__________________________________________
 

DAIRYLAND WALKERS BIMONTHLY MEETING MARBELLA CONDOS CLUBHOUSE OCTOBER 19, 2006  Officers Present:  Tom and LaVonne McCrill (Co-Presidents); Ron Moore (Vice President); Karen Reger (Secretary); Russ Crane (Treasurer)  In Attendance:  13  MEETING  Tom McCrill began the meeting at 6:37 p.m., with the proposed agenda being adopted as presented.  Meeting Minutes (Karen Reger) There were several paper copies available of the minutes of the last membership meeting on August 9.  There was no discussion, and the minutes were accepted.    Treasurer's Report (Russ Crane) As of September 14, the date of the last Board meeting, the balance was $3,624.57.  Since then, income has totaled $997.00 and expenses have totaled $94.99.  The current balance is $4,526.58.  The report was accepted with no discussion and filed for audit.    Trailmaster's Report (Tom McCrill for Don Suloff) Tom passed out copies of the final draft of scheduled walks for 2007, which includes:  West Towne, East Towne, Janesville, Syttende Mai, Elver Park, the Sugar River Trail, Monona, the events for the Wisconsin Walking Weekend, with the Milwaukee VA walk being the last one for the year.  This will be the schedule unless it is changed within the next few weeks.   For the Wisconsin Walking Weekend, the Mt. Horeb and Capitol walks have been switched around so the participants may enjoy the Farmers Market on the Square in the morning.    The West Towne walk on January 27 will again start from the Firestone Service Center building.   Newsletter Editor Report (Tom McCrill for Bonnie Hamer) The next issue should be coming out in mid-November, and articles are always appreciated.    Tentative 2007 Bus Trips (Ed Reid) Ed passed out sheets listing tentative bus trips for 2007, one being a trip in the spring down through Illinois to the St. Louis, Missouri, area, and one being a trip to northern Wisconsin in the fall.  He also listed the various special programs that various walks would be eligible for.    He also mentioned the Alaska trip that some members are going on.  And the fact that the national convention will be held June 23 to July 1, 2007, in Sacramento, California.   Highway Clean-up (Terry Wendt) Seven club members helped with this project on October 15.  Due to the low number, only one-half of the roadside was completed.  Clean-ups are done twice a year, in the spring and fall.  Information Table (Tom McCrill) Bruce Dewey and June Doyle represented the club at an exercise event put on by the Middleton school system.  It was a three mile run/walk event beginning at the Orchid Heights shelter.  About 150 people took part in the event, with four different groups having information booths.   New Business (Tom McCrill)  Bylaws Barb Borde, Russ Crane, and Tom McCrill were on the committee who worked on the bylaws.  The bylaws were previously approved at a Board meeting, but before being presented for adoption by the club membership at this annual meeting, one slight correction needed to be made.  On page 6, article IX, section 1, where it states, "The following positions are to be appointed, from the Active members, by the President with the approval of the Board of Directors," this should be amended to the following: ". . . with the approval of the elected members of the Board of Directors."    These bylaws are the same as what the club has been following for past years, but now they have been formally written down.    The Board of Directors is composed of nine people: the five who are elected plus four additional members – the Membership Chair, the Sanctioned Event Coordinator, the Trailmaster, and the Newsletter Editor, who are appointed by the President with the approval of the Board of Directors.    A motion was made to approve the bylaws as amended, and the motion was adopted.    Election of Officers The nominating committee's slate for officers was as follows:  Co-Presidents                 Tom and LaVonne McCrill Vice President                 No nominee Secretary                          Karen Reger Treasurer                          Russ Crane Director at Large             Barb Borde  Nominations were then opened from the floor.  Ed Reid was nominated for Vice President.  Russ is looking to bow out of being the Treasurer but would be willing to work with someone during 2007 to train them.  However, there were no other nominations for this position.  June Doyle was nominated for Director at Large.  Ballots were then passed out and LaVonne McCrill and Terry Wendt were appointed to count the completed ballots.    Membership Meeting (Tom McCrill) The next general meeting will be the holiday dinner meeting at Immanuel Lutheran Church.  Depending on the weather, people may opt to do the Eastside walk prior to the meeting.    The last Board meeting was capsulized in the newsletter so members have more knowledge of what has transpired.  This will become an integral part of future newsletters.  State Display (Mary Liebig) Mary had brought a display listing all the 50 states with a picture from each state that she has walked in so far.    Election Results (Tom McCrill)  Co-Presidents                 Tom and LaVonne McCrill Vice President                 Ed Reid Secretary                          Karen Reger Treasurer                          Russ Crane Director at Large             June Doyle  Note:  Since June Doyle was not present, she will need to be contacted to see if she accepts this position.    The meeting ended at 7:20 p.m.    PROGRAM Karen Reger and Russ Crane gave a presentation on their recent trip to the Northeast to do a series of walks with Tater Tours, operated by Mary Ptacek.  They had a display of photos, as well as maps showing their route.  The trip was organized so as to include walks in the capitol cities of seven states, with three additional walks.    On their travel day, Friday, October 6, their 9:45 a.m. flight from Madison to Chicago was canceled.  They managed to book another flight on a different airline, leaving at 3:55 p.m. for Cleveland, with a connection to Baltimore.  The flight from Madison was delayed but they managed to make the connecting flight as their names were being announced for the last boarding call.  They arrived at their hotel in Baltimore after 9:00 at night.    The next day, Saturday, began the official tour, with a long bus ride to Albany, New York.  Name buttons were on the seats as people boarded the bus, and these were the seats that they kept for the rest of the trip.  It was rainy and overcast in the morning but by the time they arrived in Albany the sun had come out.  The walk went by many historical buildings including the executive mansion and the capitol building.  There is now a new walkway over the Interstate so people can walk over to the Hudson River.    On Sunday, they drove to Saratoga Springs, New York, an area famous for horse racing.  They walked by the National Museum of Racing & Hall of Fame, as well as a training track where several horses were being put through their paces.  Then it was on to Montpelier, Vermont, passing the Green Mountains on the way.    On Monday they did the capitol walk in Montpelier, which is the smallest capitol city in the nation.  It was sunny but quite nippy.  The route included a steep walk up to a park which had a tower from which there was a very nice view.  The rest of the day was spent in doing touristy things – the Morse Maple Farm, the Cold Hollow Cider Mill, and a factory tour of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream.    Tuesday was spent in doing the capitol walk in Augusta, Maine.  This walk went by some historical buildings, a reconstructed fort, the executive mansion, and an old arsenal.  After driving to their motel in Brunswick, Maine, they were given some time to freshen up and then they went to Freeport, the home of L. L. Bean, which is open 24 hours a day.  Most of the other outlet stores were closed by that time.  Russ and Karen had supper at the Jameson Tavern, where the papers were signed to split Maine off from the Massachusetts Territory.    Wednesday included two walks, with the first being in South Portland, Maine.  This featured a cliff-side trail to a picturesque lighthouse and a walk on a beach.  The second walk was in Concord, New Hampshire, which started from the motel the group was staying at.  The day had gotten cloudier and darker as time went on, and by the time they did this walk, it was quite dark and it rained a little bit.  This walk was divided into two loops, with the first loop not being very interesting, but the second loop was much better, going into the downtown area and residential areas, as well as going by the capitol building.   It rained quite heavily during the night, but Thursday was warm and sunny.  The group was given basically all day to do the Freedom Trail 11K walk in Boston, which was a good thing.  The directions alone were five pages, plus the map.  The route included many historic sites such as Boston Common, Paul Revere's home, Old North Church, the Bunker Hill Monument, the capitol building, several old cemeteries, etc., etc.  Russ and Karen had lunch at the Bell in Hand Tavern, supposedly the oldest continuously operating tavern in the United States, since 1795.  They also went through the USS Constitution Museum, which gives the history of "Old Ironsides."    A news item on Friday was that Buffalo, New York, had gotten an early snowstorm.  The bus went to Providence, Rhode Island, where the walk went through Brown University and along the Providence River.  The second walk of the day was in Newport, Rhode Island.  Part of this walk went behind some of the summer "cottages" of the rich, including the Breakers mansion.    It was on the news that Hartford, Connecticut, their next stop, was having a marathon on Saturday morning.  Various streets were blocked off so the bus got as close to the starting point as it could.  The walkers kept crossing and walking along the streets where the runners were.  The route went by the headquarters of Aetna Insurance and the Hartford Company, two of the insurance companies headquartered in Hartford.  It also went by the homes of Mark Twain and Harriet Beecher Stowe.  The capitol building is the only one in the U.S. with a Victorian Gothic design.    After finishing this walk, they began the long drive back to Baltimore, letting several people off along the way.  On Sunday, there were no problems in getting back to Madison.    The meeting was adjourned at 7:45 a.m.  June Quesnell, Karen Reger, and Carole Miller had brought treats.    Submitted by Karen Reger, Secretary