September 25, 2004 by Ted Ingraham
The 2005 season got off to a good start with the first planning meeting on Saturday, September 25. Attending were Peter Henriksen Tom Collier, Bob Iden, Angelo Catalano, Jim Mullins, Shawn Adams, Denis Osowski, George Liolios, Ted Ingraham, and Tricia Ingraham. A lot of good ideas were suggested on a wide range of subjects. Following is a summary:
Fall Race: Shawn was congratulated for putting on the successful race. The club made a small profit but the exact numbers are not known. Everyone agreed it was a great race and the riders enjoyed it. The only snafu was the port-a-pot disappeared a day or so before the race, so there were complaints about no johns. There were no significant suggestions for changes for next year.
TOP: Tom was congratulated on another great TOP series. Tom has been running this program for a number of years and he would like someone else to run it next year. Phil Esempio was suggested. Phil was later contacted and he agreed to do TOP next year. Phil has a number of ideas for new races. Denis and Tom have agreed to help Phil.
Uniforms: There was agreement to keep the same basic uniform scheme again next year through Voler. Shawn will be in charge of putting the order together again. Ordering will be in December and early January.
Sponsors: We discussed that we haven't done a great job of communicating with our sponsors this year. Next year we will focus more on getting publicity out to sponsors and promoting their businesses. We don't have ideas for new sponsors but the people who got last year's sponsors are asked to make contact soon to see if the sponsors will renew.
Juniors: We discussed the club's improved junior roster this year and how we want to build on that next year. We will try to expand the number of junior riders as well as focus on providing specific training for juniors.
Training: Along with a junior program, we want to expand our formal training efforts for everyone. George ran some very successful training sessions this year and he has ideas on increasing the training opportunities and bringing in more participants.
Races: No major changes are planned for RATL. Ted will be in charge of the series in 2005. We also discussed adding other races. Specifically, a Memorial Day weekend race or series was discussed and a state time trial was discussed. George and Shawn agreed to continue to investigate adding races to our calendar.
Budget: The club continues in excellent financial health with a little more in the bank than we had last year (You have to come to the meeting to hear the exact amount!) We plan to use some of the money to reduce the uniform cost—like last year. Also, some of it may go to into the training programs. We agreed to look into purchasing two stop signs for races. George will get prices.
Officers for 2005: Some of the nominations are still pending but following is a list of officers/directors that are up for 2005. Elections will be at the October meeting.
President: Ted (lame duck) Ingraham
President elect: Denis Osowski (yes!)
Treasurer: Joanne Liolios
TOP: Phil Esempio
Uniforms: Shawn Adams
Publicity: Tricia Ingraham
Web: Bob Iden
The next meeting will be Saturday, October 23, 2004, at Bruggers (unless someone can suggest a better location.)