November 23, 2008 Minutes

November 2008 Minutes

Turnout was low for the November meeting, absentees we heard from were plagued by everything from flu to uncooperative automobiles. Members who showed up got a good look at Roger Moore's "Jolly Roger" biplane and the new paint job on Curt Smith's Cozy. Jim Hann was on hand with his father. Karsten treated us to hamburgers from Kilroy's, and after eating was kept busy answering questions about his 701 fuselage.

The meeting opened with the Pledge, Karsten Kessler presiding.

New business. Steve Morse proposed that the chapter purchase a video camera asked so we can record speakers and events. Motion was made and seconded to spend $300 on a camera. The motion passed with no votes against.

Next on the list is the proposed change of the meeting date. Currently the most popular option is the third Saturday of the month at 9:00 am. Because the meeting time is noted in the by-laws this will require two votes. Since this is a change with broad impact we discussed the importance of notifying the entire membership. While not everybody is in the Yahoo group Karsten noted that newsletter reaches everyone. Therefore we plan to include a ballot in the next newsletter. The ballot should offer alternates, the Yahoo poll suggests that the most popular options are Saturday mid-morning, followed by Saturday early morning, followed by leaving the time as is. A ballot may be mailed or delivered by hand, the deadline is the January 2009 meeting, which will be held at the regular time.

Karsten delivered the treasures report, reporting saving and checking balances. Next we talked about sponsoring kids to attend the Oshkosh air academy. First we'll need to identify some candidates, Scout Aviation Explorer post sponsored by Missouri Pilots Association might have some, as may local model airplane clubs. A list of scouts working on the aviation merit badge is yet another possibility. George reminded Young Eagles pilots that for every YE you fly you get a point that can be applied to a scholarship to send kids to Oshkosh. In the past we've given points to Alton and have never used them ourselves. Ron says this scholarship amounts to about $100. Karsten says the total cost is about $600 depending on age. We briefly discussed transportation to the academy, though we may leave that up to the parents. Gale guesses that getting them there less an issue than picking the kid. To select a candidate we will need some sort of application and require an essay, likely something similar to a scholarship application.

Ron Burnett has extra for Dierberg's and Shop & Save coupons, and reminded us about the Schnuck cards.

We are planning for around 60 at the Christmas party, the cost will be $15 per person. Gary will be handling attendance.

Motion was made to adjourn, then seconded. Afterwards I gave a brief presentation on my new airplane project, the Double Eagle.

Dave Deweese, Secretary