DATE:Wednesday, November 14, 2012
TIME: Board Meeting 9:00 a.m.
Business Meeting 10:00 a.m.
LOCATION:Portage Fire Department
1) Call Meeting to Order, President White
a) Meeting was called to order by President Angela White
b) The following members were in attendance:
Angie White, Sun Prairie Volunteer Fire Dept
Meredith Shelton, Fitchburg Fire Dept
Chris Essex, Portage Fire Dept.
Carol Poklasny, Oshkosh Fire Dept.
Diane Yashinsky, DePere Fire Dept.
Sue Bruesch, West Bend Fire Dept
Barb Glomstad, La Crosse Fire Dept
Lorna Whalen, Stevens Point Fire Dept
Tara Theisen, Neenah-Menasha Fire Rescue
Andrea Peters, Watertown Fire Dept
Sue Berger, Marshfield Fire Dept
Pam Jentz, Town of Menasha Fire Dept.
Debbie Smith, Chippewa Falls Fire Dept.
2) Pledge of Allegiance
3) Approval of minutes from September 14, 2012 meeting.
a) A motion was made Carol Poklasny and seconded by Diane Yashinsky to approve the September 14, 2012, meeting minutes. Motion passed.
4) Treasurer’s Report.
a) Diane Yashinsky passed out the Treasurer’s Report. Diane noted that our checking account balance has to stay at $500 per month or we are charged a $10 per month service fee. The group suggested to Diane that she move everything into the checking accounts so the balance doesn’t fall below the required $500. Diane noted that we do need to have a checking and a savings account so she will keep at least $10 in the savings account, which is the required amount. A motion was made by Sue Bruesch and seconded by Sue Berger to approve the Treasurer’s Report. Motion passed.
5) Committee Reports:
a) Administrative Committee. Sue Berger asked for nominations for the position of Secretary and Treasurer.
b) A motion was made by Meredith Shelton and seconded by Lorna Whalen to nominate Tara Theisen for the position of Secretary. Motion passed.
c) A motion was made by Lorna Whalen and seconded by Chris Essex to nominate Diane Yashinsky for the position of Treasurer. Motion passed.
d) Elections will be held at the March 2013 meeting. Additional nominations will be taken at that meeting.
e) Public Relations Committee. Lorna discussed the pins for the Association in honor of our upcoming 20th anniversary. A discussion was held on whether we celebrate 20 years or if we wait until our 25th anniversary. Discussion was also held on designing a pin or redesigning a nametag for the anniversary celebration. The consensus of the group was to wait until 25 years. In the meantime, Diane Yashinsky and Pam Jentz will discuss with Appleton Trophy what the costs would be to redesign the nametag to incorporate an updated 25th anniversary logo, shifting the names and departments over to accommodate a hole in the name tag to attach a pin. They will also get pricing on pins. The pins would denote if they are/were President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer or a member of the Association. Pam and Diane will bring this information to discuss at our meeting in March.
6) New Business
a) 2013 Meeting Dates and Topics
i) Wednesday, March 20, 2013. Topic ideas were Christie Andringa and a discussion on social media in the fire service. Meredith will host this meeting in Fitchburg. Meredith asked members to send her an email on what information they are looking for in social media so an appropriate speaker can be lined up (i.e. how to use Twitter, etc.)
ii) Wednesday, June 19, 2013 (Chief’s Conference). This meeting will be held in Wisconsin Dells. After the meeting we will put together the conference packets. Members are welcome to attend any of the seminars during the conference.
iii) Wednesday, September 25, 2013. Topic idea(s) are Microsoft training and possible NFIRS training. Sue will host this meeting in Marshfield. This meeting will also be opened up to other fire departments. We will check on possible meeting locations to accommodate at least 50 people. We will also send a survey to find out what people are interested in learning in Microsoft.
iv) Wednesday, November 13, 2013. Topic ideas to be discussed at a future meeting. We would like it to be fire service related. Andrea will host this meeting in Watertown.
b) 2013 Fund Raiser
i) Barb noted she received inquiries on golf towels at the Chief’s Conference golf outing. Discussion was held on selling these at the 2013 golf outing. Andrea will obtain quotes from her local vendor on the costs associated with doing various fire themed towels and also incorporating (either back or front) “Sponsored by WFSAA”.
c) Burn Camp Quilt
i) Discussion was held on having a Burn Camp quilt and/or a children’s fire service themed quilt to raffle at the Chief’s Conference. Diane noted Burn Camp didn’t do footprints for her to use in making a quilt in 2013. Pam suggested having a quilt made that is Burn Camp related and raffle it off on Visitor’s Day at Burn Camp. The intent is to give the parents of the children and/or volunteers an opportunity to purchase tickets and win the quilt. Diane will make the quilt for this and it was decided that all monies raised from this quilt would go directly to Burn Camp.
ii) Tara noted that she had a discussion with Dan Gengler and they are looking for monetary donations for the newspaper that they send to all of the schools. Discussion was held on where we want to donate our money and if we would like to have a second quilt made and raffle that off at Chief’s Conference. The group decided they would try to find someone to make a second quilt that would be geared towards children and fire service related. This would be raffled off at Chief’s Conference with proceeds from this quilt to be donated to Wisconsin Alliance for Fire Safety for them to use in areas that they need the most financial help in. Angie will see if we can use the WFSA’ license and sell tickets at Chief’s conference and on media day for the Burn Camp quilt. Angie will try to find someone to make the children’s quilt and this would be raffled off at Chief’s conference.
7) There being no further business a motion was made by Pam Jentz and seconded by Meredith Shelton to adjourn at 11:30 a.m.
8) Open forum included a potluck lunch a presentation was made by Audrey Fries on NFIRS reporting.