Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the USS Willard Keith (DD775) Reunion Association
Branson, MO, 13 May, 2016
The meeting was called to order by Board Director, Joe Mitchell, at 15:58.
Agenda item #1: Introduction: Board is Casey Jones, Joe Mitchell and Mike McHenry. Work is done by Don Hempstead.
Introduction of the Board of Directors was made: Casey Jones (3rd year term), Joe Mitchell (2nd year term) and Mike McHenry (1st year term) Note: Jones and McHenry were not in attendance due to other commitments. Acknowledgement made to Don Hempstead for all his hard work in behalf of the association.
Agenda Item #2: Request for volunteer to take minutes of meeting.
In the absence of Association Secretary, Jay O'Connell, Jerry Hansen volunteered as interim secretary to take Minutes of the meeting.
Agenda Item #3: Roll call of persons eligible to vote/ Members of Reunion Association.
Roll call taken with those members present where David Kutzfar, Richard Cook, Jerry Hansen, Don Hempstead, Wheeler Gill, Cecil Peterson, Bob Friedhaber & Joe Mitchell.
Agenda Item #4: Nomination and election of Board member to fill the ending term of Casey Jones for a 3 year term.
At the last Association meeting in Norfolk, VA, Casey Jones stated his request to retire from the BOD in view of his many years on the job. At that time, Jerry Hansen agreed to volunteer in being a Director when, and if, Casey Jones left. Casey recently made the request official. The request for nominations and election of a Board member was made. Richard Cook made the motion to elect Jerry Hansen to replace Casey Jones on the Board. The motion was seconded by Don Hempstead. The vote in favor of Hansen replacing Jones was 8 for, zero against & zero abstaining. Motion carried. The members present acknowledged with: "Thank you, Casey, for the great job as Director over many, many years"!!!
Agenda Item #5: Vote to amend or approve Minutes from last meeting of 8 May, 2015.
Copies of the 8 May, 2015 Minutes were distributed and read by the attending members. Motion to accept the Minutes as submitted was made by Wheeler Gill. The motion was seconded by David Kutzfar. The vote to accept was unanimous. Motion carried.
Agenda Item #6: Vote to amend or approve the Treasurer's Report of 8 Nov 2013 to 30 Apr 2016. -- separate funding for Chinese Auction?
Copies of the Treasurer's Report were distributed and read by the attending members. A copy of the new Treasurer's (Paul Goldberg's) Report is attached to these Minutes. Of note, by Joe Mitchell, is that this annual report is from 8 Nov 2013 through 30 Apr 2016. Also, Joe reported that the BOD voted not to deliver the Willard Keith ship's bell to the reunion at this time due to the expense and that the amount in the report has not been expended. Motion was made by Don Hempstead to accept the Treasurer's Report as submitted and the motion was seconded by Cecil Peterson. The vote to accept was unanimous.
Agenda Item #7: Reunion 2017...Time: month of May, or other month. Location: suggestions may be Charleston, San Antonio, Nashville, Newport News, etc. and the use of professional planners like Gatherings Plus, Confam, CVB, etc.
Much discussion was given to the next year's reunion. The time, the "when-to-hold-it", centered on how to improve attendance. In spite of diminishing membership numbers, the month of May has handicapped many with conflicts for graduations, other family plans, illness, etc.. Also, efforts to schedule the reunion around Mother's Day and Memorial Day holiday weekends played into having fewer weeks open for selection. Don Hempstead checked with the Gatherings Plus reunion organizers and determined that the September/ October time-frame is very good for reunions. Consideration was then given to moving the reunion to the fall September/October time-frame. Consensus was to "give-it-a-try" for the year 2017... specifically, trying to schedule it for the last week of September or the first week of October and see if attendance can be improved. Motion was made by Wheeler Gill to move the reunion to September/October time-frame for the year 2017. Don Hempstead seconded the motion. Motion carried with 8 votes in favor of the move.
The location, the "where-to-hold-it", listed in the agenda was extensively discussed with a consensus that either Charleston or Nashville should be the choice. A survey of preference by members in attendance resulted in Nashville favored by 7 members with one member abstaining. Don Hempstead will contact Gathering Plus for opportunities in Nashville for weeks in September/October 2017.
Agenda Item #8: Helping/Relieving Don of the roster maintenance, invitation preparation, report from prior annual meeting, Board minutes, etc.
Don Hempstead has been the steadfast "work-horse" for maintenance of the Keith's current membership roster, invitation preparation, issuance of reports, etc.. Don has asked for help/relief regarding these duties. Jerry Hansen has volunteered to give assistance and take on the responsibility with assurance of necessary help from the Board of Directors, Officers, and specifically from Don Hempstead and Joe Mitchell.
Agenda Item #9: Donation from member Ed Campbell put in the general fund last year.
At last year's annual meeting in Norfolk, VA, the very generous and gratuitous gift of $1000.00 bequeathed by Mr. Edward Campbell was placed in the general fund due to no decision being made on it's use. According to Mrs. Betty Campbell, Ed's gift was given for the enjoyment he had with his shipmates at many reunions. Therefore, a proposal was made to allocate $500.00 from the general fund for food and beverages at the next reunion, not to exceed $1000.00, in memory of Ed Campbell, for the enjoyment of all the attendees. Motion made by Jerry Hansen to accept the proposal. The motion was seconded by David Kutzfar. The vote was 8 in favor of proposal. Motion carried.
Agenda Item #10:Old and New Business.
No old and/or new business.
Agenda Item #11: Adjourn.
Meeting was adjourned at 17:53
Respectfully submitted,
Jerry Hansen, Interim Secretary
