Mike Lamb opened the meeting. Pledge of Allegiance was said. There were 14 members audibly present. Bonnie Prescott read the minutes from April’s meeting. A motion was made that the minutes be accepted as read and was carried. Scott Carlisle read the treasurers report. The beginning balance was $1,144.15. We had expenditures of $270.00 for shirts minus what he and Virginia owe. There were $177.00 in deposit made which consisted of dues, yard sale money and miscellaneous things. There was $135.00 deposited into the Jill Carson fund. Current general fund balance is $1,051.15. Current Jill Carson fund balance is $1,235.00. Motion to accept the Treasurers report was made by Janice Snow, seconded by ?? and was carried. The Sunshine Committee report was read by Janice Snow. She mentioned that David Anspach had surgery yesterday. Janice had some tests done that all came back normal. Janice Snow continued with the Expanding Horizons Committee report. She has a speaker for June. Debra Clark will be coming from the elections office. She has a speaker for August but it is questionable. Janine Mayo from Caring and Sharing. She is going to talk to us about the importance of fire safety. Mike asked if Janice had followed up with Lynn Ritter and she has. She will also follow up with politicians. Janice asked Janine about having someone come out to the Meet the Blind picnic and Janine said she would have someone from Seminole come out. Janice is going to follow up with Mike Gallagher also. John Carson gave the Fund Raising Committee report. The Lions Club is not happy about us having a gambling fund raiser. But John has something else in mind. He and Debbie Hietala talked with Tiny and Dusty from Lightening Riders and they are willing to do a poker run for us outside of the Lions Club. John would like to have a meeting with the Scholarship Fund Raising Committee later in the week. At Mike’s request, John explained what a Poker Run is. The Lightening Riders would like us to advertise in a couple of biker magazines for a couple of months prior to the Poker Run. Advertising will cost about $1,000.00 but they get sponsors to recoup that cost. The Chapter would have to front the sponsor money. John would like to start an endowment fund for the Scholarship Fund. John suggested a meeting of the Scholarship Fund Raising Committee to draw up a plan to present to the Chapter regarding the fronting of the money from the Jill Carson Fund. Scott asked if we would put all the money raised by the Poker Run in the Scholarship Fund. John said that was one of the plans. Mike said that the Chapter has a responsibility to give a percentage to the State Affiliate. John said that was something that needed to be discussed by the Scholarship Fund Raising Committee. John explained that each year Freedom Scientific replaces their older computers with newer models. Those older computers could be donated to persons that need them. John would like to see them donated to us so we can give them to others or sell them at our annual Yard Sale. John explained the Lions Club stand on gambling. There will be a Fund Raising Committee meeting at Chuck and Debbie’s house on June 02 from 6-8. Tiny, Dusty and Lewis Cantrell will be there. John said the Splash Fund brought in $205.00 and Paul has a check for that. Mike made a motion that $50.00 be sent to the State Affiliate, the motion was seconded by Janice and carried. There was discussion about Affiliate money being presented as a lump sum at State Convention. A motion was made by John that money be donated once a year, it was seconded by ?? and carried. John gave the Web Committee meeting report. The website has been updated. We have a Corporate Sponsor page up. Paul said that he, Jim Ellsworth and Grant Downey had agreed to give $100.00 a year towards the Scholarship Fund and John said a Corporate Sponsor was $100.00 a year. Paul would rather all his donation go to the Scholarship Fund. It was explained that the $100.00 donation would be used towards the Scholarship Fund and will also be used towards a Corporate Sponsor on the web site. John mentioned the Challenge Aspen fund raiser on behalf of Chuck and Debbie. They need 33 people at $20.00 per person for their fund raising cruise. They would give 25% back to the Chapter. John discussed what the cruise consisted of. Anyone interested in going on the cruise should contact Chuck and Debbie. Mike gave the Outreach Committee report. He is going to speak about our Chapter and The Lighthouse to the Kiwanis Club. He thinks we need a lot of media for the Meet the Blind picnic. Mike went over the agenda for State Convention. A head count was taken for those attending the convention so the Chapter can give each of them $20.00 for expenses. A motion was made by Janice that $50.00 be given to the Imagination Fund, seconded by Tammy and carried. Paul asked about door prizes. A motion was made by Jim that the door prize denominations be made as 1 for $25.00, 5 for $10.00 and 5 for $5.00, seconded by ?? and was carried. Four chapter members opted to have their $20.00 for convention donated to our chapter. Scott will bring cash to convention for everyone else and they need to see Scott when they get there. Scott will be setting up our PAC at convention. Scott started a discussion about Paypal.
Secretary’s note: The Paypal discussion became very heated amongst some chapter members. Obscenities were exchanged and because of this, I believe it is in the best interest of the chapter that this portion of the meeting not be revisited. I do have the audio cassette tape if anyone is interested in hearing the remainder of the meeting.
Respectfully submitted
Melissa Johnson
Pinellas Chapter Secretary