September 24, 2006 Meeting Minutes

The meeting commenced with the Pledge of Allegiance. Ron Wright mentioned that Rita Donaldson's visitation would be held on September 28 at the Warrenton location of the Pitman Funeral Home. There was some uncertanty as to where this will actually be held, as our website mentions the Wright City location, and other people were told that it was to be held in Wentzville. Hopefully it will be straightened out.

Dave Lucas' Acro Sport won several awards, and was on the cover of "Sport Aerobatics" magazine. We acknowledged Dave's achievements, and he was later gifted with a coupon book.

The Chapter's participation in the St. Louis County Fair and Airshow was deemed a success. We made $210.00 profit from soda and water sales. Despite this, a lively discussion ensued as to whether we will participate in future airshows. It is possible next year's airshow will be the last, so this could be a moot point. We have until next spring to defer this issue.

The Chapter earned $1,600.00 for our participation in the B-17 visit. We probably would have done better (we usually do), but another organization's last-minute B-17 visit encroached on our customer base.

President Karsten asked everybody to start thinking about nominations for standing committees. Those will be taken at the October meeting. It might be a good idea to attend that
meeting if you are interested in being on a committee.

Karsten also asked for suggestions as to equipment purchases. Some suggestions are: A large, fixed air compressor, assortment of aircraft hardware, portable swamp cooler, some aviation oil for emergencies. Be thinking about items that would see a lot of usage by various people, but is too expensive to purchase on your own, and suggest them next month.

Visitors were recognized and applauded.

Young Eagles: 106 Young Eagles were flown during the recent Silver Swallows rally. Laura Million has agreed to be our next Young Eagle Coordinator! George Stephenson is highly excited about this event, and wishes her well. Jan McKee announced a YE rally in Alton on September 30. She said they expect a turnout of 4,000 people. Everybody is invited to come and fly, or work the ground crew.

The open house at Greenville Airport on October 6-7 was announced.

Dues:
Treasurer Jim Hann stated that between our checking and savings accounts, we have more money than we need for normal expenses (actual amount is available upon request). Not only do we not have express purposes for this money, but we may be in violation of the spirit of the 501 (c) 3 rules under which we are a nonprofit organization. Therefore, we are proposing to cut dues in half (to $30.00/year). Ron Wright pointed out that we are required to announce this 2 months prior to voting on it. We only have two more meetings this year, so the vote will take place at the
November meeting. (Note that the November meeting may be held one week earlier (11/19/06) due to Thanksgiving weekend interfering with the normal meeting date.) A lively discussion ensued on this issue, with several dollar amounts being thrown about. Our fund raisers have served us well, and one school of thought says that if enough people buy grocery store coupons, we could reduce dues to $0.00/yr and still be in good shape. Another assumption is that we may
pick up enough "new" members to make up for the dues reduction. Many folks decided the value they recieved from Chapter membership wasn't worth $5.00/month, so they didn't renew. A reminder...this issue will be up for a vote in November.

Dave Doherty said that coupon books will be on sale again. The Chapter will buy 100 books this year. See Dave if you want to buy a book.

Another money saving strategy:
Newsletter printing and mailing costs constitute a significant chunk of our monthly expenses. On a normal month, we are spending $60.00 to $80.00, which amounts to $600.00 to $800.00 per year (remember that there are no newsletters in July and December). This amount can be greatly reduced if all Chapter members who have Internet access would agree to get their newsletter from our website. The bylaws state Chapter membership includes the right to a printed, mailed newsletter, but if someone VOLUNTARILY agrees to get his or her newsletter elsewhere, we can legally remove them from the mailing list. Please note that some people have been getting their newsletters in this manner for many years.

A problem arose when our editor e-mailed the newsletters directly to the members. Often, e-mail addresses were invalid, resulting in the mailings bouncing back, complete with attached newsletter. This was a big issue when dial-upwas being used. We have since posted the newsletter on the Chapter website and notified members via the Yahoo bulletin board. This has been problematic for some people who are not members of Yahoo. Therefore, we will attempt to once again contact our members directly via e-mail, but only to notify them that the newsletter is available on the website and provide a link. We encourage everybody with Internet access to avail themselves of this chance to save money while recieving the newsletter in full color and highest resolution.

August 27, 2006 Meeting Minutes

Karsten opened the meeting with the pledge. Leo Lang, our AOPA liaison, asked for time at the September meeting to discuss some issues.

Tim Boos, a visiting EAA member from chapter 427 in Jefferson City, introduced himself to the group. He works as an ATC at Columbia Regional, and uses his convenient central location as a jumping off point for visiting chapters in St. Louis and Kansas City.

Several new members also introduced themselves. Mike Piccirilli is working on an RV-6A. Jose Narvaez is a familiar face, having flown Young Eagles for us in the past. Mike Gray, accompanied by his daughter Hannah, has also officially joined up.

With the County Fair and Air Show pending, Ernie put out the call for post-show trailer loaders.
Jerry Geiger joined us and brought a new tool for the collection: a tube beader. It is now available for checkout at the ARC.

Jim Hahn gave the Treasurer’s report. He is looking into a new bank for the chapter’s funds, possibly St. John’s, that will allow on-line bill paying.

George reminded us of the Young Eagles and Ozark Silver Swallows event in September. Regarding Young Eagles events, EAA chapter 864 in Bethalto will have an event on September 30th, with the airport providing gas to Young Eagles pilots. There will also be a car show and chili cook-off.

Ron and Gary reported the biggest order yet of food coupons and a profit of around $200 for the month.

Gale announced that we are still awaiting official word from HQ regarding B17 results, although we know it was a financial success, yielding approximately $1,300 before counting merchandise and extra rides sold.

Ron thanked the chapter for assistance he’s received on his RV-6A project and announced an open invitation for anyone who might like to come and help out in his hangar at Spirit.

Vince reported on the ceremony for Bill Blake at the memorial wall at Oshkosh. Gale added that he’ll be receiving a DVD of the event that he’ll pass on to Martha. Copies are available, and Bill Doherty made a motion to buy a copy for the chapter, seconded by Gale.

An announcement was made regarding Al Donaldson, whose wife is in a nursing home with terminal cancer. The prognosis is uncertain, so please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

The meeting closed at 2:35, followed by Brent Robbins who made a presentation to the group on turbine powerplants. Thanks to all our intrepid members that lugged the chapter’s very own jet engine from the hangar to the ARC for our inspection.

June 25, 2006 Meeting Minutes

The monthly meeting of EAA Chapter 32 took place on Sunday, June 25, 2006, beginning at 2:00 pm with the Pledge of Allegiance.

Jim Bower thanked Dave McGoogan and Leo Lang for jointly volunteering to take on the job as grill chef.

Visitors and guests were recognized.

George Stephenson asked for help for a Young Eagles rally at Greenfield in July. If you can fly or work ground crew, call George for details.

B-17 ride raffle: Dave Deweese's daughter drew the winning ticket. Mr. Dave Turnbaugh is the lucky winner. He will be notified.

Ron Burnett said we had a down month for food coupons, probably due to absenses for vacations, etc. Ron is suggesting a mail order setup so folks don't have to go to the meetings in order to get food coupons. As a reminder, you can buy coupons for all major grocery stores and redeem them at face value. The chapter gets 4% of all sales, so this is a good fund raiser for us.

We thanked George Stephenson for donating the gas welding rig to the chapter.

The meeting was adjourned...no program was planned.

May 28th, 2006 Meeting Minutes

This was a short meeting, due in part to lower attendance from having fallen on the Memorial Day weekend.

After the usual bbq lunch, the meeting was called to order by President Karsten, who led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Leo Lang reminded us about the Smartt Open House on June 10.

Jim Hann gave the treasurer's report.

Dave McGougan brought everybody up to date on the status of the B-17's visit.

Visitors and guests were recognized in our usual ebullient Chapter 32 manner.

A motion to make Gerry Geiger a lifetime member was made, seconded and passed. We love ya, Gerry, and hope you can join us soon.

Bill Blake is now on the memorial wall in Oshkosh. (The editor asks anybody who is going to OSH this year to please take a photo of Bill's plaque so it can be published in an upcoming issue of the newsletter.)

April 23, 2006 Meeting Minutes

The April meeting began at 2:00 with the Pledge of Allegiance. Despite the beautiful weather and the start of the barbecuing season, the meeting was quite sparsely attended.

President Karsten led off with a vote on the proposed bylaw changes that were published in the March newsletter and discussed at that meeting. The changes were accepted.

Laura Million announced her web page workshop coming up in May. If anybody is interested in learning how to do a web page, contact her for details.

Dave McGoogan updated the B-17 information. He had a supply of posters and flyers for people to post in businesses and their workplaces.

The Young Eagle rally on Saturday April 22 was a great success, with about 80 kids flown. George thanked all who participated. A huge Young Eagle rally is coming up in Washington (Missouri) on May 13. The folks out there have been publicizing it heavily, so please participate if you possibly can.

This month's visitors were recognized.

Jim Hann gave the treasurer's report.

Ron Burnett had some extra food coupons for sale, and he announced that Gary Kasten is helping him with food coupon sales. The food coupon fundraiser is a great deal, because everybody has to buy food. The chapter gets 4% of sales from the coupons, so you can help the chapter without any expense to yourselves.

The meeting was adjourned for a welding presentation and demonstration by representatives from Lincoln Electric.

March 26th, 2006 Meeting Minutes

Numerous members took advantage of the fine weather and flew in to the meeting. Karsten and his kids supplied KFC and soda; various other individuals brought side dishes and desserts. A fine feast was had by all (for as long as the food held out).

The meeting began at 2:00 pm with the Pledge of Allegiance, then guests and visitors were introduced and recognized.

Old business:
President Karsten proposed a solution to our water quality problem. For approximately $200.00, we can install two filters that will remove all the impurities causing the stains in the bathroom fixtures. This solution will NOT make the water potable, however. A motion to accept
the proposal was made, voted on, and passed.

Gale Derosier is off the hook with regards to the legal harrasment caused by Hager Hinge. A motion to pay the final legal bill of $175.00 was made and passed. Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing when and if Hager Hinge or any other duck hunters will continue harassing the chapter by legal means, or otherwise.

New business:
Jim Hann presented the treasurer's report to the membership. He said in addition to a monthly verbal report, his binder (containing all account activity) will be available for scrutiny at each meeting he can attend. A motion was made to accept the report, and was passed.

Bob Jude demonstrated the new comm radio he built up from a standard panel-mount VHF radio. The elegant cabinet contains the radio, a battery, speaker, headphone jacks, a PTT switch, and antenna. In addition, a roof-mount antenna is available for longrange use. This radio will be useful during Young Eagle rallys.

George Stephenson and Dave Deweese presented the Young Eagle schedule. We have a rather
ambitious series of rallys this year, and George made a general appeal for pilots and ground crew to help out.

The B-17 is coming. Several Daves are running the show: Deweese, Domeier, McGoogan, and Dougherty. Volunteers are requested to help out with crowd control, souvenier sales, and other jobs. Please see one of the Daves for a sign-up sheet. The chapter voted to purchase one ride
ticket for $360.00. We plan to raffle off the ride for about $1.00 per ticket. This has proven to be a good money-maker in the past.

Rick Galati made a motion for the chapter to purchase a flaring tool. Everybody who builds an airplane needs such a tool for making 37 degree flares in fuel, brake, vent, and pitot/static lines. The tool in question would cost the chapter about $80.00. The main idea is although such a tool is vital, it's fairly expensive to own, given the relative sparse usage each builder will put it to. A shared tool will make much more sense, as long as everybody plays nice. This means it should be
signed out (so people know who has it) and returned as soon as possible so somebody else can use it. The proposal was enthusiastically seconded and approved.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:00 for a general discussion and observation of Jim Hann's RC models.

February 26th, 2006 Meeting Minutes

The meeting began with the Pledge of Alle giance.

President Karsten gave a short report on the state of our bad water issue. He said that we won't be able to get anything for less than $1,000.00.

The Hager Hinge/duck hunter legal issue has not gone away. We are continuing to fight this intrusion, and we voted an additional $600.00 for legal fees.

Upcoming events:
On May 6 Downtown airport will be having an open house; and chapter 32 will participate. There will be Young Eagle flights. June 10th marks the Smartt Field open house in concurrence with International Young Eagle Day. Leo Lang is spearheading this event. He said that several organizations are going to participate, including Missour Pilots. He has yet to get any committment from the Commemorative Air Force as to whether they will be involved. At issue is fuel availability. If the CAF is involved, we can't close that end of the taxiway to enable easier fueling. More to come.

Fund raisers:
Some Entertainment books are still available at a slightly reduced rate.
Jim Bower's wife Donna works for an office supply company that is once again extending an offer to Chapter 32. The chapter will get 1% of annual sales that result from any leads generated by a Chapter 32 member. See elsewhere in the newsletter for more details on this program.

Gemeral:
We had a short discussion on whether to publish the treasurer's report in the newsletter, as is written in the bylaws. The contention is that given the aforementioned legal situation, we are not willing to make our financial picture available to the general public. It was suggested that we publish this information in the members-only section of the website. This way, it will be available only to! members in good standing. Obviously, Web Designer Laura will have to monitor who is privy to the password necessary to view this area. We will propose a wording change to the bylaws allowing this to take place.

A member raised the question of whether we can save money by publishing the newsletter online rather than spending money to print and mail hard copies. Newsletter Editor Jim stated that the newsletter is being carried online, and some of our members are taking advantage of that fact. Everybody is entitled to a newsletter, and if they do not wish to view them online
and/or print them at home, they have a right to recieve them via snail-mail. We encouraged everyone to take advantage of the electronic format in order to save money. The February newsletter cost the chapter about $67.00 in combined printing and postage. See elsewhere
in the newsletter for more on this subject.

Visitors were introduced and recognized.

The meeting was adjourned for a fabric covering demonstration.

Respectfully submitted,
Jim Bower, Secretary/Newsletter Editor