***** May Memos *****

A reminder to all members of the Highway Cleanup TOMORROW at 10 am.  Please meet in the Sears parking lot; equipment supplied, though you may want to bring gloves.  If the last two cleanups are anything to go by, we'll be done by 1 pm at the latest (but no guarantees!!)

The Club's next General Meeting is TUESDAY, MAY 16, 7pm at the Clubhouse.  Our guest speaker will be David Hamlin, Blind River's Conservation Officer.  See you there!

Minutes of the CdeB General Meeting 17 Jan. 2017

7pm at the Clubhouse

16 members in attendance, 2 visitors (Carol Blacquiere, President and Chris Kuntz, Membership Co-ordinator) from the VTA.

Treasurers report submitted, motion to accept by Shelley, seconded by Gerry R.  Passed.

Club trailer sale update. One offer of $300 received, Gerry R  countered with $450. No reply. Further attempts to sell will be made in the Spring.

Proposal by Astrid that the Hike Leader Training session to be held in 2017 be free to the participants as per previous formula. Passed.

Proposal to give $100 to the Gregorpalooza fund to help Sarah Daigle with her medical expenses was passed. Motion by Shelley, seconded by Heather.

Enquiry by Phill re refunds from VTA membership fees. Apparently this is about $2.50 per member and has not changed in many years. Carol Blacquiere, the VTA President, said she would look into it and see if this should be increased.

Carol also mentioned they are looking to obtain a large grant, probably from the Trillium Foundation, using the large bequest received by the VTA some years ago that has been sitting in the bank gathering interest, to leverage a grant totaling 2 or 3 times the amount in the bank. This would be used to fund major projects throughout the VTA clubs. More detail to come.

Other matters

Winterfest. George gave initial schedule information. Sign up sheets were provided for the various tasks.

Denison wishes to have an orientation session again with our club and the Penokeans  re hiking on mine lands. A suitable date will be broadcast once confirmed.

City of Elliot Lake requires us to sign a Memorandum of Understanding, mainly re our responsibilities for trails maintenance. There are several issues that have to be clarified before we sign and a meeting will be held on  Jan. 24^th. to finalize. This is obviously also connected with our stipend, we have received the 2015 amount, and intend to put a claim in for 2016 at that same meeting.

Next General Meeting 21 Mar. 2017.