January 14, 2020 Meeting Minutes

Christopher DiBiaseMeeting Minutes

January 14, 2020 Meeting Minutes

Attendance: Directors present were Jerry Hufford, Gerry Northrup, Steve Milbrod, Bob Sharak, and Joe Ward.  Thus, there was a quorum. 49 members were present.

Call To Order: Jerry Hufford called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm.  Director-at-Large Joe Ward led the Pledge of Allegiance. Ken Anderson provided the invocation.

Officer Reports:

Welcome Remarks: Commander Hufford recognized 5 new members in attendance.

Secretary’s Report: Bob Sharak asked for Board approval of December 11, 2019 meeting minutes. Steve Milbrod approved and Jerry Hufford seconded.

Treasurer’s Report: Steve Milbrod’s recapped the results of 2019:

Revenues for 2019:

Dues and 50/50      $2,547

Beatles concert        2,109

DJ Dance                    3,846

Opns. Thanksgiving  6,567

Total Revenues      $15,069

Donations for 2019:

MOTS                    $5,500

Turning Points          1,500

S.E. Guide Dogs        1,500

Opns. Thanksgiving  6,567

Total Donations    $15,067

There is a carryover of $1,200 in the bank from 2019.

Committee Reports

Membership: Mary Northrup reported 188 members in good standing. 33% have renewed their dues for 2020 thus far. 35% of members are military veterans and 65% are supporters.

A Membership Directory is posted on our website and requires a password.

Website: Gerry Northrup reported for Webmaster Chris DiBiase.  There are multiple sites to view A.V.M.S. activities: A.V.M.S. Website, Del Webb Facebook page, and A.V.M.S. Facebook page. By a show of hands, there were very few members that go on the A.V.M.S. Facebook page. There was some discussion as to determine the best avenues for communication going forward.

Historian:  Steve Milbrod indicated no report.

Sergeant of Arms:  New Sergeant of Arms Guy Sumrall was introduced.

Supply Officer: New Supply Officer Debbie Distefano was introduced.

Outreach: Ken Anderson, summarized the mission statement:

  1. Identify residents that might need assistance
  2. Reach out directly to them to determine the nature of the assistance required
  3. Determine how the assistance may best be facilitated

Ken made a special tribute to the Single Women’s Group led by Ciarra Lodin. Ciarra has been invaluable in connecting people while organizing the Meal Train for Rosie Lumetta.

Old Business

  1. Commander Jerry Hufford summarized some of the lessons learned from the Golf Cart Parade.
  2. Military Funerals – Secretary Bob Sharak summarized the program for new members and meeting attendees. Sign up sheets are kept in the RSVP binder (AVMS tab) in the WiFi Café.  For member convenience, the sheets will be moved to a front table at each meeting.

New Business

  1. Commander Jerry Hufford indicated his overall vision for 2020 is that more members would be involved in the association’s activities.
  2. Key Events for 2020 and discussed locking in dates:
    • Spring Dance Party Fund Raiser – Saturday March 28. Steve Milbrod to coordinate.
    • Memorial Day Event – May 25th. Herman Martinez to Emcee.
    • Summer Fund Raiser date TBD. Joe Ward to coordinate.
    • Fall Dance Fund Raiser date TBD. Gerry Northrup to coordinate.
    • Veterans Day event – Sunday Nov 8th at 2 pm. Jerry Hufford to coordinate.
    • Operations Thanksgiving Packing Party – Sunday Nov 22nd. Bob Sharak to coordinate.
    • Golf Cart parades for July 4th and Christmas TBD
    • Staffing of M.O.T.S. (Manasota Operation Troop Support) booth at Sarasota Fair will be Saturday, March 28.
  3. Ideas for guest speakers in 2020 were discussed:
    • Adopting a veteran family in need
    • Florida Ecology
    • MOTS – Linda Craig
    • Turning Points
    • Sarasota National Cemetery
    • Wreaths Across America
    • Sheriff Wells
    • Vanessa Baugh
    • Active Shooter
    • Leader Dog
  4. An idea was proposed to increase member interaction, socializing, and meeting enjoyment, by having a member act as sponsor, getting some members to assist, and to arrange a modest social after each meeting which might include cookies, cake etc.  The member sponsor team would change for each meeting.

Members of the Quarter – David and Karen Richardson

50/50 Winner of $59 was Claudia Hamrick.

Open Forum – Suggestion was made to involve AVMS in the Lakewood Ranch Memorial Day Parade. It was pointed out that AVMS was involved in 2019 in that AVMS military veterans were invited to the Lakewood Ranch VIP room, and were asked to ride in the Corvettes as part of the parade.

Motion to close the meeting was made and seconded.  The meeting adjourned at 7:30 pm.

Respectively submitted,

Robert Sharak – Secretary