The meeting for July 2007 was called to order July 7th by Club President Earl Blanchette at 10:30.

The minutes for June 2007 were presented; a motion was made by Ron Miller and seconded by Ed Neill to accept the minutes as read. The motion passed.

The Treasurer’s report for June 2007 was submitted, read, and accepted. One Train Show vendor’s table was refunded that had registered last year.

Old Business

Train Show update.

• Mike Cleveland said the Train Show Committee has decided to give vendors two commemorative CentraMod coffee mugs. The committee will also make any decisions as it relates to how mugs will be distributed. Clark Overman said the mugs have already been paid for. Kennedy Gauger did the artwork for the mugs and the vendor accepted the artwork.
• Mike said that 38 banquet RSVP letters were mailed out to vendors and layout representatives. Betty Neill said that 22 people had responded so far and the deadline for responses was July 10th. This number was lower than expected. Mike handed out RSVP letters after the meeting to club members. The deadline for membership submitting their RSVP letter is July Run Day.
• Noel Cowling sent out EMs to the club membership re: Train Show volunteer positions and mailed nine letters to those members without EM. He wants to know if people have any particular preferences or conflicts with scheduling on the show weekend. Members are asked to work two (2) one-hour slots during the show. Mike Cleveland said he would like to see a draft schedule by the August business meeting.
• Jim Bush mentioned that the club would need a crew to help tear down at the end of the show because the convention center will be charging extra for hours after the show closes down. Some vendors will need help packing up at the end of the show. Betty Neill showed the color-coded floor plan that Jim developed for layout and vendor table placement.
• Ed Neill provided a report on pre-sale tickets. Pre-sale tickets are $3. He said they typically give away around 20 tickets. Some companies also sponsor groups of tickets. Ed is looking for a company to sponsor 30 tickets at $3 each. They will print a minimum of 500 pre-sale tickets by next week. They will be available at the next business meeting. Some of the groups sponsored in the past have been the Youth Club, Ronald McDonald House, and the VA Hospital. Ed also mentioned that they are looking for a corporate sponsor in the $500-750 range for the traveling layouts. Ed would like the membership to do some footwork and find sponsors for the Train Show.
• Joe Pyland said Dr. Bob will be unable to give his scheduled make-and-take clinic on trees. Joe needs volunteers to fill three (3) one-hour clinic slots. There will be eight clinics on Saturday and three on Sunday.
• Mike Ross might do a clinic on making mountains. Mike Cleveland said Kennedy Gauger might be interested in doing a clinic or two.

Raffle Layout update.

• Bill Lancaster, Ed Neill, and Mike Ross have been working on the layout scenery. Ed Neill said that individual members used to sell raffle tickets. Since the club has displayed at the mall prior to the show in the past, the raffle tickets have been sold there.
• Bill Lancaster said that the Mall has space available to show the raffle layout down by JC Penny on Aug 24, 25, 26 and Sep 1, 2, and 3. Bill isn’t sure how big the space is. Earl Blanchette will get with Bill to also see about space for setting up modular N and HO scale layouts.

HO module construction is progressing. Earl Blanchette said they might be ready to setup at the Mall.

Bill Lancaster said the Chamber of Commerce will host a ribbon cutting ceremony for the depot renovation on Wednesday, August 15th at 10:00 AM. The chamber will arrange for press coverage. Earl Blanchette said he would get with Bill on refreshments for the event.

The RRHM will have a book signing on August 11 from 2:00 – 4:00 PM. Earl Blanchette said he told the museum the club would be open on the second Saturday of the month from 1:00 – 4:00 PM. Any interested members should come on down to run trains and welcome visitors.

New Business

Dick Copeland donated new signs to the club that show the hours open to the public and the club website.

Betty Neill mentioned that she will be placing another order for shirts and hats at the August business meeting. The shirts will cost $1 more than past orders.

Ed and Martha Underwood are moving back to his home town in North Carolina. They will be moved by the end of August. Best of luck to Ed and Martha.

The club officers have been issued keys to the file cabinet and A/V room. The Trainmaster also has a key to the A/V room.

Ed Neill and Mike Ross built the shelving for the HO modules with Buddy Burk’s table saw. In the course of construction, the saw burned up and it was discussed at the time that the club would replace the saw. Earl Blanchette said this issue would be tabled to the next business meeting.

Clark Overman said the club website now has a forum area in the Member’s Only section. Mike Cleveland wondered how the membership roster is updated. Clark explained that updated rosters are available in the Member’s Only area and show the “as revised” date.

The meeting adjourned at 11:45.

The meeting for June 2007 was called to order June 2nd by Club President Earl Blanchette at 10:31.

The minutes for May 2007 were presented; a motion was made by Mike Ross and seconded by Bill Lancaster to accept the minutes as read. The motion passed.

The Treasurer’s report for May 2007 was submitted, read, and accepted.

Old Business

Dan Ladd provided a 25th Anniversary Banquet update.

• The Temple ATSF depot has been reserved for three hours on September 15th from 6:00 – 9:00 PM. The banquet will open to guests at 6:30 PM.

 

• Dan presented all of the vendors that had submitted bids to cater the event. Bill Lancaster made a motion that the club have Susan Faucett cater the event. Kyle Penn seconded the motion, and the motion passed with two opposed. Clark Overman made a motion that King Ranch Chicken (a popular Tex-Mex casserole of chicken with creamy tomato sauce, tortillas, vegetables and Cheddar) be served and Mike Cleveland seconded. The motion passed with one opposed.

 

• Betty Neill checked on cakes at Sam’s club and it will cost about $60 to serve 120. Mike said RSVPs should be received by July 15th. A decision on the cake will be made at the August meeting.

 

• Banquet attendance is currently estimated at 255 – Vendors (89), Layout participants (42), Club members (80), and Guests (44).

 

Clark Overman made a report on the 25th Train Show Commemorative Mug. Five vendors submitted bids and the least expensive bid was from Dynamic Designs out of Waco and Killeen. Wylie Starnes made a motion to order 360 mugs (10 cases) from Dynamic Designs, Mike Ross seconded, and the motion passed.

The mug will have a two color club logo on one side and read on the opposite side on three lines – 25th Annual Train Show – September 15,16 2007 – www.centramod.net.

Mike Cleveland discussed the banquet confirmation letter they will be sending out to vendors.

174 tables have been sold for the show so far. There may still be four tables available for vendors.

The 2’ x16’ of award-winning HO modules have been set up along the wall next to the HO layout. Work has started on getting them cleaned up. The First Place Ribbon and Lamp awards are located in the glass display case at the depot entrance.

Train Show Raffle Layout – This is being built by the O Scale group and is now running. It should be moved to the depot in a couple of weeks.

Train Show Promotion – Ed Neill provided a report on the advertising activities for this year’s train show. KCEN TV will be running 35-40 15 second spots on Monday – Saturday the week before the train show. There will also be 4-5 days of newspaper ads in the Temple Telegram. Jerry Johnson is working on an article for the Waco Tribune.

Mike Cleveland mentioned looking at placing an ad in the Cowcatcher. The deadline for this is June 15th. Tim Blackwell is going to do an article on the club from material on the website and interview Earl Blanchette, Club President.

New Business

Keith Hartberg’s father recently passed away and the club sent a sympathy card.

The Chamber of Commerce membership has increased from $100 to $130. Bill Lancaster made a motion to adjust the budget to meet this increased expense and Ed Neill seconded. The motion passed. Bill said he would get with the chamber to schedule a ribbon cutting ceremony for the recently finished depot renovation. A cake and coffee reception to follow the ceremony was discussed.

The club insurance policy renewal was received. The new premium is more than was budgeted because of a different policy term. Ron Miller made a motion to adjust the budget to cover the unallocated expense. Bill Lancaster seconded and the motion passed. The policy provides coverage similar to a small business/museum. The NMRA also offers a policy for collections. See Betty Neill if you want to look at the policy.

The Temple Railroad and Heritage Museum (RRHM) is hosting a Train Camp on June 12-14. Earl Blanchette and Bill Lancaster have volunteered to open the club from 10:00 to noon for children aged 7 to 16 to learn about modeling and running trains.

Ed Neill mentioned that the RRHM will also be having a book signing on August 11 from 2:00 – 4:00 PM. Ed said the club would consider being open on the second Saturday of the month from 1:00 – 4:00 PM.

Noel Cowling needs volunteers for helping out with the hand cars.

Kennedy Gauger will have shirts and hats on Run Day.

Dick Copeland will have the new sign with hours of operation and web site on Run Day.

The meeting adjourned at 11:55.

The meeting for May 2007 was called to order May 5th by Club President Earl Blanchette at 10:32.

The minutes for April 2007 were presented; a motion was made by Neal Locke and seconded by Mike Ross to accept the minutes as read. The motion passed.

The Treasurer’s report for April 2007 was submitted. Noel Cowling made a motion to accept the report and Bill Lancaster seconded. The motion passed.

Betty Neill reviewed the membership roster by scale breakdown. These numbers were accurately reflected in the March minutes.

Old Business

The club received a Thank You card from the Memorial Baptist Church of Temple, Texas in recognition of the gift made in memory of Kent Orcutt.

Club members Noel Cowling, Ed Neill, Dan Ladd, and Bill Lancaster won the Education Award from the Temple, Texas Railroad and Heritage Museum. They were recognized at the RRHM annual Volunteer Appreciation Dinner on April 12th. Read about event coverage here.

On April 24th, Earl Blanchette, Noel Cowling, Bill Lancaster, Ed Neill, and Wylie Starnes opened the club to 10-12 visitors from RVOS Insurance from 6-7 PM.

Dan Ladd provided a 25th Anniversary Banquet update. The Temple ATSF depot is available and reserved for September 15th. There will be no carnival that weekend. 8th Street Market has also put in a catering bid.

A budget was discussed to cover the costs of depot rental, catered meal, and a commemorative coffee mug. It was estimated that approximately 300 people would attend.

Mike Ross made a motion to amend the budget to cover celebration expenses. Noel Cowling seconded, and the motion passed. The final decision will be voted on at the June business meeting.

2’ x16’ of award-winning HO modules have been located and need to be cleaned up. Noel Cowling suggested they be brought up to the club to be worked on. It was suggested that they be set up along the wall next to the HO layout.

Jim Bush provided a Train Show Report. The seven visiting show layouts have all confirmed in writing. There will be two HO, two N, one O, one Z, and one G. They have 180 tables to sell. So far they have sold 165 tables to 37 vendors. Jim has created a new database for the visiting layouts. He is developing a rotation list for the layouts. They should be able to display every three years.

TV ads will use the video by Bradley Linda in the background. Funds for the advertising expenses have been received. 12 letters were sent to magazines announcing the show.

Train Show Raffle Layout – This is being built by the O Scale group. They have finished the benchwork. Howard Bell, Earl Blanchette, Bill Lancaster, and Wylie Starnes have all donated materials for the layout. ExtraCo Bank is once again sponsoring this year’s raffle layout. Thank you ExtraCo.

New Business

Dan Ladd introduced Dave Krauss, Board President for the Railroad and Heritage Museum.

A stipend from the City of Temple supports 50% of the RRHM budget. They are trying to get a $100K matching grant for their archives. They also just finished another grant application to get another .40/dollar matching grant and have until this fall to match. A Federal grant will give them $100K if they are able to raise $300K. The match is only based on cash donations.

Dave mentioned that the museum was soliciting corporate memberships. The entry level membership is $250 per year. The museum wants to work more closely with CentraMod. Dan Ladd is the CentraMod RRHM Liaison.

Kennedy Gauger is ready to place another order for more shirts – nine denim and three polo. The minimum order for hats is 12 and there were only 9 orders. Thanks to Jim Bush, Earl Blanchette, Ed Neill, and Wylie Starnes (x2) for pitching in to make and exceed the minimum order. If you are interested in a club shirt, read about them here.

Bill Lancaster will check to see about setting up the raffle layout at the mall and selling raffle tickets. He will also look into setting up a layout in some empty store space also at the mall.

Noel Cowling needs volunteers for helping out with the hand cars.

Bill Lancaster reported that the Library has a new book on traction donated by Ed Neill. The book is dated from 1912 and is titled “Central Electric Light and Power – Stations and Street and Electric Railways.

JC donated a coin operated cross bucks. When money is dropped, the lights flash. It will be located next to the Kiddie Layout.

The meeting adjourned at 11:25.

The meeting for April 2007 was called to order April 7th by Club Vice President Mike Cleveland at 10:40.

The minutes for March 2007 were presented; a motion was made by Neal Locke and seconded by Mike Ross to accept the minutes as read. The motion passed.

The Treasurer’s report for March 2007 was submitted. Neal Locke made a motion to eliminate the reading of report and open it for questions from the floor. Howard Bell seconded and the motion passed. Member purchases listed in the report as income and expenses were related to the purchase of club shirts.

Betty Neill reviewed the membership roster by scale breakdown. These numbers were accurately reflected in the March minutes.

Old Business

Betty mentioned the utility bill and a fuel credit. Ed Neill explained that the club is classified as a commercial customer.

The club offered its condolences to the Orcutt family. Kent Orcutt passed away and a $50 memorial was made to the Memorial Baptist Church of Temple, Texas.

Club member Frank Harlan’s son also passed away and a sympathy card was sent.

Joe Teakell is still working on a draft policy for publishing content to the web site.

The Board of Directors appointed a committee to review the club bylaws and constitution. The committee consists of Dan Ladd, Ed Neill, and Wiley Starnes with Bill Lancaster serving as Chairman.

New Business

Ed Neill introduced a new club member, Bill Jones. Bill is the mayor of Temple and models in S Scale. Earl Blanchette and Wylie Starnes will mentor. Welcome aboard!

Mike Cleveland asked Dan Ladd and Neil Locke to form a train show celebration committee. They met after the last meeting to discuss options and agreed to pursue two possibilities for the 25th anniversary celebration.

The first idea was to refurbish the club’s two award-winning modules, put them together as a layout, and display them at the Train Show. They asked for Ed Neill’s help and he was able to identify one of the modules but not the other. He said he would check at the Katy depot in case it was inadvertently stored there.

The second idea was to have a “banquet” at the Moody depot the Saturday night of the train show instead of the usual reception. There could be as many as 150 attendees including all members, vendors, and any special guests. It would need to be a buffet banquet and some people would probably have to eat standing up because of a shortage of space. If the weather is good, there should be no problems with overcrowding. Mike and Dan had spoken about several possible caterers and will look into it. Dan spoke to Susan Fawcett (the Christmas party caterer) and she assured him that she could serve a group of that size.

Club members were asked to think about how vendors and supporters might be recognized. Some of those that might be recognized are: those who have been at every show (if any?); the most tables purchased; Extraco bank for supporting the raffle layout; Amtrak for donating tickets; the city of Temple for depot lease, roof, and $2000 advertising. If you have any thoughts, let Dan know.

There is some concern if there will be a carnival in the depot parking lot the Saturday night of the train show. Mike Cleveland said he had been contacted by a hotel to see if the club needed any banquet space.

Joe Pyland made a motion for Dan to pursue a banquet and the ideas presented. JC Fischer seconded and the motion passed.

21 vendors have pre-registered for 112 tables. 53 letters will be going out this week to those vendors in the database.

Letters have gone out to the proposed layout participants. Every layout participant was visited last month at the WGH Show in Fort Worth. They were also given questionnaires about their layouts. Seven layouts will display at this year’s show.

Jim Bush sent notices to magazines to get the show listed in their calendars.

Betty Neill had a change to make to the train show chair listing. There are eleven people who have been train show chairs. Mike Cleveland proposed that we recognize these people at the banquet with a plaque. Betty had investigated plaque pricing and said plaques with the club logo were $9-11 each. Joe Pyland made a motion for Mike and Betty to pursue some kind of recognition for past train show chairs. Bill Jones seconded and the motion passed.

Bill Lancaster has put up new shelving for the Library’s Periodical Collection.

April 14th and 15th is the Blooming Temple Festival. Several members had volunteered to open for the festival. It was mentioned that several items were stolen when the club was open for last year’s festival. Kennedy Gauger make a motion to not open for the festival this year. Keith Nonnemacher seconded and the motion passed.

Kennedy Gauger had club shirts for those that had purchased them and showed a ball cap with the club logo on it. These are available for $12 if anyone is interested. Thanks again to Kennedy for all of his work to get this done.

Dan Ladd said more volunteers are needed to help with hand cars. Dan will provide the dates for when hand cars need to be run so it can be added to the club calendar on the website.

Two weeks ago, visitors from a company came to visit. They would like the club to open for them when they have a function at the Santa Fe station from 6-7 PM on April 24th. Ed Neill also mentioned that a supper club might be interested in visiting for a brown bag lunch event.

Betty and Ed Neill visited the depot last week and found the kiddie layout still turned on. Please be sure that everything is turned off when you leave the depot.

The meeting adjourned at 11:44.