Villages Hiking Club – General Membership Meeting Minutes (Zoom) 26-April-2021
· Called to Order: 7:34pm by Vice President Faye Swanson
· Attending Board Members:
VP Hiking & Trails – Faye Swanson VP Membership & Website – Jim Beyer
VP Social – Michelle Breslin Treasurer – Sandy Petrin
Secretary – Gordon Carbonetti
(Not Present – President Al Girolami)
Total attending: 23 including 15 individuals plus 4 couples
· Guest Speaker – Mark Medeiros, Senior Manager of Community Management for Peninsula Open Spaces Trust (POST); website: www.openspacetrust.org
· Mark last spoke to the HC on October 26, 2020. Mark was born in San Jose and raised in Gilroy. He’s worked for POST for 6 years.
· His current activities cover organizing on-line events on various subjects including birding, mountain lions and local history. The website to access those events is www.openspacetrust.org/events. Hikes are described at www.openspacetrust.org/hikes. Plus, there is a hiking trail guide which can be found at www.openspacetrust.org/hiking-trails-guide.
· He gave a quick story of the Mindego Hill hiking area with its many wonderful views. He enjoys that spot and has led many hikes there. POST acquired the land with $7 million raised from 1300 donors. Mindego Hill is a wonderful example of the POST work, acquiring and protecting properties.
· The overall POST area is mainly in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties and covers about 80,000 protected acres. POST’s current broad activities cover public access, redwood forest protection, wildlife and farm/ranch land issues.
· POST projects include Tunitas Beach property, Bay Area Ridge Trail, California Coastal Trail (San Mateo coast portion), Coyote Valley and Tilton Ranch.
· After a brief discussion on early tribal/indigenous people of California, Mark provided the following websites of interest: http://amahmutsun.org/, http://www.muwekma.org/, http://openspacetrust.org/blog/indigenous-history/
· When asked, Mark said he is not seeing many ticks in the current dry season as ticks prefer moist conditions.
· Reports
President – Faye Swanson
· There was no meeting in May 2021; next Gen Mem meeting is 730p, June 28, 2021.
· Some limited trail maintenance has been accomplished recently and she would like to continue that with volunteer help.
· Ticks are an issue in the Hill Lands especially around the Meadow long-grass areas so be cautious year-round.
· Dog poop bags have been left on the trails recently, but new posted signs seem to be solving the problem.
· Bob Bogdanoff spoke up for the HC in a recent Villages board meeting when the HC was not told it was on the meeting agenda. So, the HC thanks Bob for representing the HC at that meeting and his efforts were very much appreciated.
Secretary – Gordon Carbonetti
· There were no questions on the 29-Mar-2021 General Membership meeting minutes. Jim Beyer made a motion for approval of the minutes, which was seconded by Wate, and the motion passed unanimously.
Treasurer – Sandy Petrin
March 2021 General Fund
Beginning balance as of February 28, 2021 $6,341.85
Income: New Member Dues – Roy Tsai $7.00
New Member Dues – Wayne William $7.00
New Member Dues – Angela Cadile $7.00
Balance $6,362.85
Expenses – None $0.00
Ending book balance as of March 31, 2021 $6,362.85
Note – no outstanding checks
March 2021 Hiking Club Hill Lands Project Fund
Beginning balance as of February 28, 2021 $2,801.82
No Income and Expenses $0.00
Ending Balance as of March 31, 2021 $2,801.82
· A motion was made by Michelle to approve the preceding Financial Reports. It was seconded by Wate and passed unanimously.
VP Membership & Website – Jim Beyer
· Jim advised we have one new member (Diemmy Ly-Henderson) so the current membership now totals 284 members. Jim is working with another potential new member (named Garret), and he hopes the application process will be completed shortly.
VP Hiking & Trails – Faye Swanson
· Faye reports Rambler-Lite and Rambler hikes are continuing. Additionally, Joanna and Wate Bakker have lead Rambler and some off-campus long hikes recently, but participation was low. Faye believes this was due to ongoing pandemic concerns.
· Michelle heard new Villages’ pandemic guidelines will be published shortly as many residents have been vaccinated. More information will follow.
VP Social – Michelle Breslin
· Michelle said several people solved the Seven-Secret-Spots Challenge. She said some of the selfie pictures were totally adorable, and looked like people were really having fun. She reported Johanna Bakker and Bob Bogdanoff were the first to complete the Challenge. They sent in their pictures within 22 minutes of each other so congratulations to both. Wendy Ledamun, Rich Bainbridge, Wate Bakker and Mary Stradner also completed the Challenge. Wate and Mary said the hardest part was taking the selfies which included some grimacing.
· Michelle is thinking to keep the event going a bit longer and expanding this to all Villagers to promote the HC. An article will go into The Villager soon.
· Fall Outing – The dates of the outing to Pismo Beach are Tu Oct 5 and We Oct 6, with a personal option to stay Th Oct 7 if desired. Sandy reserved a block of rooms (combination of King rooms and double Queen rooms). Members can book their own rooms for no penalty up until 3 days prior to arrival. Michelle is working to find activities to do in the Pismo Beach area. A communication about this event will be sent out to the HC membership.
· Michelle also said the HC might be able to have the Summer BBQ in July if the Villages eases pandemic restrictions, as revised State and County guidelines are expected soon.
- Old Business
· Hill Lands Projects – Faye advised there was no new information to report.
- New Business
- No new business was discussed.
·
· Next Meetings
· June Board – Th, June 24, 2021, at 9:30am (Zoom)
· June General Membership – Mo, June 28, 2021, at 7:30pm, (Zoom)
· No General Membership and Board meetings are schedule in July 2021
· Meeting Adjourned – The meeting adjourned at 8:52pm
Respectfully submitted,
Gordon Carbonetti – Secretary