Present: David, Ham, Tom B, Maine Bob, Carl, Joss

  1. John B was unable to be at the meeting. The treasurer report is $3,973 in the checking account.
    a. It is the decision of the board have two checking accounts. One to be used for all business and the other for a Pay Pay account.
  2. Minutes from last meeting were discussed and passed.
  3. Fall Weekend Retreat
    a. The fall program brochure will go out September 5 — get all info to Tom by August 22, 2022 — Tom will develop the brochure and sent to board for approval. Document to printed for the Fold and Stamp Party before September 5.
    b. The” theme was discussed. Tom suggested learning new skills. David offered to coordinate the PC with the theme of simplicity. MaineBob is inspired. Ham remarks we need useful topics to engage men. Carl, Maine Bob, Tom volunteered for the Program Committee and help David brainstorm and develop the topic. David will be in touch this week with the group. David suggested smudging and quiet times during the retreat. The theme should be present throughout the weekend. Carl likes technology and again simple skills. Input is welcome from all on this topic of “Simplicity”. Think of ideas from the past like singing and drumming.. Send any thoughts to David. David will write up a blurb about the theme using info from the committee.
    c. Tom will use the spring brochure and update it for the fall. The cost for the weekend will be the same, $100. No discount for early registration. New Man Initiative and Scholarship will be offered as in the past.
    d. Tom asked about the Saturday only option for attending. It was agreed that Saturday needed to be open to men with medical issues who can only be present for that day only. The cost is $40. Testing will need to be discussed and a time set to register Saturday morning.
    e. The auction was talked about. There are mixed feelings about the auction from the membership. The auction does raise money, is entertaining, and a growing tradition. There will be only one auction time and shorter, seven to ten items, and a silent auction.
  4. Covid
    a. Tom reports we did a very good job with our testing, education, vax history, masks inside etc in the spring and no Covid reported from the weekend. We would like to see 0 Covid cases again this fall.
    b. Joss mentioned that we were very concerned if we could do the weekend in the spring, we had good plans and success, even though the numbers in Maine started to go up at that time. His point is that things will change before the fall weekend and be prepared to make changes as time nears with our procedures.
    c. We will again require all men to be vaxed and present their Vax cards along with getting tested Friday night. Masks in building will also be worn.
  5. Paypal is a system of transfering money securely without any exposure to credit credit card or bank info. It has been successful and well liked although there are other options now which are more popular. There is a $2.48 cost per transfer. We will absorb that cost. Electronic transfer of funds is very popular particularly with younger folks.
    a. Tom reports all can be done on the website—-we pay, fill out form, and when we arrive we can sign the form. Tom will work with Dan Kirchoff to set this up.
    b. Anyone can donate to MCM on line through this Pal Pay as well.
  6. Building Membership. This is the current goal we are working on.
    a. What do men want? What can we do to attract younger men or any man to the door?
    b. Ham says we need to be able to explain what we do. He will work on this. We are introspective and look for emotional context in our community of men.
    c. Dan K asks what MCM means to you. Dan has asked all board members to send your thoughts/blurbs to him for the website.
    d. Tom has a way to track who is looking at brochure/website.
    e. Joss said that we need to update the names on the forms for the state. This will be on the next agenda.
  7. Use of video
    a. There are 2 MCM videos. The question was asked if music or anything else is copyrighted and how does it affect our posting these videos? The videos will be sent to the board by Bob. Ham wants to show faces of the men.
    b. Currently we ask men to excuse themselves if they do not want to be in public pictures. What about men from the past when we had rules not allowing photography. David suggests that we can use a limited amount of technology at the weekend. This will need to be further discussed.
  8. The list of men who go to weekends will not be sent out to men who do not attend the weekend retreat. Our security is important. Bob said he would look into sending out the Spring list to all men who attended.
  9. Next mini series in July will be facilitated by Ham.
  10. We need to discuss and decide who be the next president. David had agreed to be Acting Present until the Fall Retreat. A backup for Joss as secretary is also important. Joss suggested producing a description of secretary role. David said it was good idea for all positions.
    a. If you have a role please check with David to see if the ecription is in the MCM Manual.
    b. David continues to update the manual and will send out an electronic copy to all board members when done.
  11. Next Board Meeting was not discussed.

    Accepted 8/25/2022