Hello Friends of Lake Norman State Park and Supporters,
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Meeting minutes from Wednesday, January 8th, 2020
Call to Order by President Michael Polzin at 6:05 p.m. Board Member present: Michael Polzin, Shannon Johnson, Katie Wurtz, Ashley Thompson, Vicki Taylor, Jenni Wyatt, Debbie, Page, Kathie Kemp, Greg Schneider, and Those who were not present: James Pogue and Sheila Riddell. 1. Approval of minutes from November 5, 2019. Vicki motioned, Shannon seconded the motion and President, Michael Polizin approved the minutes. 2. Corporate sponsorship committee – Shannon agreed to help FLANO spearhead this mission. Since Shannon does not live in the area and not familiar as well as we are, she requested all the board members to compile a list of potential sponsors in the local area and submit to her via email to get the process started. A few already discussed were: Cedar Stump Pub, speaking to owner, Jeremy Shaw. Let if Flow Yoga, speaking to co- owner, Sandy Plemmons, etc. Shannon will look at all these corporations and decide how we can proceed/approach people at one time once we determine what our goals are. Michael spoke about money easier to manage and what we can offer them when they participate. Event based versus project-based recognition. Shannon will work on putting together the “package” once we have submitted our ideas to her. Vicki mentioned she has worked with companies like Dick’s Sporting Goods and they will generally give out gift cards to promote at events, etc. Discussion continued by all board members. Communication and Outreach Committee: Jeff was going to spearhead this committee prior to him moving away. Gregg discussed a possibility of us opening our monthly board members to the public – have a general meeting and if we need to discuss any private, we can. They can listen to what we are doing and hopefully it will bring more people to FLANO. Katie will email the members to start to advertise this. Everyone agreed that the meeting should be open to the public. Debbie Page is continuing to manage the website and FLANO’s Facebook account. Debbie also handles any press releases that we need. Debbie mentioned that she “boosted” the New Year’s Day Hike – with her own money on Facebook. There were 60 people at that hike. Debbie will be doing press releases for the grant we obtained. Debbie Page mentioned that she will be doing the “Get Fit Iredell” event again at the park. This will take place on Sunday, May 3, 2020. We can advertise FLANO at this time, as we did last year. a. Action item: each member email Shannon with your ideas. 3. Board Meetings change of day: Meetings to be rescheduled to the first Wednesday of the month. We had previously discussed quarterly but now that we have entered the busy season and summer coming up, we have decided to do monthly meetings until we feel comfortable. We also need to set up the Annual Meeting. Katie mentioned we can move our April meeting to coincide with the annual meeting. We discussed and confirmed that the Annual Meeting will take place on Saturday, April 4, 2020, starting at 10 a.m.Pursuant to the rules, this will be posted to the public on Facebook and our website. Debbie will add to the slideshow we did last year and incorporate the events and pictures from this year. Jenni Wyatt informed us she will not be at the meeting. We will keep the March meeting to prepare for the annual meeting. Michael is going to email Karen so we can be sure they have the space open for us since we have moved our meetings to another day. We are requesting the auditorium for the annual meeting. 4. Membership Update: Katie Wurtz reported that we have 24 members in 2019. $2, 628.74, in general funds. There is $275 amount left for the REI grants funds that need to be used by March. There is $395 in the petty cash. Kathie asked Greg how he thought we are doing according to how other parks are doing, Katie said that the 2 grants we obtained during the year was a good start. REI grant was $6,000 in total. Discussion followed on how we thought we were doing member wise. We could continue to do outreach to obtain more members. Renewal membership emails were sent out in August. Katie is going to continue to remind members to update their memberships. Katie mentioned when people sign up with PayPal it provides their address and email address for her to add to the member distribution. Katie thought if we sold a five (5) year membership that may bring better numbers. 5. Group Camp Project Update: Katie and Greg let us know that the update is we need to set another date to continue. Joy from REI let Katie know that she does not need much of a heads up for the date, she can help. B & C look great and are serviceable. A & E need to be completed so we will need 2 more days, discussions followed by board members. Vicki mentioned we need to look at dates for the Enhancement Program workdays. Shannon said we should include the school kids as they need something to do and have been helpful. Next day scheduled is February 22, 2020. Discussions followed about having the school kids help and the logistics of same. Greg thinks we can utilize the kids for group camp D. Vicki reminded us we have a specific timeline for the eradication grant, deadline would begin the eradication phase by winter and now we will need to send a repot to them in September of 2020. Discussions followed about how to order what we need, and Vicki and Greg came up with a plan to order online and have FSP pay for it in the cart. Katie thought that would be the fastest way to get the grant money spent. After some date discussions with the board, we decided the following dates below. Dates decided for the Invasive Species Eradication as follows: February 15th & February th th 29 &March7 . Dates decided for the Habitat Enhancement Program as follows: March 14th and March th 28 . Katie will put together a list of all the dates for FLANO events that we can distribute to all the members and Debbie will add to the website and Facebook. 6. New Business: After the discussions above we have decided to push back this topic until the following meetings. Greg is planning on continuing the hikes he has been doing and the next one will take place on Saturday, February 8th starting at 9am. These have been very successful. He will get us more dates during the following months. Discussions followed about moving our FLANO goods to the basements of the park. We can use it for an office and to house all our gear. **We have scheduled our next meeting for Wednesday, February 12, 2020. Meeting adjourned at 7:10 p.m. Katie Wurtz and I will open the donation box. Board of Directors Meeting
Friends of Lake Norman State Park held at Visitor’s Center Tuesday, November 5, 2019 President Michael Polzin called the meeting to order at 6:06 p.m. Those in attendance and constituting a quorum were: Present: Michael Polzin, Ashley Thompson, Kathie Kemp, James Pogue, Sheila Riddell, Jenni Wyatt, Vicki Taylor, Shannon Johnson, Katie Wurtz, ex-Officio Greg Schneider, and Ranger Chase Bennett. Absent: Debbie Page. Visitors: None. Current Business: Meeting Minutes of September 17, 2019 were approved by President Michael Polzin and approved unanimously by all other board members.
Center. o Kathy would like to take beautiful photos to entice people with nature and post regular on Facebook. o SheilamentionedawaytogetTarHeelTrailBlazersinvolvedinpromoting FLANO. o Katie and I discussed speaking to Jeremy Shaw the owner of Cedar Stump Pub. A few of us now him and Greg mentioned his love of the park. Various ideas for this, a hike then the stump? o Vicki mentioned member appreciation day – party at our park. o We will also re-visit our efforts to organize committees to improve our networking, marketing, and community involvement ideas until after the holidays. • There were really a lot of great ideas discussed and cannot wait to talk about them at the next meeting.
Board of Directors Meeting
Friends of Lake Norman State Park held at Visitor’s Center Tuesday, September 17, 2019 President Michael Polzin called the meeting to order at 6:18 p.m. Those in attendance and constituting a quorum were: Present: Michael Polzin, Ashley Thompson, Debbie Page, Kathie Kemp, James Pogue, Sheila Riddell, ex-Officio Greg Schneider, and acting park Superintendent Will Ruark. Katie Wurtz attending via telephone. Absent: Shannon Johnson, Jenni Wyatt, Vicki Taylor, Visitors: None. Current Business: Meeting Minutes of August 6, 2019 were approved by President Michael Polzin. • Party in the Park/Troutman ESC Park: Friday, August 16, 2019. Debbie Page and Vicki Taylor were the only board members that were able to attend. They sold one (1) T-shirt at the party. Debbie gave me, Ashley, the money and I will give it to Katie when I see her next. o Kathie also purchased a T-shirt at the meeting and gave me the money. **Katie Wurtz joined the board meeting via telephone**
Board of Directors Meeting
Friends of Lake Norman State Park held at Visitor’s Center Tuesday, August 6, 2019 President Michael Polzin called the meeting to order at 6:07 p.m. Those in attendance and constituting a quorum were: Present: Michael Polzin, Ashley Thompson, Jenni Wyatt, Debbie Page, Kathie Kemp, James Pogue, Vicki Taylor, Sheila Riddell, and ex-Officio Greg Schneider. Absent: Shannon Johnson, Katie Wurtz and Patrick Wurtz. Visitors: Acting Superintendent, Will Ruark. Current Business:
Board of Directors Meeting
Friends of Lake Norman State park held at Visitor’s Center June 4, 2019 President Michael Polzin called the meeting to order at 6:10p.m. Those in attendance and constituting a quorum were: Present: Michael Polzin, Shannon Johnson, Patrick Wurtz, Jenni Wyatt, Vicki Taylor, Sheila Riddell, and ex-officio Greg Schnieder. Absent: Ashley Thompson, Katie Wurtz, Debbie Page, Kathie Kemp, James Pogue Visitors: None. Current Business: Minutes. Katie Wurtz is working with the main friends group on setting up a square to take payment and will provide an update in July. Vicki Taylor gave an update about the Invasive Species Grant Application. She has the application prepared and there are just a few things that need clarifying: GPS Coordinates for both locations Labor intensive work so the current staff labor can be used for the inkind match. Greg said that it will be approximately 450 hours at $15/hour. $7,000 for equipment such as chainsaws, etc. Photos of kudzu or privet are needed. Greg said he would provide those. Front Porch Fest - Debbie Page will give an update at the July meeting. Party in the Park – June 14th, volunteers are needed. Clean up and cook out is scheduled for June 22nd from 9-12. We will meet at the visitor center. Michael Polzin will cook and bring the food. Shannon Johnson and Michael will coordinate the food and cook out. Jenni, Vicki, and Patrick will volunteer. Greg said that the public can call the visitor center to sign up Vicki said she will bring salads. Fishing Line Project Installation is scheduled for June 29th from 9-12 along with the shoreline clean up. Volunteers will meet at the Visitor’s Center. Star Party is July 5th. The rain date is July 6th. Amy applied for a grant for the bounce house. Jenni will call Amy to get status. Volunteers are needed. Lake Norman Forest Run is a half marathon and 5k scheduled for July 15th at 7am. We probably won’t get enough interest from the public to have a table at this type of event. Most people come to race and that is their main focus. New Business: Greg Schneider discussed sponsoring an event, Smoke on the Water, with a conservancy and forestry group promoting the Firewise program. Homeowners and neighbors learn to prepare property for wild fire. The event would start at 10am and hopefully have a 10 acre burn . The event will be Saturday, November 2nd from 10-2 at the Cove Picnic Shelter. He would like FLANO to provide water, drinks and heavy snacks for presenters and participants. He estimates probably a couple hundred dollars of FLANO funds. The guest invited to share about Julia Clark did not attend the meeting. Greg Cain will attend the next meeting to further discuss the student education program. The next Board Meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 9th, 2019 at 6:00pm. The August Board Meeting will be held on August 6th at 6:00pm. Meeting adjourned at 7:04. May 7, 2019 Board of Directors Meeting
Friends of Lake Norman State Park held at Visitor’s Center May 7, 2019 President Michael Polzin called the meeting to order at 6:03 p.m. Those in attendance and constituting a quorum were: Present: Michael Polzin, Shannon Johnson, Ashley Thompson, Katie Wurtz, Patrick Wurtz, Jenni Wyatt, Debbie Page, Kathie Kemp, James Pogue, Vicki Taylor, Sheila Riddell, and ex- Officio Greg Schneider. Absent: None. Visitors: Greg Cain, Exceptional Children’s teacher at Community School of Davidson. Michael Polzin initiated the meeting with a welcome and an around the table short introduction as there are many new board members. Each board member introduced themselves to the group. Current Business: Partnership presentation by Greg Cain: Greg Cain attended the meeting and gave a brief presentation on a potential partnership with his advisory program at Community School of Davidson, Lake Norman State Park, and FLANO. They have previously worked with a private non-profit education/therapeutic center in northern Iredell County. The advisory program goals are to eat together, celebrate together, and serve the community together. He has experience building trails, clearing trails, cleaning trail signs, painting, trimming branches, pulling weeds, maintaining the beauty of the park, and having the children help him to do so. Has experience with maintaining the Mountains to Sea Trail. Looking to meet between six (6) to seven (7) times during the 2019-2020 school year. They will meet once per month on Friday anywhere between 9:30-1:30/2:00 p.m., and have about ten (10) to fifteen (15) students and three (3) to four (4) of them will be disabled. Katie Wurtz indicated it would be a good idea for a FLANO member to be involved, if they are able, to promote community awareness with FLANO. Michael Polzin said it would be good to publish this on our website to continue to involve the community. ACTION ITEM: Greg Cain will be in contact with Chase Bennet who is the Volunteer Coordinator for LANO. Greg Cain will attend our July 9, 2019 meeting to provide us with more information and dates for the upcoming 2019-2020 school calendar year. Annual Meeting Feedback: Katie Wurtz reported we sold $400 worth of T-shirts at our Annual Meeting held on March 30, 2019. The annual meeting went smoothly. Our only concern is how we can attract more people to attend the meetings in the future. Fishing Line Project Feedback: Per Katie and Patrick Wurtz, this will be rescheduled to allow for more volunteers. They are discussing to possibly include this with a shoreline clean-up. ACTION ITEM: Reschedule date and decide if we want to include a shore clean-up at the same time. Patrick and Katie Wurtz reported that the Fishing Line Recycle containers were assembled by a small group of volunteers on April 6, 2019. Katie will choose a date for the installation of the four assembled fishing line recycle containers and may include a shoreline cleanup on this date. She will email announcement to FLANO members. Katie announced that the REI Grant Award of $6,000 from REI to help support group campground renovations at Lake Norman State Park. We would like to thank Joy Shuck Marketing Coordinator and Outdoor Programs Manager at REI for her instrumental work in getting this project funded. We have one (1) year to use the funds. Greg and Katie discussed using the funds. Friends of Lake Norman State Park has been awarded the 2019 for the fire pits, grill tables, and possibly tent pads. The tent pads will be really labor intensive. We will discuss further the use of the obtained grant. Friends of State Park Conference: Shannon Johnson represented FLANO at the FSP Conference at Haw River State Park on April 26-28th. Shannon reported that 15 groups out of 40 attended the conference. She had hoped more groups would be represented and perhaps this to the steep price required to attend the conference.Future conferences were discussed as to how they could be more effective and more in touch with the parks overall theme, goals, and the parks mission going forward. FSP lobbies for the chapters on behalf of the parks at the state legislature. This benefits the chapters and the parks. As chapters of NCFSP, we can accomplish more for the parks. Shannon mentioned the NC nonprofit center, a great resource site for nonprofit organizations. She reported that there are grant opportunities for large projects that we should explore. Also, Republic has a grant for major cleanups and can provide a dumpster. Going forward, Shannon is hoping to prepare a newsletter for the Friends of State Park Chapters which she will prepare and distribute to all the groups. Thank you Shannon for attending this conference, representing FLANO and for your efforts to make the entire group more effective in their mission. It appeared that FLANO’s website was one of the only, if not the only site, that indicated we are a Friends group right on the top of the website. There was a big thank you to Debbie Page for the creation of our website. At the conference they discussed how other groups have a quarterly email that is distributed with group updates, events that are planned, and that also acknowledges large donors. We discussed also announcing that our T-shirts are ready and for sale. These T-shirts will be available at any events that we may hold. There was a discussion on the social component during community involvement projects and events. We discussed after an event we can hold a cook-out, picnic lunch, ice cream social. There are numerous ideas to bring the social component to work with the volunteer hours. We believe people want to volunteer but they also want a connection in the community. Shannon mentioned while on Facebook to tag the State Park Friends’ page to get more volume for the entire state. Shannon reported on the different groups and their donation box. We have one that is a great addition to the visitor center, but we may need a presence at the beach. There was a lot of back and forth whether we need a second donation box. Some of the board members feel like it would be a distraction to have a second box but a majority of the board felt like a second donation at the beach would bring more awareness and extra donations as well as a stronger presence to a heavily trafficked area. Shannon discussed the idea of a table with staff project wish lists. This would allow people to see where the donated money will be used and how various projects are being funded. ACTION: we can discuss this idea more as the board members seemed interested in this idea. Shannon told us how incredibly understaffed a lot of the parks are and how some parks have no staff for their visitor centers. This shows how important the Friends groups are for the mission to the parks. She handed out a lot of gear that included: backpacks, water bottles, books, stickers, etc. We decided to keep these items for future events, as Katie mentioned people love free stuff! The Friends group adopted a new logo along with a new color scheme. The logo was either shield or turtle shell. The new colors are orange and a dark green. All the board members agreed we should keep our original group logo. Shannon confirmed she was reimbursed for attending the trip, and from the entire board a big thank you for attending on behalf of FLANO. There was a discussion about legislative updates and all the various state parks. It was mentioned there are emails sent that update us on same. ACTION ITEM: Jenni Wyatt and Katie Wurtz receive legislative updates via email; they will forward these emails to the executive board members to review. Star Party held on April 26, 2019, feedback: Amy Shepherd in conjunction with the Piedmont Amateur Astronomy Club held a stargazing event on April 26, 2019. This was initially scheduled for April 12th but due to rain this had to be rescheduled. FLANO members that attended were Ashley Thompson, Debbie Page, and Jenni Wyatt. It was a very windy night after a bad day of rain. The party proceeded and there was a decent turnout after a family and a scout group attended. There were interactive modules and fun for the whole family. Greg Schneider discussed Amy Shepherd’s intention of asking FLANO for a bounce house for the next Star Party that will be held in July. Katie Wurtz discussed that this would be an ideal opportunity to apply for a grant. Amy Shepherd would apply for the grant and get approval from FLANO. o ACTION ITEM: Katie Wurtz and Amy Shepherd will email one another and proceed to apply for a grant. It was also discussed when the July date is confirmed we will need FLANO members to volunteer for the next party. Habitat Enchantment Program: Vicki Taylor advised us that the application period for the enhancement program started on May 1st and will end on July 31, 2019. Vicki and Greg Schneider discussed having a meeting together to sit down and fine tune the application. They can provide updates at the next meeting on the progress that has been made. Summer FLANO Events: Clean-up Day for the Dance Hall and possible other areas that was previously scheduled for February 23rd has now been rescheduled for Saturday, June 22, 2019 from 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Volunteers will gather loads to take to recycling center for cash redemption. Volunteers will meet at the Visitor Center at 9:00 a.m. Katie Wurtz and Shannon Johnson both agreed this is a perfect example of a way to include the social component. It was proposed that we can have a picnic lunch or a cook-out after the clean-up. The board members agreed this was a great idea. It was also agreed that we can sell T-shirts after the lunch. Front Porch Fest May 18, 10am-5pm: Debbie Page confirmed this will be held at the Iredell County Fairgrounds this year. We need volunteers to come out and support FLANO and help man the tent with Debbie. Party in the Park June 14, 5-8:30pm: We will need volunteers to advocate for FLANO and help set up and man the FLANO tent. It was agreed by all board members we will set up and sell T-shirts at all of the parties this summer. Lake Norman Forest Run July 13, 7am: We discussed having volunteers to advocate for FLANO or take part in this race through the park. Party in the Park August 16, 5-8:30pm: We will need volunteers to advocate for FLANO and help set up and man the FLANO tent. New Business: There was a discussion on whether there will be another public land day project by REI and will FLANO participate in this again. We will need to determine the dates and it was brought up that this would be a good way to incorporate the group camp project and the funds obtained for same. Michael Polzin brought Krispy Kreme doughnuts for the board meeting and announced he is now working at the corporate office. We all agreed that is wonderful news and thought what a great idea it would be to offer doughnuts and coffee at some events or perhaps once per month at the Visitor Center to bring awareness to FLANO. The next Board Meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 4, 2019 at 6:00 p.m. The July Board Meeting will be held on July 9, 2019 at 6:00 p.m. Greg Cain will be attending the July meeting and we will continue our discussion on the partnership at that time. Meeting adjourned at 7:45 p.m. Annual Meeting
Friends of Lake Norman State Park March 30, 2019 Lake Norman State Park Visitor’s Center President Michael Polzin called the meeting to order at 10:36 a.m. Board Members in attendance and constituting a quorum were: Present: Michael Polzin, Jeff Cooper, Jenni Wyatt, Katie Wurtz, Kathie Kemp, Shannon Johnson, Debbie Page, Vicki Taylor, Ashley Thompson & ex-Officio Advisor Greg Schneider Absent: Alison Hemingfield & James Pogue Members and non-members recorded their attendance & contact information on an attendance sheet. We had 17 FLANO members and 9 non-members in attendance. Welcome & Introduction to FLANO: President Michael Polzin State of the Park: Park Superintendent Greg Schneider presented a slide show which included the history of LKN State Park from the creation of Lake Norman through the various stages of name changes, park additions and current amenities. He also reported 2018 accomplishments and current projects planned or in process. LKN State Park Facts were presented:
Treasurer & Membership Report: Treasurer Katie Wurtz Membership: As of this meeting, FLANO had 49 members. Treasury Report: Membership Donations $1440, Donation Box Donations $ 913.15, Other/Metal Recycling Funds $359.28, Expenses $776.53. Outgoing Board Member Appreciation: President Michael Polzin extended the Board’s gratitude to outgoing Board members—Jeff Cooper, Alison Hemingfield and James Pogue. Each was presented with a card and FLANO T-Shirt as a token of our deep appreciation. Call for Nominations: After explaining the rotating Board members terms, President Polzin asked for nominations from the floor for Board Members. Those nominated for election to the Board were: Sheila Riddell, Jim Pogue, Patrick Wurtz, Kathie Kemp and Jenni Wyatt. All five candidates were elected by unanimous assent. Election of Vice-President & Secretary: President Michael Polzin MOTION by Kathie Kemp to elect Shannon Johnson as Vice-President. Seconded by Jeff Cooper. Shannon Johnson elected as Vice-President by unanimous assent. MOTION by Katie Wurtz to elect Ashely Thompson as Secretary. Seconded by Shannon Johnson. Ashley Thompson elected as Secretary by unanimous assent. Executive Board: President/Michael Polzin; Vice-President/Shannon Johnson; Secretary/Ashley Thompson; Treasurer/Katie Wurtz Board Members: Kathie Kemp, Debbie Page, Jim Pogue, Sheila Riddell, Vicki Taylor, Patrick Wurtz, Jenni Wyatt & Ex-Officio Advisor Greg Schneider Announcements: President Michael Polzin Those desiring to join FLANO can sign-up today or online on the website. FLANO T-Shirts available for $20 each. Next Board meeting is Tuesday, May 7, at 6:00 p.m. Meeting adjourned at 11:25 a.m. Minutes submitted by Jenni Wyatt for President Polzin’s approval 3/30/19. Board of Directors Meeting
Friends of Lake Norman State Park March 5, 2019 Lake Norman State Park Visitor’s Center President Michael Polzin called the meeting to order at 6:06 p.m. Those in attendance and constituting a quorum were: Present: Michael Polzin, Jeff Cooper, Jenni Wyatt, Katie Wurtz, Kathie Kemp, Shannon Johnson, Debbie Page, Vicki Taylor, & ex-Officio Advisor Greg Schneider Absent: Ashley Thompson, Alison Hemingfield, & James Pogue Current Business:
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