The Hi-Sky Emmaus Community Board of Directors met at 6:00pm at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, Thompson House at 3100 W. Louisiana, Midland, TX on Thursday, February 23rd, 2012.

Members: Chad Andes, Ken Arnold, Larry Bailey, Debbie Baxter, Linda Bisbee, Pete Campbell, Terry Childers, Amy Ciaccio, Ashley Coco, Marta Hansard, Linda Ireland, Bill Thomas, Gregg Ulvestad, Joe Willis, Paula Yates.

Members Present: Chad Andes, Ken Arnold, Larry Bailey, Debbie Baxter, Linda Bisbee, Pete Campbell, Ashley Coco, Marta Hansard, Linda Ireland, Gregg Ulvestad, Joe Willis.

Guests Present: Roy Sanders, Lee Bell Ulvestad, Howard Varley

The meeting was called to order at 6:00pm by Debbie Baxter, Community Lay Director. Larry Bailey offered the opening prayer.

New Business:

Walk Reports: Roy Sanders reported that all went well on MW#201. 28 pilgrims attended the walk with 32 team members. Only trouble was a lighting issue by the bench following candlelight. Two pilgrims fell over the bench due to no lighting. Debbie mentioned that we can put that detail in the Logistics Manual for future walks.

Lee Bell Ulvestad reported that WW#202 is full with 1 on the waiting list. Larry ordered devotional books as requested by a team member. Per Lee Bell’s request, Joe Willis will give her the key to Carol’s Closet prior to the walk. Send-off is at Jorge’s on Midland Dr. at 11:15. Amy Ciaccio has obtained the new LD script and Rhett LIvely has updated the database form.

Howard Varley reported that there is a team meet and greet tonight for MW#203. He currently has 34 team members and team meetings are set for March 9th-10th, March 17th, and March 31st. Meetings will be held at Cuthbert Ave. Baptist Church. Larry encouraged the board members to be present at 7:00pm on March 9th. to briefly represent the board.

Board Report: Ken Arnold reported as the board representative for MW#201. There was $323 made from book sales. The walk went well with no outstanding issues. There was a discussion among team members about different ways to handle the book table. It was the general consensus of the board that the current method having books available for purchase at the walks is effective.

Resolution: Thursday, February 23, 2012, a Resolution was proposed to remove Larry Carroll from the signature card at the bank and to add Ashley Coco, Treasurer, Debbie Baxter, Community Lay Director, Larry Bailey, Community Spiritual Director, and Paula Yates, Secretary, with signing authority on checks. The motion was unanimously approved.

Circle 6 Contract: 2013 Contract issues were discussed, including the possibility of increasing the number of rooms guaranteed for each walk. Currently we are guaranteed rooms 1-16, and 17-24 are available if they are not booked by another group. The additional cost per walk for guaranteeing rooms 1-24 is $900 per walk. Gregg Ulvestad suggested we leave the room guarantee as it currently reads. Ken Arnold reported that we guarantee 60 people, and that has been sufficient. All deposits for every walk of the year are due when the contract is signed and are non-refundable. Pete Campbell mentioned we have previously had priority scheduling, and he will seek out current board members to discuss this issue. He asked that we pray for funds to build our own facility.

A motion was made and seconded that we keep the 2013 contract as it currently reads, with rooms 1-16 guaranteed and rooms 17-24 offered if available. It was unanimously approved.

2013 Walk Dates: The proposed Men’s Walk dates are Feb. 21-24, April 11-14, and Sept. 19-22. The proposed Women’s Walk dates are March 21-24, June 20-23, and Oct. 17-20. A motion was made, seconded and unanimously approved to accept these walk dates.

Board Reps: Gregg Ulvestad and Amy Ciaccio volunteered to serve as board reps for the upcoming September and November 2012 walks.

Clergy for June: Danny Bisbee and Pete Campbell will serve as clergy for the June 2012 walk. They are currently looking for a third spiritual team member - preferably female.

Team Applications for Clergy: Larry Bailey is actively seeking out potential clergy to serve on walk teams. He’s asked the registrars to notify him of any pilgrim applications that are submitted from clergy so he can give them team applications at closing.

Golf Carts: Debbie Baxter reminded us that Circle Six is enforcing the clause in the contract that there is a $200 fine for any vehicles (including carts) that are driven off of the gravel, concrete, or sidewalk.

Sponsor Letters: Debbie Baxter reported that the registrars have requested offering an option on the application for sponsors to receive their information letters either by mail or email. This would save approximately $5 per pilgrim in postage and supplies. Ashley Coco mentioned that this would be great as long as it was sent out as an unchangeable PDF file. A motion was made, seconded and unanimously approved.

Sponsors’ Hour Script: It has been suggested that a script be provided for sponsors’ hour. Gregg and Lee Bell Ulvestad have one and Gregg will email it out to the board for review and consideration at the March meeting. Joe Willis thinks it should be up to the LD, to be used more as an outline to allow for individuality.

Board Minutes: A motion was made and seconded to approve the board minutes from January 19th.

Financial Report: Ashley Coco presented a balance sheet current as of January 31, 2012.

A motion was made and seconded to pay for upgrading the six-year-old Quickbooks software.

The Mardel account will be updated with the following Board Member names with purchase authority: Marta Hansard, Larry Bailey, Ashley Coco, and Pete Campbell.

Old Business:

Community Job Fair: Debbie Baxter will introduce committee chairs at the February community meeting, and allow interested community members to talk with the board members and sign-up to help on the various committees.

Scholarship Request: A motion was made and seconded to accept a scholarship request for MW#201. It was unanimously approved.

Board Clergy Status: Larry Bailey reported that it has been quite difficult to find clergy available to serve on the Board of Directors. Many of the same clergy are working a majority of the walks and are spread too thin. He is working with the registrar to recruit any clergy that register as pilgrims on a walk.

Committee Reports: The following committee chairs gave reports:

Facilities Gregg Ulvestad that Steve C. paid for the replacement of a golf cart tire on MW#201. A motion was made and seconded to reimburse him for that expense.

Team Selection Chad hopes to have new, inexperienced team members paired with experienced team members to build team selection options.

Chrysalis Ashley Coco reported that Flights #48 and #49 team selections were held in January 2012. Board Reps for those flights will be Ken Arnold and Debbie Baxter. The former HOOT will now be known as the RUSH (Re Uniting Servant Hearts) and is scheduled for April 28, 2012. Blake Evans will serve as a youth member on the Chrysalis committee. Howard College has received the proof of insurance letter and the $400 deposits for both flights. Lay Directors for 2013 will be decided during the next meeting on March 20th.

Music Ken Arnold has keys and access to the music trailer. We must use our own sound equipment for community gatherings, as it is not provided by FPC. Powerpoint slide with words to songs are missing.

Training Linda Ireland reported that Peg Geer and Patrick Mayers will undergo LD training on Saturday, February 25th.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:45pm. Pete Campbell offered the closing prayer.

Respectfully submitted,

Marta Hansard, Board Member