Minutes of the R.S.C.D.S. – Central Iowa Branch Board Meeting
October 26, 2005

Present: Sue Droessler, chair; Dave Michael, treasurer; Joanne Page,
secretary; Ken Bull, publicity; Linda Lieberman, ball chair; and Gayle
Hoepner, teacher.
Excused: Gary Lieberman, vice chair; and Holly Fuchs, teacher.
Cc: Ron Fuchs, newsletter/website.

Called to order at 7:25 p.m. at Gayle Hoepner’s home.

Minutes from the last board meeting, of September 21, 2005,were
distributed. There were the following corrections: On page 2, under
Teacher Development, the word “more”was misspelled as “ore”; and in the
same sentence, the word “don’t” should have been “doesn’t”. Further
down on the same page, the phrase “to the” was misspelled. Linda moved
approval of the minutes as amended, and Ken seconded. Approved.

Treasurer’s report: Dave reported that Mary Hayes had not yet given him
a check for the balance remaining in the Scottish country dancers at
Polk County State Bank in Des Moines. He and Tracy Cunning have not yet
started the new account in Des Moines. The balances are $526 in the Des
Moines account, $4,497.89 in savings, and $2,950.51 in checking as of
October 25, 2005. The social dance on October 22 brought in $27.00. No
checks or bills are outstanding. St. Luke’s and the Octagon are not due
payment for fall until after the term ends. No check has been received
yet from Des Moines Adult Education. Discussed putting about $2,000.00
into a certificate of deposit now that rates are improving. Under our
tax-exempt status, we can earn up to 30% of our yearly budget in
interest without incurring IRS problems. Sue moved we ask Tracy, who
works at Edward Jones, to look into options for us to invest up to
$2,000.00 and report to the next Board meeting. Joanne seconded.
Approved. Gayle moved the Branch begin investing in CDs and basic dance
books, to form a Branch Library. Sue seconded. Approved. Gayle,
Linda, and Holly will begin creating a “wish list” for future
purchases. It was suggested we discuss this idea in a newsletter
article and ask people to “sponsor” or “donate” certain items. Sue
volunteered to write the article. It was noted we would need someone to
act as librarian and manage the collection. Gayle also reported the new
manual is out, to replace the “blue book” for teachers. It is
backordered at TAC Books. The new type of exam for teacher candidates
will be phased in, beginning in October. Summer 2006 is the last time
exams will be offered under the old system. Linda moved approval of the
treasurer’s report, and Joanne seconded. Approved.

Membership: Joanne reported that current membership remains at 25, plus
1 emeritus. No new memberships or renewals have come in. Joanne
received membership cards from Headquarters and has begun distributing
them. If members do not renew before the Branch pays dues to
Headquarters in December, members risk not receiving copies of books and
newsletters. Joanne read the names of those who have not renewed and
asked the others present to mention this to those people if they see
them.

Workshops:
Dancers’ workshop Nov. 19: Dave reported that the Annex is not
available for Saturday night. Gayle and Linda think the Octagon will be
available, and Linda will check on it. There will be a $25.00 charge if
we use it. If the Octagon is not available, Linda will ask the student
group if they can sponsor the workshop and get Forker gym. Friday night
is the regular dancing class. The workshop starts at 9:00 a.m.
Saturday. Mel and Ellie Briscoe, the teachers, will arrive about 8:00
p.m. Friday night. They will teach 2 Saturday morning classes and two
Saturday afternoon. The Union has been reserved for Saturday lunch, and
the Gallery and Pioneer rooms for the classes. For publicity, Gayle will
get the registration brochure to Ron to put on our website. Gayle and
Linda will also send the registration forms to other Scottish-related
websites and Branches.

In-house workshop January 28, 2006: Sue has booked St. Luke’s for 9:00
a.m. to 10:00 p.m. that day, and also February 4 as the bad weather
backup. Hazel Anderson will be asked to coordinate the potluck lunch.
We will advertise to Branches closest to us and to the dancers in
Fairfield. The cost is $10 per person for all day and the evening
social.

Ball 2006: Place had not been finalized. May 13 is the date, and it is
the weekend after graduation. Linda will do the program. Mary Hayes is
checking on availability of Unitarian Church for the concert.

Teachers’ workshop June 2006: Linda saw Bruce Hamilton recently and
confirmed it with him. Linda will call and try to reserve the Annex
soon. There will not be live music.

Social Dances: Sue was not able to get St. Luke’s for any evenings in
November. It is also not available on the evening of December 3.
Decided to try to get it for 1:00 – 4:00 on December 3, with the potluck
following dancing. She has booked it for December 17 in the evening and
31 from afternoon until evening.

Teacher Development: Linda has not had a chance to call to see if
Central Iowa can be an exam site for 2007.

Insurance: As of October 18 we have liability insurance for the
Branch. It is through Midwest Insurance Consultants, Ltd., of Nevada,
Iowa, and is the group Dave works with for the drama group. It will
cost us $200.00/year. We have not been billed yet. It sets a limit of
$5,000.00 for an individual’s medical, and is for the amount of
$300,000/$600,000 for liability protection for the group if we are sued
or if we damage something. We are considered a “performance” group for
this policy. It follows the group to Ames, Des Moines, and demo sites.
The agent will send us a “certificate of liability” to keep on hand.


Bylaws/Constitution committee: Nothing new. Joanne is still trying to
locate a copy of the amendment to the Constitution that added the ball
chair to the Board. Gayle still needs to send her the electronic copy
of the Constitution, and Linda needs to send the electronic copy of the
Bylaws.

First aid kits: Dave and Lisa Ladd are in the process of buying items
for them.

Scholarship Fund: Nothing new. Decided we would award scholarships for
workshop registrations and shoe purchases. Need to set up a rules
committee to develop rules. Suggested we allocate $1,000.00 from the
treasury as seed money when the process has been set up, and then
solicit additional money from donations.

Dave will be on a cruise during the workshop, so he gave the checkbook
to Gayle to pay any bills associated with it. She is still a signatory
on the account, as is David Dickson.

Next meeting Wednesday, November 30, at Linda and Gary’s house in Ames.
Dinner at 6:30, meeting following.

Meeting adjourned at 8:55 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Joanne Page, Secretary