Michigan Blind Athletic Association

Board of Directors’ meeting minutes

June 10, 2009

Directors present: Sue Fluri, John Hulsebus, Frank Wolf, Tom Coyne, John Boes and Sherry Gordon

Guests: Gerald Rickert

Boes called the meeting to order. Noted was that we did not have a quorum present for this meeting. Minutes from the May 2009 Board meeting were approved as distributed.

Treasurer’s report. Cash on hand as of the end of May is $22,500.51. Hulsebus noted that most of the Sports Camp charges (budgeted was $16,000) have not yet been received or paid and that the national goalball tournament charges (budgeted was $1210) have also not yet been paid. That tournament is happening this next weekend. After all these charges have been paid, Hulsebus noted we will have approximately $5000 in our treasury. The treasurer’s report was approved as presented.

Rickert reported that the national bowling tournament, held in Cleveland, Ohio, went very well. Marty Moon did very well in the singles series. Rickert noted there were 15 bowlers in the Kazoo blind bowling league this year.

Fluri announced that Kayak for Light will be on July 11 at Ramona Park in Portage. We are hoping for great weather and a great turnout.

Fluri reported that the tandem riders plan to ride on the third Saturday of each month.

Gordon reported the goalball team travels to Colorado Springs, Colorado tomorrow to participate in the goalball national tournament. There will be 13 men’s teams and 6 women’s teams competing. Wish us luck!

Wolf reported that he has not heard from the Braille transcribers, nor has he heard from Mary Lou—as to what is happening. Wolf indicated he will call Mary Lou.

Boes suggested talking about other funding possibilities. Gordon indicated that the Kalamazoo Downtown Lions Club has formed a committee which will look into the possibility of obtaining a grant from the Lions of Michigan. The Lions are interested in the possibility of obtaining a grant to assist with the cost of the Kazoo goalball tournament as well as with the cost of Sports Camp. This committee was just named yesterday; therefore not much information is known at this time. Discussion was held as to the question of how much money should the Braille transcriber’s fund be asked for. At this time, Hulsebus has not yet figured how much match money we will be requesting from the Gilmore Foundation; however this match money will be utilized in next year’s budget. Noted was that the Gilmore Foundation has taken a really big “hit” from the recent economic downturn. Therefore, the thought is that Gilmore’s contributions for next year will, most likely, be greatly reduced.

Discussion was held regarding the grant that Paul Ponchillia had obtained several years ago to give “start up” funding to Sports Camps around the U.S. We do know that many of these Sports Camps are still in operation—even though the funding from Paul’s grant was for three years. After the three years, each of these camps was supposed to be self-sustaining. Has Paul applied again for a similar grant? Gordon will find out.

Rickert inquired as to whether the thought had ever been raised to write a grant that would allow MBAA to obtain a large van or charter bus to utilize for goalball and bowling trips. For bowling there are always other teams around Michigan which attend these same tournaments. MBAA could charge other teams for riding in our vehicle; therefore producing an income for the MBAA. Coyne noted that liability would be one concern. In addition, having a vehicle like that could end up costing more than anticipated—once insurance, maintenance and upkeep is figured into the total cost. Wolf noted that the MBAA does not “own” anything. For example, the tandem bikes were purchased by the MBAA; however, they were purchased for the New Perceptions Tandem Club and are not owned by the MBAA.

Coyne noted that Sue Ponchillia will be retiring from WMU in December. We want to be sure to recognize Sue, at some point soon, for her many, many contributions to the MBAA over the past many years. We need to consider what type of recognition would be appropriate for Sue. We definitely want to let Sue know how much she has been appreciated!!

Boes and Wolf will plan to work together on the Gilmore grant application this summer and also will plan to work on the Harold and Grace Upjohn grant application, too. Boes will speak with Vance regarding the MBAA’s Annual Report. Wolf will ask our Board members who are involved in the different sports we support to write an article about that sport. This article will be included in the MBAA Annual Report. Highlighting our Paralympic athletes from Michigan was also a suggested article.

Wolf spoke regarding having a flyer of some type which suggests to folks that they could put the MBAA in your will. This might be the beginning of an endowment fund. It was suggested that this statement might be put on our web site and in our Annual Report. Coyne noted that most endowments are for entities like hospitals or universities that will be around for awhile. Wolf noted that the endowment might be through the Kalamazoo Foundation and that if the MBAA were to no longer be around, the money which had been donated to the endowment could be designated to go to the community. By doing this, the donor to the endowment had the security of knowing that if the MBAA was no longer around that the money would be utilized in a specific way. Coyne looked up our dissolution clause in our by-laws. This says that if it becomes necessary to dissolve this Association (MBAA), those remaining members of the Board of Directors, if they constitute a quorum, shall, to the extent possible with the remaining funds, pay all outstanding obligations. If funds still remain, these shall be donated to appropriate local non-profit agencies, existing for the benefit of visually impaired persons, such as the Kalamazoo Council of the Blind. Discussion was held regarding where to obtain the appropriate language. We could obtain this from the USABA or Coyne suggested the fastest way to get it would be to contact the Development Office at WMU.

Meeting was adjourned. Note that we do not hold MBAA Board meetings during the months of July and August. Our next scheduled MBAA Board meeting will be on Wednesday, September 9 at 4:00 pm at the Michigan Commission for the Blind Training Center.

Have a great summer!!

Respectfully submitted,

Sherry Gordon, MBAA Secretary