NCFSDC MEETING MINUTES
MAY 08, 2004

The May meeting of the NCFSDC was convened at 2:00 p.m. at the home of Ronda and Michael Scarabino in Orlando, Florida. Nineteen members, two guests were present and six Studebakers were driven to the meeting. These included a 1964 Daytona, a 1939 Commander 9A Sedan (all original), a 1961 Hawk, a 1964 Daytona, and a
1963 GT Hawk. David and Debbie Engle did drive a Ford with an empty car trailer in hopes of hauling something home. Alas, it was not meant to be and the trailer went home empty.

Tim and Lucrecia Taggart attended as special guests. Another special member in attendance was Bill Adams. It was announced that Bill just became the newest member to achieve honored member status in the Chapter.

The first order of business was the approval of the March and April meeting minutes published in the Chapter newsletter. There actually were no minutes for the April meeting since there were not enough in attendance to hold a meeting. Everyone was too busy enjoying the Georgia State Meet activities It was noted that the hospitality room at the Georgia State Meet was outstanding. Ronda Scarabino noted that the amount of $xx.xx reported as a donation to the Studebaker Museum was actually $xx.xx and will be reflected in the treasury (the treasury report is in current newsletter.) With this correction, the minutes for both months were approved by a unanimous voice vote.

Ronda Scarabino reported that a letter of appreciation for the Chapter's donation was received from the Studebaker Museum. The letter also said that the new facility will be ready in the fall of 2005. The new building is 55,000 SF and the groundbreaking will take place mid July 2004.

Ronda also explained that $1090 has been collected to provide a memorial to founding Chapter member Roy Mays who passed away in March. Anyone who wanted to contribute could do so after the meeting. Stephen Cade said that he had talked to Roy's wife Delia. Rather than have the memorial merged with other donations, she preferred that the NCFSDC find out what the scout troop needed and write checks specifically for those purposes. If anything is left over, boys could be sponsored for scouts' summer camp, which costs $200 per scout. Delia also plans to attend future meetings when they are closer to where she lives. It was approved by unanimous voice vote that Stephen Cade be authorized to handle the donations to the Boy Scouts with Delia. He will give Ronda the information and she will write the checks as needed. Stephen also reported that the Doug, his son, is going to keep Roy's car. A friend will help him restore it. A courtesy copy of the newsletter and Chapter announcements will be sent to Doug Mays, Roy and Delia's son.

It was noted that Greg Becker has been added to the Chapter roster for 2004. Mr. Becker had sent his dues in 2003 but the membership chairman did not get notified. He will get copies of the newsletters and all announcements in 2004.

The meeting was opened for old business. The first old business discussed was the resolution of the deposit slip that did not match the bank statement from a prior year. There was an error of $89. The bank had not credited the deposit for over $2000 correctly and the account was adjusted. With this correction, all outstanding treasury issues from 2001, 2002 and 2003 have been rectified and the account is fully up-to-date. The bank the Chapter has been using is not impressive. It won't cash checks written against their own accounts unless a $3 fee is paid if the payee is not a customer of the bank. It was agreed that the NCFSDC should consider using another bank.

Setup of an account for the 2006 Zone Meet was discussed. Charlotte Delli explained that the Chapter will need a bank that will cooperate with the treasurer and that this be kept in mind when selecting a new bank for the Chapter's business account. A discussion took place about whether a separate account was needed for the Zone Meet. It was agreed that it would be best to have two separate accounts to create an audit trail so the Chapter would know how much revenue was generated for the meet and how much was spent. Derwood Thompson mentioned that setting up a bank account was much more complicated than before homeland security became a reality. Charlotte Delli stated that some funds from the Chapter's business account may be needed to establish the Zone Meet account, but this money will be reimbursed to the Chapter once revenue for the Zone Meet starts being received. Having two accounts which do not co-mingle Zone Meet money with Chapter money creates a better audit trail. George Matt suggested that the Chapter consider using a credit union because they do not traditionally charge as much as a bank for their services if a nominal minimum balance is maintained. Derwood Thompson noted that the primary bank account should be kept in or around Gainesville and it would be good if it had a branch in Orlando to make it easier for Ronda, Chapter Treasurer, to conduct business. President Derwood Thompson then designated Martha Cade, Vice-President, to investigate various banks and report back to the Chapter. He pointed out that there was a letter which authorized the President, the Vice President and the Treasurer to act on behalf of the NCFSDC. Martha stated that she did not have a copy of the letter. President Thompson said that he would provide a copy to her.

With old business concluded, the meeting was opened for new business. Charlotte Delli indicated that she wanted to announce the team leaders for the 2006 Southeast Zone Meet. She said that after thinking about the limited response from volunteers, she concluded that it would be better to establish the team leaders and let the leaders put together their own teams. The selections of those who had volunteered were accommodated as possible. If someone is not really where he/she wants to be, don't get upset. She had to make assignments from memory because all of her records were lost when her computer was attacked by a virus, actually seven viruses. Assignments can be fixed.

She went on to explain that there were two phases to the process-planning and implementation. In planning, the hotel and dates are selected, the concourse and vendor space are laid out, the theme and the logo for the meet are designed as well as T-shirts, signs and banners, registration information and forms are sent out, etc. - everything that will be needed to host the meet. In the implementation phase, all the plans are executed.

The assignments were as follows:

Hotel - Martha Cade. She and her team also will check into RV hookups and trailer parking. The hotel team, the concourse team and the banquet team will have to work closely together because many of their needs are interdependent.

Publicity, programs and brochures - Danny Thomas. Danny also volunteered to find a good DJ.

Hospitality Room - Deb Engles. There was no one originally assigned for this team and Charlotte did not want to arbitrarily assign someone to such an important position. Martha Cade mentioned that it would depend on the hotel whether or not a hospitality room could be setup. Deb Engle volunteered, with a little help from her Mends, to take on this task. She and her team will work closely with the hotel team.

Derwood reported that he had been contacted by Delight Curbs, manager of the Gateway Best Western Hotel on 39' about the meet. He said he discussed the meet with her and that she had 152 rooms of which she could commit 125-130 to the meet, had a banquet room that could squeeze in 300 people, and plenty of parking at a rate of $69- per night. The manager will call him in late October. Charlotte Delli requested that he put her in touch with Martha Cade.

A question was raised as to the date of the meet. It was noted that the date cannot be established until the hotel is selected and availability is known. President Thompson said that in the past the month of April had been used. 2006 should be a good year for a zone meet since the national meet is being held out west in Nebraska. We may draw more from the eastern part of the US. It also was noted that the Zone Meet cannot be held in the same month as the national SDC meet. Charlotte Delli also mentioned that the Alachua County Convention Bureau will help finding and negotiating with hotels. They are funded by the hotel tax and it is their charter to help bring business to Alachua County. Nancy Thompson can help getting in touch with Nancy Fisher who is on the Bureau.

Martha Cade asked if the Chapter wanted the hotel in the Gainesville area or should other cities be considered. George Matt pointed out that logistics of the meet would be easier if it were to be held in Gainesville. The decision was left open until more information became available.

The discussion turned back to identification of team leaders.

Registration and Meet Packs - Edith Fifer. Judging and Vendors - Stephen Cade
Concourse, parking and security - Co-leads Don Fifer and Jerry Fairchild
Trophies - Co-leads Jeff Rice and Jerry Nowicki

Banquet and speaker - Co-leads Toni Boccardy and Mary Cade. Neither member was present but everyone at the meeting believed that they were perfect for the team. This originally had been part of the hotel team but it was agreed that separating it would be better.

After identifying the team leads, Charlotte Delli, Zone Meet Leader, stated that she had something that needed to be said and that it was not meant to be unkind but it was not nice. She especially said to Derwood Thompson that what she was going to say, coming on the heels of his information about the Best Western Hotel, would probably "step on his toes" and she apologized ahead of - time. But, something still needed to be voiced, "The Zone Meet is a large undertaking, much greater than the Florida State Meet hosted by the Chapter. The thing that will make it work is good communication, organization and planning. What I would ask of you is if someone contacts you about providing something for the meet or you have a good idea, please contact the team leader and Iet the appropriate team handled it. If ft is important to you, join the team. I know everyone is excited and wants the best for the Club; but if everyone goes every which way, there will be chaos; things will fall through the cracks I know that everyone's heart is in the right place; but please, from this point forward, keep the team leaders in the loop and let them do their jobs. If everyone goes off willy-nilly in whatever direction they want to, wire's will get crossed, communication will be messed up and the end result will be a bad meet or, at the very least, a needlessly stressful experience.

It was acknowledged that Martha Cade and her team can handle the hotel however they deem best since they will get the blame if things go badly and and congratulations if it is great. We should work with them and all teams. Volunteer. As a final note, Charlotte reminded the members that they could work on multiple teams and were not limited to just one. She also requested that team leaders provide a list of team members for the planning phase by the August meeting.

The length of the Zone Meet was questioned. It was agreed that check-in and registration would be on Friday night, the concourse and banquet on Saturday and departure on Sunday. Stephen Cade volunteered to host the Sunday breakfast out at the pole barn for any meet participants who were interested.

The NCFSDC June meeting was the next order of business. Originally, it had been planned to hold the meeting at the International SDC Meet in Charlotte NC. A poll of the members present revealed that there would not be many at the International Meet. It was agreed that a new time and place would be scheduled for the June meeting. Stephen Cade volunteered to have the meeting at his house on June 5". (Editor's note: This was later changed to June 6th because of a conflict with other activities.)

President Derwood Thompson stated that he had a complaint. He said, " I have a complaint and I don't know who to make it to. I see all of the clubs mentioned in Turning Wheels except for the North Central Florida Chapter." Charlotte Delli responded that sending the schedule of meetings and the slate of officers for publication was her responsibility as secretary. She said that she sent names of the 2004 officers several months ago and believed that they will be published, but ft has not happened. As for the schedule, there is not enough advance information about meeting plans to send ft to Turning Wheels in time for it to be published before the date is superseded by events. Derwood stated that e-mail speeds up the process. Charlotte said that she will send another list of officers by e-mail (the first list was e-mailed, too.) and will send meeting schedules when the meeting schedules are firmed up.

President Thompson initiated a discussion about meeting times and locations for the remainder of 2004. The June meeting has been decided and there will not be a meeting in July. The August meeting will be 6 & 7 August at Rainbow River. (Details on Page 6.) The September meeting will be at Cade's Pole Barn in Newberry FL. A date of September 11th was decided. The hosts for the October meeting are Sue and Gerald Tucker. A Halloween patty is planned; however, Sue announced that there is a complication. They are about to become grandparents at the end of October. If the baby appears around October 30th, there will be no party. Right now, the party is scheduled but it may change. We will have to wait and see. The November meeting is the annual mystery meeting hosted by the Delli's. It was decided that the meeting will be on November 6th. The December Meeting 4th and annual Christmas party will be December 4 , a Saturday, at Catfish Johnny's in Lake Panosoffkee FL.

Special thanks to Ronda and Michael Scarabino for hosting one of the liveliest meetings we had in a long time. The food and the location were great.

The meeting was adjourned by a unanimous voice vote.