Salt Creek Wranglers (SCW) Board Meeting
Sunday, January 19, 2020
Attendees:
Sally Mulford- President
Kim Bowen- Vice President
Brian Davey- Treasurer
Tami Maytum- Secretary
Katie Cruickshank- Member-at-Large
Andy Dearmont- Absent
Diane Olson- Absent
Emily Nolan- SCW member
Lisa Eggerling- SCW member
Hannah Ronnau- SCW member, Website/Social Media Volunteer Manager
Agenda
The meeting was called to order at 12:30 pm. Kim Bowen made a motion to dispense with the reading of minutes from the previous meeting. The motion was seconded by Katie Cruickshank. All members were in favor with no objections. The motion carried.
Brian Davey went over the most recent treasurer’s report. The current account balance is $4,477.87 as per the latest documentation/report provided by previous treasurer Maralee Sobotka. Sally Mulford shared that the signature cards have been updated on the account; the only people on now are Sally, and Kim. Brian will be added when he can get to the bank in Fremont this week. Brian reports that the insurance is currently being paid via direct withdrawal. Sally reports that we can get online to look at the history of the financials, but can only see through 2018. Brian cannot get online until he gets his name on the signature card as well. Brian is working to get the checkbook picked up from Maralee. He will be the only one with a checkbook. Hannah offered to work on meeting up with Maralee as she lives closer than Brian does. If Pinnacle Bank does not offer online deposits, the club may switch to US Bank for convenience. Brian reported that he is working on sorting out treasury reports and whose name and address is on what bills. Emily Nolan made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report as stated. Kim seconded the motion. All in favor, no objections. The treasurer’s report was accepted as read.
New Business
Sally reported that Diane Olson would like to step back from the Wranglers board. Kim said she spoke with Diane and that Diane said she is not leaving Wranglers but is just stepping back from the board. Sally confirmed that as per the bylaws, the board can appoint another board member to fill the vacancy. Sally reminded the board that at the transitional board meeting, member Carol Wolf expressed a desire to continue as part of the board. Sally has contacted Carol about the open board position. Carol declined the nomination to Activities Director but stated she would like to be a part of the fundraising/sponsorship as a club member. Emily Nolan voiced interest in being added to the board. Kim introduced Emily Nolan’s credentials as a potential member of the board. After discussion, Kim made a motion to vote to add Emily Nolan to the board as Activities Director. Brian seconded the motion. All were in favor with no objections. The motion passed with a unanimous vote of the 5 members present.
The board was addressed by Lisa Eggerling (SCW member) about the local Cowboy Dressage club. Lisa expressed thanks to SCW for the partnership with Cowboy Dressage in 2019 and stated the group’s desire to continue this arrangement for 2020. Lisa reviewed the 2019 agreement. This included:
Two ring practice nights a month that is free to members
Two possible playdates one in June, one in July
Lisa reviewed the benefits of this partnership for both clubs including:
Increased SCW membership through crossover members of Cowboy Dressage
Cowboy Dressage club will purchase another piece of equipment or sponsor show classes (the Cowboy Dressage club purchased and donated the wireless microphone for SCW last year)
Support from Cowboy Dressage members who sign up to help with horse shows and clean up days
Lisa stated the Cowboy Dressage club’s kickoff meeting is this afternoon, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020. She will provide her members with SCW membership forms and encourage them to pay their SCW memberships at that time. Lisa will provide SCW with a list of Cowboy Dressage members in order to confirm those who attend ring practices at SCW are current SCW members. Kim asked for further clarification of practice nights for cowboy dressage. Lisa stated they would prefer Fridays due to the trailering from out of town, with Tuesdays as their second choice. Kim suggested that the dates the arena is available will depend on shows and other clubs that have already reserved the arena for use. It was decided that the partnership will be continued with the Cowboy Dressage organization. The requested dates were noted by Emily for arena scheduling. Hannah suggested a website calendar with an arena schedule so that everyone has access to information about arena use by all clubs and availability for use. This conversation was tabled for later discussion. Lisa reminded the board that she is still on the 4-H judges’ list and is available to judge if the board needs her assistance.
Sally reports that the 01(c)(3) status lapsed in 1991. Brian produced paperwork regarding the history of the 501(c)(3) lapse and possible renewal. Brian clarified that there is an upfront filing fee for a 501(c)(3), but no fee to maintain the nonprofit status. Brian explained that it could take from 2-12 months to get the status back. After discussion, the board determined that we need to pursue getting the 501(c)(3) status reinstated. Further discussion carried over to the next meeting.
Next, the board was addressed by Hannah Ronnau, SCW member and Website/Social Media Volunteer Manager, about the status of the website and Facebook page. Hannah said that it was previously determined that the domain and software for www.saltcreekwranglers.com was too costly to maintain and so it was discontinued. Hannah explained that the club could build a website through the Wild Apricot program that is currently used for many things. Hannah continued that to get to the SCW website you would also have to enter through Wild Apricot to get there, which may be confusing for members looking for information. Hannah shared that she has obtained the address www.saltcreekwranglers.org at no cost to the club. She also said she has a sponsor that is willing to pay the expenses (approximately $220 a year) for the site for the next 2 years. Hannah would like to donate her time to create a website that is club-friendly, with the ability to provide all kinds of information including dates, arena reservations, sponsor information and links, photos, online memberships, point totals, etc. Emily made a motion to move forward with allowing Hannah to create a new website using the .org address she purchased, with the cost/woman power of creation donated by Hannah, and maintenance covered through a sponsorship Hannah has obtained for 2 years. Kim seconded the motion. All in favor, no objections; motion passed. Hannah will start working on the website immediately.
Additional website/social media discussion included Hannah working on getting into the SCW Gmail account and opening it up so that the board members can use it. Kim asked Hannah to make other people administrators for FB and website as well so that we are able to get on and add show cancellations or other information. Tami, Katie, and Kim will be added as administrators to FB and the website. There was a discussion about maintaining a membership list on the website. It was decided not to do this as there are other ways to maintain this list that do not require members’ information to be publicized.
The Wild Apricot site was also discussed. Brian explained it costs the club approximately $40/month or $500/year to use. Currently, it houses the membership contact information, current list of paid members, tracks show points, sends email blasts to the membership, creates billings, tracks information, etc. Emily, Brian, and Tami discussed the ability to do most of these same things using Excel, Gmail, etc. Kim does not want to get rid of Wild Apricot without more research. Emily and Brian will continue to look through Wild Apricot and evaluate what can be done elsewhere for free. The board discussed getting a Venmo vs. Paypal and what the associated costs will be, can we do Venmo for free? Emily will look into it. Discussion tabled.
Sally and Brian talked about the SCW insurance that covers the property. Brian said this policy renews in April and covers a tractor that is not on the SCW property. Sally said the previous board has no information about this tractor either and that it was determined that there has been no tractor for many years. Kim explained that the board insurance was also canceled last year as it was going to cost approximately $800. Through discussion, it was decided that board insurance needs to be acquired. Sally and Brian agreed to do more research on the current insurance policy and get quotes for board insurance and report back at the next board meeting.
The board discussed 2020 show dates. The board reviewed previous SCW dates, breed show schedules for 2020, and show dates for other local clubs. The results of the recent online poll was also reviewed and a combination of Saturday and Sunday show requests noted. Using this information, the board settled on these dates:
Sun, March 29 clean-up day at SCW
Sat., April 4
Sat. May 2
Sun, May 31 (open show after pre-districts at Lancaster Event Center)
Sun., June 14
Sat., June 27
Sat., July 11 (Beat the Heat, 8 AM start)
Sun., July 26 (pre county fair)
Sat., Aug 15 (Pre Wolf Bros at LEC)
Sat., Sept 5 Sun., Sept 20 Sun Oct 4 (rain date Oct 11)
Sun Oct 18, (rain date Oct. 25) (Halloween)
Sally shared that Diane had offered to let SCW use the Multi-purpose Arena at the Event Center on Saturday, March 14th at a cost to the club of $200. The board discussed additional fees for this show and the likelihood that members would attend this early in the year. It was decided to add this show as a casual, shaggy show that will not count toward points. It was also decided to make the cost of this show an all-day fee. Emily made a motion to approve these show dates including the March 14th date. Brian seconded the motion. All in favor, no objections; motion carried. Hannah will post the new show dates on the website and Facebook ASAP. Due to the late hour, Sally proposed tabling a discussion on showbills until the next meeting.
Sally proposed pursing sponsorships in order to help build the club’s treasury. The discussion included ideas to support donations. Hannah said she can post sponsors/donors’ information on the new website and provide links to their websites if they have them available. Sally has researched the ability to post a banner on Coddington road. She has confirmed this is possible as long as only up during events held at the grounds. This banner could include sponsor/donor information as well at a total cost of approximately $100 to the club. Sally provided possible forms to use in order to pursue sponsors/donors. Sally suggests encouraging the membership to get involved in acquiring sponsorships. Sally would like to post the sponsorship forms online so it is available to members and the public. Katie volunteered to head up the sponsorship committee. Emily is willing to take the sponsorship information up to the Omaha area. Sally will assist with the Lincoln area. Sally will update the forms to include a tear-off on the bottom for sponsor information/receipt. Brian made a motion to accept the sponsorship proposal and move forward with it. Emily seconded the motion. All in favor, no objections; motion passed.
The board discussed requests through the survey for SCW to hold some clinics. Morgan Snyder has offered to donate a half-day clinic/half day show and SCW can keep the money earned. In exchange, he requests a spot on the banner and mention on the website. It was discussed that if Ranch Riding is kept on the showbill this would be a good clinic for the club to offer and a way for the club to earn additional income. Other clinic ideas were discussed including level testing clinics/practice, little britches, banding, packing for a show, etc. The clinics discussion was tabled for another meeting.
The board discussed items that need attention on the grounds. These items include:
sand pulled back to the middle of the arena
arena posts that need to be replaced
announcer booth window got left open, may need fixed
urinal in Men’s bathroom doesn’t work-needs fixed, replaced, or removed
Women’s bathroom lock needs repaired because it doesn’t lock
uprights/beams for the food stand are rotted out
fences need painted
driveway has potholes at the entrance
gravel put down (Sally found some free river rock so we can fill it)
arena lights
pump house to the southwest side of the property that has a heater in it that HAS to stay on in the winter, it had been turned off, but Sally saw that it got turned back on
one of the arena lights was turned off, the one by the concession needs to stay turned on
random trailer has been parked out there without permission, full of transmission parts and such, it needs to be removed
gardening/beautification
refrigerator in the lunch stand is broken again– could we get one donated from a business?
Sally will reach out to Andy and ask if he can go evaluate what needs to be done. Then, he can report back and we will go from there. The board will be looking for members to help do these updates.
The board scheduled the next meeting for Sunday, February 2 at 12:30 at Eisley Library. Emily made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Katie seconded the motion. All in favor, no objections.
Meeting adjourned at 3:26 PM
Next Meeting Agenda
Sunday, February 2, 2020 will be our next meeting at Eisley library, 12:30-2:30 pm
Showbill details
Judges
Venmo vs PayPal
Sponsorships
Banking
501(c)(3)
