Villages Hiking Club August 26, 2024 General Meeting
Call to Order-Bob called the meeting to order at 7:08pm in the Foothill Center with the following Board
Members present along with 64 members and guests in the audience: President – Bob Bogdanoff; CoVPs
of Social- Bibi Bruce/Linda Arbaugh; VP Membership & Website – Jim Beyer; Treasurer – Bert Tan;
Secretary – Cheryl Allmen, and VP Hiking and Trails – Gordon Carbonetti.
Officer Reports
VP Membership & Website – Jim welcomed the many guests and reported 7 new members (Susan
Price, Mallory Hayes, David Shilton, Linh Nguy, Carol Wynne, Barbara Sunseri, and June Altieri) were
added this summer reaching a total membership of 348 club members. As a reminder to hiking leaders
who have guests joining a hike to have the guests sign the Release of Liability Form (available on the
club’s website under the Membership category). This is especially important for those drivers who are
transporting guests to hikes (typically Rambler hikes) outside the Villages.
Secretary – Cheryl indicated that the club’s June24th General meeting minutes were available for
review on the back table and also on the club’s website along with the June 20th Board meeting
minutes. Jim Wear made a motion, seconded by Marisue Cody to approve the General meeting minutes.
Motion was approved. Next, Cheryl indicated that next year when Bob is past president he is planning
monthly, drop-in/hike leader training hikes. The club needs more hiking leaders especially for the
Ramble hikes. She mentioned if one wants a copy of the Release Form, she would be in the back of the
room to answer questions about leading club hikes and to handout copies of the Release and our
Village’s Leading a Hike Check List Forms (both are available on the membership section of our
website). Additionally she indicated that because the printed Villager newspaper is reducing to 2 times
per month and more info is available now on line, fewer residents were knowing about the news of our
past club hikes and social/adventure activities in addition to upcoming hike and activities. To help raise
more awareness of club activities, she sent photos and write-ups of the past week’s Happy Hollow’s
Senior Safari hike (lead by Cheryl) and Devil’s Slide hike (lead by Guy Hoover) for potential addition to
the Villager.
Treasurer – Bert (assisted by Bob) showed our fiscal reports on the white board: the Hills Land Account
for both June and July 2024 remains the same-$2,279.72. Because of the resident’s payments for the
Santa Barbara outing hotel expenses, the General Account has an additional $10,621.00 added and a
few expenses with an ending balance of $13, 3357.10. David Cook made a motion to accept the fiscal
reports and Al Girolami seconded. Motion accepted.
VP Hiking and Trails – Gordon indicated the weekly hikes email blasts are going out to the membership
every Sunday by him instead of Jim to approximately 304 people (partners count as one) and Kori Tran is
adding the hikes to the on line version, which is currently available when clicking on “clubs” from the
club website. He advised mountain village hikers to avoid the Upper Meadow path that has been
mowed but not dugout yet as it is very slanted and difficult to maintain footing and balance. King
Grading will dig out the trail after fire danger subsides. He also mentioned trail logs are being added.
Next, Bob added that a new trail name was approved by the Board — Bobcat trail and the audience
agreed to that addition. The new, modest incline trail is between Garden Steps and Cougar connecting
Rawhide to the Upper Gardens. .
Gordon added that the Santa Barbara Trip (October 23-25 th) ) now has over 59 individuals signed up. A
second trolley has been added to accommodate everyone at 9:30am, on Thursday October 24 th . 30
rooms are already booked. Gordon finalized his report indicating the long hike will begin from the Santa
Barbara Mission instead of the hotel and ending at Inspiration Point so cars or Uber will be needed from
the hotel to the Mission. To date, 42 have chosen to ride the train, 6 driving, 8 are unsure and there are
11 individuals coming as long hikers, 30 rambler, 10 rambler lite and 5 choosing join the event but not to
hike.
VP Social – Bibi & Linda. Linda announced the September 19 th End of Summer Picnic Social will be
potluck and everyone coming should bring their dish to Gazebo serving 8-10 people (last names A-E=
dessert, F-K=main dish, L-R=appetizers, S-Z salad or side dish. Attendees are asked to bring their own
drinks, dinnerware etc. Water will be available and Ed Knott will provide entertainment music. Â Sunday,
November 10 th will be Game Night with light snacks such as popcorn will be available. Wendy Werner
was thanked for bringing cookies to tonight’s break refreshments.
President – Bob shared the Hills Land update to the mountain trails which has taken 7 years to
accomplish and appreciates King’s Grading which has done a good job in supporting the safety of hikers.
He also acknowledged the support of Guy who has helped planning and providing a lot of information
regarding our Santa Barbara outing. He also acknowledges John Trudeau who ensures the appropriate
signs and sign statistics are on the trails, designs and works with the Villages to order new signs. He also
thanked the members for approving the naming of the new trail as Bobcat earlier in the meeting. Next
he reminded the club members that next year’s officer election will take place in November and to
advise him of those who might be interested in a club leadership role since President, VP of Hikes/Trails
and a CO-VP of Social have announced that they are leaving their positions. He did also announce that a
new position has been added which splits the VP Membership and Website into two positions: VP
Website which Jim Beyer wishes to continue in and VP of Membership. One individual, Marisue Cody,
has expressed interest in the new position and was handling the name tag distribution this evening.
Next Meetings: General Meetings: Monday September 30, 7pm Foothill Center, Kim Silverman –
Professional Life Coach. Monday October 28, 7pm, Foothill Center is a joint meeting with the Garden
Club where Darcy Erst (daughter of Dan Kato) will speak on Owls in the Upper Garden Area. Â Monday
November 25 th , 7pm, Foothill Center-presentation, TBA. Board Meeting:Â Thursdays, September 26,
October 24, November 21, 9:30am-10:30am, Cribari Forum Room.
Break – 15 minutes included fellowship time along with delicious cookies and info group getting
overview of How to Lead a Hike lead by Cheryl Allmen.
Presentation by Jim Koski, (club member, hiking leader and professional photographer with over 40
Years of experience) who has traveled to various countries and US states, covered a great program –
Travel Photography Using Your iPhone. In addition to giving a lot of tips and training on using the cell
phone as a camera, he also shared many beautiful photos of landscapes, trains and European sites he
had taken on an exciting trip he his wife, brother and sister-in-law had recently traveled beginning in
Amsterdam and ending in Switzerland. He received an applause from the audience for giving such a
wonderful program.
Meeting Adjourned at 9:05pm.
Respectfully submitted, Cheryl Allmen Cheryl Allmen, Secretary