Potomac Chapter National Railway Historical Society, Inc.
On December 31 board members approved a two-part motion for your approval:
Voting in favor: Bill Holdsworth, John Sery, Gordy Bjoraker, Stephen Sery, Bob Dixon-Gumm, and Gordon Piscacek.
| Silver Spring B&O Station | |
| Present: | |
Gordy Bjoraker, President |
Rick Davidson, National Representative Bob Dixon-Gumm, Director at Large Gordon Piscacek, Director at Large |
| Absent: Carl Franz, Director at Large; Stephen Sery, Director at Large | |
President Gordy Bjoraker called the meeting to order at 8:05 p.m.
Bill Holdsworth distributed minutes of the August meeting and subsequent activity.
Jay Creswell distributed copies of the treasurer’s report.
Directors discussed the small grants program. The chapter has donated $750 to the Commonwealth Coach and Trolley Museum and $750 to the Ma & Pa Railroad Preservation Society this year. Jay mentioned the Victoria (VA) Railroad Park and B&O Railroad Museum in Oakland, MD as potential candidates.
Board voted to recommend that members approve a matching grant program to support the restoration of former C&O 2-6-6-2 steam engine #1309. The chapter will match member donations dollar-for-dollar up to $2,500. Directors approved a motion to set May 31 as the deadline. Directors agreed to seek member approval at January meeting.
Consensus among directors was that the joint picnic with the Baltimore Chapter was a good event and should continue. John Sery suggested that we try to combine the picnic with a tour of Mt. Royal station.
Bill reported that the holiday social will follow the same format as recent years.
Jay said arrangements with the hotel chapter banquet are complete. Price of the food has increased about $4 per person.
Directors approved a motion to set the price of the March 23 banquet at $45.
Rick provided a report on membership renewals.
Rick attended the national organization's quarterly meeting in Scranton. He said that the organization has received a large donation ($30,000-40,000) to support its grant program.
John and Bill reported that the storage locker is almost empty. We should be able to terminate our lease December 31.
The Flack slide collection is the most significant remainder. John has spoken to Marc Laborde about the collection. Marc has a list of the slides. John suggested donating the slides to a railroad history archive.
John sold $290 worth of books from the locker at the Timonium train show. He has many books remaining. He and Jay discussed selling them on eBay.
Bill has the chapter's historical record from the locker and has been reviewing those documents.
Rick reported that he has spoken with Alan Maples about a possible excursion on the Everett Railroad when they open a new segment of track in the near future.
Directors agreed on dates for the 2019 board meetings: February 12, April 30, August 13, and November 12
The meeting adjourned at 9:33 p.m. One eastbound train passed during the meeting.
On October 31 board members approved a motion accept John Pattison of Rockville as a new member.
Voting in favor were Gordy Bjoraker, John Sery, Bill Holdsworth, Carl Franz, Jay Creswell, Rick Davidson, Bob Dixon-Gumm, and Gordon Piscacek..
On August 17 board members approved a motion to authorize a payment of $500 to the Baltimore Streetcar Museum for our participation in the August 18 picnic.
Voting in favor were Gordy Bjoraker, John Sery, Bill Holdsworth, Carl Franz, Jay Creswell, Rick Davidson, Bob Dixon-Gumm, Gordon Piscacek, and Stephen Sery.
| Silver Spring B&O Station | |
| Present: | |
John Sery, Vice President |
Stephen Sery, Director at Large Bob Dixon-Gumm, Director at Large Gordon Piscacek, Director at Large |
| Absent: Gordy Bjoraker, President; Rick Davidson, National Representative; Carl Franz, Director at Large | |
Vice President John Sery called the meeting to order at 8:20 p.m.
Bill Holdsworth distributed minutes of the May meeting. Directors passed a motion to approve the minutes as distributed.
Jay Creswell distributed the treasurer’s report.
Directors reported that June's membership meeting at the Rockville library went well. There was a delay in getting access to the locked room.
Attendees briefly discussed the upcoming joint picnic with the Baltimore Chapter picnic.
Directors approved a motion to set March 23 as the first choice of date for the 2019 banquet and the Gaithersburg Hilton is the preferred location.
Directors discussed how to handle speaker recruitment for the banquet.
Jay reported that the chapter had about 90 members and associates.
Jay, who attended the national convention in Cumberland, said heritage grant program is going well. Railcamp has been successful. National membership has increased slightly in the past year.
Nominating committee needs to be formed. Gordon Piscacek and Carl Franz are the directors up for re-election.
John and Bill reported on the status of the storage locker. John has agreed to meet with Marc Laborde about the Flack slide/photo collection. John and Bill propose to sell some materials at a railroad show.
Directors approved a motion to authorize up to $150 to rent a table at the Timonium railroad show in October to try to sell materials from the storage locker.
Jay reported the Rick Davidson was interested in arranged a trip on Everett Railroad to cover sections not visited by NRHS convention trip. Directors thought Rick should be encouraged in his efforts.
John has had discussion with author Elmer J. Hall about republishing his book, The Patapsco and Back Rivers Railroad. The book about the Sparrows Point railroad was published in 2010 and copies currently fetch a high price on Amazon. The printer has a digitized copy. The author is checking on the cost of reproduction. John suggests producing about 100 books. In a related matter, John said it is unclear whether it will be possible to arrange a tour of the current Sparrows Point rail operations.
Directors agreed to reschedule the next board meeting for October 18. Bill has a conflict on the previously scheduled date of November 13.
The meeting adjourned at 9:50 p.m. No trains passed during the meeting.
| Silver Spring B&O Station | |
| Present: | |
John Sery, Vice President |
Stephen Sery, Director at Large Bob Dixon-Gumm, Director at Large Gordon Piscacek, Director at Large Carl Franz, Director at Large |
| Absent: Gordy Bjoraker, President | |
Vice President John Sery called the meeting to order at 8:05 p.m.
Bill distributed minutes of the February meeting and subsequent activity. Directors passed a motion to approve the minutes as distributed.
Jay Creswell distributed the treasurer’s report.
June's membership meeting will be held in the 2nd floor meeting room of the Rockville library. On May 15 Jay will be able to make meeting room reservations for the second half of the year.
Directors agreed that the chapter banquet went well.
Directors passed a motion stating that the board will make the final decision on the banquet speaker. The program committee would make a recommendation to the board. The program committee should not make a commitment until the board approves.
The Baltimore Chapter picnic is scheduled for August 18. Directors approved a motion to hold a joint picnic with the Baltimore Chapter. Bill should send an email to Charlie Plantholt.
John suggested a joint tour with the Baltimore Chapter. Sparrows Point still has a rail network in operation. John spoke to the owners about a tour of the facilities. Directors agreed supported the idea.
Rick Davidson reported that renewals are finished. Jay said some renewal notices were returned because of invalid addresses.
Rick said that he will be a counselor at RailCamp.
Directors approved a motion to donate $1,000 to the RailCamp scholarship fund.
John Sery and Bill reported on the status of the storage locker cleanup.
The meeting adjourned at 8:49 p.m. No trains passed during the meeting.
On March 13 board members approved Jay Creswell's motion concerning a donation to the Commonwealth Coach and Trolley Museum:
In keeping with the current policy (adopted in May, 2016) concerning disposition of the designated offerings for the Small Preservation Grants, I move that the Board approve sending $750.00 to the Commonwealth Coach and Trolley Museum to help with the relocation and preservation of their 1917 St. Louis Car trolley.
Voting in favor: Jay Creswell, Gordon Piscacek, Gordy Bjoraker, Bill Holdsworth, Rick Davidson, Bob Dixon-Gumm, and Stephen Sery.
| Silver Spring B&O Station | |
| Present: | |
Gordy Bjoraker, President |
Rick Davidson, National Representative
Stephen Sery, Director at Large Bob Dixon-Gumm, Director at Large Gordon Piscacek, Director at Large Carl Franz, Director at Large |
| Absent: | |
President Gordy Bjoraker called the meeting to order at 8:10 p.m.
Directors approved a motion to recommend that the membership re-authorize the small grants program with the following guidelines.
Bill Holdsworth will forward the motion to Clay Moritz for publication in the newsletter. The motion will be presented to the membership at the March meeting.
Gordy would like a list of past grantees.
Bill distributed minutes of the November meeting and subsequent activity.
Jay Creswell distributed the treasurer’s report. He has reserved the 2nd floor meeting room of the Rockville library for the April and June membership meetings .
Directors agreed that the holiday social went well.
Jay reported that paperwork has been signed and partial payments made for the chapter banquet. The reservation deadline is March 15. The required minimum is 45.
Rick Davidson reported that 10 people haven’t renewed. He and Jay will coordinate.
Rick reported that St. Louis will host the NRHS spring conference in June. The national convention will be held in Cumberland in August.
John Sery and Bill reported on the status of the storage locker cleanup.
The meeting adjourned at 8:59 p.m. One westbound train passed during the meeting.
