October 19, 2011 Meeting Minutes

The October 19^th meeting of the South Shore Outboard Association was called to order by Commodore Alan Akerstrom at 8:00PM. The meeting was held at the Thompson’s Barn in Mansfield, Massachusetts and there were SIXTEEN members present.

Secretary’s Report – The minutes of the August meeting were accepted as printed in the Newsletter. There was no September meeting.

Treasurer’s Report – Treasurer Richard Currier reported that all of the bills have been paid through October 19^th. The Club received a donation in the amount of $100.00 from William Godden for the Haverhill River Run. Steve N. reported that he has spoken with the Crescent Yacht Club and the check for reimbursement of our insurance costs for the River Run has been approved. Copies of the Treasury Report are available at the meetings.

Membership – There was no updated membership report.

Equipment Report –

- The membership was in agreement that we will need to invest dollars into our rescue equipment for the 2012 season. The White rescue boat is fine, but the lower unit needs to be repaired. Steve N. will deliver the White rescue unit to Nick N. for repairs over the winter.

- The Blue Rescue needs a complete overhaul. A replacement engine is in order. Steve N. will put this on the Region meeting agenda as a possible Region acquisition. Several members will pursue the search for a replacement engine and report back at the next meeting.

- Paul S. forwarded to the club the name of the supplier of buoy bags. A carton will be purchased.

- Paul L. reported that the new laptop integrated with the Camera is working fine.

- The Club radios will be removed from the equipment trailer and stored inside.

Website – Paul L. has updated the website with any information that has been provided to him.

Races -

Taunton – Bill Giles had an update for the increased cost of Police protection this season. The week before the race Bill was advised that if we were to have our people occupying the Park Friday and Saturday nights, we would have to pay for a nighttime security patrol. With the race scheduled within days we had no other options than to pay the detail. Since that time Bill has had the opportunity to meet with Department of Conservation and Recreation. Apparently the regulation states that no one is allowed in the Park after a certain hour. Our drivers routinely arrive at the site during evening hours without a security patrol detail in place. This was never an issue as there did not appear to be any problems with our unsupervised presents. However, due to a drowning incident at a Fall River, Massachusetts swimming pool, the department acknowledges the potential of criminal charges of reckless endangerment does exist. This issue, along with the forced resignations of several employees, has made the department take the position that there will be no waivers of the police detail requirements. (See related news clipping). They do not want to be in a position that someone goes out on the pond in the evening and a tragedy occurs. We can all laugh it off and say what are the chances of that happening, but what are the chances of a body going unnoticed for two days in a swimming pool? It is a case of the department covering their butts.

What does this mean for the future? We will have the following options: 1.Nobody stays in the Park overnight thereby leaving the equipment without security; 2.We do not enter the Park until Saturday morning and only pay for the security police for Saturday night; 3. We pay the police detail for both Friday and Saturday nights. This is an item that will probably not go away and we will have to budget for the expense.

Haverhill – The 3^rd year of the Haverhill River Run was quite a success with the Marathon being the highlight of the weekend. There will be serious consideration into running the Marathon both days next year for a total of 56.5 miles. To do this we would have to limit our closed course schedule to a maximum of 8-10 classes. Dave Goodwin is looking into the most favorable tide dates for 2012.

New Sites – A group of SSOA members will be going up to Milton, NH during November to discuss the possibilities of a race at the Milton Three Ponds area. Races were held at this location in the mid 1960’s. Steve will also give the Green Mountain Boys a call and check on the status of Hubbardton, Vermont for 2012.

Banquet – Banquet is all set for November 12^th. The Club voted for Rookie of the Year and the Joe Travers awards. The high point winners will be noted in the Banquet invitation. The club will raffle off merchandise and have tee shirts on sale. Mike Akerstrom agreed to handle this effort.

2012 Club Officers – The present cast of officers all agreed to endure another year: Commodore – Alan Akerstrom; Vice Commodore – Jason Thompson; Treasurer Richard Currier; and Secretary – Steve Noury. Bob Cronin will be asked to continue as membership Chairman. The Club would like to have a Ways and Means Chairman to coordinate and be accountable for the sale of club merchandise.

Region One Annual Meeting – The Region meeting will be held in Sturbridge, Massachusetts on November 5^th. For those that are interested in helping direct the Region into the future, this is your opportunity as the membership will be voting for Directors.

New Business – Scott Deware presented an overview on possible marketing changes that the Club could make to reach out to prospective new members. Included in this discussion were the ideas of having equipment readily available for new members, revamping our website, more local media coverage etc. Many of his points were included in a post he made on Hydroracer.net. Most of those in attendance were in agreement that there is room for improvement in all areas of our marketing; however from the club’s perspective, adequate man power is the issue in trying to accomplish these goals. Hopefully, APBA’s contract with Crown Partners will deal with these issues on a higher level and that their efforts will filter down to the local levels.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:25PM. The next meeting will be January 14, 2012 at the Trailer Place of New England in Kingston, NH.