Villages Hiking Club – General Meeting
Monday, November 28, 2022, Foothill Center
- Call to Order -President Bob called the Hiking Club General Meeting to order at 7:33pm, welcoming the members and guests to the November meeting. The following board members were in attendance: President – Bob Bogdanoff; VP Social – Bernice Capitano; VP Membership & Website – Jim Beyer; and VP Hiking & Trails – Gary Lohr. Treasurer – Gordon Carbonetti is absent due to a family illness and Secretary Cheryl will join the meeting at the conclusion of a Village’s rehearsal, with Jim recording the meeting in preparation for her completing the meeting minutes.
- Reports:
VP Membership & Website – Jim welcomed two quests and announced there are 4 new members: Jane Shaw, Julian Tao, John Smith and HJ Liang for a total membership of 321. He also announced that members will receive an email by December 9th indicating continuing members will be charged $7 for 2023 membership on their January HOA bill. He also indicated the website continues to function well. Bob next announced that the Sunshine committee under the leadership of Terri Vivoli sent a get well card to Dot Armbruster who received an injury during a Skyway trail hike. Emergency procedures were covered with the membership to insure all members are protected and supported if injuries or health issues occur.
Secretary – Cheryl will bring the past October minutes, which are on the club’s website, for acceptance at the next meeting.
Treasurer – Gordon Bob, in support of Gordon shared, the Hillside and General funds have had no activity so they remained the same.
VP Hiking & Trails – Gary reminded the members that more leaders and a few more participants are needed on the Rambler hikes.
VP Social – Bernice encouraged members to attend the “no cost” Thursday, December 8th Holiday Party from 5:30pm-9:00pm. It’s going to be a BYOB event with the Hiking Club providing the main dish (ham, turkey, vegetarian) and desserts with individuals providing the sides/appetizers. The last 2022 event is the Thursday, December 22nd Holiday Lights Event with individuals bringing their own BYOB along with holiday cookies to share, 6:00pm -9pm meeting at the Vineyard with Michelle Breslin leading walk. The new 2023 calendar of events and hikes was available at the back table.
President – Bob announced two new nominees to the 2023 slate of Club officers which includes Carmel Smith as VP of Social and John Petrin as VP of Hikes & Trails along with the present officers willing to serve another term. This includes Bob as President, Gordon as Treasurer, Jim as Membership/Website and Cheryl as Secretary. Lucy moved to accept the election slate of officers, a second was offered and the members present voted unanimously to accept all the
Nominees. Officially, the New Board includes: President – Bob Bogdanoff. VP Social – Carmel Smith. VP Membership/ Website – Jim Beyer. Treasurer – Gordon Carbonetti, VP Hiking & Trails –John Petrin and Secretary, Cheryl Allmen.
Secondly, Bob thanked both Bernice and Gary for their leadership this past year along with Susan Brown who handled our Club Meeting refreshments. Members were encouraged to volunteer to serve as cookie and refreshment supporters for next year.
Also, Bob indicated Mary Tatum asked for statistics of the Villagers’ hill usage. After reviewing the Trail Log Summary from 2014 – 2021, he shared on the screen his findings, a 50% increased usage during the pandemic period, approximately 6,600 hikers. He also indicated that not all hikers sign up at hill lands entrances and encouraged all hikers to do so in the future.
Next, Bob shared that he also will be creating another club survey after he found that last year’s survey gave very good suggestions that helped the board plan well.
Lastly Bob announced the next General Meeting Speakers: There is no meeting in December, in January, our first 2023 speaker will be John Trudeau and in February is Lisa Barboza of the Sierra Club.
Break – was held for 15 minutes when members enjoyed the snacks and chatting with other members. Thanks was given to those who brought cookies.
Speaker: Wate Bakker, past president of our club, leader who has led numerous hikes and is a very active biker shared an outstanding presentation entitled: “Flowers, Chihuly and Other Art.”
Meeting was adjourned at approximately 9pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Cheryl Allmen
Secretary