Meeting Minutes

The January 3, 2008 meeting was called to order by president Dale Steinborn at 7:00 p.m. at the Bonfire Grill in Hutchinson, Minnesota.

President: Dale Steinborn
Vice President: Jim Orn
Treasurer: absent
Secretary: Rebecca Martinson
Chapter Rep: Wendy Steinborn
Sgt. at Arms: Al Salisbury and Joe Martin

Our guests were Lee Plante and Val Vanderwyst; and there were 21 members in addition to the officers named above.

SECRETARY’S REPORT was read by Rebecca Martinson. Motion to accept the report made by Charlie, and seconded by Kat; passed by hand vote.

Our guest Lee Plante from Lake Chapter was present to talk about the Grounded Hogs party on February 2 at the Medina Ballroom. They are looking for sponsorships. There will be a membership table, Dial a Ride will get the profits from the coat check; reminder to bring the chapter flag. Lee would like to see lots of us there.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Chapter Products by Wendy: there were only 8 t-shirts ordered at the last meeting; does anyone else want one?

Gambling by Jim. Sell, sell, sell. See Wendy for tickets.

Ways & Means by Al. Next meeting January 6 at the Ugly Bar – need new members.

Membership and Retention by Dale. Next meeting January 18 in Shoreview before the Board of Directors meeting.

State Rally by Dale. More discussion about the memorial run. We need a new ride captain for the run. Reminder that tickets before the April BoD are $30, from April to the July BoD are $35, and after that full price.

Dial-a-Ride by Dale. The DaR trailer will be at the convention center for the International Motorcycle Show on February 2.

Joe Matter Scholarship Safety Riders Course by Dale. We have $475 in the fund; no requests for reimbursement now.

Food Shelf items from January and February meetings will be taken to Hutchinson by Mona; donations after the February meeting through March will be taken to Litchfield by Artie.

Toys for Kids: More plaques to hand out for those who hadn’t made the last meeting.

PGR Riders by Dale. Nothing to report.

STATE REP REPORT by Wendy. Still need ideas for classes for ABATE U. Clarification that 50% of the profits from sale of the t-shirts goes to the state if we use an outside vendor. Biker Day at the Capitol on February 27, main topic will be helmet laws; many legislators support us, Ellison and Klobucher do not. More and more noise laws prohibiting motorcycles are being proposed (and some being passed) nationwide. We need to contact legislators regarding this. We need more people for Share the Road instructors. It is being proposed that inclusion of instruction regarding dealing with motorcycles be mandated in drivers’ ed classes.

VICE PRESIDENT’S REPORT by Jim. Jim discussed the NTSB’s claims that there are increased fatalities among motorcyclists because helmets are not required. Statistics are skewed as NTSB is not taking into account failure to yield and similar offenses against motorcyclists. South Central is the second largest chapter; with only a little effort on our part we could pass up Lake in memberships (with a grin and a wink at Lee!).

OLD BUSINESS by Dale. See Wendy regarding rooms. There was a discussion regarding a bus from Glencoe and/or St. Augusta meeting up with the limo for Biker Day; who is interested? There was some discussion about having another Spring Fling, but there appeared to be little or no interest in repeating it. Following up on the hot dog stand idea to raise funds Mack let us know that it’s $50 per year per location for insurance. There were discussions regarding how and where to ask for donations, publicity, etc.

NEW BUSINESS by Dale: Several of the organizations we usually give Buddy Bears to still have some and we need to find out who else has them to give away; we may not have to order any more. Charlie and Mary will again head up the committee.

Nominations of officers begins tonight. There will be no reading of officers’ responsibilities until the March meeting when we vote. Clarence nominated Jim, who declined; Jim also declined Joe Westphal’s nomination of him for VP. There were no other nominations for president, vice president or treasurer. Becca was nominated for secretary; Joe M., Joe W., Dan S., Al, Rich, Andy and KQ were nominated for sergeants at arms (we can have up to 6). We will take more nominations next month.

OPEN DISCUSSION: Dale will be taking the limo to the Buffalo Ridge chili feed; the plan is to leave early Saturday morning, stay at a hotel and return Sunday. Joe W. volunteered to head up the parade and downtown activities for the Rally, if that’s what we decide to do; he is not volunteering to be the ride captain for the Memorial Run. Dan S. had had discussions with several law enforcement personnel regarding traffic stops, when it’s acceptable and when not, etc. There was also a discussion about who can stop traffic, under what circumstances, how we could perhaps use those persons or circumstances to legally stop traffic for our runs.

Motion made by Clarence to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Andy, passed by hand vote. The meeting was adjourned at 8:12 p.m.


Rebecca S. Martinson
Secretary, South Central Chapter

Meeting Minutes