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DAIRYLAND WALKERS BIMONTHLY MEETING HILLDALE MALL CONFERENCE ROOM DECEMBER 5, 2004  Officers Present:  Tom and LaVonne McCrill (Co-Vice Presidents and Incoming Co-Presidents); Ron Moore (Incoming Vice President), Russ Crane (Treasurer); Karen Reger (Secretary); Barb Borde (Member at Large)  In Attendance:  38  Pre-Meeting  The potluck supper began about 5:30 p.m., consisting of various kinds of chili and other foodstuffs.   Door prizes were given away, starting at 6:15 p.m.  Karen Reger had gone to Morgan's Shoes and had gotten four pairs of New Balance socks to give away, thanks to Chuck, an associate at the store.  Winners of door prizes included:  June Quesnell, Tony Liebig, Jackie Kittel, LaVonne McCrill, Barb Borde, Bill Kloster, Ruth Pederson, Bonnie Hamer, Deb Rice, Gretchen Kloster, Mary Liebig, Brigitte Rosemeyer, and Ted Newell.    Meeting  The meeting started at 6:30 p.m., with Tom McCrill presiding.  There was a round of applause for Jerry and Pam Wilson (who weren't present), thanking them for being co-presidents for the last three years.  Tom and LaVonne McCrill will be co-presidents for the coming year.  Tom thanked everyone for bringing food for the potluck supper.    Renee and Russell Soles were introduced as being instrumental in starting the new Fond du Lac club, the Hearty Soles.  The one-day walk they had this year will be a year-round in 2005.  Also in 2005, they will have a seasonal walk at Horicon Marsh.  There is a walk in the works for May in Oshkosh.  And in September, they will have a walk coinciding with a festival in Waupun.    Brigitte Rosemeyer was introduced as a new member, joining the club at the Plain walk.    Susanne Feller was introduced.  She lives in Germany but was presently visiting her son in Madison.  She had seen an article in the Dettelbach newspaper about the Dairyland Walkers group who had done a walk in that area, and she brought along the clipping to show to the club members.    Secretary's Report (Karen Reger)  Karen had placed on a table paper copies of the minutes of the last membership meeting on October 14.  The minutes were accepted with no discussion.  Treasurer's Report (Russ Crane)  The balance at the last Board meeting on November 17 was $1,924.21.  Since that time, income has totaled $80.00 and expenses has totaled $216.98.  The balance as of today was $1,787.23.   He mentioned that he had some 2005 Starting Points for sale.  They contain information about some 1,400 walks in the United States, and cost $15.00.  He also had 2005 frequent walker coupons for sale.  They are eight to a sheet and cost $20.00.  This is a savings of 50 cents when doing one of our year-round or seasonal walks for credit.   This report was accepted.  2005 Events (Bruce Dewey)  There will be two new walks next year, both seasonals – one in Eau Claire and one in Janesville.  Group kick-off walks are being planned in April for both new events.  The Middleton Hills walk will not be available in 2005.  West Towne Mall Walk (Ed Reid)  This will be held on January 22.  Registration will be from 7:15 to 9:00 a.m., and people must be finished by noon.  Canoecopia (Karen Reger)  The club will have a table at the Canoecopia event at the Alliant Energy Center in March.  She said she and Russ could be there for the 2½ days but it would be nice to have some volunteers.  Officers (Tom McCrill)  The club officers for the coming year are: Tom and LaVonne McCrill – Co-Presidents. Ron Moore – Vice President. Secretary – Karen Reger. Treasurer – Russ Crane (who is also the webmaster). Barb Borde – Member at Large. Also mentioned were:  Tom Doyle - Membership Chair.  Bruce Dewey  - Year-Round Walk Coordinator, who coordinates the people who look after the walk boxes.  It was mentioned that we should thank the businesses who agree to be our starting points.  Bonnie Hamer - Newsletter Editor.  Contact her if you have an idea for the newsletter.  Jill Ruef - Over the past year, she has been a great help with the club's programs and with finding places to hold meetings.    Board Meeting (Bruce Dewey)  The next Board meeting will be on January 6 at the Middleton Airport.  It will start at 6:00 p.m. and is open to all members.  Payments (Bruce Dewey)  Starting earlier this year, start cards and payments were to be mailed to the walk box coordinator, as opposed to leaving payments in the boxes.  It was pointed out that walkers should use the start cards for each box.  If doing more than one walk, say in the Madison area, each payment and start card should be sent in individually to the proper coordinator instead of grouping all the cards and sending in one payment to one coordinator. European Trip Pictures (Bruce Dewey)  Bruce pointed out that a computer had been set up to show pictures that had been taken on the recent trip to Germany and Austria.  Barb Borde was thanked for her efforts in making the trip a reality.  She said she was thinking tentatively about another trip, this time to the Netherlands during tulip time.  Elke Austin-Foote said she could give a presentation in March or April of 2005, with the price being unknown at this time.  East Towne Mall Walk (Bonnie Hamer)  This will be held in February  Calendars (Russ Crane)  Russ indicated that he had designed some 2005 calendars which were available on a table, showing the walk events for next year.   Crazy Horse (June Doyle)  This is a two-day walk event in June, and June is working on the possibility of having a bus trip to South Dakota to do this walk.  It would probably be a 4-5 day trip.  The possibility of taking a bus to Eau Claire to do the kick-off event for this new walk is being kicked around.  The meeting adjourned at 6:50 p.m.    Submitted by Karen Reger, Secretary