Minutes of Meeting
A meeting of the Board of Directors of the Ventura County Rose Society was held at the Cowan Center in Camarillo on January 26, 2006. Those in attendance were: Linda Banner-Bacin, President; Lynette Buchanan-Roth, Vice President; Earl Holst, Treasurer; Jim Delahanty, Immediate Past President; Pat Moomey, Program Chair; Janet Sklar and Ken Kerr, Directors at Large; Paddy Ruzella, Secretary. Absent with an excuse: Jane Delahanty; Cindy Mastro.
Board Makeup: The President called the meeting to order at 5.50 p.m. and welcomed to the Board Pat Moomey as Program Chair and Paddy Ruzella as Secretary. She explained that she felt it important that the Program Chair be a voting member of the Board and it was agreed that Cindy Mastro would retire as a Member at Large and Pat Moomey would assume that position. The President appointed Cindy Mastro to be an ex-officio member of the Board in a non-voting capacity.
Increasing Membership: Number One goal for the year is to increase and retain membership, including trying to recruit some younger members and men members. Ideas to accomplish this goal were discussed at some length. These included: Mini Rose Show at the Mall, the Home and Garden Show, County Fair, Street Fairs, Spring Garden Tours. As there is no Membership Chair at the moment, the President will ask Jane Delahanty to undertake this position. In addition it was agreed that we might encourage visitors to meetings to join the Society by making an extra effort to make them feel welcome with a Greeters’ Committee and name tags. It was also agreed to make up cards for members to hand out to likely prospects.
Meeting Format: There was discussion on the current meeting format concerning the Mini Rose Show and Celebration of Roses. It was agreed that the membership will be polled on this at the March meeting. In the meantime, since most people seem to attend meetings to participate in an exchange of information, the Board will give thought as to how best meet this need.
Programs: Pat Moomey reviewed programs already set and the Board offered suggestions for additional programs. In this regard, Jim Delahanty will send a copy of last year’s membership survey to Linda Banner-Bacin. Upcoming topics and suggestions included: an agronomist; roses in the landscape; birds in the garden; firescaping concerns; photographing roses; hybridizing roses; roses in the heat; and arrangements.
Outreach Programs; These are not being supported by the membership although they are a requirement of the National American Rose Society.
Newsletter: Since this is the single most expensive item in the budget, ideas were discussed for economizing. It was agreed that reverting to black and white would be preferable to cutting back on the number of issues per year. Board members were asked to think about taking over the newsletter as a new editor is needed.
Budget: Earl Holtz handed out last year’s budget with a comparison of over and under budget items. It was decided that this year’s budget will be approved by the Board by e-mail as the budget must be presented to the membership at the February meeting. Five members of the Board must vote and a majority of those voting will pass the budget. All Board members should make sure they are on the VCRSBoard@yahoo.com distribution list. An audit of the books generally takes place in March. The President will speak to Bud Jones on this.
Meetings: The President wishes to have regular Board meetings every other month unless there is pressing business necessitating a monthly meeting. Next meeting is scheduled for March prior to the regular monthly membership meeting. The President adjourned the meeting at 7.00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Paddy Ruzella