March 11, 2002 7:00 PM
Washington Area Roadskaters (WAR) held a Board of Directorıs Meeting at the Irish Channel Pub, (@ Red Roof Inn ­ Chinatown)

500 H Street NW
Washington, DC 20001.

The following members of the Board of Directors were present:

Carl Ford, President
Danny Donoghue, Treasurer
George Marinkovich, Secretary
Donna Davis, Social Director
Joe Kramer, National Skate Patrol Liaison
Jubran Selim, Head Skate Leader

The following WAR Members were present:

David Churchill, Web Master
Emily Bennett, Board Member Emerita and Immediate Past President
John Rossetti, Board Member Emeritus and Renowned Master Chef
Chuck Opperman, Memorial Day Weekend Skate Impresario
Rosemary Fielden, Memorial Day Weekend Skate
Gregg Neissen, Noted Wine Aficionado and Music Critic

Honored Guests Present:

Mary, of the Philadelphia Landskater Mary's

1. Winter Party Recap:

   The Winter Party was held on 2/23/02 at Babe's Billiards Cafe. Thanks are due to Jubran for the site selection, Danny and Donna for flawless host and hostess duty, Carl for the first annual Best Skate Awards, Emily for the first annual Emily Awards, Eryx and everyone else who helped with membership and ticket sales at the party. Many people had a hand in making the party a success. Volunteers are always appreciated -- attend the next Board Meeting, opportunity abounds.

   The Winter Party generated $835 in revenue from ticket sales. WAR subsidized the party with a $300 contribution. The actual party cost of $1,323 was over budget by about $188. The overage was authorized at the party by the Board of Directors present.

   Danny is in the process of getting a tax exempt letter from the Commonwealth of Virginia (in which WAR is incorporated as a tax-exempt organization) that will allow us to avoid paying state sales tax in the future. It may be possible to recoup the sales tax paid (10%) from Babe's, or alternatively from Virginia, once we've obtained this new tax exempt letter.

   Four new members joined WAR at the Winter Party and seventeen people renewed their WAR memberships. Total revenue from memberships at the party was $515.

2. Budget Status:

   Danny announced that to date we have collected $1,160 in membership revenue (this amount includes memberships from the Winter Party and those received by mail).

3. Sponsorship Status:

   It's been a tough year for skate manufactures and marketing dollars have been tight, but we are still in the process of contacting some as potential sponsors.

   We have received commitments for the following sponsorships:

   • 2 backpacks from Transpak,
   • 3 Pro-forms from Camelback ($25 off each),
   • Skate lessons from WAR Member Jane Beech,
   • 10% off skating lessons from Skater's Quest (courtesy of WAR Member Krista Heubusch),
   • 10% discount for WAR members from Alpine Ski Shops (Ashburn and Oakton, VA), and for the first time ever,
   • A scrumptious dinner-for-two prepared by renowned master chef and WAR Member John Rossetti. You and a lucky guest will be whisked to an undisclosed location by WAR Member Danny where you will experience an evening of culinary ecstasy following which you will be re-whisked (Danny again) back to wherever you came from in the first place. Estimated value of dinner: $25; estimated value of once-in-a-lifetime romantic experience: priceless.
4. Inaugural Skate Planning
   • Party Venue
     Danny volunteered to confirm the availability of the Froggy Bottom Pub for the Sunday April 7, 2002 Inaugural After-Skate Party from 1pm to 4pm.
   • T-Shirt Status
     The t-shirts are at the printer (Danny again, Canadians never rest...). Rica will be sending the design to the printer. The shirts should be ready for distribution at the Inaugural Skate. Description of the t-shirts: blaze orange Duofold (coolmax-like) shirts bearing Claudia's Skater Dude in black and blue in an ellipse design on the back, and bearing Washington Area Roadskaters and the web site address on the front.
   • Membership Cards
     John will obtain Membership Cards. He will also obtain approximately 750 business cards (about $75) containing information about our skates to be used for promotional purposes.
   • Raffles/Giveaways
     As everyone knows "there's no free lunch," but starting Friday, April 20, 2002, there will be "a free dinner." Starting that week and continuing for the next 4 Friday nights, one $10 Froggy Bottom gift certificate will be given away by raffle each night. WAR members present at Froggy Bottom Pub for the after-skate party will be given one raffle ticket and a drawing will be held that night. The lucky winner will be able to apply the gift certificate toward his or her share of the tab. This experiment will be evaluated at the end of the five week trial and a decision will be made at that time whether to continue.
   • Leader/Route
     By tradition, the Head Skate Leader (Jubran) will lead the Inaugural Skate. The route is still under construction.
5. WAR Flyer/Website Updates

   Joe will obtain 1000 WAR Flyers (about $80) reflecting the approved changes and updates.

   David will update our list of sponsors (adding Skater's Quest, etc.) on the website.

6. Memorial Day Skate Planning

   John entered into a contract with Red Roof Inn (5th and H Streets NW, near Chinatown) to reserve a block of 25 rooms (he will try to get this extended to 30 rooms) at the rate of $99/room excluding taxes. WAR is under no financial obligation from this contract. If less than 10 rooms are booked by April 24, 2002, then the rooms booked will be charged at the prevailing rate.

   Chuck Opperman indicated that there will probably be two Memorial Day Weekend Memorial Skates. He outlined potential places to be visited on these skates: Memorials on the Mall visited on the traditional Friday Night loop, African War Memorial on U Street, Memorials in Virginia (Iwo Jima Marine Corps, Naval and Merchant Marine, etc) Pentagon Francis Scott Key Park in Georgetown (War of 1812) Big Red One Memorial (1st Infantry Division)

   Some of the memorials being considered would require us to dismount from our skates and use shoes:
   Vietnam War Memorial
   Korean War Memorial
   Arlington Cemetery

   If you have an idea for a Memorial to add to the Memorial Skate, please see Chuck.

   Note that Rolling Thunder will be held on Sunday Memorial Day weekend and they group up in the Pentagon parking lot. Some streets near the Mall are also closed to vehicular (non-motorcycle) traffic on that day as well.

   The schedule for the weekend is starting to take shape:

   John is taking the lead on the planning for the activities. Chuck is planning the routes for the two Memorial skates. The plans are tentative at this point, look for details to follow.

   First skate will be Saturday from 10am-2pm and may include lunch somewhere. There will be an evening skate at 6pm to be followed by dinner at Froggy Bottom Pub. On Sunday there will be a skate starting at 10am. Dinner on Sunday will be held at Tony Cheng's Mongolian Restaurant (619 H Street, NW). Monday morning will feature a short skate starting at 9am or 10am.

   Emily is working on a design for a WAR Memorial Day Weekend t-shirt. Details to follow...

7. Pittsburgh Weekend

   Carl has not heard back from the Three Rivers Inline Club (TRIC) of Pittsburgh regarding our proposed visit on the weekend of July 20-21, 2002. He will reestablish contact. TRIC originally proposed a June date.

8. Club Insurance/Officer Insurance

   Emily has some information about this that she will forward to Carl.

9. Revision of Bylaws

   This is on hold for the time being.

1. Summer Bus Trip

   John discussed a possible bus trip to Amish country. Some Philly skaters may be interested in joining us on an Amish country skate.

2. PARC Skating Essay Request

   People's Alliance for Rock Creek (PARC) of which WAR is a founding organization is requesting an essay about skating activities in Rock Creek Park. If you are interested in doing this, please see Carl.

3. Set Date of Next Meeting

   This was not done. We need to move this item to the top of the agenda so that next time we will remember to do this will before everyone leaves ;-) We will determine the next meeting date by e-mail amongst the Board Members and announce date and location to the membership as soon as it is determined.

4. Adjourn

   The meeting was adjourned sine die. (I always wanted to say that.)