Minutes of June 2008 Meeting
June 8, 2008

The June Meeting of I.B.M. Ring 362 was held at the Friars' Bakehouse in Bangor, Maine, on June 8, 2008, at 3:00 pm. The theme of the meeting was Gaffed Decks.

There was a raffle of a series of gaffed decks. The raffle, with five winners, raised $26 for the Ring.

Danny Baker called the meeting to order. He cited a set of simplified Rules of Order that have been made available as a PDF on the Ring's web site, which were adopted as the Rules of Order for the meeting.

The agenda for the meeting had been made available in advance, and Danny Baker called for the adoption of the agenda, which was approved without amendment.

The minutes for the May meeting were approved without amendment.

Randy Von Smith presented the Treasurer's Report. The bank balance was $1,620.33 and there was $434.00 in petty cash for $2,054.33 in total funds. Of these funds, $1,618.31 (78.6%) was unrestricted and $440.52 (21.4%) was in the endowments as follows: Ring Name Plaque Endowment ($140.00), Elliott Endowment ($130.35), Chung Ling Soo Endowment ($67.17), Max Malini Endowment ($119.00) and Lecture Endowment (-$16.00). These figures did not include raffle proceeds from the June meeting. Members voted to approve the Treasurer's Report.

In Old Business, Paul Szauter, Contest Official for the 2008 Chung Ling Soo Stage Magic Competition, reported that the contest is scheduled for Saturday, September 6, at 7:00 pm at All Souls Congregational Church. Danny Baker called for volunteers for the Public Show Committee. Brother Don Paul asked that the show committee consider including some kind of introductory remarks or a warm-up act so that the first contestant is not placed at a disadvantage, a strategy that worked well for the recent Max Malini Parlor Magic Contest. There was also some discussion of the order of performance. Members are in favor of giving the Contest Official the ability to schedule an act with unusually long set-up requirements as an opening act if necessary.

In Old Business, Danny Baker reported on meeting themes and Teaching Tables for 2008 and 2009. There was a call for a theme for February 2009, the furthest the Board ordinarily goes in the calendar, so as not to constrain the 2009 Board. Teaching Tables are welcome for the October 2008, November 2008, January 2009, and February 2009 meetings.

In New Business, Danny Baker called for volunteers to serve on the Nominating Committee. Randy Von Smith, Dayton Salisbury, and Gary Jewell volunteered, and Danny named Randy Von Smith as the Chair.

In New Business, Danny Baker reported that the Board had unanimously endorsed a proposal to direct all income from contests to the endowment for that contest. The relevant section of the Policy and Program Manual will be changed from:

Ring members performing in public in shows to benefit the Ring shall not normally derive any income from these shows. Income to the Ring derived from Ring fundraising shows shall normally enter the Ring's General Fund, unless upon recommendation by the Board and a majority vote of members at a regular meeting, the funds are directed to an Award Endowment.

to:

Ring members performing in public in shows to benefit the Ring shall not normally derive any income from these shows. Income to the Ring derived from Ring fundraising shows shall normally enter the Ring's General Fund, unless upon recommendation by the Board and a majority vote of members at a regular meeting, the funds are directed to an Award Endowment. Income from contests shall normally be directed to the endowment supporting that contest, unless upon recommendation by the Board and a majority vote of members at a regular meeting, the funds are directed to the Ring's General Fund.

Members voted to approve the change.

In New Business, members celebrated the accomplishments and upcoming shows of members in a series of announcements. Brother Don Paul received some very nice publicity when the Friars' Bakehouse won the Best Whoopie Pie vote in a reader's poll by the Bangor Daily News. SFOA Magic Class graduate Aidan Pasha performed for the SFOA Gala on June 5 at the Deck House in Southwest Harbor. Miller & Wilson's Theater of Marvels was covered in the June 2008 issue of Port City Life. Danny Baker is booked for an excellent series of outdoor public shows this summer: Taste of Waterville, Bradley Family Fun Day, St. Peter's Lawn Party in East Millinocket, and Millinocket Days. Danny distributed some custom-printed pens that he has used to market his performances.

With no further business, a motion was made to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed unanimously.