Potomac Chapter National Railway Historical Society, Inc.
On December 21, board members approved a motion authorizing the following grants from the Small Grants designated gift fund:
Voting in favor: Bill Holdsworth, Bob Dixon-Gumm, Gordy Bjoraker, Carl Franz, Jay Creswell, John Sery, Stephen Sery, and Rick Davidson.
The above grants will supplement the $1,500 distributed by Gordy Bjoraker under the annual small grants program:
On December 11, board members approved a motion to donate $1,000.00 to The Age Of Steam Roundhouse in Sugar Creek, Ohio towards the transportation and cosmetic restoration of Bessemer & Lake Erie engine 643. Gordy has approved $500.00 dollars from his annual discretionary small grants program and the remaining $500.00 to come from general funds. This motion would not include matching funds.
Voting in favor: Bill Holdsworth, John Sery, Gordon Piscacek, Bob Dixon-Gumm, Gordy Bjoraker, Stephen Sery, Rick Davidson, and Carl Franz.
| Silver Spring B&O Station | |
| Present: | |
Gordy Bjoraker, President |
Rick Davidson, National Representative Gordon Piscacek, Director at Large Carl Franz, Director at Large Stephen Sery, Director at Large |
| Absent: Bob Dixon-Gumm, Director at Large | |
President Gordy Bjoraker called the meeting to order at 8:01 p.m.
Bill Holdsworth distributed minutes of the August meeting and subsequent activity.
Jay Creswell distributed the Treasurer’s report.
Directors discussed the nominations process. Bob Dixon-Gumm and Stephen Sery are the two directors whose terms are up. Carl Franz and Gordon Piscacek are in the middle of their two-year terms. We expect to hold the election at the November membership meeting.
Jay reported that the renewal notices have been mailed. Directors should have received their notice via email.
Rick Davidson reported that there is no change in the national's dues process this year. National has changed the structure of the board of directors. They are reducing the board to nine members. All directors will be elected at large to two-year terms. The national may send a mailing to the membership to have them vote on the proposal.
Directors approved a motion to reimburse Rick for his four nights' hotel expense for the national directors' conference in Dallas, up to the limit of the GSA per diem rates. The cost should be about $600.
Bill said that he plans to follow last year's pattern for the Holiday Social in December.
Directors discussed the 2020 banquet. Jay said no contact has been signed yet. He is waiting for a response from the Gaithersburg Doubletree (nee Hilton). The hotel has been undergoing renovation.
Directors approved a motion to hold the March 21 banquet in the afternoon, 12:30-3:30, subject to the speaker’s availability.
Attendees reported that the joint picnic with Baltimore Chapter was a success.
Gordy asked for suggestions for small grants program. Among the ideas discussed:
Next year’s board meetings will be held February 11, May 12, August 11, and November 10.
The meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m. No trains passed during the meeting.
On October 18 board members approved Stephen J. Salamon of Valley City, OH as a member of the chapter.
Voting in favor: Bill Holdsworth, John Sery, Rick Davidson, Gordon Piscacek, Jay Creswell, Bob Dixon-Gumm, Gordy Bjoraker, Stephen Sery, and Carl Franz.
| Silver Spring B&O Station | |
| Present: | |
Gordy Bjoraker, President |
Rick Davidson, National Representative Gordon Piscacek, Director at Large Bob Dixon-Gumm, Director at Large |
| Absent: Carl Franz, Director at Large, Stephen Sery, Director at Large | |
President Gordy Bjoraker called the meeting to order at 8:01 p.m.
Bill Holdsworth distributed minutes of the April meeting and subsequent activity.
Jay Creswell distributed the Treasurer’s report. He has disbursed funds to Western Maryland Scenic Railroad for the restoration of C&O #1309.
Rick Davidson reported that the national organization's list of Potomac Chapter members doesn't match ours. Directors agreed that no special action was needed and that the current member/associate structure should remain in place.
Rick said that the national organization is now in the black. The next directors' conference is November in Dallas. The organization's paper archives are also located in Dallas. The film archive remains in Phillipsburg, NJ.
Directors discussed the 2020 banquet. Jay said that we have a reservation at the Gaithersburg Hilton, which is being renovated into a Doubletree. It is unclear whether a formal invitation has been extended to the speaker. John Sery will followup with Carl Franz. Directors agreed that it would be desirable to switch with a daytime banquet, if that is agreeable to the hotel and the speaker.
Directors approved a motion to donate $500 to Baltimore Streetcar Museum in appreciation of their hosting the picnic.
Gordy asked for suggestions for small grants program.
The meeting adjourned at 8:49 p.m. No trains passed during the meeting.
On June 4 board members approved a motion to hold the 2020 Potomac Chapter banquet at the Hilton Gaithersburg hotel on Saturday, March 21 at 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM.
Voting in favor: Carl Franz, Jay Creswell, Gordy Bjoraker, Bill Holdsworth, John Sery, Rick Davidson, Gordon Piscacek, Bob Dixon-Gumm, and Stephen Sery.
| Silver Spring B&O Station | |
| Present: | |
Gordy Bjoraker, President |
Gordon Piscacek, Director at Large Carl Franz, Director at Large Stephen Sery, Director at Large Bob Dixon-Gumm, Director at Large |
| Absent: Rick Davidson, National Representative | |
President Gordy Bjoraker called the meeting to order at 8:06 p.m.
Bill Holdsworth distributed copies of the minutes of the February meeting and subsequent activity.
Jay Creswell reviewed the Treasurer’s report. Jay is still working to get a sales tax exemption certificate from Maryland.
Directors approved a motion to authorize Jay to file the necessary paperwork to get a sales tax exemption certificate from Maryland and Bill to sign as the corporate agent.
Jay reported that member donations are very low for the restoration of C&O 2-6-6-2 steam engine #1309. The fund raising campaign is scheduled to end May 31.
Jay presented Gordy with his 25-year pin. Presentation was five years late, because the paperwork had been misplaced.
Jay reported on membership renewals for 2019. He estimated the membership drop at 12.
Attendance was disappointing at the March 23 chapter banquet. The chapter will take a substantial loss, because attendance was below the contractual minimum of 40. Directors discussed some lessons learned.
The board discussed potential banquet speakers for 2020. Directors had been invited to submit potential candidates in advance of the meeting.
Directors agreed on the top three candidates for banquet speaker:
Bill will communicate the board's preference to Alex Mayes.
By a vote of six to two, directors approved a motion designating March 21 as the preferred date for the 2020 banquet with March 28 as the alternate, based on the availability of the banquet hall and the preferred speaker. Evening meal vs. lunch to be determined later, after a poll of the members. Vote 6-2.
Because 2020 represents the 50th anniversary of the Potomac Chapter's founding, directors supported the idea of inviting NRHS President Al Weber to attend.
Directors agreed that one of the banquet speaker candidates, musician Ray Owens, would be a good candidate for entertainment at the August 17 joint picnic with the Baltimore Chapter. John Sery will contact Charlie Plantholt and Ray.
The meeting adjourned at 9:57 p.m. No trains passed during the meeting.
On February 22 board members approved the following motion:
WHEREAS: Donald R. Flach, who is currently designated as the resident agent of the corporation with the Maryland Secretary of State, has not been active in the corporation’s activities for several years and has not maintained his membership
RESOLVED: That the resident agent of the corporation is changed to
William R. Holdsworth
10 Radburn Court
Rockville, Maryland 20850
Voting in favor: Jay Creswell, Bill Holdsworth, John Sery, Bob Dixon-Gumm, Rick Davidson, Gordy Bjoraker, Stephen Sery, Gordon Piscacek, and Carl Franz.
| Silver Spring B&O Station | |
| Present: | |
Gordy Bjoraker, President |
Rick Davidson, National Representative Carl Franz, Director at Large Stephen Sery, Director at Large |
| Absent: Gordon Piscacek, Director at Large; Bob Dixon-Gumm, Director at Large | |
President Gordy Bjoraker called the meeting to order at 8:04 p.m.
Bill Holdsworth distributed minutes of the November meeting and subsequent activity.
Jay Creswell reviewed the treasurer’s report.
Directors agreed that the holiday social went well.
Membership renewals: Rick Davidson provided provided a status, as of February 12:
Jay has tracked down addresses for some of the notices that had come back as undeliverable. He will send new reminders.
Rick reported that Orange County, CA is the likely site for the 2020 NRHS convention. He will miss the upcoming directors conference in Birmingham, AL.
John Sery and Bill reported that the storage locker has been closed. John is the custodian of the Flack film collection Jay and John have some books that were deemed worthy of selling. Bill has the Flack slide collection, chapter historical records, and books that the chapter is retaining.
Directors approved a motion to adopt the process submitted by Carl Franz and Alex Mayes for selecting future banquet speakers. (See text below.)
Directors approved Carl's motion to put the board on record that it is willing to consider spending up to nominally $1,000.00 for speaker travel expenses when the quality of the proposed banquet program justifies such an expense.
Carl thought the motion would clarify the board's position. In the past, many quality banquet speakers were dropped from consideration because of a perceived limitation on allowable transportation expenses.
Directors agreed that the chapter should continue its joint picnic with the Baltimore Chapter. That participation shouldn't preclude the chapter holding a separate event.
The meeting adjourned at 8:53 p.m. One westbound train passed during the meeting.
Objective:
To Provide High-Quality Speakers and Topics For Future Potomac Chapter Banquets.
Why The Need For A New Process:
The chapter’s past banquet-selection process has placed an undue burden on one person, our program chairman, to identify prospective topics and speakers and then implement that selection. The task has often been difficult because he has felt compelled to eliminate many fine speakers from consideration due to an implied restriction to keep speaker costs to a minimum.
Core Principles Of The New Process:
Details Of The Process:
If a topic/speaker is not pre-approved due to unknown costs:
Note: This situation can occur when a topic is suggested, but a suitable speaker has not been identified. As an example: We may want someone to speak on the Golden Spike Celebration and/or Union Pacific 4014. Possible speakers may include a chapter member, Jim Wrinn in Milwaukee or someone out West from the Union Pacific railroad. In such a case, the program chairman may decide to present several options to the board for consideration.
