AHBC Board Meeting Minutes from April 27, 2011

 

The meeting was called to order by Vince Kelley at 6:30pm. 

Board members present were: Vince Kelley, President; Christine VanDornick, Co-Ride Chair; Alan Gibbs, Treasurer; Ford Sakata, Secretary;  Paula Matzek, Membership Chair; Dave Martin, Bike Swap Chair; Don Ami, Arlington 500 Chair and board member at large; Debra Watson, Program Chair and board member at large; and several regular members.

 

Financial Report (Alan Gibbs)

Alan provided a financial report. The Club funds on hand include: $27,897 in our money market account and $1,462 plus cash for the Swap expenditures.  Upcoming expenses will include costs related to running the Swap and Arlington 500.  The Club recently donated a small amount of money to support the Ride of Silence scheduled for May 18th and donated an Adventure Cycling magazine subscription to the Arlington Heights Memorial Library.    

 

Membership Report (Paula Matzek)

To date, 118 households (12 new) have submitted membership fees representing 153 individual members.  Thirty-four households have not yet renewed.  Paula will follow up with the non-renewing households.     

 

Ride Report (Christine VanDornick)

 

Sunday Leisure Rides - The Board discussed whether the Club’s Sunday Leisure Rides should be continued.  The issue is that there has been an informal agreement with the Mount Prospect Bike Club (MPBC) that the two Clubs do not schedule rides on the same day/time.  In the end, it was agreed that the AHBC Leisure rides served different riders than the MPBC Intermediate rides.  For this reason, the Board agreed there was no reason to discontinue Sunday Leisure rides.

New Ride Incentive Ideas - Several new ideas were raised and discussed to promote Club ridership and fun as follows:

·         Newcomer Rides – In order to make our newest Club members feel welcome, the Board discussed posting a “Newcomer” ride to officially welcome them to the Club and introduce them to our membership. Saturday, May 7th was chosen when all three (Leisure, Intermediate and Advanced) rides will start at the same time (9:00am) from Frontier Park.  All members will be invited to show up early for introductions.  We will also schedule a repeat ride later in the summer. Ford will work with Jim Shoemaker to email a notice to the membership about the Newcomer ride(s).

·         Members Choice Restaurant Pick – Another idea discussed was to have the Club membership vote for their favorite restaurant that we have ridden to during the year.  The Board approved the idea.  Members will vote for their favorite restaurant later in the year to possibly bring some recognition to the winning restaurant. Debbie and Paula will communicate details about the program to the Club membership later this summer.

·         Club Super Rider Status – One fun idea in early development is to possibly create a “Super Rider” status for members to strive for.  Members would need to do different things during the year to achieve status.  Debbie will put together a proposal for the May meeting.

 

Bike Swap Update (Dave Martin)

Dave provided an update regarding preparations for the swap scheduled for April 29, 2011.  While a few more volunteers are needed, we are in good shape.  Online pre-registration is going very well with over 300 items pre-registered already.  Dave reviewed some last minute instructions.   Vince will create a map of nearby ATM machines to have available.

 

Arlington 500 Update (Don Ami)

Don provided an update regarding preparations for the Arlington 500 ride scheduled for May 22, 2011.  Several volunteers are still needed but other preparations are in order.  The route was changed slightly this year to avoid some troublesome roads.  Pre-registrations are on par with last year.

 

Club 40th Anniversary Bike License Plates (Ford Sakata)

Ford proposed the issuance of bicycle license plates to commemorate our 40th Anniversary.  The final artwork has been completed and accepted by the printer.  The plates can be printed with member names.  The Board agreed to offer one license plate at no cost to any member who volunteers to work at the Bike Swap and/or the Arlington 500.  Members can also purchase extra plates at a cost of $6.50 each.  Ford will write an announcement for the membership about the license plates. 

 

Ride of Silence - Reminder

The Club will participate in the national Ride of Silence on May 18th at 7:00pm.  The ride will start from Recreation Park and all cyclists (including non-members) are invited to participate.

 

The board meeting adjourned at 7:23pm.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Ford Sakata

Secretary