Board of Directors Meeting
Friends of Lake Norman State Park February 5, 2019 Lake Norman State Park Visitor’s Center Vice-President Jeff Cooper called the meeting to order at 6:06 p.m. Those in attendance and constituting a quorum were: Present: Jeff Cooper, Jenni Wyatt, Kathie Kemp, Debbie Page, Vicki Taylor, Ashley Thompson & ex-Officio Advisor Greg Schneider Absent: Michael Polzin, Katie Wurtz, Alison Hemingfield, Shannon Johnson & James Pogue Current Business:
Next Board Meeting is Tuesday, March 5th at 6:00 p.m. Meeting adjourned at 7:05 p.m. Minutes submitted to Vice-President, Jeff Cooper, for approval on 2/5/19.
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Board of Directors Meeting
Friends of Lake Norman State Park January 8, 2019 Lake Norman State Park Visitor’s Center President Michael Polzin called the meeting to order at 6:10 p.m. Those in attendance and constituting a quorum were: Present: Michael Polzin, Jeff Cooper, Katie Gradert, Jenni Wyatt, Shannon Johnson, Debbie Page, Vicki Taylor, Ashley Thompson & ex-Officio Advisor Greg Schneider Absent: Alison Hemingfield, Kathie Kemp & James Pogue Visitors: Patrick Wurtz Current Business:
Meeting adjourned at 7:40 p.m. Minutes submitted for approval by President Michael Polzin on 1/11/2018. Board of Directors Meeting
Friends of Lake Norman State Park November 6, 2018 Lake Norman State Park Visitor’s Center Vice President Jeff Cooper called the meeting to order at 6:06 p.m. Those in attendance and constituting a quorum were: Present: Jeff Cooper, Jenni Wyatt, Vicki Taylor, Debbie Page, Ashley Thompson & ex-Officio Advisor Greg Schneider Absent: Katie Gradert, Alison Hemingfield, Shannon Johnson, James Pogue, Michael Polzin & Kathie Kemp Visitors: Amy Shepherd, Patrick Wurtz Current Business:
New Business:
Meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m. Minutes submitted for approval by Vice President Jeff Cooper on 11/7/18.
Stonestreet to give talk on Lake Norman area history at Lake Norman State Park The Friends of Lake Norman State Park (FLANO) is hosting a special history presentation by the fireplace at the Lake Norman State Park Community Building (204 Group Camp Lane) on Tuesday, October 16 at 6:30 p.m. Well-known educator, columnist and author O.C. Stonestreet will present highlights of the fascinating history of Lake Norman, LNSP and Iredell County. The event will also feature a brief park introduction by Park Superintendent Greg Schneider and an introduction to FLANO, formed this past April, by President Michael Polzin. At this free event, Stonestreet will have a book signing opportunity for his works, including They Called Iredell County Home: Interesting People Who Were Born or Lived in Iredell County, N.C. and Tales from Old Iredell County. Enjoy popcorn and hot cider by the fire while learning more about our wonderful community! ABOUT FLANO The Friends of Lake Norman State Park association, created in April of 2018, is a nonprofit organization operating as a Chapter of the Friends of State Parks, Inc. incorporated under North Carolina state law with IRS 501(c)(3) status and tax ID 58-1634155. The purpose of the association is to support Lake Norman State Park including park lands and trails; develop and promote public awareness; provide support and resources for the maintenance of programs, facilities and recreation; advocate for ecological conservation and preservation; and address environmental issues. These purposes are exclusively nonprofit, charitable, and educational. Membership is open to any individual, group, or corporation who supports the purposes of the association. Website: https://www.friendsoflakenormanstatepark.org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FriendsofLakeNormanStatePark/ Friends of Lake Norman State Park Membership Update
Greetings everyone. Hope you all have been enjoying the summer and have made it out to Lake Norman State Park to take advantage of this wonderful community asset! I’m Michael Polzin and I am the President of the Board of the Friends of Lake Norman State Park (FLANO). Since our initial meeting back in March, a great deal has happened and I wanted to update you on all of our progress. Key accomplishments to date include: · Our group submitted for and was approved by the North Carolina Friends of State Parks as a fully sanctioned FSP Chapter along with approximately 35 other Friends groups throughout the state. · We have set up various financial management tools including currency and online payment systems, bank accounts, and a post office box to manage membership fees and donations in support of Park improvements. · We have developed a great logo (see attached) thanks to the great efforts of one of our Board members – Kathie Kemp. · We have a beautiful full color brochure about the group thanks to the combined efforts of Kathie Kemp and Debbie Page who designed the brochure and Alison Hemingfield whose company had several thousand printed for us for free · We have developed and launched an excellent web page thanks to Debbie Page. If you haven’t already, check it out at www.friendsoflakenormanstatepark.org · We have participated in several community events such as a Bike-a-thon at the park, Troutman’s Party in the Park, and an event with REI. · We now have 22 paid members and have raised almost $1000 to be used for Park improvements. Not bad for just 5 months and this is only the beginning. The first big project we are going to help support is a complete renovation of the Group Campground. It’s a high priority project for the Park Rangers and it will bring in more visitors to the park. We are also considering new initiatives on trail development/maintenance as well as a recycling program to collect discarded fishing line that can harm the wildlife in the Park. At this time we are looking to continue to expand our membership and make ourselves better known to residents of the area and to local businesses. To that end, we have recently established two committees. The first is the Out Reach committee. This committee will develop programs and identify local events that we can use to get out the word about the park and our group. For example, one event that we recently supported was the Bio-Blitz the Park held this past weekend. This event brought in local wildlife and plant experts so that the Rangers could better catalogue all the species residing in the Park. It was a great way to get out and explore the park! The second committee is the Sponsorship committee. This committee will focus on getting in contact with local business (big and small) with the aim of getting those businesses to donate money and/or equipment, or allow us to partner with them on events. We have had some great support already thanks to the good people at REI and we know that many other businesses would be interested in getting involved as well. We are looking to get some additional people to get involved with these committees and help take our group to the next level. We aren’t asking for a huge time commitment as we all have busy enough lives already, just a few hours here and there to attend committee meetings and participate in executing some of the events/programs that you would be helping to develop. If you would be interested in getting involved, please let us know which committee you would like to join. If you prefer not to be on a committee but are interested in volunteering to help in other ways, please let us know that as well. We are very excited about what this group has achieved thus far and are looking forward to making continuing contributions to our favorite local attraction - Lake Norman State Park. Thanks to you all for your interest and I hope to hear from many of you soon. Sincerely, Michael Polzin, President Board of Directors Meeting
Friends of Lake Norman State Park September 25, 2018 Lake Norman State Park Visitor’s Center President Michael Polzin called the meeting to order at 6:11 p.m. Those in attendance and constituting a quorum were: Present: Michael Polzin, Jeff Cooper, Katie Gradert, Jenni Wyatt, Kathie Kemp, Debbie Page, Ashley Thompson & ex-Officio Advisor Greg Schneider Absent: Alison Hemingfield, Shannon Johnson, James Pogue & Vicki Taylor Visitor: O.C. Stonestreet Current Business: Introduction of new Board Member: President Michael Polzin welcomed Ashley Thompson to the Board and introduced her to the other Board members. Ashley was appointed by the Executive Committee to fulfill the term of Jeff Pelchat who resigned from the FLANO Board on 8/23/2018. Ashley Thompson confirmed her willingness to serve on the Communications/Outreach committee. History Presentation scheduled for Tuesday, October 16th from 6:30-8:00 p.m. at the Community Building: Historian, author & columnist O.C. Stonestreet was introduced to the Board as our speaker for this event. He brought samples of his columns and one of his books for the Board to review. He briefly discussed the proposed content of his presentation. O.C. plans to talk for 40 minutes and then open the floor for discussion. A schedule for the evening was planned. Greg Schneider will open with a welcome and brief overview of park amenities. Michael Polzin will give an overview of FLANO goals/achievements to date and then issue an invitation for those present to join FLANO. Greg Schneider will present the Heroism Award to Rich Goad. O.C. will give a 40-minute talk and PowerPoint presentation followed by a 20-minute question/answer period. O.C. will be provided with a table for book signing and sales. Refreshments will be served before and after the event. ACTION ITEMS: Michael Polzin volunteered to provide the spiced cider. Katie Gradert will ask for decaf Starbuck coffee donation and find a rental popcorn machine. Left-over water/snacks from Bio-Blitz will be used. Katie Gradert will obtain equipment needed for the PowerPoint presentation. Michael Polzin, Katie Gradert, Jenni Wyatt & Jerry Wyatt will help with set up of room, FLANO table and refreshments. Park Staff will have a fire in fireplace that evening or instruct FLANO how to do this. Debbie Page, Kathie Kemp & Ashley Thompson will man the FLANO table before and after the event. Katie Gradert and Ashley Thompson, Jenni Wyatt & Jerry Wyatt will clean up after event. Debbie Page will write a press release and publish it in area media outlets. Debbie Page will design a flyer for the event. Jeff Cooper offered to have a flyer printed to distribute in the area. Board members unable to attend tonight’s meeting are urged to help promote and participate in this FLANO outreach event. NLD Trail Building Event on Saturday, September 29, 9 a.m.-12n ACTION ITEMS: Jeff Cooper will set up the FLANO tent and man it from 8:30 a.m.-10:00 a.m. Jerry & Jenni Wyatt will man the tent from 10 a.m.-12n. Get Fit, Sunday, September 30, 2-4 p.m. ACTION ITEMS: Debbie Page will be there early to set-up with Get Fit sponsors. Ashley Thompson and Jenni Wyatt will man the FLANO tent. Jerry Wyatt and the Polzin family will lead Alder Trail hikes. Back-Country Clean-up Day & Bio-Blitz Greg Schneider reported on the success of both events. Eleven volunteers and three park staff participated in Back-Country Clean-up Day. Over 500 pounds of trash and electrical wire were removed from the park. $337.06 in funds were donated to FLANO from the recycled metal proceeds. 76 volunteers participated in Bio-Blitz. All the numbers of the species collected have yet to be entered in the database. It appears that there will be around 500 more species identified and added to the species list at Lake Norman State Park. Greg expressed his appreciation to FLANO for helping with the event and preparing/serving meals to the volunteers. Special thanks were extended to Shannon Johnson and Debbie Page who planned meals, shopped for groceries, donated and prepared food, and provided serving dishes, etc. They far exceeded the park’s expectations and served with excellence. A very special thanks to both their husbands too! Treasurer’s Report: Katie Gradert distributed copies of the quarterly report to Board members. This also included the number of hours worked at FLANO volunteer and outreach events. Committees Email Letter Update: Michael Polzin and Jeff Cooper reported that the letter is ready for distribution. ACTION ITEM: Katie Gradert will email this letter to FLANO members. Joy Shuck personally donated an event tent to FLANO ACTION ITEM: All Board members, if you haven’t already done so, please email and thank Joy Shuck for her generosity. Group Camp Update: Katie Gradert submitted grant proposal to Joy Shuck at REI. Joy responded that, if approved, the grant funds would not be available until May 2019. Greg Schneider was willing to wait until funds are available. ACTION ITEM: Katie will communicate to Joy Shuck that this time frame is acceptable and will continue to pursue REI grant funding. T-Shirt Update: Katie Gradert & Kathie Kemp reported that cost of t-shirts greater than anticipated and do not want to deplete FLANO reserves. Several options were discussed including pre-ordering t-shirts, having individuals front the cost of the shirts or asking NCFSP to front the cost. ACTION ITEM: Katie Gradert will contact NCFSP to see if they will advance FLANO the funds to purchase t-shirts and then pay back NCFSP when t-shirts are sold. Next Board Meeting is October 9, 2018 at 6:00 p.m. Meeting adjourned at 7:21 p.m. Minutes submitted for approval by President Michael Polzin on 9/25/18. THANKS TO Eagle Scout Candidate Christopher (Kit) Stuckey of Boy Scout Troop 171, sponsored by Williamson Chapel United Methodist Church, for making $73.15 donation to the Friends of Lake Norman State Park.
Stuckey has just completed his Eagle Scout project in Lake Norman State Park. He purchased materials, built four benches, and then installed them in the area of the park's beach. The benches are very popular and have been used every day since installation. The donation to FLANO is from the surplus funds raised for his Eagle Scout project. Lake Norman State Park and FLANO are very appreciative of the much needed benches and the donation. We had a really good Backcountry Cleanup today, finishing all the areas that we had planned! The gathered metals will be taken to the scrap yard and the proceeds turned over to FLANO to fund more great projects!
Quinn Morris, along with Superintendent Greg Schneider, was one of the 11 volunteers and three park personnel who helped in the cleanup today! Board of Directors Meeting
Friends of Lake Norman State Park August 14, 2018 Lake Norman State Park Visitor’s Center President Michael Polzin called the meeting to order at 6:16 p.m. Those in attendance and constituting a quorum were: Present: Michael Polzin, Katie Gradert, Jenni Wyatt, Shannon Johnson, Kathie Kemp, Debbie Page, Vicki Taylor & ex-Officio Advisor Greg Schneider Absent: Jeff Cooper, Alison Hemingfield, Jeff Pelchat, James Pogue Visitors: Sheila Riddell & Hilda Romano attended the 7:00-7:30 p.m. Bio-Blitz information meeting which was held during the Board meeting. President Michael Polzin gave an overview of FLANO’s purpose, goals and accomplishments to date. He also presented upcoming FLANO event opportunities. Park Superintendent, Greg Schneider, presented the details on Bio-Blitz. Board Members and visitors signed up to serve at the events. Current Business Committees: President Polzin gave an update on the committee announcement letter which should be ready to email soon. An announcement was placed on Next Door & submitted to Statesville News & Landmark promoting FLANO membership and directing volunteers for committees to sign up on the website. Ashley Thompson who attended our June Board meeting would like to serve on the Communications/Outreach Committee. REI Park Contributions & Tent Update: Joy Shuck emailed that she is working on getting an event tent for FLANO. REI will be onsite at NPLD on September 29 (Trail-building event). They will be giving away REI 2018 stewardship shirts and REI swags to all participants with some REI branded gear at their event tent. REI will also provide light refreshments for all participants. REI granted the Tarheel Trailblazers $10,000 for Itusi Trail improvements. Tar Heel Trailblazers raised another $6500. November 10 & 11th REI will have its stewardship campout at group camp. As part of this stewardship event, they will partner with Tarheel Trailblazers to do work on the Itusi Trail. They also hope to do a lakeshore clean up using park canoes & kayaks. Joy invited FLANO members to come & present FLANO information at the campout. It was suggested that FLANO do something for REI such as have a breakfast coffee & fruit or hot chocolate & SMORES by the campfire to mingle, meet and enlist support/membership for FLANO. ACTION ITEM: Decide what FLANO will do at the REI campout during our September Board meeting. Joy Shuck also requested more information on the FLANO Group Camp Project as she would like to present this to HQ if it would meet our timeframe for the project. ACTION ITEM: Jenni Wyatt emailed a copy of Joy Shuck’s email to all Board members. Katie Gradert & Shannon Johnson will send Joy Shuck the information she has requested on the Group Camp Project. FLANO Kit & Storage Items: Shannon Johnson has our kit with all other items needed for an event set-up in the conference room storage closet. Katie Gradert, Treasurer, will keep the money box off-site and bring it for events as requested. Wall of Honor Donors: A Wall of Honor Page will be added to the FLANO website to recognize corporate donors. ACTION ITEM: Debbie Page will create the Wall of Honor page. Corporate donors to date include: Statesville Free News, Kathie Kemp Designs, REI. Katie Gradert will contact Alison Hemingfield to ask if she would like her printing company to be listed as a sponsor. Maybe we could email each corporate sponsor (Statesville Free News & REI) thanking them for their support of FLANO and including a link to the Wall of Honor page. Liability Insurance: Vicki Taylor reported that she has heard nothing further from NCFSP. Treasurer Report: To date, Katie Gradert reported that we have 24 members and $1085 in collected funds. Katie plans to collect funds from the donation box monthly on the day of our scheduled Board meeting. T-Shirt Update: Recover T-Shirts unable to do the printing that was needed for our logo so exploring other possible printing companies. Shannon Johnson gave good input on her experience regarding t-shirt sizes and fabric. Action Item: Katie will contact Karen in the LKN State Park gift shop regarding the park’s sales of t-shirts. Kathie & Katie will get pricing for printing t-shirts. As soon as Katie has this information, she will email the Board for a purchasing decision. It would be great to have t-shirts to sell at our upcoming events. Back Country Cleanup Day: Saturday, August 25 9:00 a.m-12n: Participants will remove aluminum wire and trash from the woods. For additional details, see the FLANO website. ACTION ITEMS: Board Members, if you haven’t already, please email your availability for this event. Bio-Blitz: Saturday, September 8: Board members signed up to serve at the meeting. Shannon Johnson will coordinate the scheduling of the FLANO volunteers. Shannon Johnson & Debbie Page both plan to work the event from 6:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Volunteers are needed for 2 or 4 hour shifts to help cook & serve food to park staff and the scientists or man an educational booth. ACTION ITEM: All Board Members, if you haven’t already signed up, please email your availability to serve at this event. Jenni Wyatt posted the event on NextDoor, made an email announcement to all Wildlife Bay residents and emailed Hilda Romano of Windermere Island who said she would post it in their newsletter. Jenni also emailed Angela Hoover at Troutman Town Hall asking if she would include Bio-Blitz and Get Fit Iredell events in the Whistle Stop newsletter email which goes to Troutman residents. NPLD Trail Building Event: Saturday, September 29 9 a.m.-12n: Join Park Ranger staff to work on the Park Lake Trail. For additional details, see the FLANO website. ACTION ITEM: Board Members, if you haven’t already please email your availability for this event. Get Fit Event, Sunday, September 30: Volunteers needed to man the FLANO booth and lead .9 mile hikes every 30 minutes on the Alder trail. ACTION ITEM: Please email Debbie Page your availability to serve at the Get Fit Event in the park. Jenni posted this event on NextDoor. Website & Traffic Update: Debbie Page reported that both these sites have generated significant traffic. Historian Talk: Jenni Wyatt contacted O.C. Stonestreet, historian and author, who agreed to give a talk at the park. Greg Schneider suggested we host it in the Community Center as it can seat 110 guests. This will be a wonderful opportunity to promote FLANO membership. It was suggested that we serve popcorn and have a fire in the fireplace. Jenni will contact O.C. Stonestreet to see if he is available to speak on Tuesday, October 16th or Thursday, October 18th at 6:30 p.m. Future Board Meeting dates chosen were: October 9, 2018 at 6:00 p.m. November 6, 2018 at 6:00 p.m.—if this meeting is needed December 4, 2018 at 6:00 pm ACTION ITEM: At the December Board meeting, decide when the spring annual FLANO meeting will be held for election of Board members. Determine which officers/Board members will rotate off. Next Board meeting is 9/18/18 at 6:00 p.m. Meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m. Minutes submitted for approval by President Polzin and revision by the Board on 8/15/18. |
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