FROM YOUR REGIONAL VICE PRESIDENT
Is it spring yet? This is my third spring greeting for the AIS Region 2 Newsletter. Back in 2008 I was just learning what it was like to be an RVP and now it’s 2010 and my final year serving the region in this capacity. It certainly has been an experience and most of it has been good.
The 2010 AIS Affiliation – yearly recertification of AIS affiliates
– has been completed thanks to the conscientious efforts of the Affiliate Presidents and some of their helpers. When the
Region 2 AIS Affiliation was completed in 2008, there were 147 AIS members residing in the counties represented by our six affiliates. The membership distribution was CHIS – 20, CNYIS – 24, GRIS – 26, HVIDS – 22, STIS – 27 and WNYIS – 28. As of February 1, 2010,
there were 113 AIS members with the following membership distribution: CHIS – 18, CNYIS – 15, GRIS – 20, HVIDS – 12, STIS –
24 and WNYIS – 24. All of the affiliates in our Region have experienced a decline in membership as has AIS nationwide.
Declining
membership and increasing costs are a concern at all levels of AIS and Region 2 is no exception. Your Region 2 Board of Executives
over the past three years has been trying to hold costs down while proposing the same budget. We have been successful in keeping
our expenditures lower than the revenue we’ve taken in, but the contributions from Affiliates have started to decline. If this
trend continues, some budget cutting will be necessary in the near future. We are fortunate as volunteer organizations
that we have a number of dedicated individuals who contribute a lot of time and effort to their clubs and Region 2. Many of
the services the region provides (awards, newsletters, website, funding for the fall meeting) require money and we may soon reach
a point at the region level where a lack of cash will limit what we are able to do.
The Region 2 Budget will be one of the challenges
facing my replacement. My term of office ends this fall and we need someone to step forward to serve Region 2 and its
affiliates. The current Region 2 Vice President has indicated that he will not be able to step into the office of RVP for 2011. It’s not too early to start looking for someone to be a candidate for this position. If you are interested and willing to serve,
please notify the nominating committee chairperson, John Colley. Good leadership is important for any organization and we have
a lot of talented members who certainly would be great RVPs. Hopefully, one of you will be ready this fall for your chance to
lead Region 2.
The election for next year’s officers will be at our Fall Meeting which is being hosted this year by the Capital
Hudson Iris Society. Marty Schafer and Jan Sacks from Joe Pye Weed’s Gardens,
Vaughn Sayles
Region 2 RVP
AMERICAN IRIS SOCIETY - REGION 2
ANNUAL FALL MEETING MINUTES
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Holiday Inn, 542 Route 9
1. Call to Order: 10:10 am RVP Vaughn Sayles called meeting to order.
2. Roll Call: Taken by Sylvia Borglum.
Present:
Vaughn Sayles RVP/President-Region 2 & Webmaster
John Colley Vice President-Region 2 & Nominating
Sylvia Borglum Acting Secretary
Ron James Co-Treasurer
Donna James Co-Treasurer, Affiliate
Membership
Jim Robinowitz
Dorothy Stiefel Newsletter Editor & Archives & Affiliate Chair-Southern
Iris Society
Maria Gerbracht Affiliate Chair-Western
representing Exhibitions
Mildred Horak Creative Money
Wendy Roller Judges Training
Absent and Excused:
Linda Montanaro Affiliate Chair-Capital-Hudson Iris Society
Gertrude Hauck Affiliate Chair-Greater
Judy Tucholski Bylaws, Exhibitions
Janette Smith Youth
3. Welcome/Thank You & Additions/corrections to October 18, 2008 fall meeting minutes: RVP Vaughn Sayles
welcomed 19 people to the meeting. Thank you expressed to this year’s officers/affiliates chairs/committee chairs for all their
hard work. No additions/corrections to above stated minutes. Motion made by Ron James, seconded by John Schueler to accept
minutes. Carried.
4. Treasurer’s Report: Ron James states the current balance is $3,833.24. $679.00 came in
from
the Fall Meeting Silent Auction with another $35.00 due yet. $1,830.59 was expended so far this year, $1,579.00 has come
in from Region 2 clubs (2 clubs have yet to donate: possibly $1,000.00 from that) for a possible total of $2,579.00. $800.00
will be expended for the Fall Meeting. The fiscal books are January-December.
5. Affiliate Chair Reports:
A. CHIS: No report.
B. CNYIS: Report handed out; Donna states that CNYIS agrees to host
the AIS Region 2 Fall Meeting for 2010 if CHIS does not host.
C. GRIS: Report handed out, Wendy Roller read the report.
D. HVIDS: Report handed out. Jim Robinowitz states it has been a good year with good meetings. Fundraising
is not as robust this year, but they had two (2) sales.
F. STIS: Dorothy Stiefel states sales were down this year, but
they took in enough.
G. WNYIS: Maria Gerbracht read report. George Eisenhardt has died. They had a show featuring
historic iris on June 6th with 101 stalks plus designs and education exhibitions. They also had a show on July 5th for Japanese
iris and Icabana designs. Club member Dave Baehre has developed a flyer for “pre-sale” iris that he hands out and it has proven
to be very helpful in successful sales for the club. They also advertise in the Upstate Gardeners Journal. She also states
that
6. Committee Reports:
A. Archives: Dorothy Stiefel states
that she just received a couple of boxes of materials from GRIS area. She does request the donor address so an acknowledgement
can be sent.
B. Bylaws: No report.
C. Creative Money: Mildred Horak states a big Thank You to HVIDS for
their help. There was $714.00 profit this year.
D. Exhibitions & Awards: A report from Judy Tucholski states
there were 6 shows with 442 entries this year.
E. Judges Training: Wendy Roller handed out report and states 1.) If an area society
is planning Judges Training, please let her know by the beginning of May as she needs to prepare the permissions for classroom and/or
in-garden experiences. 2.) Region 2 judges and students earned 150+ hours of training this last year. A Master Judges
has at least 15 years of experience and we have (5). We also have fifteen (15) Garden/Exhibitor Judges and one (1) G/E
Judge being re-instated – John Schueler. E. J. Mattson is to become an Apprentice Judge.
F. Membership: Donna
James states that there were problems with Exhibition Show Awards being available last year, but it is being worked on. Talk
to Tom Gormley if you had problems and he will advise. She also states there has been a decline in membership.
G. Newsletter
Editor: Dorothy Stiefel reminds us that Newsletter information submitting dates are: Feb. 15th for Spring Newsletter and August
15th for Fall Newsletter. She states Thank You for all the info and help.
H. Youth: No report.
I. Nominating: John Colley states Thank You to Mildred Horak for her prior work as Secretary. Thank You to Sylvia Borglum for filling in for
Mildred today. Nominations were listed in the Fall 2009 Newsletter and consist of:
RVP Vaughn Sayles Vice President John Colley
Secretary Sylvia Borglum Treasurer Donna & Ron James
New
Business:
7. Election of officers for 2010: Nominations as listed above. No nominations offered from the floor.
Motion made by Helen Schueler, seconded by John Schueler that the Secretary be authorized to cast
one (1) ballot. Carried.
8. Show dates for 2010 and Region 2 Awards
A. Spring Show Rotation: reviewed
1. HVIDS-May 23rd - Peckham
2. GRIS – No show
3. CNYIS-July
3rd - McGarvey
4. STIS- No show -
5. WNYIS-June 5th - Blenis
6. CHIS- May 29th - Magdalen
B. Sale/Auction Dates: reviewed
1. CHIS- ?
2. HVIDS- July 31st, August 14th -15th
3. CNYIS- August 8th sale
4. WNYIS- August 7th sale
5. STIS- August 7th sale
6. GRIS- July 25th sale
9. Budget for 2010: Ron James states there are no changes for 2010 budget. The maximum for projected expenditures is $3, 815.00. Motion
made by John Schueler, seconded by Maria Gerbracht to accept budget as presented. Carried.
10. Additional New Business:
A. Rotation for hosting Fall Meeting: Helen Schueler states CNYIS is one (1) year out for hosting the meeting, CHIS would be next
in rotation. Vaughn Sayles states he is willing to contact CHIS regarding the matter. He was not aware there was a rotation
for hosting the meeting. Donna James suggested that possibly the Region 2 meeting could be downsized.
B. Membership information: Maria Gerbracht asks if we have handout forms. Sometimes we wait 6-12 months to hear about new members. It is stated that we can go to the AIS website to look up information.
C. Youth Members: John Colley states
that STIS has 2 Youth members (ages 13 and 16 years old) and he asks for ideas about activities to encourage them in. Suggestions:
visit their gardens, visit others gardens, teach hybridizing.
D. Citation: Certificate of Proclamation by Joan Pagones,
Supervisor of the Town of
E. Membership Fees: Maria Gerbracht presents idea of expanding membership fees to “Local Only”. She states this seems to
be a trend being used to lower costs and increase local club memberships such as “WNY Iris & Perennial Society.” Discussion
followed. Is noted that in a local daylily/hosta group about 1/3 of the members belong to the national groups. If we can
expand membership many social and educational connections are made – all at a lower cost. Maria states WNYIS is discussing this
issue. It is also noted that with national membership the member also receives the Quarterly Bulletins. Also on the national
level there are various benefit umbrellas such as tax issues, insurance, etc. These items are needed for coverage with tours,
shows, sales, etc. Helen Schueler states there is no reason the local club cannot solicit people on a local, social level and
then in a couple of years they can be encouraged to join at the national level. Each club needs to have at least 10 AIS members,
others can be non-members. Each club has bylaws. She had a question regarding ESIS (Empire State Iris Society). This issue was addressed in 2000 by Region 2. There is no longer an ESIS. Region 2 of AIS has its own bylaws. Each
club within the Region has their own bylaws. This is a must for the tax exempt status. Bob Plank can be contacted for
further information on this. For
11. Adjournment: Motion made by John Schueler and seconded by Jim Robinowitz to adjourn meeting. Carried at 12:27 pm.
Respectfully submitted, Sylvia Borglum, Acting Secretary
AIS REGION 2 TREASURERS’ REPORT
Ronald & Donna James, Treasurers
REGION
2 ASSETS FOR 2010
Balances as of 12/31/2009
Checking Account $4,628.26
Certificate of Deposit $3,467.56
Total Assets $8,095.82
REGION 2 APPROVED
BUDGET FOR 2010
|
Projected Expenditures |
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Budgeted | ||
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Archives |
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$50.00 |
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Awards |
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$225.00 |
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Judges
Training |
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$50.00 |
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Membership |
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$100.00 |
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Newsletter
(2 mailings) |
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$900.00 |
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RVP (miscellaneous) |
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$100.00 |
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RVP
(Spring AIS Board Meeting) |
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$600.00 |
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RVP (Fall AIS Board Meeting) |
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$600.00 |
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Treasurer |
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$20.00 |
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Secretary |
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$20.00 |
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Creative
Money |
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$0.00 |
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Youth Membership |
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$100.00 |
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Fall
Meeting |
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$800.00 |
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Website |
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$150.00 |
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Miscellaneous
Unbudgeted |
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$100.00 |
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Total
Projected Expenses |
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$3,815.00 | ||
REGION 2 REVENUE
FOR 2009
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Revenue |
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Amount | ||||
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Affiliate
Contributions |
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$1,900.00 | ||||||
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CHIS |
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$500 |
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CNYIS |
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$200 |
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HVIDS |
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$300 |
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GRIS |
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$100 |
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STIS |
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$500 |
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WNYIS |
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$300 |
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Silent
Auction |
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$714.00 | ||||||
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Interest
Income |
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$53.62 | ||||||
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Total
Revenue |
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$2,667.62 | ||||||
REGION 2 BUDGET
AND EXPENDITURES FOR 2009
Expenditures from 11/2009 – 12/31/2009
|
Expenses |
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Budgeted |
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|
Actual | ||
|
|
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Archives |
|
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$50.00 |
|
|
$0.00 |
|
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Awards |
|
|
$225.00 |
|
|
$213.88 |
|
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Judges
Training |
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$50.00 |
|
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$47.22 |
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Membership |
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$100.00 |
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$0.00 |
|
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Newsletter (spring) |
|
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$450.00 |
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$400.00 |
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Newsletter
(fall) |
|
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$450.00 |
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$342.69 |
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RVP (miscellaneous) |
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$100.00 |
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$5.28 |
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RVP (Spring
AIS Board Meeting) |
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$600.00 |
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$127.15 |
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RVP (Fall AIS Board Meeting) |
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$600.00 |
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$0.00 |
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Treasurer |
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$20.00 |
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|
$0.00 |
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Secretary |
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$20.00 |
|
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$0.00 |
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Creative
Money |
|
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$0.00 |
|
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$0.00 |
|
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Youth Membership |
|
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$100.00 |
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$0.00 |
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Fall Meeting |
|
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$800.00 |
|
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$800.00 |
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Website |
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$150.00 |
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$134.35 |
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Miscellaneous
Unbudgeted |
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$100.00 |
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$0.00 |
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| ||
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Total Expenses 2009 |
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$3,815.00 |
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$2,070.57 | ||