Saturday, January 30, 2016

MINUTES OF MEETING –January 27, 2016



WEST POINT SOCIETY OF DENVER
Board of Directors Meeting
MINUTES OF MEETING – Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Piccolo’s, 3563 S. Monaco Parkway, Denver, CO 80237

1.       Call to order – Bob Walcott at 7:00 PM
a.       Ten Board Members in attendance, making a quorum. 
b.       Tim Griesmer was designated to keep minutes due to the absence of the Secretary.

2.       Approval of minutes - Thiessen
a.        Minutes from December 1th meeting were approved. 

3.       Treasurer’s Report –Jackson
a.       The Treasurer’s Report was reviewed and approved.
b.       Total number of paid members of the WPSD is down by 4.
c.       Website: Dave Jackson reviewed analytics from the Society’s website and Facebook page. Generally, these mediums reach about 60 people.

4.       Budget- Jackson
a.       The current 2016 budget projects a shortfall of $1,947.00
b.       Board members discussed the budget and possible ways of closing the deficit
                                                               i.      Bob Walcott is hopeful that the Society will increase its dues collections because of the differential in prices for members and non-members for Founder’s Day.
                                                             ii.      A proposal was made to scrub the list of Founder’s Day attendees to determine if any non-dues paying attendees accidently signed up under the rate for dues paying members. The Society could potentially reach out to these individuals and ask them to pay membership dues.
                                                           iii.      A proposal was made to ask individual Society members to personally sponsor cadet candidates.
                                                           iv.      Bob Walcott would like to reevaluate the budget after Founder’s Day to see if the projected deficit is at all reduced. He also wants to review the list of individual donors to the Society.
                                                             v.      A proposal was made to raise the price of tickets to sporting events and the summer picnic by $5 to help close the deficit.
                                                           vi.      A proposal was made to send out an invoice for members whose dues will soon expire telling them it’s time to renew their membership. The Board discussed whether an e-mail or physical mail would be better. Generally, the Board agreed an e-mail would be cheaper and more effective. It was pointed out that for the future, December would be a good time to send the electronic invoice.
                                                          vii.      A proposal was made to consider conducting a silent auction at the 2017 Founder’s Day dinner and at future quarterly meetings.
                                                        viii.      A proposal was made to send a Society member to the Athena Conference in encourage membership among female graduates. Bob Walcott will announce the Athena Conference at Founder’s Day.
                                                            ix.      A motion was approved to approve the current budget with a provisional deficit that will be reevaluated after Founder’s Day.
                                                             x.      A second motion was approved to send an e-mail to all non-dues paying members after Founder’s Day informing them it is time to renew their dues.  It was further suggested that the email should be segmented by class and signed by a Society member who is close in age to the year groups on each e-mail list.

5.       Admissions Update – Walcott
a.       Tom Carroll is content with the budget for college fairs.

6.       Parents Club –Walcott
a.       The sendoff event will take place in June. A request was put out for a member of the Class of 1970 to represent the 50 year class.
b.       AFA Parent’s Club will host the All Academy Ball.

7.       Founders Day – Walcott
a.       The Dean is confirmed as the speaker.
b.       Brian MacDonald will organize classmates for the Benny Haven’s Hour.
c.       Pricing for the venue is the same as last year.
d.       Assuming 180 attendees, there will be row seating again. If the RSVP list approaches capacity an e-mail will be sent out.
e.       Toasts will be discussed at the February meeting.
f.        Programs and names tags are being produced.
g.       Lindy Blackburn will procure flags for the event (USA, Colorado, BG, and Army)
h.       Youngest and oldest graduates will be discussed at the February meeting.
i.         Two more e-mail notifications will go out.
j.         A proposal was made that the class with the highest donations should get reserved seating near the head table.
k.       The Society still needs a gift for the speaker.
l.         Tom Carroll & Amy Efaw will take care of candidate invites.

8.       Golf Tournament – Dalton
a.       August 1, 2016 at 8:00
b.       Navy will run the event.
c.       Shotgun start with same rules as last year.
d.       The WPSD will collect money from participating Society members and write one check for the event. The Society will also organize its own foursomes.
e.       The event will be advertised on Facebook.
f.        Chad Dalton will discuss security at AFA with the Academy to expedite entry.

9.       Distinguish Society Award Application – Robinson
a.       Robby will be leaving the Board at the end of his current term but will complete the current award application.
b.       Tim Griesmer will be responsible for future Distinguished Society Award applications.

10.   Society Picnic – Frank
a.       Mark Frank will run the picnic again this year.
b.       The picnic will likely occur sometime in June. Mark Frank will have a plan in place for the May meeting.

11.   Sporting Events – MacDonald
a.       One Avs game will be added to the calendar-TBD.
b.       April 2-Denver Nuggets
c.       June 12, July 23, August 21-Rockies games

12.   Summer Leadership Seminar – Walcott
a.       No updates

13.   Annual Leadership Conference – Walcott
a.       Bob Walcott and Brian MacDonald will attend.
b.       Second week of August.

14.   Pike’s Peak Society Liaison – Walcott
a.       Stover James continues as President of Pikes Peak and is doing a great job.

15.   Army-Air Force Game – Walcott
a.       Jason Connor agreed to organize a viewing party for the 2016 Army-Air Force game.

16.   Army-Navy Game – Walcott
a.       Jason Connor agreed to organize a viewing party for the 2016 Army-Navy Force game.

17.   Quarterly Meeting Program –Walcott
a.       Congressman Coffman agreed to speak at the next Quarterly Meeting. Lindy Blackburn will arrange the schedule with Congressman Coffman’s staff.
b.       The meeting will likely take place in April 2016.
c.       Lindy Blackburn will look into possible venues.
d.       A motion was approved to nominate Congressman Coffman as a Friend of West Point.
e.       Mark Frank will attempt to contact Tony Coaxum (an assistant coach with Broncos) as the next Quarterly Meeting speaker.
f.        Other possible speakers discussed; Tom Pietre, Jim Knowlton, George Brauchler, Chris Herndon

18.   New Initiatives –Walcott
a.       There was a brief discussion about organizing a Leadership & Ethics Academy for high school students. This will require a major fundraising and organizational effort. The discussion was tabled until a later date.

19.   Nominating Committee –Blackburn
a.       There will be two vacancies on the Board for Founder’s Day.
b.       Lindy Blackburn will confirm if other Board members with terms expiring in 2016 intend to stay.

20.   2016 Meeting Schedule- Walcott
a.       February 23, 2016- American Legion Post 1
b.       May 3, 2016- American Legion Post 1
c.       July 12, 2016- American Legion Post 1
d.       October 4, 2016- American Legion Post 1
e.       December 6, 2016- American Legion Post 1
f.        January 25, 2016 (subject to change)-TBD
The meeting adjourned at 9:00 PM.

Submitted by : Tim Griesmer, ’02

MINUTES OF MEETING – December 1, 2015

WEST POINT SOCIETY OF DENVER
Board of Directors Meeting
MINUTES OF MEETING – Tuesday, December 1, 2015
American Legion Post 1, 5400 East Yale Avenue, Denver CO 80222

1.       Call to order – Bob Walcott at 11:40 AM
a.       Eight Board Members in  Attendance with a ninth voting electronically (Dave Jackson), making a quorum.  Present were: Tom Carroll ’78, Joel Martin ’01, Bob Walcott ’78, Dave Ketter ’84, Lou Schroeder ’59, Robby Robinson ’68, Lindy Blackburn ’69, Sam Thiessen ‘73
b.       Mike Euperio ’03 attended again as a guest.  He is a prospective board member.

2.       Approval of minutes – Minutes from October 6th meeting were approved. 

3.       Treasurer’s Report – The Treasurer’s Report emailed earlier by Treasurer Dave Jackson ’73 was reviewed along with the preliminary budget for 2016.  The budget will be voted on for approval at the January Annual Planning Meeting.

4.       Admissions Update – Carroll
a.       257 files were opened for the Class of 2020, 147 are still active including 8 letters of assurance statewide – 5 in the WPSD area.  25-28 statewide candidate acceptances are expected.
b.       Tom commented that overall ACT/SAT scores of applicants fell slightly from prior years.  Board members who sat on Congressional Candidate Review Panels this year also observed this general trend, with fewer standout applicants than last year.
c.       Tom reported that 13 College Fairs were attended this year and considers them to have been very productive.

5.       Distinguish Society Award Application – Robinson
a.       Robby reviewed a partially completed application handout with the board in detail.  He commented that the AOG form lends itself to micro-management for pursuing objectives compared to prior years.
b.       Consensus by the board was that Congressman Mike Coffman would make a good Friend of West Point nominee – A DSA meassure.  Lindy will ask Coffman if he would accept our nominating him for this distinction.

6.       Army-Navy Game – Walcott/MacDonald
a.       Bob circulated a flyer that will be emailed for the December 12th event at the Sports Column on Blake Street in downtown Denver with the USNA Alumni Association.
b.       Jason Conner ’02 paid for Spirit T-shirts for the game at a cost of $94.60. The board voted to approve reimbursing him for this amount.

7.       Founders Day – Walcott
a.       It was noted that the current budget includes a payment to the University Club to reserve it for our FD event.  Bob will make this reservation payment.
b.       Bob reported that Vince McDermott has not yet confirmed our request for the Dean, BG Tim Trainor, as our FD guest speaker.  WPSD Vice President Brian MacDonald ’83 is the Dean’s classmate and might be asked to contact him if confirmation is not soon forthcoming. 

8.       Parents Club –Walcott
a.       Bob reported that the Parents Club will co-sponsor the Colorado All Service Academy Ball in Colorado Springs, at the Broadmoor, December 27, 2015.  No WPSD board members are planning to attend the Ball at this time.

9.       Quarterly Meeting Program – MacDonald/Walcott
a.       Sam reported that 1LT Shaye Haver, female Ranger stationed at Fort Carson, is on a deployment rotation schedule and might not be available as a Quarterly Meeting speaker for the next 12 months.
b.       Lindy suggested that we might be able to get Congressman Coffman as a speaker, and thought he would accept.  He will ask Mike Coffman if he would be our guest speaker for the next Quarterly Meeting.  There was a general consensus that Congressman Coffman should be nominated as a Friend of West Point and that a certificate to that effect be presented to him at the Quarterly Meeting. 

10.   Old Business
a.       Robby asked if we were doing anything with the Summer Leadership Session program at West Point.  It was pointed out that no one had applied for the program the last several years.  It was observed that a potential candidate who attends the SLS has an advantage when going before a Congressional Academy Candidate Panel, having shown strong interest is USMA.   

11.   New Business
a.       Lindy raised the issue that Jim Harrington ’62, WPSD Board Member Emeritus, had commented on in an email regarding the low number of paid-dues members.  Past efforts on increasing dues payment and possible new efforts were discussed.  This will be further discussed at the Annual Planning Meeting in January.
b.       Future WPSD meeting locations were discussed.  The board agreed that the current location, American Legion Post #1, was acceptable for our five meetings planned for 2016.  Lou moved the board approve paying up to $30 per meeting for the entire year’s five meetings, which passed.  Bob will negotiate with the Post for this purpose.
c.       Lindy requested that an email blast go out to the membership requesting names of those interested in becoming WPSD board members.  Bob said we will do this.

12.   Annual Planning Meeting
a.       The Annual Planning Meeting is scheduled for the evening of Tuesday, January 19, 2016, at Piccolo Restaurant.  Lou will check on reserving the space.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:50 PM.

Sam Thiessen took the minutes in the absence of the Secretary.

MINUTES OF MEETING – October 6, 2015

WEST POINT SOCIETY OF DENVER 
Board of Directors Meeting 
MINUTES OF MEETING – Tuesday, October 6, 2015 
American Legion Post 1, 5400 East Yale Avenue, Denver CO 80222 

1.Call to order – Bob Walcott – 13 in attendance 
a. Griesmer was designated to keep minutes due to the absence of the Secretary 
b. Mike Euperio ’03 attended as a guest and prospective board member 

2. Approval of minutes – Griesmer; minutes from July 7th approved 

3. Treasurer’s Report – Jackson; approved 
a. Jackson requested a copy of the minutes from the May 5th and July 7th meetings to post to the society’s blog. 
b. Total membership in the WPSD increased by 6. 
c. All college fairs that the society is participating in have been paid for. 

4. Admissions Update – Carroll 
a. 140 files opened for the Class of 2020, 114 are still active including 3 letters of assurance, pending completion of file and nomination 
b. College fairs- All costs are covered. 
c. Carroll requested that the society make an appeal to get more members involved in the field force. He will draft a request. 
d. Congressional nomination boards will begin meeting in October. 

5. Quarterly Meeting-Walcott (on behalf of MacDonald)  No update. Walcott will solicit more ideas for speakers. 

6. Picnic AAR-Frank 
a. 40 attendees (26 adults, 14 children) 
b. The event earned approximately $60 
c. Overall success with better attendance then last year. 

7. Golf Tournament AAR-Martin (on behalf of Dalton) 
a. Participation was down from last year (only 4 or 5 participants from Army) 
b. We should work to control our own foursomes next year and the registration should come directly to Dalton. 
 c. Navy will run the event next year. 

8. Exchange Cadet Affirmation Ceremony-Walcott 
a. Robinson and Walcott attended on behalf of the WPSD. Ceremony was organized by the Pikes Peak chapter 
b. 7 members of the Class of 2017 and 5 members of the 50 year class were involved 

9. Distinguished Society Application-Walcott (on behalf of Robinson) 
a. Draft of the 2016 application is already in progress. The board will continue with the application at the next meeting. 
b. Nominations were opened for distinguished graduate-none offered 
c. Nominations for regional member of the alumni board are closed. There will be another position open next year for the western region. 
d. Jackson volunteered to send news back to the AOG of what activities the WPSD has participated in. 

10. AOG Leadership Conference-Walcott 
a. 150 attendees 
b. Walcott reviewed highlights from the conference. AOG’s financial health is good. 
c. Walcott reviewed Superintendent’s strategic plan. 
d. WPSD received its distinguished society banner and certificate as well as a 20 year award. 
e. Open question-how should the society pay for the trip next year? 

11. Founder’s Day Update-Walcott 
a. The WPSD submitted a request in coordination with the Pike’s Peak chapter to have the Dean speak at both dinners 
b. University club has been reserved 

12. Parents’ Club Update-Walcott 
a. WPSD was represented at the summer event 
b. “Surviving graduation” meeting for new firsties will be held this month c. There is still a request for funding from WPSD for the All Academy Ball. Decision was tabled until the December 1 board meeting. 

13. New Business 
a. Army-Air Force football game-Nov. 7; Pike’s Peak Society set up a tailgate; there are still tickets available 
b. Army-Navy football game-Dec. 12; WPSD will host one watch party in Denver rather than three events that were hosted last year. Griesmer will ask Jason Connor if he is willing to plan the event. Next Meeting December 1 @ 1130 Submitted by : Tim Griesmer, ’02