BLU Board Meeting 1/27/22

BLU board meeting – 1/27/22, 7pm EST, via ZOOM

• Present: President Katie Sullivan, VP Meredith Myers Null, outgoing Sec/Treas Lisa Rodenfels, board  members Margie Smith, Karen Szewc, Nancy Starkey, Margaret Van Camp, Cindy Cieciwa, Paul Genge (joined at 7:30)

1. Call to order : Present: President Katie Sullivan, VP Meredith Myers Null, outgoing Sec/Treas Lisa Rodenfels, board  members Margie Smith, Karen Szewc, Nancy Starkey, Margaret Van Camp, Paul Genge (joined at 7:30); Also Present: Cindy Cieciwa. Absent: none
2. New secretary /treasurer appointed by vote of the board: Margaret Van Camp, with QuickBook assistance from Cindy Cieciwa
3. Meeting minutes of last meeting (Jan, 2021) approved
4. Reports
5. Treasury: $8708.93 in checking, $10 in PayPal (Lisa)
6. Secretary: 382 sheep registered, 83 members (Lisa)
7. Media: (Katie) MSWF ad discussed – deadline for ad Jan 31. Poll posted Jan 28 for ad approval
8. Bylaws: (Paul) No report
9. Youth: (Meredith) – YCP Participation discussed, Meredith agrees to donate a yearling ewe. The board agrees to continue the $250 Youth Sheep Purchase Voucher program, which will require advertisement and execution (pitch to West Coast youth?)
10. Genetics Taskforce: (Margaret) semen from two UK rams has arrived in the US via import by Heritage Sheep Reproduction/Deb Gourley; straws were used for breeding in November by BLU member. All straws are sold.
11. National Show (Margaret) We will proceed with the plan to hold the event at Wisconsin Sheep and Wool, September 9-11. Lisa reminded us that there is $500 in donated funds available from BLU for the show. Lisa has forwarded a list of people who had volunteered to help with the 2020 show that was cancelled.  Festival Committee members Randy Cutler and Robert Black have been in contact with Margaret since this meeting. Katie expressed the need for Nat Show Update announcements on Facebook and the BLU site.
12. Old business: Lisa pointed out that 2021 elections were skipped, and when this happened once before, the board voted to extend their tenures until the next opportunity, which would be November, 2021. Board so moved and voted, approving the special extension of the tenures of the current board.
13. New business: none. It was agreed that since Katie is dealing with family issues and Margaret is newly appointed Secretary / Treasurer, with a national show coming up in September, taking on new projects at this point would be ill-advised.
14. Meeting adjourned 8pm, next meeting not yet scheduled.

Post meeting note: Deadline for MSWF catalogue ad is Jan 31. Margaret polled board members as to whether to place an for BLU, and 5/6 responded in the affirmative (Meredith did not vote). Due to the  tight deadline, Margaret worked up a couple of ad options and presented them to the board. A choice was made, and the ad was sent in and paid for by Margaret (to be reimbursed by BLU) on Jan 31. Katie approved of going ahead with this in spite of not getting 100% of the board to vote on the expenditure.

BLU Board Meeting 1/14/21

The BLU board met by ZOOM meeting on January 14th at 8PM EST. All board members were in attendance . The new youth board advisor, Kieran Van Horsen, was also in attendance. President Katie Sullivan opened the meeting by welcoming incoming board member Nancy Starkey, and advisor Van Horsen.The minutes of the previous meeting in June were approved.

The current balance in the treasury is $8231.18. The board confirmed Huntington Bank as the bank of record for BLU. Each board member was also provided with a copy of the income and expense detail for yearend 2020. 23 new member packets were sent out during 2020. There are 76 members, of which 7 are Canadian.

There were 357 new registrations(down from 417 in 2019) and 159 transfers processed by the breed registry, administered by Associated Sheep Registries in Wamego, KS. A postcard reminder for 2021 dues will be mailed. The youth committee is working on a project to spotlight each of our youth members.

The genetics committee had exciting news. A new company in the US, Heritage Sheep Reproduction, is working on importing semen from the UK. There are 3 rams that have been selected and the owners are willing to work with us. There is still a need for more people to place orders so that this project can get off the ground. The goal is to have this new semen collected and ready to use by the fall 2021 breeding season.The national show committee stands ready to react as is becomes more clear what the show/festival situation will be later this year. The media committee is looking at the feasibility of a proposal to help link BFL fleece producers with interested buyers through the BLU website. It also has the updating of BLU flyers on its agenda for the year.