White Mountain Chapter BMW CCA
Social Events Committee Meeting
Monday, November 17, 2008
The meeting was called to order @ 6:45 by the chairperson, Cassandra Vorisek-Creto. In attendance were Cassandra, Al Creto, the Grinch (Isabelle V-C), Tom Blinn, Dana Sion, Michael Morin, new member John Cote, and David Harrison.
The meeting venue was The Common Man in Merrimack, NH. The normally scheduled meeting is on the last Monday of the month. Check the chapter web site to verify the date and location (Merrimack or Concord) for the December meeting. If there is no social events business that needs attention, we may not have a December meeting. We tentatively plan two meetings in January to be sure we are ready for the annual reunion (fka holiday party). Again, check the chapter web site for details.
SEC business: A number of topics were discussed.
We began with introductions to meet our new member, John Cote, who is from Lincoln. Cassandra noted that we usually split the meeting between Merrimack and Concord to better accommodate our members who live in the northern parts of the state. John noted that there is a Common Man in Lincoln, not far from the Nordic Inn property that he manages.
SEC 2009 Budget: Cassandra reported that the proposed SEC budget has been reviewed by the current chapter board and tentatively approved.
Annual Chapter Reunion: The planning for the chapter reunion (formerly known as the holiday party) is progressing well.
New member John Cote brought two certificates for lodging at the Nordic Inn to be included in the silent auction. Cassandra reports she has had inquiries from some additional potential donors and will follow up with them. Harvest Markets have donated a gift card. Vintage Sports Racing 1 (VSR1) in Bow is donating some BMW LifeStyle merchandise to be included in the silent auction. Other sponsors providing merchandise for the silent auction are welcomed, anyone who has contacts should be sure to let Cassandra know so she can follow up.
3D Auto Works and Liberty Mutual are both committed as sponsors and have given the chapter their funding checks.
The full cost of the entertainment is covered and the $40 attendance fee will cover all the food and complementary beverage costs at the event, including the $5 earmarked for the donation to the Make A Wish foundation.
Cassandra received some merchandise from National that she believed would be donated in support of the event, but for which a bill was included. She will follow up to get this resolved.
We plan to have one of the two January meetings be focused on stuffing goodie bags for the event. Anyone who would like to help out and join in the fun should keep an eye on the chapter web site for the date and location.
Events for 2009: In addition to the three events mentioned in the budget, we are still considering things like a Parkers Maple Barn group breakfast in the spring, and perhaps a Vermont winery visit with an optional overnight stay for the fall.
We may structure the drive to the winery as a photo rally similar to the recently delivered Seacoast Rally.
If the Boston chapter does ice racing on Newfound Lake, we will encourage our chapter to join in and perhaps organize a group after-event meal somewhere in the area.
Cassandra noted that we need to follow up with Jan Marc Holzer regarding the possible technical session at Tulley BMW.
Planning for a Hot Laps go karting event is in process. Dana will follow up with the proprietors to try to pin down the projected costs.
We discussed the possibility of doing a group outing at Alpine Adventures in Lincoln (http://www.alpinesnowmobiling.com/ ) who offer off-road tours in their Pinzgauer trucks as well as snowmobile tours and zip line adventures. Of these, Cassandra felt the Pinzgauer activity might be of most interest to the broadest number of members. Without any group discounts, the price would be $34 per person, $17 for children 3 to 6 years old with a paying adult. There are group discounts but with 20 people it’s still over $27 a person. This is not really bad when you consider the maintenance costs for the vehicles, including fuel and wear and tear. Members who think they would be interested (check out their videos on their web site to get a flavor) should let Cassandra know they would like to participate.
Dana provided an update on the status of the chapter web store (which is hosted by Café Press). Apparently with the new guidelines for logo use coming down from BMW NA and BMW AG, Café Press had to remove all merchandise that had any use of the BMW logo, even items that use the approved chapter logo. Dana is uncertain when these issues might be resolved, or whether we will be able to continue to offer merchandise with the current chapter logo.
Since no further business was identified, the meeting was adjourned at 8 PM.