Villages Hiking Club Board Minutes
Thursday, March 21, 2024
Forum Room – Cribari
Call to Order at 9:33am: Attending Board Members included: President – Bob
Bogdanoff; VPs Social – Bibi Bruce & Linda Arbaugh; Treasurer – Bert Tang; Secretary –
Cheryl Allmen; VP Hiking & Trails – Gordon Carbonetti and via cell phone, VP Membership &
Website – Jim Beyer. Guests: James Ware and Marisue Cody.
Reports
Trail Maintenance Day Update–James Ware, replacing Dan Kato who has some health
concerns, shared his plan for overseeing/planning of this day and also an overview of his meeting
this week with Ryan Bell and Clay Curtin which went very well. Weather forecast predicts rain
before and after this event. All volunteers, based on their arrival, will be given a safety briefing
as well as a signup and liability release form. Multiple mule trips will allow for returning to pick
up the next group of workers. All equipment/tools will be delivered to the appropriate site. All
leaders are aware of their responsibilities and will be asked to exchange cell phone numbers in
case there’s needs to communicate during the maintenance. James has everything well organized
and is planning to arrive close to 8:30am on Saturday and checking up on cleanup and
pickup/return of tools and equipment afterwards.
Social VP’s are planning for 40 individuals and extra beverages are being picked up as well for
the lunch and have several committee members helping to prepare and ensure luncheon is
available around 11:30am.
Secretary – Cheryl provided several copies of the prior 2/22/24 board meeting minutes that had
been emailed earlier and had a hard copy available for board members to review. A motion was
made by Bob and seconded by Gordon to approve the minutes. Motion approved.
Treasurer – Bert shared the February 2024 Report as follows: Hill Lands Fund: starting at
$3,215.89 and after payments for tool purchases ending up on February 29 th at $2,279.72.
General Fund: began at $4,977.67 and ended up after payment of the microphone and food
items a total of $4,948.90. A motion was made by Gordon and seconded by Linda to
approve the fiscal reports. Motion carried.
VP Membership & Website – Jim via cell phone, shared our membership has increased by 3
with a 4 th addition, totaling 333 members. He announced a potential change related to email
transaction deliveries to new members since Google has changed its policy. He met with David
Cook and consulted other social groups/individuals of how they handed this change of multiple
emails and new members adding to the number of emails needed to conduct business and
announce activities and hikes. One solution appears to be MailChimp for $13/month ($156/yr.).
After sending the board members the report details of the issue via email and a discussion with
the Board, Bob moved and Gordon seconded a motion to empower Jim to investigate the
options and to solve the problem with a budget of up to $15/month. Motion approved.
VP Hiking & Trails – Gordon explained all the research that he had completed for the Spring
Overnight Adventure and recommends Nevada City scheduled for May 7-9th, 2024. 20
rooms, located on the second and third floors, have been reserved at the National Exchange
Hotel with pricing running from $410-$510 (Studio to Queen Suite) for the two nights. Hikes,
dinner, and reception details will be finalized soon. Jim has send an email to the membership
announcing this next adventure. Next, Bob shared a chart indicating 7 reservations have already
been given. Later he announced that he is planning a Backcountry Weekend at Henry Coe State
Park on Saturday, April 27 th ending with a lunch thereafter. More details to follow. He also
indicated it would be wise for the Board to create a 3-5 Strategic Plan of future projects to submit
to our General Manager, Theresa which will also mean projections of costs would impact our
budget forecasting as well.
VP Social – Bibi & Linda shared that the committee has all details for the Trail Maintenance
Day well planned and reminded the Board that a poster will be on the door advising the
volunteers to leave their muddy boots outside to make cleanup easier for the committee. Related
to the Safari Social Supper, 7 pairs have already signed up for the April 20 th event.
President’s Report- Bob indicated that the March 13 th New Resident Orientation added 3 new
members (Thomas Stutz & Karen Allen, Nicki Godfrey) and that there is a need for an updated
main table handout since registration is now on line. Club will be represented at the upcoming
Club & Committee Expo, Saturday, May 4 th . He also had submitted a Villages “Project
Requirements Form” to Julie Meadows for “You are Here” Hill Lands signs. .
Old Business-none were discussed.
Next Meetings- General: Monday March 25, 7:00 Foothill Center, Nancy Hooton, Helicopter
Hiking; Monday April 29, 7:00pm Vineyard, Easy Tips to Increase Your Longevity – Jane
Ruona; No May General or Board Meeting; Monday June 24, 7:00pm Foothill Center, Liz
Giarratana -Month Long Hike on the River Thames Path in England; No July General or Board
Meeting; Monday August 26, 7:00pm Foothill Center, Jim Koska – iPhone Tips; Monday
September 30, 7:00pm Foothill Center, Kim Silverman – Professional Life Coach. Board –
Thursday, April 25, 9:30-10:30am, Forum Room in Cribari
Meeting Adjourned at 11:46am.
Respectfully Submitted,
Cheryl Allmen, Secretary