SMA Alumni Association (SMAAA) Board Minutes
Friday, July 26, 2002
1. The meeting was called to order by Tom Phillips, President, at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, July 26, 2002. Location – Holiday Inn Conference and Golf Center, Staunton, Virginia.
Board members present:
Tom E. Phillips, `74 – President
Stuart P. Smith, `48 – Vice President
Mark J. Orr, `73 – Secretary
Tom A. Davis, `62 – Treasurer
Alvan Arnall, `56
Jack Dalbo, `68
John Hooser, `73
Bill J. Kearns, `74
Gene K. Ehmann, `74
Bill A. Leeman, `50
Don W. Tobin, `70
– Also attending:
John Lucy, `76
John Nolde, `63
Board members not present:
Fred C. Burner, `68
Brocky Nicely, `65
Bob Parrino, `75
Kit A. Regone, `64
2. The April 12, 2002 SMAAA Board Minutes were reviewed and unanimously accepted.
3. Treasurers Report – Tom Davis
a. The Treasurer reviewed the financial reports for both the SMA Alumni Association, Inc. and the SMA Foundation, Inc. Both reports will be posted on the SMAAA web site. In general, the Treasurer reports that this is the best financial health he has ever seen for the Association. Highlights from each report were summarized as follows:
SMA Alumni Association, Inc. – There is currently a balance of $22K in the bank, which is attributed to results of the appeal letter sent to every alumnus requesting their financial support by paying dues.SMA Foundation, Inc. – There is currently an asset balance of $71,330.47. After three attempts to contact the original contributors, the remaining $2,910.20 in the restricted checking account (originally created for school reestablishment) are being moved over to the unrestricted checking account. Museum account reflects those remaining restricted funds, which have not been spent yet. Stock – plan is to hold donated GE stock until a better rate to sell is reached. Scholarship fund – want to grow to $50K to self-sustain. The SMAAA currently awards a VWIL cadet with a $1K scholarship annually. Annual fund is ahead of schedule from comparison to last year’s income.b. As of 26 July, there are 575 dues paying members of the SMAAA.
4. Committee Reports
a. Memorabilia & Inventory – Jack Dalbo, `68
It was agreed that the storage shed containing the remaining items would be opened to reunion attendees on Saturday. Items would be available for free or a donation.Jack Dalbo offered to pay the rent for the shed ($50/mo) for the month of August, after which the shed will be emptied. Any remaining items will be stored at Jack Dalbo’s in Pittsburgh, PA.b. Annual Fund/Fundraising – Bill Leeman, `50
Bill mentioned the idea of continuing to try and hold regional meetings as a means of generating interest among alumni.??c. Finance – Alvan Arnall, `56
No report.d. Legal – Tom Phillips, `74
Plans are still underway to consolidate the SMA Alumni Assn & SMA Foundation corporations into a single, 401(c)3 tax-exempt corporation. Tom Phillips, ’74 and Tom Davis, ’62 are working this with the lawyer and keep us postede. Annual Meeting/Reunion – Tom Phillips, `74
Next years annual reunion is scheduled for April 4-6, 2003. This will include a Pass-in-Review Parade by the VWIL Corps in honor of the SMA alumni.f. Museum – Brocky Nicely, `65
Not presentg. Web Site – Mark Orr, `73
The SMAAA web site went online in December 2001. We have received a lot of favorable feedback from alumni, especially those that found it by accident and as a result were reconnected with the SMAAA. This is becoming a key communications mechanism for new registrations and alumni address updates. The online Email Directory has grown substantially and it is one of the more popular pages as it provides a quick means to contact a former classmate/friend from SMA.Still working on developing an online form-fill page to better enable registration and address updates.Reviewed web site email (e.g., xxx@sma-alumni.org) auto-forwarding set-up to ensure email communications were being properly routed and responded to with departure of Fred and Doris Thompson from the SMAAA Office.h. Scholarship – Stu Smith, `48
John Nolde, `63, has donated $1K as a challenge to the other alumni attending the reunion to match it to help increase the Scholarship fund balance.Mark Orr made a motion to move the remaining $3,291.28 in the SMA Foundation Endowment Fund to the Scholarship Fund as a way the increase the scholarship fund balance toward achieving goals of first $25K and then $50K to ensure the scholarship will perpetuate in providing an annual scholarship award of $1K and $2,500, respectively. The motion passed.i. Nominating Committee – Bill Leeman
The SMAAA and Foundation Board of Directors is comprised of 15 members. Seven are leaving – 6 due expiration of term and 1 due to resignation.A discussion ensued about the incumbent President’s status and Tom Phillips made it clear that he would not accept a nomination for another term. This resulted in a rather lengthy discussion on candidates, from amongst current Board members, that would accept the position. Bill Kearns, ’74, agreed to accept the position for one year on the condition that he would transfer the position to the newly elected Vice President, Dave Litzenburg at the end of his term. A motion was made to nominate Bill Kearns as the SMAAA President for the 2002-2003 term and was passed unanimously.The nominating committee identified the following candidates for Board membership and all have accepted:1) Alvan Arnall, `56 (2 year term)
2) Mark Orr, ’73 (1 year term)
3) Tom Phillips, `74 (Past President)
4) New Board members (3 year terms):
(a) Dave Litzenburg, ’58 (Vice President)
(b) Jack Lowe, ’49 (Museum Committee)
(c) John Lucy, `76
5. Old Business
Mark Orr provided an update on the SMA Virginia Historical Highway Marker project and said that he had gotten behind on submitting the paperwork to VWIL/MBC for coordination prior to submitting it to Virginia. Plan is to accomplish this soon.6. New Business
None7. The meeting was adjourned at 11:15 a.m.
