dinner (serving, busing, etc.). Advertising; as well as posting on our own FB pages, we need to another great job posting on other FB pages and websites. FSO has a page that K Holmes and J Schrock are posting on, but seemingly, few others do. As well as the Elkhart County Veteran’s FB page. The event needs to be on more than FSO facebook and website pages. It was suggested to host a radio-telethon, hosted by 95.3. If this does happen, the entire BoD (Board of Directors) needs to be there to answer phones! Slideshow; run the slideshow throughout the entire pre-dinner and during the dinner. Beverage(s); J Schrock was asked to coordinate this w/VFW Club Manager Jerri Stutzman. Hopefully we can get a keg again that’s mostly full – donated. The last several years, we did not go through an entire keg – at most half. Happy-Hour drink, see above. F Schlorke. Jellybean/Ammo Jar; Schlorke’s suggested doing a jellybean jar again, and/or an ammo jar. Whomever comes closest, wins the jar. Cash Collection; J Schlorke asked about an apron to help separate and collect the money during the drawings. 50/50; J Schrock was asked to coordinate the 50/50 drawings (2). One about half way through and another near the end of the evening. Rolls if tickets will be needed, and ask to use the VFW gaming license. Itinerary; S Holmes was asked to create the itinerary again. 2) President K Holmes and Treasurer A O’Toole reported to the floor that they had been working on the Little League team. Sponsorship was $575, less than what we initially thought. Also, we get a banner. K Holmes designed it and passed around a mock-up of it on his cell phone. Everybody liked it and it was approved, asking for the solider face to be lighted up a little. K Holmes also asked that a promo photo be taken w/the BoD standing in front of the team holding the banner. K Holmes also reported he’d be coaching a/the team. 3) President K Holmes asked H/R Dir J Schrock about paying for the D & O insurance. J Schrock reported that he had not yet gotten a bill, but it was in force. J Schrock was asked to contact Denny Weldy and give him a check. Treasure A O’Toole wrote the check and gave it to J Schrock.

New Business: 1) J Schlorke asked about doing a 5-K again. It had been started several years ago, but the idea was abandoned when two (2) other organizations backed out at the last minute. Additionally, she asked about adding a cook-out at the end of one (1) or two (2) of them. The following are scheduled ride dates, destination TBD. 13 May – 10 AM; 10 Jun – 5 PM; 24 Jun – 4 PM; 8 Jul – 9 AM; 22 Jul – 4 PM; 5 Aug – 9 AM. During a lengthy discussion, it was decided to have the cook-out/picnic after the June 24^th ride, at 6 PM. This will be open to the families of the riders (and FSO). Sarah, Jenn and Jeff will prep the site and cook the food (burgers n brats, etc.). This particular ride will happen at Bonneville Mills. J Schrock asked about getting Kroger’s or Martins to sponsor (donate) all the food & associated items. The Rain date will be the 8 July ride, at noon. 2) H/R Dir J Schrock brought up T Crowley. About a year ago, he got promoted and is on the road all the time now. Since it has been a couple years since he attended a meeting, do we want to keep him on the “rolls”? During the discussion, it was decided to let him go; however, we can still use him as a POC. VP F Schorke made a motion to release him. A O’Toole seconded the motion, and the motion passed.

Good of the Order: No Report(s)

Next Meeting: Saturday, 11 February, 3 PM at the Short Stop in Wakarusa.

President K Holmes asked if there was any further business. Seeing none, H/R Dir J Schrock made a motion to adjourn the meeting and V.P. F Schlorke seconded the motion. The motion passed.

President K Holmes gave the closing prayer and the meeting was adjourned.

J Schrock

Secretary