MEETING NOTES
11/17/2009
Board members present for the meeting were: Johnny Boudreaux, Howard Cormier, Ruby Collins, John Henning, Tom Foshee, Daryl and Ginger Schouest.
MINUTES
LOUISIANA EQUINE COUNCIL
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
CONFERENCE CALL
NOVEMBER 17, 2009 – 12:00 P.M.
Board members present for the meeting were: Johnny Boudreaux, Howard Cormier, Ruby Collins, John Henning, Tom Foshee, Daryl and Ginger Schouest.
Board members absent were: Daniel Lyons, Dixie Bunton, Dianne Morrill, Jay Prather, Aleta Overby, Ruby Halter, Johnny Spears, Maurice Tynes, Melinda Schexnaider, and Judy Travelby. Traci Benoit and Peggy Bianchi were also absent.
Advisors not present included Dr. Clint Depew and Ron Harrell.
Johnny Boudreaux called the meeting to order at 12:05 p.m. Because of a lack of a quorum, the approval of the minutes was dispensed with.
Howard gave the membership report, stating that there were 147 active members, 118 who have not renewed in 2009, and 91 who have not renewed in 2008. The total membership listed includes 356 members.
Daryl Schouest reported that there were no changes to the financial figures since last month’s Treasurer’s Report.
John Henning asked a question about how the dues notice was sent out. Howard stated that this was done by e-mail and a hard copy mail will also be sent in December. He suggested listing the accomplishments of LEC and including a self addressed envelope that could be sent back to LEC with the dues. Howard stated that he would do this.
OLD BUSINESS:
Under old business, the 2010 Expo was discussed. Ruby Collins stated that contacts had been made the same as last year for promotion. Ten thousand dollars will be spent on promotion with the same company –Emogen Marketing -for radio, TV and newspaper ads. Collins reported that Greenwell Springs wanted to come back with their drill teams; Mark Wilcher wants to come back to the Expo for a reining demonstration ; and she is working on getting a group of Indian dancers who had expressed interest in attending. Friday, March 12, 2010 will include a barrel run, including practice all day. The Colt Starting Challenge sessions will be Saturday morning, March 13 for one hour, Saturday afternoon for one hour, with the finals on Sunday, March 14. LaSH awards will be Saturday morning before the show starts for about thirty or forty minutes. Sponsors for the Colt Starting Challenge will include LaSH, Farm Bureau and Purina. Also, three clinicians are being considered. Two have expressed interest, Mark Wilcher and David Carter. Howard will send contact information to Johnny for Fran Hancock, who would also be a possible candidate. The saddles are on order as awards. Sweet Lake Land & Cattle will furnish horses for the Colt Starting Challenge.
Concerning the grants, the grant has been submitted to the Louisiana Department of Tourism. LEC is requesting $20,000.00 in grant funds this year for economic development. Ruby Collins and Aleta Overby will also submit a grant to the West Monroe Visitor and Convention Bureau. Ruby also mentioned that Tarter Company out of Kentucky might be able to have a booth and sponsor panels for the Colt Starting Challenge.
In other discussion, no one knew if Daniel had spoken to Bob Felknor about working with the Expo again this year. Ruby Collins asked if we could get something finalized so Felknor could start by December 1st, if possible, as he was invaluable in making arrangements for last year’s Expo to be successful.
Howard gave the results of the Unwanted Horse Survey, stating that there were only 12 responses as of the date of the meeting. November 20th was the deadline when he asked all results to be in. He will send results out in December in the letter requesting dues and with a ballot to vote on At-Large members. Howard also explained how the balloting process would work according to the by-laws. Daryl Schouest questioned the procedure and was invited to examine it and make any corrections about how the process should be run before the letter is sent out.
Concerning Unwanted Horses, Howard reported that there were three Rescue organizations in the state and he will send these websites and contact information out to all LEC members.
Concerning the Horse Specialist position progress, Howard reported that the dates for the interviews have all been set and by December 16th all of the interviews will be completed. Each interview will last basically one day and include a seminar and teaching demonstration. Howard commented that LEC’s persistence in getting this position filled was very instrumental in making this happen.
The next item was the Annual Meeting set for January 9, 2010. Dixie Bunton is annual meeting chair, but was not present at the meeting. LEC will need to finalize these plans so that information can be sent out in a December mail out.
In other business, Johnny Boudreaux reported that Dr. Clint Depew will run for the board, as will Cleve Weisgerber. Howard will check with Richard Hebert to see if he is interested in serving again.
John Henning, in commenting about any other old business, stated that it is costly and time consuming to have a classified ad to sell horses. He said the easiest way will be to put a link on our site to other classified ads. This idea will be tabled until after the Expo and if anyone wants to pursue it that would be the time.
Tom Foshee suggested that LEC consider a horse sale of all breeds, to include mules. This would involve getting other breed associations interested in LEC. Ruby Collins commented that there will be a gaited horse show this year at the Expo. This was considered to be a good idea and will be pursued in the future.
The date of the next meeting was set for December 15th at noon. John Henning offered his services for conference call set up again.
On a motion by Tom Foshee, seconded by Ruby Collins, the meeting adjourned at 1:05 p.m.
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