Santa Clara County 4-H Club Council
Meeting Minutes for November 12, 2002

The meeting was called to order at 7:30 by Treasurer Hans Toensfeldt. President Vicky Bosworth, Acting V.P. John Haggerty, and Secretary Gary Lang were absent.

All Star Lora Carey led the flag salutes. There were nine club represented at the meeting. The September minutes were posted on the county web site.

The Treasurer’s report was presents. Hans noted that Sibby reported only 9 clubs had completed enrollment; need to have remaining clubs in for payment of insurance to state. Kathleen Switzer as agreed to serve as chair for the Audit committee. A budget committee also needs to be formed.

President’s report stated that the new storage unit (named “Steve”) is installed with paint, shelves, and clip board for recording, behind the Pepper Steak building on the fairgrounds. Combo access will be restricted to Executive Board, Awards Chair, Food Booth Chair and Camp Directors.

All Star Lora Carey reported that the All Stars are working Leadership Overnight with a planning meeting scheduled for December 3rd at the Fairgrounds. They are also working on Toys for Tots on December 14th and 21st. The bowling event on November 2nd was successful. They are also encouraging the “Adopt-a-Fire Station” events. Lora also reminded everyone of the “Top Secret” leadership event, December 7th, for 6th and 7th graders with a staff meeting November 19th.

Lonnie Toensfeldt announced that this would be the last Council meeting in the Fairgrounds Board Room as the Fire Marshall has condemned the building for more than 10 people with no one allowed upstairs. The building has no historical significance as it was built as a replica and moved to the Fairgrounds. Because of the economy, it appears we can use almost any building on the grounds.

Lora Cary reported on her participation at the National Junior Horticultural Association conference in St. Louis, MO. This was very different than a California conference. There were mostly 4H and FFA participants with 3 from CA. She was adopted by Maryland, participated in pin trading, flew alone, had a great time. There were competitions (i.d. a tree from a twig, etc.), and she won a national award for her demonstration (Propagation of Old English Lavender). Next year’s conference is in Raleigh, NC.

4HYDA Fe Moncloa was absent attending a “Conflict Resolution” seminar.
Large Animal Coordinator Bob Towle reported the Junior Livestock Auction now has a separate accounting by the Fair. This year all bills were paid so there were no ‘bad debts’. The Fair is looking for three 4H members to serve on a committee with FFA to determine use of the balance of $1,500 from the Auction. As a board member of the Prusch Park Foundation, Bob stated that they are doing a 5-10 year Master Plan of the park and are looking at uses for a 9 acre parcel there — perhaps for Plant Science. They are looking for more FFA and 4H involvement and a simplified usage system.

There were no reports from Small Animal Science, Family and Consumer Science, Plant Science, or Engineering Science (Kevin Wentzel is moving to Houston, TX).

Key Leader Lonnie Toensfeldt distributed 2003 draft copies of the Fair Exhibits Book for review by coordinators and chairs. The Exhibits manager hopes to post the book on the Fair web site (<thefair.org>) by January 2nd. The Fair is set for August 1-3, 2003, with livestock received July 28th. Lots of help is needed in the Stills area. She also reported on the CA State 4H Leaders Forum at Asilomar last weekend. Next year our section is responsible for the Forum and Vicky Bosworth is the chair. Date: November 7-9, 2003.

Social Science Coordinator Trudy Jones announced the Presentation Day workshop for January 11th at the Fairgrounds, with Presentation Day set for February 22nd, and sectional on March 22nd at UC Davis. She also reminded everyone of the CAL Conference for 7th graders and up. Lonnie stated that the date had been changed to February.

Mark Teagle reported on planning for Summer Camp. The date will not be identified until the Santa Cruz County 4H Camp board meets in January. Applications for camp staff will be up on the web soon. This is a great leadership opportunity for members to fully run camp.

Hans reported on the “Grants Committee”. He, John Haggerty, Deborah Lang and Fe Moncloa met in Oakland with Toby Weiner, VP for DANR for an overview of the process. This was in response to an endowment from the Burrel Leonard estate for Santa Clara County. Endowments are governed by a body of law, and the committee felt better about the process after the meeting even though we haven’t seen any money yet.

County Marketing Project leader Tim Oey stated that an information booth kit is now available at the 4H Office. If you have opportunities for outreach, contact Tim [<tim@4H4U.org>]. Marketing project meetings on Fridays at Adobe. They had a presentation by UC PR person. At Forum he met with National Conference team members, Steven Russell, and Dr. Carole McNeill about marketing the program and was encouraged.

Under Unfinished Business the County 4H Council Fair Food Booth was discussed. The building now has a new roof, we don’t have to do set up or take down. It is a lot of work, but has many benefits. Kevin Wentzel has managed the booth for several years, but will be moving to Texas. The question is should it be run in the future? In January there should be a vote on whether to continue. Should it be by committee or as an entrepreneurial project? Lonnie will write an article for the January Timely Topics on this question.

Under New Business a report was made on the Executive Board Retreat. Some of the issues identified were: lack of project information; help needed for floundering clubs; the need for better leader training; and the fact that it should take less than three years for someone coming in to be able to understand the program.

Meeting was adjourned at 9:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Lonnie Toensfeldt, Acting Secretary