April 15, 2015
Members Present:
Gloria Stubbs, Kathy Osbun, Sandy Grant, David Getzoff, Marc Alexander, Marie Kay Hansen, Ed Brautman, Davida Brautman, Suzanne de Kozan, Nancy Wilson, Art Rosenblum and Barbara France
Members Absent:
John Hamilton, Dana May Casperson and Ann Walker
Call to Order:
The meeting of the Board of Directors of the Parkinson’s Support Group of Sonoma County (PSGSC) was called to order by Chair, Kathy Osbun at 10:00 a.m.
Approval of Minutes:
The minutes were approved with one correction. Under Approval of Minutes: the next Board meeting should read, April 15, 2015.
Treasurer’s Report:
Sandy reported that income to April 15 included: $383.63 from Donation Jar, $50.00 Individual donation, $.51 in interest, $13.80 Tulip pins for an income of $221.63.
Expenses were $8.73 Depreciation expense, $150.00 Guest speaker fees, $50.00 Meeting set up/take down, $49.00 postage expense, $125 Facilities rental, $5.43 supplies.
The total net income was $606.47 after donation amounts over expenses for “Riding with Larry,” the Dance class and the Singing Groups produced a surplus.
Budget:
Sandy presented her budget for 2015, and went over it line by line. There were no changes to be made after discussion and explanations.
Art verified that the annual audit had been completed and all records were in order. He also stated that this months financial statements match bank statements.
Programs:
Dance Class: Nancy reported that the Dance class continues to enjoy high participation levels and believes the the average attendance will continue to be about 30 people. Sandy will continue to send out reminders for the class which meets every two weeks.
Singing Group: Kathy said that the class ranges between 9 and 11. All participants are very happy with the instruction and instructor.
Programs:
Marc said that the May meeting will feature Dorothy Foster and she will bring the Palliative Care Dr from Memorial Hospital. They will speak on Advance Health Care Directives and the special considerations that Parkinson’s patients may have.
Doctor Paul Larsen who spoke in April was very well received. We could ask him to come again next year to speak on gene therapy.
Facilitators: Ed and Suzanne reported that Aprils break-out groups went well and both agreed to be available if needed for the May groups. Outside Care Givers:
Marie Kay said that the group has decided that the East/West Cafe on Summerfield will be the regular meeting place. They will meet on the second Tuesday of the month from 9:30-11:30 a.m.
Publicity:
Ann and Marc contacted many of the Libraries in the area and lined up 15 which agreed to put up displays for April’s Parkinson’s Awareness Month. Marc said the response was very good and several of the libraries added library books on the subject to go along with the materials Marc and Ann provided. Marc feels that this will be a project that can be continued and enlarged upon next year.
Nancy continues to try to find a way to get an article in the Press Democrat to feature April as Parkinson’s Awareness Month. She spoke to her local Rotary Group and had a good response. She also wrote an article for the Calistoga paper which brought a lot of positive feed back.
Aware In Care:
Ann contacted NPF about the kits. They said that they are no longer sending out bulk orders of the kits. They suggest demonstrating the kits at a meeting and giving people a card that they can use to order the kits individually. They are sending the order cards to Ann.
Data Base:
There were 75 people at the April meeting, including 9 new members.
Fundraisers:
Gaia: The proceeds of the evening with the Bard and the Balladeer were $523. The proceeds from this event will be used to cover Singing class expenses not covered by class donations.
Mary’s Pizza: We do not know the amount raised from the April 8 event as they usually take about a month to forward the information.
The “Capturing Grace” showing at the Cameo Theater in St. Helena has received $275 in advance donations. The proceeds from this event will be available to cover any shortfall over donations for the Dance class. George Irizary will write thank-you letters to these donors.
“Ride With Larry” The Sonoma Seniors newsletter has a notice about the “Ride With Larry” fundraiser but printed the wrong time. It was decided that there will be no refreshments served. Marie Kay will put out the free publications about PD and other introductory materials and fliers for our activities on a table in the entry way.
Johnny Garlic’s: The date of May 7 is confirmed and Kathy has the coupon ready to be emailed and added to the website. This will be done once we get past the two remaining movie fundraisers.
Wine & Canvas: Davida will get detailed information about costs before the next meeting. After discussion it was felt that trying to do an hour and a half class during the beak out time at a regular meeting would be too rushed. Davida will discuss with the instructor doing the workshop at a separate venue and get back with details.
Review of Brochure:
It is time to have new PSGSC brochures printed so Kathy led a complete review of the present brochure. Many changes were made but we still need to complete the “small groups” and contacts page. This discussion will continue before ordering new brochures in the near future. The new brochure will follow the same trifold format but information will be updated.
Adjournment:
The meeting was adjourned at 12:00 p.m. by Chair, Kathy Osbun. The next Board meeting will be Wednesday, May 20, 2015, at Brush Creek Senior Living at Brush Creek.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara France,
Recording Secretary.