The meeting was held at John’s Repair, LeSueur, MN and called to order by Director Phil Ward.
· In the last month, we incurred very few expenses, mainly mailing some Membership Pins. A few final Rally expenses were paid.
· Current membership is 165.
· We’re happy with the turnout for the Rally. We had 95 attendees, in line with last year.
· We exceeded our goal of breaking even on the Rally - we made approximately $300.
· We didn’t get enough post-Rally t-shirt orders to keep the average cost of a shirt below $25 so no additional shirts were ordered.
· Planning has started for next year’s Rally, commemorating the 100th anniversary of Excelsior-Henderson. We’re seeking ideas for activities and merchandise. Contact Tim Breidenbach, the 2005 Rally Chair (breidenbach@redred.com), with any suggestions.
· We’re considering other locations for the 2005 Rally. The Scott County Fairgrounds Executive Committee requires us to buy a $1,000,000 liability policy. This cost the Chapter approximately $950 this year.
· We’re researching the possibility of co-locating the rally with The Viking Chapter, Antique MC Club of America meet on June 23-26, 2005 at the Dakota County Fairgrounds in Farmington, MN.
· Ride to Sturgis - We’d like to thank Chuck for organizing the ride. He wasn’t able to attend the meeting, but he sent us a Sturgis report. Excerpts: “I would like to thank all of you for the great ride. The weather held, cool and a couple sprinkles, but great riding weather...We arrived at Sturgis at noon on Saturday as predicted...We had 14 bikes which included 6 Super Xs. Thanks to John and Old Bob for the escort. It gives everybody a good feeling knowing that there is support should a problem arise.”
· Fall Picnic - Since plans have not yet been made for the planned October Fall Picnic, we’ll have a regular meeting at John's Repair instead.
· December Meeting
o Because of the busyness of the season, the December meeting will be an informal Holiday get-together at a Cities-area establishment, with the Chapter supplying hors d’oeuvres and possibly a beverage ticket. Evil Bob has shouldered the onerous responsibility of researching various establishments. Keep in mind that this party will likely be on a Saturday late afternoon/evening early in December.
o Officer Elections will be held at the February meeting, with the new officers starting their terms on March 1st . This important event is then after the holidays, and is aligned with our membership year. Also, meeting attendance starts to wane in August, reaches a low point in November and December, then starts to pick up again in January. Moving elections to February will help involve more of our membership.
· Dave Neville, one of our longtime members and a great supporter of our efforts, passed away in July. The family requested that memorials be sent to the Multiple Sclerosis Society of MN. The Chapter sent a $50 contribution in memory of Dave.
· There has been some interest in having Chapter jackets available to members, but we’ve had concerns about the time involved in sales, ordering, inventory management, and shipping. Phil Ward has located a company that provides jackets, shirts, and the like to members of organizations like ours. They will stock whatever patches we provide, and as jackets are ordered they’ll sew the patches on, handle payment, and ship the jackets. They are also capable of ensuring that only members order member-related merchandise. Phil will spearhead further investigation.