Twin Bridges Improvement Team
Minutes of Meeting
Friday, January 15, 2010
The Old Hotel 8:30am
Attendees: Pat Bradley, Paula Gilman, Jack Leber, Debbie Hanson, Bill White, Valery Orrin, Lois Smith-Lehwalder, Heather Puckett, Therese Hutchinson, Paula Kinoshita, Cynthia Watson, & Bill Kinoshita
Meeting was opened at 8:30 am with the Minutes of the previous meeting being approved.
An email communication from Patty Walker was shared with the group in regards to the 4Fs, this summer.
Information was shared about the upcoming Adult Education classes, in Sheridan.
Old Business:
It was shared that the Twin Bridges High School Cheerleaders with Verta Dorseth collected the Christmas decorations and cleaned up the barrels & benches on Main Street. The decorations are being stored at The Shack for use next year. It was agreed to send a Thank you to the cheerleaders and information to the school for their upcoming newsletter.
We will be checking in with the Town for the additional storage of the barrels until spring.
Therese Hutchinson will be checking with Aaron Griffin & Wicks Nursery on the status of ordering/paying for the Main Street flowers. It was understood that since the school is using the project as an educational opportunity, they would be able to pick up the bill.
Restructuring: There was discussion of the importance of restructuring of the current incarnation of the Twin Bridges Improvement Team (TBIT). The group agreed that there is a need to become a Not for Profit 501c3. Under the current situation, the group would not be eligible for that status. It was discussed that the process is lengthy and we need time to prepare the documents properly. It was agreed that Joy Day would be asked to assist with the process as well as Heather Puckett, Paula Gilman, Pat Bradley, & others who have gone through the process, previously. Jack Leber volunteered to speak with Joy.
The group agreed that in the interim, until we reach the 501c3 status, we would need to form an Association in order to obtain a post office box and a checking account.
It was discussed and agreed that the group name needed to be changed in order to reflect that it is an open to the public association created for the benefit of the entire community. It was moved, seconded, and passed to rename the group the Twin Bridges Community Association (TBCA).
It was moved, seconded, & passed that the meetings be held on Friday mornings at 8:30am at The Old Hotel, 101 E. 5th Ave. Twin Bridges. The dates and days will vary and will be announced. It was agreed that other area businesses & individuals may request to have a meeting held at their location in order to attend and/or garner more interest from the community.
It was moved, seconded, & passed that we elect a volunteer core of officers for a one (1) year term, effective immediately.
Paula Kinoshita volunteered to serve as President
Jack Leber volunteered to serve as Vice President/President Elect- with the understanding that she would serve as the following year’s President.
Valery Orrin volunteered to serve as Secretary
Heather Puckett volunteered to serve as Treasurer
It was moved, seconded, & passed to accept the officers as volunteered.
Cynthia Watson volunteered to be the Community Liaison to Twin Bridges
It was moved, seconded, & passed to spend the appropriate funds to secure a post office box with the Twin Bridges post office. Paula Kinoshita agreed to do this.
It was moved, seconded, & passed to open a checking account with Ruby Valley National Bank (RVNB) in order to deposit funds & write checks for expenditures. Paula Kinoshita volunteered to do this, with the assistance of Heather Puckett.
It was moved, seconded, & passed to have three (3) authorized signers for the checking account at RVNB. These signers will be:
- Cynthia Watson
- Heather Puckett
- Paula Kinoshita
Heather Puckett agreed to set up an accounting system for the Association.
It was moved, seconded, & passed to renew the group’s membership in the Greater Ruby Valley Chamber of Commerce & Agriculture for 2010.
The group agreed to spend 45 minutes of the next meeting to set up a Mission Statement and the year’s agenda. It was agreed that we would be using some of Sheridan Main Street Improvement Team’s (SMSIT) Bylaws as an example for our own. Heather volunteered to email copies of SMSIT’s Bylaws to all who attended today’s meeting so individuals could start gathering ideas.
The group agreed to ask a member to attend and speak at a future TBCA meeting in order to share their experience of setting up a 501c3. Jack Leber agreed to organize this.
New Business:
Annual Wine Tasting Fundraiser: The annual fundraiser will be held on Sunday, February 28th, 2010 from 1pm to 5pm at The Shack in Twin Bridges.
Advertising: Jack Leber updated the group on the advertising. It was agreed that the budget for advertising would be approximately $200.00. Jack will finish the flyers and ad copies and get them submitted. Cynthia Watson agreed as Community Liaison to get the posters and flyers out to the surrounding communities. Jack Leber will be organizing the presale of tickets. Tickets will be available for purchase at The Shack, Main Street Market, Prudential Montana Real Estate, & The Old Hotel or available for purchase on the day at the event. It was agreed that the event would be $35.00 per person.
Entertainment: Therese Hutchinson updated the group on entertainment. It was agreed that there will be two live entertainment acts, this year. Sam Drukman & Melissa (Hutchinson?) will be performing live music for a portion of the event. The group agreed to work out partial trade for payment with the entertainment and Therese Hutchinson agreed to finalize fees and bookings.
Wine Tasting/Wine Presale: Valery Orrin and Paula Kinoshita will be meeting on Tuesday, January 26th, 2010 at 8:30am at The Shack to organize the wine tasting & presale portion of the event. The event will focus on Montana made and Pacific Northwest wines. Therese Hutchinson agreed to assist with the presale portion through The Main Street Market. It was reiterated that we would NOT be doing a beer tasting at this year’s event as it has not been a successful portion of past events.
Food: As there was no volunteer organizer for the food portion of the event, the group at large agreed to bring appetizer items for approximately fifty (50) people. Sign up was as follows:
Paula Gilman: vegetable platter/dips & breadsticks
Paula & Bill Kinoshita: cheese platter & fruit
Cynthia Watson: Greek meatballs
Debbie Hanson/Lois Smith- Lehwalder: Cocktail Pasties
Heather Puckett: unknown
Silent Auction: It was agreed to set up a staggered silent auction as an additional fundraiser for the event. The group agreed to attempt to purchase some items, at wholesale cost, from area merchants. A budget was not set at this time. Valery Orrin agreed to secure items from some of the distributors participating in the event. Paula Kinoshita agreed to contact 3 Rivers Communications to see about securing a donated item from them. Pat Bradley will be organizing the auction on the day of the event.
It was agreed that there would be fifteen (15) minutes allotted at the next meeting to wrap up any unfinished wine tasting business at the next meeting.
Announcements:
Grant Writing Workshop: The Twin Bridges Horizon’s Project with Janet Cornish is offering a grant writing workshop which will be held on Monday, February 15, 2010 at The Montana Room at the Twin Bridges School from 8:30am to 4:30pm. Registration is open to the public. Cost of the event is $10/person. Scholarships can be provided. Lunch will be provided. To register, contact either Heather Puckett at RVNB or Jack Leber at PMRR. Registration closes Wednesday, February 10, 2010.
GRVCCA Annual Meeting: This meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 2, 2010 at the Philanthropy Building in Sheridan. Cocktail hour begins at 5:30pm with the meeting starting at 6pm. The meeting is open to the public and will be very informational!
Ruby Valley Buy Local Program: Carol Delisi (Sheridan) & Tracy Pearce (Twin Bridges) through the GRVCCA are organizing a Buy Local Program. The group is in their planning stages and they are looking for more folks with ideas. The planning board is open to the public but the benefits of the program will be for GRVVCA members only. If anyone is interested in getting involved they can contact either Carol or Tracy.
Small Business Expo: The annual Small Business Expo was announced. The tentative date is Saturday, May 15, 2010 at the round building on the Madison County Fairgrounds. To find out more information, register, or get involved in the event: contact Bob Reimard at Alamo Aviation Art & Framing, in Sheridan.
The next meeting will be on Friday, January 29,
2010 at 8:30am at The Old Hotel.
It was moved, seconded, passed to close the meeting at 10:30am.