Meeting Minutes
Torch Club of the Fox Valley
18 April 2024
Touchmark
Notes taken by: Sue Bennett, Secretary
ATTENDEESs: Sue Bennett via zoom, David Debbink, Marcia Debbink, Walt Hedges, Barb Kelly, Bill Kelly, Lindsay Kaminski, Dale Llewellyn, Mary Poulson, Jan Mirenda Smith via zoom, Kris Stahl, Peter Thiel, Scott Valitchka, Bert Wiegand.
Guests: Sofia Wilson via Zoom
BUSINESS MEETING: President Bill called the meeting to order at 6:08, p.m.
Bill welcomed guests Sofia Wilson.
MINUTES: There were no corrections or additions to the minutes. A motion was made by Marcia to accept the minutes, which was seconded by Bert. All were in favor and minutes were approved as published.
TREASURER’S REPORT: Barb reported a balance of $2,243.54 as of 3/15/24. Payments were made of $65.00 to IATC for dues and $18.00 for a new member pin. Receipts were $95.00 for member dues, leaving a balance as of 4/12/24, of $2,255.54. Dinners will continue to be ordered from Touchmark’s regular menu and charged to individual members. Dinner can be paid for after the meeting the front desk. They do take credit cards, but using cash or check seems to be much faster. Barb also reported that she has submitted the 990 epostcard tax form to the IRS and they have been accepted. It was moved by David, seconded by Paul and all were in favor of accepting the Treasurer’s Report.
VICE PRESIDENT’S REPORT: Bert reported that Barb will present her paper at the May meeting and Lindsay is scheduled to present at the October meeting. September and November through May of 2025 meetings are still available. Please let Bert know when you would like to give your presentation.
OLD BUSINESS: No old business
NEW BUSINESS: Scott, Jan and Bert have been reviewing the chapter by-laws and discussing possible changes to accommodate a smoother membership process. Scott, Jan, Bert and Bill guided the members through a discussion of their proposed changes and their reasons for the changes. Scott read the proposed changes to membership by-laws as follows;
- Who are recommended by one or more Torch Club of the Fox Valley members.
- Who are interested in Torch activities are intellectually curious and willing and able to contribute to club programs through attendance and occasional educational or informational presentations.
- Who in the judgment of a majority of local club officers satisfies one of the following criteria:
- Has a recognized degree from an accredited school or educational program or has a current license or certification in a recognized occupational field or relevant training and experience in their chosen career.
or
- Maintains standards of competence / training or licensure in a professional practice (e.g., law, health care, education, or finance etc.).
Jan addressed a concern that Peter expressed at the last meeting regarding the use of Robert’s Rules of Order. She did take a look at the new Robert’s Rules of Order, as that was an apparent omission or not clearly stated. There does seem to be a process to Robert’s Rules of Order that we are also circumventing to some degree by using the executive committee as the voting body to approve the membership as well. So the executive committee as well may be referencing the newly updated Robert’s Rules of Order. I think that there is something available that should satisfy that need and that requirement.
Barb added that another big concern people seem to have is the awkwardness of requiring people to leave the room while we vote on their acceptance to the club. Scott mentioned that Paul had expressed the option of empowering the executive committee to do that. Doing so would allow acceptance be done in confidence and basically just making sure that the application was completed. Bill said that the committee and board will do a little more tweaking of the proposed by-law changes. Then he will send out a draft with the mark-ups of the changes and a final version to be voted on at the next meeting. Bill asked that if anyone has comments after reading the proposed by-laws that they send them to him only, so they are all in one place. Bill also mentioned that the by-laws provide for a membership committee, which we don’t have right now, but we should leave optional so that if we get to the point where we’re a little larger, it would be great to have someone focusing on that. Barb said that she attended an IATC zoom meeting and it is her impression that they will have no problems with any changes to our by-laws.
Barb also addressed the issue of a security warning that pops up when logging onto our TCFV website. Our club pays $23.00 a year for our website hosting and domain name at GO-Daddy.org and if we want to eliminate that warning and have it be a secured website it would cost $130.00 more a year. Since there is no more personal information on our member website than anyone could access using Google, members expressed no need for the extra security. It will remain as is.
Barb offered that if anyone wants contact info of other Torch members, she can provide it.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: None
It was moved by Peter and seconded by Lindsay to adjourn. All were in favor and business meeting was adjourned at 6:37 p.m.
Dinner was enjoyed and followed by the evening’s presentation.
Presentation: Child Labor by Kris Stahl. Many people suggested that she submit it to IATC for possible publication.