GREAT LAKES CHAPTER, VCOA 

Meeting Minutes

 

Tuesday, January 17th, 2012 – 5:30 p.m.

Clara’s in Lansing, MI

 

In Attendance:

David Irvine, President

John Northup, Co-Treasurer

Nancy Northup, Co-Treasurer

John Hay, Member

Ellis Hay, Member

 

Acting Secretary, David Irvine, for Daryl Tammen, Secretary

 

I. Old Business  - 5 minutes

 

A.  Review of November 12th, 2011 minutes – review, no discussion. Action items are in this month’s agenda.

 

C. Bylaws – The group discussed Tim’s research of VCOA and VSA bylaws, and the fact that the groups are quite different. There did not seem to be any interest in merging them nationally. The group also discussed if we needed bylaws. Our group has been informal, and the discussion was that it did not seem it would benefit or be worth the effort – CLOSED.

 

D. Previous minutes printout will be mailed to Daryl via John and Nancy who have to send documents to Daryl in the future. David has electronic versions of all and will give to Daryl if he believes he would like to have them. The minutes are also on our web site for the past two years - CLOSED

 

II. New Business = 55 minutes

 

A. Installation of officers:

          John David Irvine – President

          Daryl Tammen – Secretary

          John Northup – Co-Treasurer

          Nancy Northup – Co-Treasurer

Daryl was unable to attend due to the weather. David will call discussion of Secretary duties and how the board can help / communication among board members and distribution of minutes. Once the minutes are approved by the board, the Northup’s will provide distribution to the members via e-mail and forward to Paul Fletcher, Webmaster, will be done by John and Nancy.  The minutes will be included as our communication for "off"  meeting months (February, April, June, August, October and December).  The President will submit an e-mail for distribution on Meeting Months, but may also include a message when minutes are distributed.

 

B.    Treasurer’s report & new banking requirements – John and Nancy reported the balance was $942.05 plus $12 for a renewal at our meeting from John Hay.  John and Nancy shared a list of expenses for the past four months and asked for reimbursement of $146.60 primarily for postage, laminated pouches and ink for self-inking endorsement stamp. John and Nancy posed the question what do we do with the remaining 26 pins that have a value of $5 each. They can be kept for new memberships, given as a courtesy to a neighboring chapter (limit 1) and no need at this time to create more for an incentive. Almost everyone has one, with the exception of about 10 memberships.  Will re-review “pins” in 2013.

There was discussion of looking at windshield decals, and the design of a new logo for this and possibly hats; Ellis suggested calendars with our events listed and photos of our members’ cars that can be printed online. The goal would be to have them done and ready for the show. Tim knows some graphics people, Daryl had expressed an interest in creating one, and John Hay would see what he could do to research logos, hats and other ideas. All are invited to share at the March meeting. 

 

C.   Web site / Facebook / Calendar of events to Rolling – there was discussion of these items and other ways of better serving the members. It was agreed that our web site needed some revisions. Some have already been sent to Paul. Classifieds that are old need to be removed and new ones inserted. There was discussion about John Northup’s contacting Jan Nystrom at Rolling about the calendar of events, and also ensuring that our meetings are listed as a link to our web site for the most up to date information, rather than posting the dates that may change. Other suggestions for the web site included links to various Yahoo groups that are Volvo related, and other links.

 

D. Suggestions from chapter members – David shared the expression of interest to have activities on the east side, brought to him by one of our new members, Hunter Wright. Hunter also suggested Saturday meetings occasionally. Hunter will research various “auto themed” places and restaurants and can send them to the board for review. There was also discussion of possibly doing a fall color tour planned well ahead of time.

 

E. Spring Dust off, April 27th and 28th, 2012 – John and Nancy Northup

            1. Survey to get a "count?" – decided that people can just e-mail Treasurer@greatlakesvolvoclub.org

            2. Other details/promotion – John Northup has been reaching out to 

              other chapters, including Horst at the Buckeye Chapter. Thank you! 

            3. The Northups confirmed our appointment with Jack Miller, a third generation owner of the Ypsilanti's Automotive Heritage Museum, the oldest Hudson Dealer. They also had been in touch with Steve Wilson from the Michigan Fire House Museum, and checked out the lunch site, the “Sidetrack” run by a woman called “Frenchie”.  The group decided that we could have our May meeting at this site on that Saturday, April 28th, 2012.

 

F. Volvos at the Gilmore IV – Tim - committees formed. Tim is to report more in March.  He is working on a budget, a list of volunteers, and several members have expressed an interest in helping, including Al Bulgrin and Gary Hershoren.

 

G. Other activities/ideas for the next year – fall color tour. Anyone interested in coordinating can either come to the March meeting or express an interest to one of the board members.

 

H. Open Discussion – Discussion of just having our January meeting be a “virtual” one due to the weather. Vote was unanimous to do that.

 

I.  Our next meeting will be Tuesday, March 20th. 2012

 

President Irvine adjourned the meeting and wished everyone a safe drive home!

 

 

January 31 – Late Breaking News from Daryl Tammen:

 

I saw the ad in Rolling magazine about the June 1-3 Volvo meet in St Louis.  I called the hotel and made reservations for Bonnie and me for Friday and Saturday night.  The hotel is located very near the area where the meet is to be held and it looks like a very nice hotel.  When I first tried to make reservations online, it showed the cost of the room was $199 per night.  I was having trouble with the online reservation, so I called and found that the Volvo rate is $140.  The article in Rolling indicated that there are limited rooms available.  

 

The hotel listed in Rolling is the Chase Park Plaza.  For reservations, call: 314-633-3000.  Their website is:   http://chaseparkplaza.com/