PSDC BOARD MEETING
TWIN STREAMS CAMPGROUNG, MORRIS, PA.
JULY 31, 2020
Submitted by Secretary-Carolyn McKenrick
CALL TO ORDER: President-Christina Gates called the meeting to order at 7:38 PM.
Members Present: President-Christina Gates, Vice-President-Rich Stanaitis, Secretary-Carolyn McKenrick, Board of Director-Insa Robinson. Members present Via Zoom meeting: Treasurer-Marsha Stoffa, Board of Directors: Mary Beth Logue, Laurie Stone, and Donna Quante. Board of Directors Member not present: Meredith Michener.
Secretary’s Report: Vice-President-Rich Stanaitis made a motion to accept the Secretary’s Reports as they were presented. Those reports were as followed: the PSDC Board Meeting of April 22, 2020, the Election Report from May 13, 2020, and the updated Secretary’s Report from July 31, 2020. All 3 reports were sent out to the PSDC Board & Membership via email. Board of Director- Insa Robinson seconded the motion. The motion passed.
Treasure’s Report: Treasurer-Marsha Stoffa reported that as of this date the PSDC Checking Account has $6665.74, the Savings Account has $4004.32, & the PayPal Account has $935.91. On Monday there will be $900.00 moved to the Checking Account from the PayPal Account. $405.40 was paid to Constant Contacts to cover the cost for that service on June 24, 2020. $101.00 was paid to Square Space for their service. Board of Director-Laurie Stone made a motion to accept the Treasure’s Report as it has been presented. Board of Director-Insa Robinson seconded the motion. The motion passed.
Committee Reports:
ISDRA: President-Christina Gates (PSDC-ISDRA Director)- reported that there was not much new, with the COVID shutting down the boarders ISDRA did not have a meeting. They are currently working on scheduling a meeting.
Social Media: Donna Quante has been busy with posting upcoming events and news on the Facebook page and contacting Jessica Kizmann to have the web page updated. The Facebook page continues to get many likes and is viewed by many.
Website: Jessica Kizmann is doing a great job managing the Website, she updates the website with new information very quickly.
IFSS: President-Christina Gates reported for Steven Davis, the PSDC IFSS Represenitive, that due to the COVID there is not much news to report. Congratulations to all that participated in the IFSS International Points. Official Results can be found on their webpage at: https://sleddogsport.net/eng/23, https://sleddogsport.net/upload/document/worldcup/historic results/CUP2020 -Summary Final.pdf . Driver Identification Number (DID#), if athletes want to compete for International points, they must have a current IFSS DID#. Athletes must be a member of their regional organization. United State Federation of Sled Dog Sports (USFSS) and register for an IFSS DID# through that organization. More info can be found on the USFSS website: http://www.mushingusa.org/instructions.htm . IFSS Race Rules have been approved and updated by IFSS Council, note that there has been an update on the age in which a dog can compete. All dogs now must be 18 months old to participate in a competition. This change has been made based on the recommendations of IFSS Animal Health and Welfare Committee and along with some other experienced veterinarians. You will find the updated documented under Document/Regulations/Race Rules. Master Regulations have been approved by the IFSS members. They are published on IFSS website under Document/Regulations/Masters. Not sure how this will affect athletes competing in North America, but if they decide to compete at the Worlds it can have an effect. The General Assembly that was schedule at Duluth, Minnesota, USA, has been postponed, no make update has been set at this time.
Events:
2020 Summer Camp out: Liz Stanaitis reported that everything is in place for a fun time. Drag Races, seminars- making your own gang lines presented by Insa Robinson, a presentation on first aid for dogs by Christina Gates, and a presentation by Claudia Filippino on her recent trip to Alaska are on the schedule along with Rich’s famous BBQ Chicken, silent auction and singing around the campfire.
2020 Fall Campout & Training Session: President-Christina Gates presented some new ideas for the Fall Campout and ask for suggestions and locations that we can use for this event. She is also going to check with LuWanna Krause on how we should go forward with this event. With the COVID still going on she is going to ask LuWanna if this venue is still available to our club.
NYS Dryland Challenge: President-Christina Gates reported for Steven Davis. Steven and his wife, Debbie do not feel they can safely host this event. With all the COVID restrictions that are currently in place, including travel bans they feel they cannot put on a quality PSDC event. They hope everyone understands and that the PSDC will be the RGO in 2021.
Fair Hill Challenge: This location is not usable at this time and it will need an organizer. A discussion was held on possible race sites.
Tug Hill Challenge: The date for the Tug Hill Challenge is February 13 & 14, 2021. Currently, we need someone to step up as an organizer for this event.
Grand Canyon Challenge: Board of Director-Mary Beth Logue reported that currently with the COVID situation the State Forest is not handing out permits. That may change soon and if that happens, we can schedule this event. The date Mary Beth is looking at will be February 27, 2021.
2021 Spring Meeting: Nancy Molburg and Donna Quante announced the date will be May 7 & 8, 2021. This will be the PSDC 50th Anniversary and they are making big plans.
A short break was taken from 8:05 PM to 8:30 PM for Zoom to be reschedule.
New Business:
COVID safety at events/races- a discussion was held by the Board to discuss how we could protect the safety of the chute crew/ timers/ handlers. We also discussed a COVID waiver, PPE being provided by the PSDC (masks and hand sanitizer). Can we ensure the safety of support staff while still being able to be sure all drivers/dogs are safe? The Board feels we should go ahead with plans for events and adjust as needed. If the risk goes down, we go ahead with an event and we will adjust on a as is basis.
Virtual events: The Board discussed possibly having Virtual Events instead of or in addition to our scheduled events. Some of our members have in the past competed in Virtual Events. There are all kinds of possibilities. Races, time trials within States and the use of a modified point system to rate teams.
Online auctions to raise $ due to less events (contactless).
Online Membership drive: Questions such as “What can we offer to members as online resources?” in order to bring up our membership. One thing we discussed was possible having an experienced musher in a video giving advice to those new folks or even having a musher from Alaska doing a video zoom meeting with the club. If anyone has suggestions, please contact a Board Member or bring it to one of our meetings.
2021 PSDC 50th Anniversary Year: We want your ideas, items from the past and pictures of past events and members. This is a big moment and we want to celebrate it in style.
For the Good of the Club:
Working on a procedure to deal with all the COVID restrictions.
Working on a Virtual Race.
The new Board would like to Thank the outgoing Board Members for all their work they have done for the PSDC. The new Board Members want to Thank Johnn Molburg for serving the club for many, many, years as President and for all the work he has done for the PSDC. The new Board wishes him the best!!! The PSDC Board would like to welcome all new Board members.
Adjournment: Vice-President-Rich Stanaitis made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Board of Director-Insa Robinson seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 8:55 PM.