Call to order: 11:00 AM PDT [via Zoom]

 

Quorum (7 Directors Minimum, 10 Present): Banks, Meckes, King, Saporito (with cameo by Wolfgang Eberts; left just after quorum established), Comstock, Edwards, Connor, Boeraeve, Simmons, Hollenback

Directors absent: Lewis, Pierce

Others present: Dan Fox (Mid-States Chapter), James Clever (Ad Chair)

 

(1) 2022 ABS Annual Meeting/Conference update (Judge Edwards for Shanti Pierce) – Everything is on schedule.

 

(2) 2023 ABS Annual Meeting/Conference update (Judge Edwards) – 

(a) At a recent meeting of the LGCC it was decided to have ABS2023 in South Louisiana, undecided yet if in New Orleans, Avery Island, Jefferson Island or in a nearby town. Suggestions are welcome from anyone who knows of a location in the area which has bamboo groves attendees may visit.

(b) Activities under consideration include the NOLA Zoo and Alain Flexer’s nursery and two other nurseries in Alain’s area.

(c) Hurricane season risks must be taken into consideration when selecting dates.

 

(3) Website and Membership (Carole Meckes) –

(a) Current ABS membership stands at 355.

(b) The website and aMember is working well except that Carole must keep her own spreadsheets to make membership information more useful, especially at the chapter level. 

 

(4) Financial (Carole Meckes) –

(a) The ABS has a new checking account with Chase, which has brick-and-mortar branches nearly everywhere in the US. Signers include Carole Meckes, Bill Hollenback and David King, who have all received debit cards for the account.

(b) Funds have been transferred to Chase but there are outstanding checks so the old account will remain open until all checks have been cleared or payment stopped on them.

(c) Carole Meckes has updated PayPal and EBSCO with the new account information.

(d) The reimbursement for the internet service of Michael Bartholomew, who does the legwork necessary to do the printing and mailing of hard-copy publications of the ABS was discussed. It is $555/year. Newer Board members questioned the need to reimburse internet costs these days. The extensive work done by Michael was clarified, and it was concluded that the category of the reimbursement should change to magazine storage and administrative fees (such as mileage) rather than internet reimbursement but the amount should stay the same. Some wished to see a more specific accounting of the expenses that ABS is reimbursing.

(e) The ABS credit card used by Michael will be maintained, since there is no annual fee and it is easier to use than a debit card.

(f) David King will contact Michael to clarify the above and invite him to attend a Board (Zoom) meeting.

 

(5) Nominations for the Board – (Harry Simmons)

(a) No candidates have thus far stepped forward, but there is plenty of time left for nominations to be open.

(b) Nomination information should appear in every issue of BAMBOO and on the ABS website.

 

(6) Ned Jaquith Foundation – (James Clever): Thus far there are no plans for a fundraising event in 2022.

 

(7) SEC news – (Kristen Comstock): The SE Chapter is considering support in the form of a grant and/or a workparty for the Coastal Garden (Historic Bamboo Farm and former bamboo importation station in Georgia) for the maintenance of its bamboo groves.

 

(8) Next Board Meeting –

24.April 2022, 11am PDT via Zoom.

 

Adjournment: 12:30PM PDT.