The Villages Woodworker’s Club

 

Board of Directors Meeting

 

Thursday July 28, 2017

 

Board members in attendance: Bill McGinnis, Conway Williams, Frank Giaccone, Bernie Harkins, Sandra Fuller, Sandy Moraco, Harm Borfitz, Bob Bell and John Herega. 

 

Others in attendance: Mike Borfitz, President - Jim Spallone, Vice President - Doug Parks, Treasurer - Patty Porter, Secretary - Anne Belle, Office Administration. 

 

Meeting called to order at 6:45pm.

 

Quorum established based on the Board of Directors in attendance.

 

Motion to approve the June 22,2017 minutes made by Bob Bell with corrections to be made and second by Conway Williams and approved. Sandy Fuller abstained she was absent for the June meeting.

 

Guests: Members Bob Matthews, Kathy & Tony Villani, Karin Williams, Bob Longmire, and Eric Lundberg in attendance to share why stained glass should be kept within the club. Larry Phillips, 2017 Christmas Party.

 

President Mike Borfitz, addressed the Board; as you know one of the topics tonight is to visit the proposal to suspend stained glass work in the shop. In that effort, I contacted Ed Eich, who was out of the country and did not receive my message, but enough people did, that we were able to get to him to say this is what the Board is looking at doing and if you would like to come address the Board. And I thought it was important that we really know the true history, because we had a little piece here and there. And we really did not have a clear picture and the effort the Board was approaching is to do something without proper communication. So, to that end, I talked to Bob Matthews, who really knew it from the beginning and he graciously agreed to come talk to us, on how it came to be and what it is about. I hemmed and hawed about where I stood and decided to officially read my stance. I also have letters from Ed Eich and Karin Williams, that I would like to read to the Board and suspect there may be some people who want to speak in addition to that.

 

Mike read her letter and advised her decision was based on;

 

Mike read Ed Eich impassioned letter to the Board to keep stained glass, as well as new member Karin Williams letter. Ms. Williams joined the wood club shortly after moving to The Villages in May 2016, because it is the only place in The Villages that had a stained-glass facility and group.

 

Bob Matthews, Education Manager gave his thoughts to the Board to keep stained glass work in the club. He stated although it is a wood working club, it does not mean it exclusive to wood working activity. Working with glass has transferability to working with wood and adds creativity to the club. The stained-glass group is a minority group and they play an active part in the club’s life. The club would miss out by not having stained glass and the woodshop is richer for having stained glass at the shop and they should not be swayed by other people’s opinions.

 

Kathy Villani, addressed the Board; Members of the stained-glass group are also wood workers and do repairs of stained glass. Repairs are run through Special Projects. She passed around pictures of stained glass pieces made by other members, as well as other pieces she and Karin Williams have made. Mrs. Villani closed with stating the stained-glass group is good publicity for the club.

 

Ed Lundberg addressed the Board, he brought in several books illustrating the marriage of glass and wood through furniture making.

 

Bob Longmire, addressed the Board, giving a history of how stained glass was started by carver Paul Geier and later taken over by himself and Buddy Neenan and eventually Ed Eich. Bob is carver and advised there has never been any conflict over table or equipment space. 

 

Board members asked a lot of questions.   

 

Larry Phillips presented the Board an outline of the catering costs and agenda for this year’s Christmas party.  Larry responded to numerous questions presented by the Board. Motion for the club to subsidize $10.00 towards each ticket price for the Christmas Party was made by Bob Bell and second by Sandy Fuller and unanimously approved by all. 

 

Officer’s Reports

 

President – Mike Borfitz

Membership & Volunteers: The total members and volunteers, as reported at the general membership meeting, is over 932 members and volunteers. As of the date of the general membership meeting we entertained 777 visitors.

 

Update on Expansion, or Not: There has been no further information from Janet Tutt about help with space at this location. Mike did contact her again on July 10th to ask if there was any word and to share the last Board meeting’s discussion on capping membership and requesting that the sales people suspend their practice of bring customers here. Ms. Tutt replied that she had no word and would bring it up again at her next meeting with Mr. Morse. So far, no response.

 

Potential New Member: To follow up on the discussion last month on the potential membership of a challenged adult, Mike contacted the dad and shared the outcome of the meeting. He was very, very pleased, but he has not yet sold his property in enable to move to The Villages. He promised to let her know when he was ready to move.

 

General Meetings: In effort to make the general meetings more interesting, Mike is trying to have a speaker or demonstration on something associated with woodworking. This month Steve Yovan arranged for a representative from Hood, our major supplier of wood, to speak on the types of wood they offer. It was very well received. Skip Banks has offered to demonstrate his equipment with which he makes the “how did that ball get in there?” wooden ball holders. Mike advised if anyone has any additional ideas to let her know.

 

Christmas 2017: Linda Samson has agreed to lead the Special Olympics Tree decorations again this year and Alice Besler will lead the raffle items and door prizes for the Christmas party, set for December 9th at the Savannah Center.

 

Vice President – Jim Spallone: He received an email from Mike Burskey with Lady Lake Rec’s department advising the club’s portion to have the golf path paved is $2,112.50 and we should receive the invoice shortly.

          

Treasurer – Doug Parks: Financial Reports: Balance Sheet as of June 30,2017; Total Liabilities and Equity is $327,925.25. Profit and Loss Budget vs. Actual from January to June 2017; Net Income 12,122.18, Budget $11,641.83, Over Budget $480.35 and Percentage of Budget 104.13%.

Note: The current Profit and Loss Statement is posted in the back office.

 

Other Reports

 

Office Administration – Anne Bell: Presented 2018 Shop Operational Calendar (dates shop is closed for the Holidays) to the Board.  Motion to approve the 2018 Shop Calendar as submitted made by Harm Borfitz and second by Conway Williams and unanimously approved by all. Tentative dates to start signing up for classes is Aug 21st and payment of 2018 dues is Oct 16th.

 

Shop Maintenance/Administration – Dave Adamovich: Not in attendance.

 

Toys – Conway Williams: They have had a good month so far in production.  Production report as of July 27th they have produced 560 toys and shipped 971. To date they have shipped 3108 toys and produced 4179 toys. They were within (1) toy from last year! The year to date donation value of shipped toys is $22,660.00.   

 

Long term volunteers in the wood and painting have had issues with their families having illnesses; as well volunteers having extended vacations. The average donation value for a toy last year was approximately $8.50, which is down this year. It is the result of less experienced volunteers making smaller toys. He noted previously on the mix of toys and that they might be suffering on the high-end toys. They will see how this plays out towards the end of the year, when the more expensive toys are in demand.    

Question: Sandy Fuller asked where the wood comes from. Conway advised most our wood comes from wood donated by Ro-Mac (The Window and Door Plant in Leesburg). Ro-Mac has been very generous to us.

 

Public Relations and IT – Mike Borfitz: There was a blurb in the paper about our general meeting.  IT; Mike said she would like to recognize John Scott for doing a terrific job and jumping through many hoops for them.

 

Committee Updates: 

 

Safety Committee – John Herega: There was no safety committee meeting this month. Jim Spallone advised that unless the club can show The Villages that there is a safety reason to have windows placed in the shop floor doors, we are on our own.  

 

Pending Proposals:

Discontinuance of stand-alone Stained Glass Activity in the club dated 06 /22/ 17.

 

Discussion: Board members were very open and receptive to what they heard this evening, by the way of letters, statements, and personal presentations, which outlined the history, facts, and passions of those working with stained glass in the club.  Sandy Fuller shared her opinion for not doing away with stained glass. The Board advised they would only vote yes to keep stained glass activity and the group, if they operate within the mission of the club, administration, management, education protocols, they attend monthly executive operations committee meetings and be assigned their own cost center. Mike Borfitz advised she would see that this is done. Motion to keep the stained-glass activity and group, as outlined, in the club was made by Harm Borfitz and second by John Herega and unanimously approved by all.  

 

Request for Proposal to Limit VWC Membership was tabled to give Ms. Tutt time to respond to our request for expansion.

 

Motion to adjourn the meeting made by John Herega and second by Frank Giaccone and unanimously approved by all.

 

Meeting adjourned at 8:52pm

 

Meeting minutes prepared by Patty Porter, VWC Secretary on July 29, 2017.

 

Minutes approved by the Board of Directors:  September 28, 2017