Board of Directors Meeting
December 10, 2000
Morrison Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 

Present:  Jim Dunham; Keith Stumbo; Kathy Stumbo; Don Otterness; Sue Smith; Todd Parsons; Lee deKramer; Rich Krause; Bruce Vermeulen; Mike Thonney; Nancy Morey.

Vice President Jim Dunham called the meeting to order at 1:22 PM.  Jim announced that John Dickenson has resigned as President, and Jim is currently Acting President.

Minutes  The minutes from the 1999 Board of Directors minutes were reviewed.  Keith moved to accept the minutes, Todd seconded.  Motion passes.

Treasurer's Report Keith reviewed his report and noted that there was approximately a $2000 deficit for this year.  Only a few groups have not paid their dues.  Todd moved to accept the report, Rich seconded.  Motion passes.

Committee Reports

Sheep Producer of the Year  Don Otterness introduced the SPOY, Jose Bascram, from Eastern Sheep and Wool Growers, and presented him with a plaque.  He raises lambs for the meat market, and had about 570 fall born lambs this year.

Empire Farm Days  Keith reported on behalf of Janie Kovacs.  This was our best year for sales at EFD.  This year, we paid a percentage of our sales to EFD, rather than a booth rental fee; this cost was less than in previous years.  After many years of coordinating the EFD booth, Janie will be stepping down; she will be glad to help a new coordinator take over next year.  A discussion followed about continuing this next year; if someone is willing to coordinate this, we will continue.

Quality Meats Exhibit Lamb Booth at the State Fair  John oversaw this for us this past year, attending the organizing meetings before the Fair.  Mary Abrams staffs the booth for us during the Fair; we provide her with a stipend to cover her food and dorm expenses (shared with the pork producers).  We also pay 20% of the costs of the exhibit (shared with beef, veal [50%], and pork [30%]).  Most of those present felt we need to keep this presence at the Fair, to keep the consumer aware of a lamb industry in NYS.

Wool Center at the State Fair  Nancy reviewed the activities for this year's Fair.  The person who ties fishing flies was a big hit again this year.  The Wool Center also housed the Llama fiber exhibit for the first weekend of the Fair, and paid $25 towards costs.  The total budget for the Wool Center remained at $1000, with almost $700 taken in from sales of yarns, drop spindles, mittens made by the volunteers, and sheep ornaments.  Next year, several producers have agreed to have pelts and blankets made from NYS wool on consignment during the Fair.

Make it Yourself With Wool  No one was sure if there was/would be a competition for 2000.  We provide some funding for this program, primarily to be used by the state winners who travel to the national MIYWW Competition.  Keith did not receive any bills from them for last year.

Budget  Keith reviewed each line.  Jim explained that we are in the process of a Unified Membership Campaign with ASI; they will handle all the mailings and collection of both ASI and state dues.  In the past, the bulk of ESP's dues monies have come from the assessment on wool pools; be cause of the change in our dues structure last year, our income is much smaller.  Jim reviewed the draft letter to go out to NY producers with the ASI solicitation.  The Board members made many suggestions to make the letter a better PR/marketing tool for ESP, including: showcasing benefits of membership by member groups; individual member benefits; an explanation of how dues were collected in the past; and general wording.

Discussions included staffing the QMEx at the Fair, continuing with EFD, and the possibility of the person who is hired for the Marketing Grant at Cornell assisting ESP in volunteer recruitment.

Keith moves to accept the Budget as written, Jim seconded.  Motion passes.

Andrea Walsh Memorial Raise a Lamb Project   Don hands out the new forms for this year's program.  The sale will be held on June 1 and 2 at the Cobleskill Fairgrounds.  A discussion followed about ownership of the lambs in time for 4-H Fairs.  Keith moves that we request each county change their lamb purchase date to June 15 so it will be standardized with State Fair rules; Todd seconded.  Motion passes.  Mike will get letters out to the extension offices.  Sue asked Mike to get a special letter out to the Clark Foundation for the Junior Show in Cooperstown.

Old Business

Lee said that West Central has lost their Pool Manager.  He asked if anyone from the other pools has considered pooling on a statewide basis.  Nancy suggested getting the wool pools together in January to discuss options for pooling on a statewide basis; she will check with Rick Powers from Provoust and a few other wool buyers for their input.

Our current By-Laws need revision with the changes we have made.  Bob Melchior volunteers to work on a committee with other BOD members to review the By-Laws.  Jim will form a committee and set up a meeting date.

Election of Officers

Keith nominates Jim Dunham for President; Todd seconds.  No further nominations were received; elected as President.  Jim nominates Keith Stumbo as Vice-President; Bruce seconds.  No further nomination received; elected as Vice-President.  Rich nominates Bob Melchior as Secretary; Bruce seconds.  Jim nominates Nancy Morey as Secretary; Keith seconds.  In a hand vote, Nancy elected as Secretary.  Jim nominates Kathy Stumbo for Treasurer; Nancy seconds.   No further nominations were received; elected as Treasurer.  Jim Dunham will also serve as ASI BOD representative.

Next Meeting Date  October 2001, possibly on a Sunday, rather than a Saturday.

Motion to adjourn at 3:50 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
Nancy Morey