minutes for OH Steering Committee Meeting,
January, 12, 2021, via Zoom
Members Present: Moose Meserve, Alex Zico, Schroeder Steward, Gerry Whiting, Emily Benson, Emma Brandt, Josh Alper, Stroker, Elizabeth Seabury, Emily Griffin, Brian Post, Doug Shaffer, Phoebe Howe, Lucy Sinclair, Riley Steward, Bill Barrett, and Andy McLane.
1) Approve Minutes of Last Meeting, Dec. 15 (Carter Bascom)
Elizabeth Seabury moved to approve the minutes from the meeting of December 15th, 2021. Moose seconded. Unanimously approved.
2) Treasurer’s Report (Alex Ziko)
Alex recapped the 2020 budget. In 2020, the OHA had a total of 363 members, 10 of them Y-OH. The OH Cabin required minimal maintenance and. So far, the 2021 dues are coming in smoothly. As of today, there are 7 lifetime members. Other income sources include merchandise and a $1,000 donation. As standard practice, any deferred revenue received from Oct., Nov., & Dec., will lump into the Jan. 2021 budget revenues. The dues notices and thank you letters will be sent out sometime this month. Alex will reconfigure and clean up the budget next month. The ongoing expense for the online mailing service Constant Contact includes a monthly expense of $45 for email blasts and email marketing ($5/mo. when “paused” between periods of active use). The OHA Future Land Use Survey and Fallfest marketing required more use of this service. Alex recommends that those who have paid lifetime memberships should get an engraved metal membership card. Others agreed this would be a great idea. Moose moved and Alex seconded the Treasurer’s report. It was unanimously approved.
3) Cabin (Stroker)
Stroker has heard from OH who would like to use the cabin. Stroker discussed with others how the OH can best move forward to open the cabin safely, but isn’t advocating reopening until safe to do so. To be revisited in March. Gerry asked for clarification on how OH would use the cabin. Stroker stressed the need for a management plan to address health concerns before allowing future use. Mike Waddell still plans to improve first floor fire egress next spring or thereabouts; project will likely cost $5,000 or more. As a reminder, the cabin access road is not plowed, nor is the Harvard Cabin lot that we normally share. Plowing should resume next year.
4) Gervais Land (Carter Bascom, Stroker) – 7:00 PM
Status of negotiations
Fundraising options
Use of the property
Andy McLane believes the OH should buy the property and start fundraising immediately. He shared some ideas on how best to raise the funds.
Peter Benson volunteered to help formulate a fundraising campaign, and suggested forming a small fundraising committee. One fundraising suggestion would be to get a representative from each decade to help bring in funds. Doug Hotchkiss emphasized that there has to be a clear vision for use of the property. The main goal is to protect and conserve the land. Phoebe offered to put together a one-page document on this project to help explain the project to members when fundraising. Discussion followed of who would like to be on the fundraising committee. Peter mentioned that we need to have a clear name and a plan. Elizabeth Seabury made a motion to name the project The Washburn Place. It was seconded and passed unanimously. Emma Brandt offered to help. Andy suggested a Go Fund Me account. The committee will require donor research and a willingness to make calls to other OH. Phoebe, Elizabeth, E.B., Peter Benson, Carter Bascom, volunteered to help, and Chris Thayer (not present) was suggested as another. Andy suggested nominating a chair and co-chair to establish the committee. If anyone is interested in joining this committee, please reach out to Phoebe Howe. Brian Post offered to help with web support. Peter will help provide a brief write up of how best to move forward, and then the committee will meet to discuss a plan to meet in early or mid-February.
5) Event Planning – Stroker
Spring Reunion/Cabin Opening (5/15)
Oktoberfest (10/16)
Fallfest (11/6)
There was a discussion as to whether to plan Spring Reunion in light of the continuing pandemic. Phoebe thinks the decision should not be made until March. Gerry suggested that younger OH join the event if we hold it. Stroker suggested that the decision to postpone event planning until March be shared via Facebook and the OHA website to keep members appraised of the situation.
Phoebe is planning to organize a half-hour Zoom presentation some weekend evening in March to showcase Thom Davis and Brian Fowler’s geology presentation.
6) By-Law Revisions (Josh Alper, Phoebe Howe)
Josh Alper has changed the by-laws based on earlier suggestions approved via email.
The changes include striking the reference to “he/she” in Paragraph 4 (a), and a change to the mention of “his” and replaced the language with “the President’s” 4(g). Stroker will provide Josh with an updated list of AMC facilities that qualify
Employees for OHA membership.
Stroker suggested adding language to the by-laws to recognize that the size of the Steering Committee has been increased from 11 to 13 (to accommodate the addition of webmaster as an ex-officio committee member), but Josh recommended that an official change wasn’t necessary.
7) Website (Schroeder, Brian Post)
Brian reported no big changes or news regarding the website.
8) Hut System Report (Emily Griffin)
Emily Griffin announced that the Huts Department is hiring a Huts Manager. Emily summarized the position, which is posted on our website and on the OHA Facebook page. A link to the application is available on the AMC’s website, in the full-time employment section. James Wrigley or Emily can be reached by phone if there are any questions. It is hiring season right now, and most folks who were initially offered a hut job were excited about coming back for 2021. There are a few more hut positions open and anyone looking to apply may do so through January 15th. The naturalist position is open on a rolling basis. The huts department is brainstorming many ideas on what the future season will look like and they are really excited. One example is online training. The huts have been checked throughout the winter. Zealand Falls Hut has been pretty quiet due to rough skiing conditions. Emily shared hope for a brighter future. Any questions, please contact Emily Griffin.
Emily Griffin: [email protected], phone (603) 723 0874. James Wrigley: (603) 466 8110 or email [email protected]
9) Hut Croo Photo Project
Status of Greenleaf hut croo photos? Photos at other huts?
The Greenleaf photos should be flown up in the spring. Status of the croo photos for the other huts is under review by Emily and the Huts Dept.
10) Resuscitator (Miles Howard, EB)
Miles shared an update with Phoebe, as he could not attend the meeting. Miles will be sending out a second call for article submissions in February, in anticipation of compiling the spring Resuscitator in early April.
11) New & Other Bidness
Stroker thanked all the members of the committee for their hard work and dedication to the OHA.
12) Next Steering Committee Meeting: 3/9/21, 6:30 PM, Zoom
Carter Bascom 2/18/21