Potomac Chapter National Railway Historical Society, Inc.
February 11, 2025
Zoom video conference with participation by:
Gordy Bjoraker, President
John Sery, Vice President
Bill Holdsworth, Secretary
Jay Creswell, Treasurer
Stephen Sery, Director at Large
Chuck Greene, Director at Large
Not participating:
Doug Scott, National Representative
Gordy called the meeting to order about 8:05 p.m.
Gordy suggested a review of the chapter's procedures to avoid single points of failure. Do we have backup plans for major chapter functions? Points of discussion:
Hybrid meetings – Bill normally handles these, with assistance from John and Stephen. Bill will develop a checklist for their use, when Bill is unable to attend.
Post office box – Clay Moritz checks the Kensington mailbox on a regular basis. Bill also has a key. There was some discussion of shifting to a box to Vienna.
Website maintenance – Bill will share the Trainweb FTP ID and password with Stephen and John. He will also share the password for domain name registration.
Membership records – Jay has created a folder on OneDrive and share it with Bill. They can both make updates to the spreadsheet. Bill suggested that we create a simplified version of the spreadsheet to share with other directors.
Treasury Direct – Treasury might not allow two people to access an organization's account. The topic needs research. Jay might be able to share his ID and password as an alternative.
Truist bank – Gordy and Jay have the ability to write checks. We should investigate whether a second person can have online access.
Meeting room reservations – Bill makes meeting room reservations through Active Montgomery, the county's online system. He will document his procedures and share them with John.
Shared cloud storage – Google Drive might be a good option for a directory that can be shared by all board members.
Bill made minutes of previous meeting available.
Jay reported that he has received about 38 renewals in response to the 65 reminders he sent out.
Directors approved Tom Sponsler of San Francisco as a member.
We haven't found a replacement for Clay as newsletter editor. John is still investigating options. Bill plans to send postcard reminders to members in months when we hold in-person meetings. He will send email meeting reminders every month.
Bill will investigate holding a chapter picnic this spring to celebrate Clay's retirement.
Board members reviewed the schedule for membership meetings. They agreed to hold the December holiday social on a Saturday afternoon. The Silver Spring B&O station is a good location.
