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.