NMRA POTOMAC DIVISION
BOARD OF DIRECTOR'S MEETING
January 14, 2017
Meeting called to order at 12:00 pm by teleconference. Present were
Brian Sheron, Superintendent, Marshall Abrams, Senior Assistant
Superintendent, Ed Rosado, Assistant Superintendent, Tom Brodrick,
Paymaster, Bill White, Clerk, John Paganoni, Committee Chair, Bill
Mosteller, webmaster.
Note: Once the draft minutes are promulgated to the Board, members will
be asked to comment within a week. If a member does not respond within
that period, the Board will assume he or she agrees with the content.
Once comments are received and incorporated into the minutes and a
final version is sent to the Board for review, the same rule will apply.
Program Reports
Layout
tours: Tom will take over tours and Nick Kalis will
assist. Tours are set for this year until November. Nick has
volunteered to host a tour in November. An additional layout for that
tour is desirable.
Achievement
Program: Brian, Tom and Ed visited Jim Hellwege’s layout
in Alexandria and judged it for the Golden Spike Certificate and the AP
Scenery Certificate. His layout met the criteria for both certificates
and his package has been sent to Charlie Flichman for processing.
Paymaster:
since the last meeting we spent $117 for three
miscellaneous items and have a balance of $4,252.67.
Flyer:
needs descriptions of clinics & clinic schedule
and a biographical statement from the candidates for the Board and
their pictures.
Webmaster:
Bill Mosteller reported no problems at this time.
Op
Sessions: next one set for January 28; only two people
have signed up so far.
2017 Minicon
Confirmed for March 4 at St. Mathews Church, but there is no
back-up date yet. Eight clinics are pretty well nailed down and will be
announced in the Flyer.
So far they are: Marine Terminals, Bernie
Kempinski Port Scenes, Mat
Thompson 3-D Printing, Gil
Fuchs Santa Fe Railroading, Raymond
Rose Detailing Blue Box Boxcars, Nigel
Phelps G Scale Plantation Railroading, Nick
Kalis (depending on Nick’s submission to Tom) Construction as Scenery, Tom
Brodrick Obtaining the Authorship
Certificate, Martin Briechiel
Tom will send clinic descriptions to Bill Mosteller for publication on
the web site. The NV N-trackers are confirmed and Tom will look into
adding the PMC. John will handle the contest room and will write an
article for the Flyer on contest rules as well as find a photographer.
Similarly Brian will check with Jim Kinder about writing a Flyer
article on White Elephant Room procedures.
Business Meeting: will
start at 11:15, followed by lunch and the speaker. Bob Sprague will be
the speaker and indicates he will talk for about an hour. There was no
response to a Flyer request for nominations to the Board, but all
incumbents have agreed to run for Board positions again. There were no
comments on the by-laws from members following Winter Flyer. Bill White
will discuss the changes and request a vote for approval at the Minicon.
2018 MER Convention
Rockville Hilton, October 3-7. Lou
Sassi will be the banquet speaker and will give two clinics.
Marty McGuirk will be in charge of organizing the clinics and
clinicians. On Sunday morning one room will be rented for a clinic
followed by the MER business meeting. The RPM group was informed that
they could display their models, but no free room would be provided. To
date no response has been received. Brian’s son has designed an
excellent logo for the occasion. Bill Demas will organize the layout
tours. Doug Moore, a web page designer, will prepare the web page.
Old Business
Outreach:
Brian’s article on the subject was published in the Flyer. To date no
responses have been received to his request for possible clubs or
groups to visit.
The question of annexing counties in VA
& WVA not included in a Division’s territory has finally been
acted on by the MER which contacted the individuals in question. No
responses were received and the matter is closed.
A new portable PA system has been
purchased.
The Board approved the membership
survey. Marshall will investigate putting the survey on line as a low
priority task.
New Business
Brian will contact Nick Kalis to obtain his plans, including a budget,
for the proposed Steamtown excursion.
Next Meeting:
February 18, 2017, at John’s house.
Action Items:
➢ check with Nick Kalis on a nearby
layout for the November layout tour: Tom
➢ send clinic descriptions to Bill
Mosteller for publication on the web site: Tom
➢ check on adding the PMC at the Minicon:
Tom
➢ Flyer article on contest room
procedures: John
➢ procure a photographer for the contest
room: John
➢ check with Jim Kinder about writing a
Flyer article on White Elephant Room procedures: Brian
➢ check with Nick Kalis on his plans for
the Steamtown excursion: Brian
➢ investigate putting the survey on line
(low priority task): Marshall