Villages Hiking Club General Meeting Minutes
Monday, February 27, 2023, Foothill Center
Call to Order: President Bogdanoff called the meeting to order at 7:30pm and announced “the Chance of a Lifetime View”—the beautiful snow on the hills above the Villages and hoped the members appreciated the wintery view. Then he announced the addition of a Co VP of Social and shared the Board Members present: President – Bob Bogdanoff, Co-VP Social – Babette Bruce/Carmel Smith, VP Membership & Website – Jim Beyer Treasurer – Gordon Carbonetti, and VP Hiking & Trails – John Petrin. He shared Secretary – Cheryl Allmen is on vacation and will complete the minutes from Gordon’s recording of the meeting.
- Reports:
VP Membership & Website – Jim indicated the membership includes 308 people. Guests introduced were Tim and Mary Robinson, Lisa Barboza (presentation speaker), and Anita. Website is frequently updated and emails related to hiking and activity opportunities are sent to the members. He especially highlighted the beautiful photos of our hikers who hiked up the hill and enjoyed the snow at the top.
Secretary – Substituting for Cheryl, Bob indicated the minutes from the past January 30th General Meeting were on the back table for review. Lucy McProud moved and Deb Siedband seconded the approval of the previous minutes. Motion approved.
Treasurer – Gordon presented the January 2023 reports on the whiteboard. Hills Lands Project Fund continues with a balance of $2,215.89. General Fund balance is $4,031.21. He recently received the 2023 membership dues from the Villages and will deposit them to be reflected in the March report. Gordon reminded the members of the $500 transfer from the General account to Hill Land’s account which could cover future costs such as benches, tables, etc which would also be included in the March report. Lucy McProud moved to accept the budget reports, seconded by Gigi. Motion approved.
VP Hiking & Trails – John shared that weekly Rambler and Rambler Lite hikes are already scheduled through March 2023 and Long hikers continue to take care of organizing themselves. He’s looking for increasing the number and variety of hikes as well as adding/orienting a few more hiking leaders. Next, he indicated Al Girolami is spearheading bonus hikes, typically offered on Tuesday or Thursday connected with the Santa Clara County Magnificent 7. Bob also announced that he and Gordon will be leading a Wed offsite 4.3 mile hike on the Bayfield Ranch Trail reminding hikers to bring poles since there’s a creek along the trail.
Related to Trail Maintenance Day, the workers will be meeting at Foothill on Saturday, March 25th, 8:30am to clean up the trails and improve their safety. According to Dan Kato, the Lead,
John shared an overview of the plans for this annual event. Mules will transport worker groups of 5-8 individuals to areas needing maintenance as well as others walking uphill to various trails. A luncheon with beer will be coordinated by the Co-VPs of Social who are planning for 40 individuals. A map of the variously trails with blue and red lines to illustrate the trails needing the most attention and a pickup with gardening tools would be available.
Next, he announced the plans for the Spring 2023 trip, May 2-4 in Sonora, which is approximately a 2 1/2hr drive. After researching hotels, he indicated Lumber Jack Hotel is offering one of the best rates of $115/night and plans to reserve a block of approximately 20 rooms. Next, John gave a historical description of the area and described a wide variety of hiking trails including Railroad Trail and Columbia Ditch Loop are possibilities of hikes with an additional Tuesday afternoon hike at the Columbia State Park for earlier arrivals. He shared there will be a reception on Tuesday evening and a dinner on Wednesday night for $52 per person including tax/tip. He indicated the 2-step process of gathering the list of hiker attendees including registering for the hotel room and signing up on the club website to create a list of the individuals to maximize communication and follow up with those planning to attend.
VP Social – Babette/Carmel shared that 2 weeks of publicity will encourage members to attend the Thursday, March 9th Game Night from 6:30pm-8:00pm with a variety of snacks, coffee, and tea, including BYOB and games to share. Related to the Thursday, May 11th, Variety Night. Babette indicated it will include a potluck and BYOB between 5:30pm-8:00pm. It will be “international” food selections and guests will rsvp and specify what they are bringing to encourage a good variety of dishes. A head announcer will be chosen to keep the group enjoying the different talented acts.
President – Bob announced the Hiking Club has been invited to participate in the 4th of July Freedom Fun Walk with a walk around the Villages which will be led by Katie Peretti similar to our Rambler Lite hikes. He announced the Club Survey 2023, indicating last year’s survey gave the Board members some good information, suggestions, and recommendations for our team’s future planning and requests members to complete the survey and submit their ideas and suggestions. Since he’s going on vacation, March 15-April 4th, John is going to lead the March General meeting and the next Board meeting, March 23rd, Bob will join us via telephone.
He also announced the General Meeting Speakers: March– Meet the Ranch Neighbor – Richie Vargas and facilitated by Michelle Breslin; April – Ukraine Relief – Rose Egan & Mira Dytko; May – no meeting; and June 26th – Panorama of The Villages – Annette Mach.
Presentation– After a brief break for refreshments, Lisa Barboza from the Sierra Club gave a wonderful presentation featuring a variety of popular and interesting national and international hikes. Members appreciated the interesting photos and explanation of all the hikes. Bob indicated he would send a few slides from the presentation on a useful app to the membership.
Meeting was later adjourned at 9pm.
Respectfully submitted, Cheryl Allmen, Secretary
General Fund – Financial Report
February 2023
February 1, 2023 Beginning Book Balance: $ 4,031.21
Income:
VGCC – HOA Member dues for 2023 (299 x $7) $2,093.00 Dues – New Members (Cindy Prestage, Laurel Hamilton, Ann Jervis) $21.00
Total Income: $ 2,114.00 Sub Total $ 6,145.21
Expenses:
Transfer to Hill Lands Acct as approved by Board 2-23-23 $ (500.00) Total Expenses: $ (500.00)
February 28, 2023 Ending Book Balance:
Submitted by:
Gordon Carbonetti
Treasurer
| $ 5,645.21 |
Hill Lands Project Fund – Financial Report
February 2023
February 1, 2023 Beginning Book Balance: $ 2,215.89
Income:
Transfer from Gen Fund Acct as approved by Board 2-23-23 $ 500.00 Total Income: $ 2,715.89
Expenses:
None $0.00 Total Expenses: $0.00
February 28, 2023 Ending Book Balance:
Submitted by:
Gordon Carbonetti
Treasurer
| $ 2,715.89 |