Northern Virginia Bridge Association
Minutes of the Board of Directors
September 12, 2005

The meeting was held at Pistone's Restaurant at Seven Corners. Officers and directors attending were: Leo Cardillo, Margot Hennings, Dale Dallaire, Marjorie Gazzola, Kathryn Kiley, John Mason, Ron Kral, Paul Krueger and Unit Game Chief Director Marshall Kuschner. Scott Merritt was absent. President Cardillo called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

Minutes. Dale made a motion to accept the minutes for June 2005, Kathryn seconded the motion, and the motion carried. There were no minutes from July since the Board did not meet in July.

In-and-Out-Report. Dale made a motion to accept the In-and-Out-Report for August 2005, Kathryn seconded the motion, and the motion carried.

Treasurer's Report.

Financial Reports: Treasurer Dale Dallaire provided the Board with copies of the following reports, which are also available to the Board on Dale's family website:

IRS Form 990: Dale reported that she has completed and filed an IRS Form 990 for the NVBA, a non-profit organization. There is a $40 filing fee, which the NVBA will cover. No form was filed for the state of Virginia. A loss of $88.47 for the May 2004-April 2005 time period was reported.

Other: The September NVBA Sectional was quite successful, with 420.5 tables in play. The cost of free plays at the Sectional was $1,130. After all expenses are paid, Dale expects that the NVBA will clear about $4,000 from this Sectional. She will prepare Form 1099s for directors and caddies who will have earned over $600 this year. All Board members have received the audit report of treasurer's records as of August 2, 2005 from Ed Heberg. The Board discussed the different types of free plays that are distributed, “winners”, “guaranteed partners”, “management” and “marketing”. Dale may redesign the recap free play form. The Board also discussed the need to establish policy for retention of different kinds of financial records.

President's Report

Inventory: President Leo Cardillo reported on table replacement. The NVBA maintained about 95 tables in two storage locations at KOCH and 40 tables at Beth El. Bernie Oetjen also keeps some tables upstairs at KOCH. Recently 20 of the NVBA's damaged tables at KOCH were discarded, so we will purchase 20-25 new ones. Ron Kral will need to borrow 30 NVBA tables for his Smithsonian classes in January and February. Ron will purchase replacement tables. Leo has looked at shelving for the Beth El storage closet at a cost of $75 but won't buy it until the lease with Beth El has been resolved.

Budget: We are not ready yet to construct an NVBA budget for next year, but some issues to consider when we do are reported expenses and revenues to date, projected needs, pricing changes and rent increases.

Volunteer Positions: NVBA Board member Scott Merritt has relocated to Africa, so a new member must be appointed to complete Scott's term of office. Ideally, the new member would have Scott's technical skills and also offer a youth component. Board members discussed possible candidates, and Leo will contact them to assess their interest and availability. David Banh, NVBA Youth Advisor, is now at the University of Virginia. Leo is still looking for a G/P volunteer at Unit Games. Carole Grob will continue as Unit Game Hospitality Manager, but it has been necessary to find weekly replacements for her while she recovers from surgery. The upcoming NVBA newsletter issue will be Newsletter Production Manager David Milton's last, though Lucy McCoy will continue as Newsletter Editor. Kathryn Kiley recommended Julianne Smith to take over David's job. Julianne is not a bridge player, so additional proofing may be needed, but she has excellent credentials. Hopefully David will work with her on the transfer. A volunteer is also needed to run the NVBA holiday party this year. Margot mentioned that she has bridge books that were donated to the NVBA, and these could be used as door prizes for the I/N game and the holiday party.

Conduct and Ethics(C&E) Committees: Leo will name members of the C&E committees for the Unit and for District 6.

Mid-Atlantic Board Reps: There are openings for District 6 and District 7 representatives to the Mid-Atlantic Board, which holds dinner business meetings during Mid-Atlantic Regionals. Voting on new members will be done during the Virginia Beach Regional in November. Information can be found at MABCBRIDGE.ORG. The Board discussed several possible candidates from Unit 218, and they will be contacted to assess their interest.

Beth El Lease: Leo reported on the status of his negotiations with Beth El for our new lease. Beth El is asking for a significant rent increase. The Board discussed options including finding another venue for the Unit Game or making coffee ourselves. It was agreed to initially offer Beth El $260 for the two rooms with NVBA providing coffee supplies and Beth El providing the labor. Leo has had difficulty getting on Beth El representative Ed Kaplan's schedule, but he expects to negotiate a suitable lease shortly as Beth El seems to be committed to NVBA's continued presence.

Bridge Information Line(BIL): The BIL is now functional at Sam Coleman's home. Leo asked Sam to send NVBA the phone bill monthly. The BIL will be operated through the winter and evaluated for continuing use.

Vice President's Report

Scheduling Meeting: Vice President Margot Hennings reported that the 2006 scheduling meeting will be hosted by Doug Grove and Millard Nachtwey on September 19. Margot, Eugene Schuyler, Ron Kral, Marshall Kuschner and Dale Dallaire will attend.

2006 Regional: Next summer is the last time the Regional will be held at the Hilton in Alexandria. In the future this Regional, sponsored in alternate years by the NVBA and WBL, will alternate between locations in Bethesda and Reston. Margot mentioned the need to look now for volunteers. Committee Chairs for partnerships, hospitality, I/N and prizes will be needed. She also suggested that information about the Regional be included in the January-March newsletter.

Other Chair Reports

Club Liaison Chair: John Mason provided the Board with the list of NVBA club games which he has compiled and updated. He suggested sending it out periodically for update as it changes often. Two individuals, Neal McKinney and Al O'Malley, passed the Director's test recently. John plans to be in touch with every club director and manager at least once a quarter.

I/N Program Manager: Ron Kral proposed a second postcard mailing to all local 0-100 masterpoint ACBL members(about 1,000), at a cost of about 50 cents per card. He also proposed a second “birthday party” for the Thursday night I/N game in February to celebrate the game's success. We are now at 9/10 tables and need to maintain this count. Some I/N players have been moving up to the open game, which is a sign of the I/N game's success. There was discussion about putting out more flyers at clubs instead of mailing postcards. Ron reported that he has often been successful at signing up non-ACBL members at the I/N game, if the Director will tell him about them. Ron will again be giving bridge lessons at The Smithsonian on Monday nights starting in mid-January. The Board discussed free plays for 0-5 members at the February Sectional. Ron would hand out these free plays at his game.

New Business

District 6 Goodwill Committee: Possible nominations from Unit 218 to the newly-established District 6 Goodwill Committee were discussed. Names will be taken from Board members over the next month and candidates will be selected at the next Board meeting, or sooner, if the results are obvious.

NVBA October Board meeting: Since several Board members will be unavailable on October 10, which is also a holiday, it was agreed to hold the next NVBA Board meeting during the October Sectional. The meeting will be held on Friday, October 21, at KOCH, beginning at 5:30 or at the end of the afternoon game. We will meet in the small upstairs room, and dinner will be provided. The meeting will end before the start of the 7:30 evening game.

The meeting was adjourned by President Cardillo at 10 p. m.

Respectfully submitted,
Marjorie Gazzola, Secretary