Kara Permisohn hosted the meeting. The meeting was called to order by President Cathy Gainor at 11:25 a.m. Minutes from Prior Meeting

– A motion was made to accept last year’s minutes (held in October 2022). They were approved.

Officer Positions
We nominated officers for the 2023-2024 season. They are:

• President – Cathy Gainor
• Vice President – John McCaffrey
• Treasurer – Pam Blumenthal
• Secretary – Tom Denes (Pam Blumenthal reminded us to make sure that the Secretary captures any board decisions during the year and amends them to the minutes.)
• Newsletter Editor – Julie Goldberg
• Webmaster – Alex Lunardi (new nomination)
• Registrar – Todd Moses
• Head Coach – Tom Denes
• Record Keeper – Jeff Roddin
• Bulletin Board – Sandy Kweder
• Social Chair – John Russell
• At Large Board Members – Nominated to remain as at large board members were Kate Fisken, Nanci Sundel, Peter Johnson, Jeff Dubin, Kara Permisohn, Dave Harmon, Dottie Buchhagen, Jody Gan, Sangeeta Bhargava, Chris McPhaul, Leon Wells, Kathy Kirmayer, and Joe Redmon. Nominated to join the board were Alex Lunardi and Carlo Piceno. Registration Report (Cathy Gainor reported on behalf of Todd Moses)

• We have 218 registered Montgomery Ancient Mariners (ANCM), the exact same as this time last year.
• Our average age is 52 with a range of 18 to 88.
• It was noted that we eliminated the $15 dues last year, so it doesn’t matter financially how many people are registered with ANCM. Financial Report (Pam Blumenthal reported)

• Our team is fiscally healthy with approx.. $32,000 in assets at the end of fiscal year 2023. Our rounded net income was $7,800 for fiscal year 2023. Our main revenue source is the payment from MCRD of $30,000. Our main expense is $22,000 for coaching. Our net assets are approximately $32,000 approx. vs approx. $24,200 last year.
• Pam will track revenues to ensure we comply with the requirements of our non profit tax status.
• Pam will prepare the 2023 1099’s for the coaches making $600+ per year.
• The Albatross Open expenses were higher this year than budgeted because we bought SWAG, extra awards, new watches, etc. There was also a $300 reimbursement that was made twice and will be corrected.
• We budgeted $1,200 for two pace clocks last year but only bought one.
• We discussed posting our net assets online and agreed that whatever is in the minutes can be posted.
• We also discussed the PayPal account. We need something to collect money electronically. We can use Stripe, which is associated with Club Assistant. We agreed that it is probably best to close out PayPal. Dan Blumenthal will be back soon and can help with this. Coaching Report (Tom Denes reported)

• We had 130 swimmers in fall 2022, 150 swimmers in winter/spring 2023, 98 swimmers in summer 2023, and 129 swimmers in the current fall session.
• We started prorating the current session on Oct 15.
• The coaches are paid $32/hour, can swim for free and have their USMS registration covered. The board feels that this is competitive with the market. Alexandria Masters was seeking coaches for $28/hr. Nanci Sundel reported that her brother, Jon, coaches in NC for $15/hr.
• CPR and first aid are good for two years so coaches should get updated in summer 2024. KSAC Renovation (Cathy Gainor reported)

• Based on the capital budget, we believe that the KSAC renovations will begin July 2024 at the earliest.
• The new pool in Silver Spring will likely open in spring 2024. T Shirts (Cathy Gainor reported)

• We didn’t make/order any t-shirts this year although it was budgeted.
• We discussed whether we should do a new logo and if/how much to charge for t-shirts. We decided not to create a new logo. It was noted that ANCMs don’t pay dues and get cap, social, etc.—so Pam recommended that we charge something for shirts, not just distribute for free.
• We also discussed having a storefront with cool ANCM merchandise (jackets, swim bags, shirts). This would be more expensive for swimmers since the vendor would take a fee.
• Carlo Piceno and Alex Lunardi noted that younger swimmers don’t necessarily want shirts; they prefer jackets.
• Since the discussion was inconclusive, we made a motion to create a subcommittee of Kara, Julie, Alex and Carlo to come up with suggestions and bring it back to the board. The motion was approved, (After the meeting Marci Goldberg was added to the committee.) How to Get MLK and Olney Swimmers more Involved (Pam led discussion)

• MLK and Olney swimmers tend not to participate in socials.
• We discussed giving money to each pool for social activities. We should hold socials in areas that are more accessible to swimmers at the other pools.
• We budgeted money for each pool. Albatross Open (Kara reported)

• Kara is working with KSAC manager Jeremy on possible dates but he is slow to respond.
• Feb 24, 2024, seems to be the best date. (The date has since been fixed at Mar 16)
• Our costs should be lower this year. Social Committee (John Russell reported)

• The winter party will be held in early January. Nanci will host again.
• We agreed to purchase event insurance and indemnify homeowners. It should cost about $200 per event.
• We agreed to do the fall picnic at Wheaton Regional Park but we need to reserve it quickly.
• We discussed holding a low-key post-Albatross Open social at a home or possibly at the Marriott. John suggested we ask Marriott to comp a hospitality suite when we order a set of rooms. Newsletter Report (Julie Goldberg reported)

Julie is sending out the next newsletter soon. (The newsletter was issued the week following our meeting.)

Website (Dottie Buchhagen reported)

Website hosting through HostGator is paid up till 2026. We need to renew it in 2026 at $288 for three years. Our domain name through Network Solutions is paid until 2026; it will be renewed every two years at $30 for domain name and private registration plus private registration to keep it out of the public domain for $10 for a total of $40. We have Code Guard as an automatic back up of the website and data files at $70/yr. for 5 GB CodeGuard will be renewed automatically in 2024. All of this information with user names, passwords, security questions, etc., are in a password-protected document that Dottie has sent to

Cathy and Pam and posted on the website in a secure file. Cathy and Pam have the password to that

document.

• The new website will be launched in the next few weeks. Alex will be the new webmaster. Yea, Alex! Dottie will host a website committee meeting soon to train Alex on WordPress and will transfer ownership of the HostGator site soon.
• The total cost of the website, outside people’s personal time, which was extensive, was $86. Thanks, Dottie for saving us a boatload of money!
• The board thanked Dottie for serving as webmaster for 27 years! That goes back to the last century!! Budget (Cathy and Pam reported)

• We budgeted two clinics at $700/each ($200 for pool rental and $500 for coaching). We agreed to charge participants some fee.
• We included socials for each pool at $300 each.
• We should get directors insurance. Pam will look into it.
• Quicken on line was included for $60/month.
• A motion was made to accept the budget and it was approved. Approval of Officers

A motion was made to approve the slate of officers for the 2023-2024 season. (Thanks for volunteering to be an officer!)

A motion was made to adjourn the meeting. It was approved and the meeting adjourned at 1:20 p.m.

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Dave Harmon, Cathy Gainor, Nanci Sundel, Tom Denes, Patroula Smpokou, Jeff Dubin,
Pam Blumenthal, Kate Fisken, Kara Permisohn, John Russell, Sandy Kweder, Peter Johnson,
Julie Goldberg, Dottie Buchhagen, Jeanne Crouse

Summary

It’s that time of the year again! Time for our—not to be missed—annual meeting. Board members and interested team members invaded the abode of Cathy Gainor and Tom Denes. We sat inside since it was a touch cold outside. We mashed 15 people into our little living room. So, onto the meeting minutes:

Minutes from Prior Meeting

A motion was made to accept last year’s minutes (held in October 2021) as well as the emergency program transition meeting (held in June 2021). Since nobody had dug too
deeply into the minutes, we quickly approved them.

Officer Positions
We nominated officers for the 2022-2023 season, some enthusiastically and some reluctantly. They are:
· President – Cathy Gainor
· Vice President – John McCaffrey
· Treasurer – Pam Blumenthal (Pam was nominated to take over the position of the retiring
Kate Fisken. Kate said she would stay on to assist Pam. Thanks for your many years of service,
Kate!)
· Secretary – Tom Denes
· Newsletter Editor – Julie Goldberg
· Webmaster – Dottie Buchhagen. (Dottie volunteered to continue as interim webmaster
under we find a replacement. Thanks, Dottie! Pam Blumenthal said that hubby Dan offered to
take over but will be in Pakistan for a year. After the meeting Patroula Smpokou offered to take
up the mantle! She will assume the position when the new website launches. Soon!)
· Registrar – Todd Moses
· Head Coach – Tom Denes
· Record Keeper – Jeff Roddin
· Bulletin Board – Sandy Kweder (Sandy was nominated to take over the duties of Kristin
Koehler who retired. Thanks for your service, Kristin!)
· Social Chair – John Russell (He was nominated since Nanci Sundel is retiring but she said
that she will stay on the Social Committee. Thanks for your service, Nanci! We need to check
if George Humbert wants to stay on the social committee.)
· At Large Board Members – Nominated to remain on or join the board were Kate Fisken,
Nanci Sundel, Peter Johnson, Jeff Dubin, Kara Permisohn, Dave Harmon, Jody Gan and
Sangeeta Bhargava. Leaving the board are Kristin Koehler and George Humbert.

Registration Report
· 218 people have registered as ANCM members so far this year. That’s not too shabby.
· 138 people paid the $15 team dues. (There may be a few more, but tracking this has been
a challenge.) 121 swimmers signed up for the County coached workouts. The average age is
50.5 with a range between 18 and 86.

Financial Report
· Cathy ran a tight ship and our 2021-2022 actual budget versus our proposed budget was
only $4 off! Our net income last year was $3,405 thanks mostly to Kara’s well-managed
Albatross Open that netted $2,473.

Coaching
· Tom Denes reported that the team gets 55% of revenue from the County. We use most of
that to pay the coaches. The coaches were required to do background checks and CPR
training. The board thought that the transition was seamless and that the coaches are doing a
good job. We will propose to the County that the next session go from Jan. 1 to Memorial Day
followed by a summer session going from Memorial Day to as close to Labor Day as we can
get. Tom will work on this with Carrie Headon at the County and Mark Walters at Germantown
Masters.

KSAC Closing
· Sadly, KSAC will close for renovation again, possibly as early as fall 2023. The exact date is
unclear. This will be mitigated by extending the outdoor season by swimming in the Glenmont
heated outdoor pool in the fall as long as we can stand it. If the new Silver Spring facility is
complete, we would also want to swim there. We’ll also still have Olney and MLK pools as
options.
· John Russell suggested asking RMSC what they are going to do. During Covid others have
paid for private pools to heat pools and extend seasons.
Silver Spring Facility
· There is an open house of this facility located at 2nd Ave and Spring St. this Nov. 4 at 7
p.m. Sandy Kweder will attend and report back on what she learns.

Budget
Cathy Gainor presented the budget, which as always generated a spirited discussion.
· Team Fee – we will eliminate the $15 team fee. It’s not needed with the extra income from
running the County swim program.
· Coaches Pay – we pay $32/hr, allow coaches to swim if they want, cover their annual USMS
fee, and cover their certification with USMS. We are carrying forward the same compensation
as previously under Premier Swim, Inc. We think it’s a competitive package but haven’t ground
truthed it.
· Swim Clinic – Sandy Kweder said that she took the USMS course on running a swim
clinic. The major costs are pool rental and instructor cost. The one put on by USMS clinic covers
all four strokes. We included a $2k placeholder in the budget. Sandy will check on this. We
agreed that we should charge swimmers something or they won’t value the experience; perhaps
$25/person and estimate 50 participants.
· Team T-Shirts – we added an item for t-shirts. The original proposal was to give them out
for free but Pam Blumenthal recommended that we charge something. Last time we did this,
we paid $13/shirt and charged $10/shirt.
· Outdoor electric pace clocks – we included two electric pace clocks for the outdoor season
at $650 each.
· Whiteboards – these are needed. Jeanne Crouse said it is better to have two boards with
the practice written on it so all swimmers can see it.
· Coaching Certifications – we increased this to $600. We are encouraging coaches to
become USMS certified if they aren’t already.
· Albatross Open Social – we decided not to hold one again in 2023. It’s a lot of work to do
concurrently with the meet.
· Holiday Party – we will hold this on the first Saturday after Jan. 1 at Nanci’s house.
A motion was made to accept the budget and it was approved.
Albatross Open – Kara Permisohn reported
· Kara Permisohn will be the meet director again in 2023. Thanks, Kara! John McCaffrey is
willing to continue as entries chair. Kara is working with pool manager Jeremy to find a
date. Hope O. will help gather officials. There is a Maryland Masters meet in the spring that we
need to avoid.

Other Items
· Peter Johnson said that Jeff Strahota and Mollie Grover may have a mini meet again. Kara
will check.
· Tom Denes explained why the County programs for Germantown and KSAC/Olney/MLK are
separate. It was for the convenience of the two teams. A few swimmers swim in both
programs; Tom Denes and Mark Walters (Germantown) move money around as
needed. Swimmers should avoid signing up for both programs since it will cost them much
more.
· Sandy Kweder mentioned that she would like to see morning practices. Tom said that Leon
would like to coach in the mornings. That request will be made to Carrie Headon.

Newsletter

Julie Goldberg reported. She asked if there a way to integrate Mail Chimp with our new website. Tom said that we don’t want to lose the newsletters over time. Our team is more than 30 years old and, believe it or not, we have all the newsletters archived on the website! BTW, a big, well deserved and shamefully belated thank you to Dottie Buchhagen for being the newsletter editor from 1997 to
2021 and putting together almost 50 issues of the Rime. 50??? Just wow. And here is a thanks
from Dottie to her support team over the years: “Many thanks to all the ANCM volunteers who
helped me with the newsletters beginning in 1997. First, thanks to all, too numerous to
mention, who contributed articles, news, and other content. Second, thanks to Tom Denes, and
then Cathy Gainor, who proofed every issue. And third, thanks to the group that helped in
mailing the newsletters. Prior to 2015 when I set up an opt-in policy for the hard copies and sent
them only as a link to the pdf posted on the website, the newsletters were mailed. Several of us
gathered for brunch after Sunday morning practices two to three times a year for nearly 16
years and formed an assembly line to put on address labels and stamps and to tape or staple
each of more than 200 newsletters for each issue. Those volunteers were Dave Harmon, Debbie
Kelsey, Alvin Russell, Susan Blum ,Tom Denes and Cathy Gainor. It is important to thank all
volunteers for their contributions. Without them, it would have been much more difficult if not
impossible to put together nearly 50 issues.

Website

Dottie Buchhagen reported that she will change the POC from Clay Britt to Tom. She will continue to manage the website until a new webmaster is found. Dottie migrated all website files to HostGator. There is a password protected file with important account info. Cathy Gainor and Dave Harmon have the
password and access to the document. We should launch the new website before June 17 to make sure we don’t have to pay renewal fees. Dottie is leading the website committee of Mia Garcia, Hannah Rubin and Todd Moniot. Expenditures to date are $51. She will send out a link to the site soon for Board Members to test and make comments. The website should only be launched if we have a permanent webmaster and volunteers to help with content. (As note above, Patroula volunteered! She will take over when the new website is active.) It would be good to have the newsletter and website integrated as was done in the past.

Meeting adjourned

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