Gaylord Nelson Audubon Society Meeting Minutes
February 9, 2015, 6:30 PM, St. Croix Falls Library
Present: Chet Anderson, Angelique Edgerton, Paul Fredrickson, Kathy Fredrickson, Katelin
Holm, Cindy Collins, Brian Collins, and (by phone) Steve Betchkal
Newsletter and Local Membership Form:
We have already received about a dozen of the new Local Membership forms, complete
with email addresses, since the newsletter went out to the Gaylord Nelson Audubon
membership.
Cindy suggests that we put a date in the top corner of the membership form to keep track of
start dates. Katelin will update the new membership forms and will forward those to Bill
Hogseth for an online website update. Leftover newsletters will be distributed to libraries in
the zip code area.
Donations receipts above $250 require an obligatory Tax receipt for write-off tax
deduction. We should be sending this out for anyone who donates above $75, and we
should send out Thank You notes to all who donate.
We will need to discuss how to go about building a stock resource of Thank You cards with
envelopes.
We need to get Katelin cards, envelopes, and stamps for the Thank You cards. She is
currently thanking people online. The Thank You cards should include the membership
start date, expiration date, and room for a personalized message. There are some
excellent post card options. 4 X 6 cards. We quickly discovered that Vista Print is a great
source for inexpensive, high-quality postcards for Thank You cards. We found a good
design in black and white, and we passed a motion to purchase enough cards to thank our
local members and donors. We also passed a motion to purchase abundant wallet sized
business cards to hand out as opportunities arise. The business card should include our
mission, logo, and contact info on one side...Facebook, web site, etc... and a maybe a
pretty photo on the other...
Brian Collins will provide images and will attempt to get a design passed via email soon
enough to get business cards out to the annual summit.
PayPal Account:
Nina wishes for us to assist in linking a PayPal Account to our Gaylord Nelson Audubon
Society bank account. We are investigating how to best facilitate this. We do know that
there is no urgency in linking the PayPal account to the bank until after the event, but we
should link the accounts so the Nina can receive checks from the Treasurer as needed.
Future Expenses in Prediction:
Bill Hogseth is doing an excellent job with the web site. He is interested in opening up the
options for web publication using a paid version of Word Press as an upgrade service
(approximately $50 annually). We received a bill from Bit Works for $185 in 2013, but we
were never billed in 2014. We will ask Josh Carlisle to clarify our billing status. We pay
$15/year to maintain our website address as www.gaylordnelsonaudubon.org
Other Business
We emailed a Thank You invitation to Tia Nelson.
Hello!
I want to extend a personal Thank You for granting us the honor of our Audubon Chapter's name! Since
our first communication, the Gaylord Nelson Audubon Society has become a National Audubon
Chapter! We have encompassed the largest zip code area of any Wisconsin Audubon Chapter, have
hosted the Wisconsin Audubon Council, and have provided many educational forums, field trips, and
other outstanding opportunities for people in Polk County...and beyond.
One of our recent partnerships as our zip codes expanded southwest to Menomonie was that of the
energetic and enthusiastic duo Steve Betchkal and Bill Hogseth. They began a citizen science initiative
to document Purple Martin breeding colonies in Wisconsin, and it is taking off with great success (and
made an appearance in Audubon magazine!) The volunteer efforts, ideas, enthusiastic personalities, and
creative ventures in the Gaylord Nelson Audubon Society are too numerous to mention! This chapter
continues to bring together great minds with a common love of healthy ecosystems, wild rivers, and the
beauty of nature.
I have been given the honor of presenting the keynote address at our annual meeting on February 22nd
in Menomonie, and it has given me opportunity to reflect on the kindness and enthusiasm of all who have
made this Audubon Chapter spring to life!
I am attaching two links to our Annual Meeting information in case you have the opportunity to attend.
http://gaylordnelsonaudubon.org/
https://www.stcroixriverassociation.org/tag/birds/
Thank You for giving us a great start! We are so proud to be the Gaylord Nelson Audubon Society!
Sincerely,
Brian Collins
Gaylord Nelson Audubon Society Secretary
Bachelor of Science, Wildlife and Fisheries
Master of Science, Biology Education
bcbirdcollins@gmail.com
Annual Summit Agenda, February 22, 2015
Venue
UW Stout Reservation contract has been signed and submitted for February 22, and we
have been promised a room with possibility of expansion should we get a larger turnout
than expected. We have the room from 11:30 AM to 4:30 PM. Food is available using the
Student center cafeteria. The coffee is “Bird Friendly”.
Nature of the Meeting
Kathy has suggested that this Annual Summit be more of a fun meeting, with less of the
business meeting. We do need to get our board members together to talk, and we could
use the 3:30 to 4:30 session as the business meeting, inviting all to stay who can. Steve
mentioned we will have a larger contingent of people from the southern parts of our
organization. We could start delegating some of the responsibilities to other geographic
locations and so forth…
Order of Business
1:00 Kathy Fredrickson -- Introducing Keynote Speaker(s), Wisconsin Birds
Brian will give the Keynote on Wisconsin Birds (with Special Guest)
2:15 Social Time
2:30 Announcements, business, elections for President and Treasurer
Robin Maercklein -- Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas II
Steve Betchkal -- Martin Mart, B4, etc…
Katelin Holm -- Goals and Accomplishments
Cindy Collins -- Treasurer’s Report
Elections for President and Treasurer
Raffle to give incentives to provide us with email addresses;
Chet’s Wild Rice, CBC Mug, Framed Photograph
3:30 Board members and all interested can continue for business
B4
Some discussion was initiated regarding Birds, Bugs and Blooms Bash. The annual summit
could be a good place to register for the event and to find volunteers. Kathy has
volunteered to be on the B4 subcommittee. Committee members are sought.
Future Officers
Matt Berg is probable for Treasurer and will let us know by February 22. His hat is
“touching the ring but not in it yet.” He has to check on a couple of commitments.
Paul Fredrickson is available for Treasurer if Matt does not work out.
Paul discussed the possibility of an interested party for President.
Brian Collins will need to be voted in officially as Secretary at the meeting.
Kathy Fredrickson will be available to be voted in as a member at large.
Angelique Edgerton will be available to be voted in as a member at large.
Respectfully submitted,
Brian Collins
Gaylord Nelson Audubon Society
Secretary