GDCA Board Minutes

GDCA Board Meeting
April 24, 2010 - Baltimore, MD
MINUTES

The meeting was called to order at 9:10 AM by President David Miller. The following members were in attendance (all):

Cindy Harwin, Dianne Powers, Nancy Ridgway, Paul Hardiman, Chuck Crawford, Lynda Moriarty, Joe Longo, Doug Toomey, Jane Treiber, Jean Highlands, Dave Miller, Susan Davis Shaw, Jane Chopson, Rita Suddarth, Linda Ridder, Tom Sandenaw

Guest: Michael Boa

MOTION
To approve the minutes of the January board meeting as submitted.
Moved: Dianne Powers 2nd: Chuck Crawford

Corresponding Secretary
Nancy reviewed several items of correspondence, including:
• Correspondence from the Purina Partnership program with notification that the GDCA earned $11,269.22 this year, which was divided between the Canine Health Foundation and the GDCA and included a check for $5634.61 which will go to the Charitable Trust.
• Read a letter from AKC regarding the proposed standard revision
• A letter from AKC regarding the national agility application and the disaster and emergency plan
• An email regarding agility

Treasurer’s Report
Jean reviewed her report.
MOTION
To accept the Treasurer’s Report as submitted.
Moved: Dianne Powers 2nd: Paul Hardiman

Jean also had received a certificate from Take the Lead. It was suggested that it be scanned for the website and then sent to Norvel Benoit, club historian.

Jean reported on requests for reinstatement from Arnie Eckenrode and Kathy Lucy.

MOTION
To accept Arnie Eckenrode’s request for reinstatement and to accept Kathy Lucy’s request upon receipt of an additional $11. in dues.
Moved: Jane Chopson 2nd: Nancy Ridgway

Jean read a letter from a member who has allowed his membership to lapse due to not having Danes any more but still would like to keep updated on GDCA happenings. There was a discussion of how to allow those who would like to stay in touch but may not be computer literate. The board discussed inactive membership status, associate membership, senior membership, etc., and decided that the best way to go and one that would not necessitate a by-law change would be to allow subscriptions to the bulletin. There was also a discussion of how to email out the bulletin to the membership. Lynda will revisit the issue and look into a program to generate email lists.

Affiliate Representative
Dianne Powers reported on by laws from El Paso and Ohio.

MOTION
To approve the by-laws submitted by the Great Dane Club of El Paso.
Moved: Tom Sandenaw 2nd: Dianne Powers

MOTION
To approve by by-laws submitted by the Heart of Ohio Great Dane Club with edits made.
Moved: Chuck Crawford 2nd: Tom Sandenaw

Dianne will send out a mailing to affiliate delegates reviewing the process of electing a new Affiliate Representative, since her term is ending. She will also put a notice on the website and in the bulletin.

AKC Delegate
Tom reviewed with the board that there are two days of meetings at the time of every delegates meeting. The first day is for committee meetings and he always tried to attend at minimum the Parent Club Committee meeting. Tom reviewed some high points of the delegates meeting, including:
• The group realignment has gone back to committee
• There may be additional space available at the Parent Club Conference
• He asked if the Code of Ethics info had been sent in to AKC
• Discussed the idea of putting a list of CHIC dogs in the parent club bulletin
• Discussed the new Grand Champion program, which takes effect in May

Dave recognized Mike Boa and invited him to address the board. Mike, representing the Western Division and the Great Dane Club of Tucson, spoke regarding the GDCA decision to not allow specialties before the national. He reported that a year and a half ago, the Great Dane Club of Arizona decided to not have their specialty prior to the 2011 national. It was then offered to the Great Dane Club of Tucson and they accepted. Now denying it will put their room guarantee in jeopardy and Mike felt that changing the rules mid-stream is not fair to the western division. If they are allowed to hold their specialty, they will do the following:
• Limit the specialty to 200 dogs
• Have no raffle table
• Man the National Rescue table for the day
• Have a 50/50 draw
• Have the ‘kinks’ worked out for the futurity
• Have no sweeps, no parades

There was discussion and Mike was asked to eliminate the 50/50 raffle and to perhaps hold a silent auction instead.

MOTION
Due to their prior commitments, an exception to the rule that specialties not be held before the national will be made to allow the Western Division to hold a Great Dane Club of Tucson Specialty Show before the 2011 national with the elimination of a 50/50 raffle.
Moved: Joe Longo 2nd: Cindy Harwin

Awards – Dave reported that they will be requiring AKC confirmation for awards.

Futurity – Dave reported that the numbers are only about half of what they were last year at this time. He also reported that Dianne Powers will be taking over as Futurity Chairman over the next couple of months. There was discussion that we need to encourage younger members to enter the futurity and that the process to enter may be overly complicated. Dianne will look at the process in some other clubs and Dave and Dianne will look over the process. There was a suggestion for a “maturity” event that some other clubs are doing. Cindy is willing to reprint the Judy Murdock article in the bulletin.

Health & Research – Dave reported that Katherine Meurs is involved in a small study defining the breed specific Great Dane Genome. Paul reported that Neil O’Sullivan is looking at researchers to put forth a proposal to the Canine Health Foundation. It can either be done in partnership with the CHF or through the Charitable Trust.

Judges Education – Jane Treiber reported that AKC has approved the wording of the standard revisions and we are ready to proceed with the balloting. It was noted that AKC is very specific about the balloting and that the ballots must go to a CPA to be counted.

Jane mentioned that she will giving educational seminars in Pittsburg, Iowa in Sept., and Texas next January. Clubs are encouraged to apply for educational grants.

Jane reported that Bill Stebbins is doing a wonderful job in helping with judges education. He got a list of every judge in the working breeds but not approved for Great Danes. He would also like to compile a list of those who would like to do sweeps. He is compiling the list as a resource for clubs. Cindy said she will publish such a list in the bulletin.

Jane reported that we are still faced with the issue of the illustrated standard. She passed around several from other breeds for review so that board members can be thinking about it.

We need to encourage sales of the CD. Jane will have Faye put an excerpt on YouTube. Some clubs are using it for education.

Paul will send the old standards to Jane T. so she can forward them to Faye for inclusion in the CD.

Judges Selection – No results yet.

AKC no longer has a list of foreign judges. Cindy will put a notice in the bulletin for those who are foreign judges and wish to judge at the national to contact Mary Ellen Thomas to get their names on our list.

Junior Showmanship –
The following awards were made as recommended by Chairman Jessie Gerszewski.

MOTION
To recommend to the Charitable Trust that they fund the following scholarships:
Mallory Wesley - $2,500
Shannon Soafer - $2,000
Emily Marcus - $2,500
Lindsay Snider - $2,000
Moved: Paul Hardiman 2nd: Joe Longo

The board entered into executive session.
Upon reconvening, the following votes were taken.

Membership
To vote the following applicants into membership:
J. Anthony Sheridan
Moved: Dianne Powers 2nd: Cindy Harwin

Janene Borini
Moved: Nancy Ridgway 2nd: Cindy Harwin
Mary Martha Woodworth
Moved: Jane Chopson 2nd: Dianne Powers
Rebekah Michal Woodworth (Jr. Member)
Moved: Paul Hardiman 2nd: Jean Highlands
Steve & Jody Hill
Moved: Cindy Harwin 2nd: Dianne Powers

Barb Bristol & Ronnie Wilson
Moved: Nancy Ridgway 2nd: Doug Toomey

Jeffrey Brucker
Moved: Doug Toomey 2nd: Chuck Crawford

Jonathan & Donna Potter
Moved: Dianne Powers 2nd: Doug Toomey

Kenneth & Diane Bocian
Moved: Cindy Harwin 2nd: Doug Toomey

William & Beverly Ballard
Moved: Nancy Ridgway 2nd: Dianne Powers

The following applicants will be published in the next bulletin:

Dana Litzinger
Sponsors: Lisa Garrison & Cathy Schaefer

Lyn Moser
Sponsors: Jan Brungard & Nikki Riggsbee

Denise Matulich
Sponsors: Sharon McCrary & Terri Burley-Hammond

Yvonne Weed
Sponsors: Jackie Lawrence & Brenda Campbell

Sonya Moore
Sponsors: Jennifer Bell & Margo Gaither

National Specialty
2010 – Lynda has the application. She will call AKC on Monday to check on agility. Lynda read Terri’s report. The theme party will be a casino night.

2011 – Putt has a tentative schedule. Mike Boa reported that there will be a division meeting in June.

2012 – Topeka – They have their contract and committees in place.

2012 – Louis Bond has reported to Lynda that they will probably go back to Lancaster.

Joe noted that we have to look in our divisions for new people to take over.

Lynda distributed information on the Purina Farms facility in Missouri.

Lynda reported that the Great Dane Club of Las Vegas has a designated specialty the day before the national. The rules say that there will be no specialties on weeks 41, 42, or 43. The way the calendar falls this year, the specialty is in conflict with the national.

MOTION
To tell the Great Dane Club of Las Vegas that the rules state that no specialties may be held on weeks 41-44. Last year’s approval was given as an exception to the rules.
Moved: Chuck Crawford 2nd: Cindy Harwin

It was suggested that they support the entry instead.

Rescue
The grant forms still needs to be referred to the Charitable Trust for approval. The Great Dane Club of New England insurance grant will be put on hold until July. Also on hold is the Harlequin Rescue (Charles Smith) until approval is voted by the Heart of Ohio club.

MOTION
To recommend to the Charitable Trust that they fund the following rescue grants:
Great Dane Rescue of Las Vegas – 2 grants - $1,000
Moved: Chuck Crawford 2nd: Dianne Powers

Rocky Mountain Great Dane Rescue – 1 grant - $500.
Moved: Chuck Crawford 2nd: Tom Sandenaw

Dane Outreach – 2 grants - $991.46
Moved: Chuck Crawford 2nd: Tom Sandenaw

Great Dane Club of Western PA (Dane Connection) – 2 grants – 829.18
Moved: Chuck Crawford 2nd: Dianne Powers

Great Dane Club of New England – 1 grant - $500.
Moved: Chuck Crawford 2nd: Dianne Powers

Website – Nancy submitted her report. Dave had some ideas for button bars and he and Cindy will meet with Nancy at the national.

Charitable Trust – Jane Chopson passed around the current financials. Paul discussed a European study but said that we will wait a while before initiating a study here. Jane Treiber did speak to her travel agent about a fund-raising cruise but she was not interested. It was noted that education grants are underutilized.

Corporate Sponsors – Joe revised his letter to corporate sponsors and sent the letters out on April 15th. It is up to the individual divisions if they want to offer more to their bronze sponsors.

Historian – Nancy Ridgway report that Richard Fint has a whole file cabinet full of historical documents. Nancy will get them and Dave will call Norvel and let her know.

Legislation – Tom will continue to send the legislative alerts when he receives them from AKC. Jane Treiber spoke to the value of his alerts and said that she and others in her area were totally unaware of pending legislation until she received his report. The legislation was defeated thanks to the information from AKC and the forwarding from Tom.

Top 20 - Rita – The Top 20 chair needs to research that Top 20 judges meet the criteria.

MOTION
To take the 10 champions out of the criteria for Top 20 judges but they must have 10 years experience breeding dogs.
Moved: Joe Longo 2nd: Dianne Powers
8 yes, 6 no – The motion passes.

Trophies – Tom read a report from Debbie. This weekend Debbie will count the trophies and will order new ones on Monday.

Yearbook – Rita has resigned. Dave has asked someone to take over but hasn’t heard back yet.

Old Business –
Bonding – Jean has been researching bonding and spoke to State Farm Insurance regarding bonding and dishonesty bond. She has received an estimate of $90 to bond the treasurer and $90 to bond a division treasurer. She was given the go-ahead.
Administrative Review – Jean researched the issue and spoke to Ed Sledzak. An administrative review is recommended every 2-3 years or if the position of treasurer changes. Mr. Sledzak requires airfare, 2 nights hotel, and 2 people on site with all the records. He told her that interest earned is taxable unless all but $1000 is donated to charity. She also said that we need to make a motion every October to donate the interest.
Pitney Bowes – Nancy Ridgway reported that the contract doesn’t expire until next year, ending on June 30, 2011. Jean and Nancy will continue to work on it.
Good Sportsmanship Award – To be placed on the July agenda.
National Rules & Regulations – Lynda reviewed changes that were made at the last meeting and inserted into the Rules & Regulations.

New Business – Dianne suggested that, as a board, we make a donation to the auction. She showed a garden gate and the board agreed to individually contribute to the donation.

Marmaduke Movie – AKC is doing a press release. We also need to put something on the website. Sue and Dianne will pull items out of our Great Dane brochure to put on the web site.

MOTION
To recess the meeting at 5:28 PM.
Moved: Chuck Crawford 2nd: Dianne Powers

Respectfully submitted,

Susan Davis Shaw
Recording Secretary

May 7, 2010
MOTION
That the Nominating Committee will consist of Jane Trieber, Cathy Schaefer, Sharon Hennesey, Susan Yotive, and Dianne Powers; Chairperson.
Moved: Sue Davis Shaw 2nd: Jean Highlands

May 24, 2010
MOTION
"To have the GDCA reimburse Dianne for the ?postage fees for shipping 'Discover the Great Dane' booklets to rescue groups who have requested them in preparation of the release ?of the Marmaduke movie." ??
Moved: Nancy?Ridgway 2nd Tom Sandenaw

May 25, 2010
MOTION
That Nancy hire a Temporary, at reasonable costs to the GDCA (Nancy's discretion as to what constitutes reasonable costs) to catalogue all documents received from the Fint's residence. Additionally to have at least the Affiliate Clubs' documentation digitized and stored in identified electronic directories for dissemination to Dianne Powers.

Moved: Paul Hardiman 2nd: Lynda Moriarty

June 19, 2010
MOTION
To digitalize the 2009 yearbook and place it on the GDCA website so all may access it free of charge.
Moved: Sue Davis Shaw 2nd: Jean Highlands

June 22, 2010
MOTION
To extend that waiting period for up to 72 hours after a motion has been made by email. I am asking for the 72 hour window as many of us do travel for business purposes.
Moved: Paul Hardiman 2nd: Sue Davis Shaw

June 23, 2010
MOTION
To recommend to the Charitable Trust that they sponsor the Canine Health Foundation’s Grant #01501-A, Evaluation of Candidate Genes for X – linked Dilated Cardiomyopathy in the Great Dane in the amount of $6,440.
Moved: Cindy Harwin 2nd: Sue Davis Shaw