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

 

Quorum (7 Directors Minimum, 9 Present): Meckes, King, Lewis, Comstock, Boeraeve, Connor, Hollenback, Pierce, Banks

Directors absent: Edwards, Saporito, Simmons

Others present: Dan Fox (Mid-States Chapter)

 

(1) 2022 ABS Annual Meeting/Conference update –

(a) Tickets are now available for part or all of conference. ABS membership is not required.

(b) All events will be at Kashi, the theme is the diversity of future uses of bamboo.

(c) Conference schedule is at https://flcarabs.org/conference; annual ABS Board meeting is Thursday, 20.Oct.

(d) Sunday is a public day with vendors and paid workshops; Monday might have optional tours.

(e) The Vendor Village will be open all weekend.

(f) ABS AUCTION: Michelle Tkach is organizing, perhaps for Sunday. May be online using auction site Bidding Owl.

 

(2) 2023 ABS Annual Meeting/Conference update – No Report.

 

(3) Membership (Meckes) –

(a) Current ABS membership (voting primary members only) stands at 335.

(b) A motion by King (second: Comstock) to reinstate the ABS-only membership category for US residents carried unanimously.

 

(4) Financials (Meckes) – The new Chase checking balance is $28,481.40; the old CapitalOne account still has $3771.09 and will be closed when Bill Hollenback has the opportunity to do so. There is $794.76 in PayPal.

 

(5) Website (Carole Meckes) –

(a)More years of ABS newsletters (through 1991) have been scanned and are now accessible via bamboo.org.

(i) Kristen Comstock is looking into how to make them easily searchable online. She recommended having a tech committee meeting, and linking to Google Analytics to retrieve website statistics.

(ii) These older past issues of newsletters, as well as the index, will be placed in a public area of bamboo.org. Newer issues will still be accessible only to ABS members.

(b) The Species Source List is broken due to web host changes and Bill Hollenback is working on it.

(c) Bamboo Help Line – Kinder Chambers is unable to read emails and a volunteer needs to take over for him.

 

(6) Publications –

(a) The stipend (reimbursement) for Michael Bartholomew was set at $600/year, on a motion by King and a second by Meckes.

 

(7) Nominations for the Board – Thus far, the two nominees are James Clever (PNWC) and Jenni Li (FCC); nominations are still open.

 

(8) Arts & Crafts Competition (Pierce) – Many kids in three schools are interested, and more US submissions are sought. The web information has been updated.

 

(9) SEC news –

(a) The SE Chapter is considering a tree service ($5000) for grove grooming at the Coastal Gardens.

(b) The Mythmakers, who construct large bamboo sculptures in public places, have been approached to create one at the Coastal Gardens to increase local appreciation of bamboo.

(c) There is a fungal infection going around among Phyllostachys species in the Southeast.

 

(10) SCC (SoCal) news (Banks) – A first annual educational event is to be held soon, providing bamboo information with pictures.

 

(11) PNWC news – At Bamboo Garden Nursery, most varieties of Ph. nigra are flowering and a “Nigra Flowering Day” is planned for 6.August at 2pm local time. The event will not be streamed.

 

(12) International events – there are several, and Luc will send Carole a list for the website.

 

(13) Next Board Meeting –

31.July 2022, 11:00 AM PDT via Zoom.

 

Adjournment: 1:00 PM PDT.