Minutes for OH Steering Committee Meeting
September 19, 2018
Present: Josh Alper, Bill Barrett, Doug Hotchkiss, Tom Kelleher, Jenna Koloski, Dick Low, Jerod Richards Walsh, Stroker Rogovin, Liz Seabury, John Thompson, Beth Weick
- Treasurer’s Report (Stroker for Moose Meserve)
- Moose always makes it work – the budget is on track this year. Dues are right on track and we have brought in $1000 more in donations than budgeted.
- There are several items to pay that were not in the budget this year – $5,000 donation to the archive library at Crawford (matched by OH contributions), $1000 for the Greenleaf and cabin photo project, and $3,000 for the land survey at the cabin.
- Cabin income is way up – the annual pass has helped to increase income and perhaps efforts to encourage pay-to-stay.
2) Cabin (Stroker)
- Cabin income is up (see above).
- Stroker will put the message out at the cabin about paying dues – make sure it is clear and visible.
- A property survey has provided a better understanding of the property boundaries.
- Stroker will check in with Mike W about the cabin privy.
- Photo Project – Doug Hotchkiss has been hard at work remounting and consolidating cabin photos. He is looking for a picture of Willy Ashbrook’s mother and Andy Maclean’s mother to represent early women in the huts. Doug will send Beth copies of photos for the Resuscitator.
3) Spring Reunion (Doug)
- Spring reunion was a nice party with good food, good weather, and a brand new grill and work was done on the cabin.
- The turn out was small – no more than 12. This is the smallest in recent memory.
- Several ideas for increasing turn out at the Spring Reunion:
- Making sure it is shared more broadly (Jenna will check in with Dan on event notification)
- Keeping it simple – burgers, dogs, work, and social gathering
- Make the event “family-friendly” and let people know (share with the 90s-early 2Ks list)
- Shane Lessard has reached out and is interested in organizing kid-friendly events. He has the 90s-early 2000s list and has reached out on Facebook. He is working with Jen Granducci.
4) Gala (Beth)
- Representatives covered Gala and EOS. Phoebe Howe covered spring, Jeff Colt and Carter Bascom covered EOS, Jeff Colt will arrange for fall.
5) Ambassadors (Josh)
- Only 2 ambassadors went to visit Croos this year. For a while, the Huts Dept was leading on this, but it may be helpful to include SC in the loop. We need to market the opportunity to increase sign-ups.
- The experience of being an ambassador will vary – some expressed limited opportunity for interaction with the croo, while others expressed rich experiences. This is all about connecting. It can help to attend with a partner, be open and listen, and avoid “info-dumping” or judgment.
- Another great opportunity for OH is fill-in croo, though this does not allow for interaction with the Croo.
6) Fallfest 2018 (Stroker)
- Fallfest will take place on November 3rd.
- Mary Sloat will attend with a friend. Bill Barrett will make a reservation for her.
- Ken Olsen and Doug Teschner will make the presentation for Mary and Bruce Sloat.
- All of the speakers are on board – Dave Albala may need to do his presentation via video.
- Miles Howard will handle video coverage.
- Sheldon has asked for someone to take over this event. The event pretty much runs itself – we need someone to take on making the reservations and coordinating with Resis – Beth will post opportunity in the Resuscitator.
7) Helping with Hut Croo Debt (Jerod)
- Jerod would like to explore the idea of helping with Croo debt for those that work in the huts that are experiencing difficulties planning for their future due to college debt. At first, Jerod would like to take this on and will keep the SC in the loop to determine whether there are ways to partner or scale up.
8) Website (Stroker)
- Stroker will ask Dan to change “OTC” label to “Store”perhaps with more description when visitor mouses over Store.
- There have been some privacy concerns expressed about Facebook and this has raised the question whether we should change from an open to a closed group. There is tension between wanting to respect privacy needs of our members, but also being a social organization with a desire to welcome new members.
- If we go to “closed” we can not turn back. It would not change how people enter (they ask for approval and are reviewed before made a member), however it would mean that no one could see postings, events, photos, etc. unless they were a member.
- As an open group, there are several admin who moderate content and can manage if any postings seem inappropriate.
- The SC will consider a bit more and ask around and will make a decision at the next meeting.
9) Resuscitator Update (Beth)
Fall Deadline is October 1st. Should be out around mid-October.
10) Trails Report (Bill)
- A 3-person crew did some work on the Crawford Path this summer with a hut stay at Mizpah provided by the Forest Service. Liz Seabury, Bill Barrett, and Henry Ryde (along with 3 members of the Cardigan Highlanders) did brushing around Mount Eisenhower. There is will work to do next year.
- The Sunday after Oktoberfest, Bill will lead work on our own trails. There is a lot of be done. Bill will put together a trails column for the ‘tator.
- Bill will ask the FS to write up a post about the work.
- Liz will send a photo for the ‘tator.
11) New & Other Bidness
- We need to identify and nominate new SC members. Phoebe Howe will be nominated as well as Liz Seabury for another term. Eric sent the names of potential Y-OH and Stroker has reached out. Jenna will ask Lars Whitman if he would be interested. Officers will join a Conference Call on 9/26 to discuss nominations. Jenna will send out call details.
- TFCs 100th is coming up at Dodge next summer.
- Pinkham 100th will be in 2020. We have been asked to help.
12) Next Steering Committee Meeting: November 20th at Blue Fuji in Medford, MA
JK 9/22/18