Board Members Present:
Gloria Stubbs, Kathy Osbun, George Irizary, Ann Walker, Arlene Irizary, Phyllis Sands, David Getzoff, Marc Alexander, Sandy Grant, Davis Brown and Barbara France
Board Members Absent:
Art Rosenblum, Karen Lovvorn, Suzanne deKozan and Dana May Casperson
Call to Order:
The regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Parkinson’s Support Group of Sonoma County (PSGSC) was called to order at 10:10 a.m. by Chair/ President Kathy Osbun.
Approval of Minutes:
The minutes were approved with the following corrections:
Under Program, February 1, 2014 Meeting speaker, Dr. Julie Andersen is from Parkinson’s Institute not the Buck Institute.
Under Treasurer’s Report there was no meeting in July, rather than August as appears in the minutes.
Under Data Base Update envelope was misspelled.
Under Break out sessions: The sentence, ”A PANC seminar suggested such a course of action” should precede the sentence “Arlene suggested that we might hire a facilitator with a small stipend.”
Under Library, reference to the World Congress on Parkinson’s Disease was mislabeled as World Conference.
Treasurer’s Report:
In addition to the income and expenses cited in the Treasurer’s Report there was income of $259.00 from the Donation Jar at the October Meeting.
Programs:
Sandy reported that she talked to Dorothy Foster at Redwood Caregivers about using their brochures in the new member packets that Kathy and Gloria are putting together. Dorothy said that they have only a few and they won’t be reprinting until they have their new address. It was agreed that we would reprint a limited number of their current brochure for the first new member packets we produce. That should tide us over until they have their new brochure.
On the topic of break out group facilitators, Dorothy said that Redwood Caregivers do not have facilitators available except on an emergency basis. Dorothy referred Sandy to Nancy Powerstone who could offer help in developing our own guidelines for facilitators but Kathy said we already have a set of guidelines.
Arlene said that PANC used to require facilitators to attend a training session and she thinks that some training or workshop would be beneficial for would be facilitators. The next question was how to find future facilitators. We could do this by letting people know facilitators are needed through an email blast, or board members could approach people they think might be interested and simply ask them. Arlene felt that there might be very qualified people who are shy or are reluctant to put themselves forward and we need to find a way to recruit from this potential group. Arlene also feels that we should seek to have more PD patients in leadership.
Kathy asked Ann and George how they felt their break out groups were going. Both suggested that size was the largest issue. With a large number there was not time for individual participation. Sandy posed the question of whether she should contact Nancy Powerstone about having a training session, all agreed we could use the input. Sandy will contact Nancy. Davis suggested that we might have members submit questions for speakers in advance. This would allow a broader range of questions and minimize repetitive questions and comments.
Finance:
George talked to Larry Alver at PANC about their ability to continue to carry our insurance. George was assured that PANC would be able to carry the insurance indefinitely. With that assurance the board discussed the amount we would donate to PANC in addition to the $150.00 we have already paid in membership dues. George made the motion that we donate $200 to PANC, Sandy seconded the motion which was passed with a voice vote.
Fundraising:
Mary’s Pizza: Kathy has not heard from Mary’s Pizza about the amount earned at the fund raising event. Kathy said that about 20 people went to lunch and it was a very enjoyable outing for the group. Tulips Pins: There were an additional 11 tulip pins sold.
Library:
Ann reported that she had ordered books from the Parkinson’s Foundation on falls. Arlene also ordered more of the free books on various topics from the Parkinson’s Foundation.
Data Base:
There were 80 in attendance at the October meeting.
Dana May made mock ups of labels for the new member packet envelopes. The group contributed ideas for a few changes and Kathy will return them to Dana May who will make up the labels. Gloria will secure the envelopes.
Arlene reported on her meeting with Barbara at Piner Printing about printing the materials for the new member packets. Arlene was given two prices for the printing. One was for printing only and the second included collation and folding where needed. She also was given a price for reprinting 50 of the Redwood Caregivers brochures. The consensus was to have Piner Printing do 50 of the Redwood Caregivers brochures, folded and 200 copies of the remaining materials, collated where needed. Sandy moved to authorize $417 plus tax for printing the new member packed material plus $42.30 plus tax for 50 Redwood Caregiver brochures. David seconded the motion which was passed on a voice vote.
Back-up video person:
Mike LeMole would welcome some back up support with video recording of the speakers at meetings. Bud Suiter has transferred the videos to dvd form but with the new camera that can probably be done in a more streamlined way now. Kathy will ask for volunteers in the emailed Meeting announcement and at the next meeting.
Break-out recap:
There were no break out sessions at the October meeting so we will try to equalize the size of groups by putting fewer chairs in the larger meeting space and having facilitators help guide people.
World Congress on Parkinson’s Disease:
Marc reported that it was a wonderful experience. There were programs and talks covering everything imaginable, everything from various exercise programs to lectures on the newest research. There is a website, www.worldpdcongress.org, which has a great deal of information as well as videos of some of the Congress speakers.
The next World Congress will be held in Portland, Oregon in 2016.
Adjournment:
The meeting was adjourned at 12:00 p.m. by Kathy Osbun. The next Board meeting will be November 20, 2013 at 10 a.m. at the Brush Creek Senior Living.
Respectfully submitted, Barbara France, Recording Secretary.