February 18, 2023
AMERICAN MULE ASSOCIATION
Board of Directors Meeting
February 18, 2023
North Ridge Country Club
7600 Madison Ave, Fair Oaks, CA 95628
General Membership Meeting:
Meeting called by: President, Casie Fairbanks
Note taker: Secretary, Jody Lowrey
Facilitator: North Ridge Country Club
Attendees: Board Members, Officers, Members and Guests
Call Meeting to order and flag salute: Casie Fairbanks, President
Time: 9:05am
Roll call: Casie Fairbanks, President
Joe Gonzalez, Jessica Bishop, Joy Valcheck, Sue Wallace, Kellie Shields, Jeanne Raede, JoDe Collins, Rebecca Raede, Devrie Montgomery, Casie Fairbanks, Jody Lowrey, Michele Chico, Becky Santucci, Brian Morris. Claudia Stevens, Barbara Schuyler, Erin Kight, Lou Jacobsen, Maggie Moore, Chris Lowrey and Emily Berman.
Absent: Jim Harvey. Motion made by Jessica Bishop to excuse Jim Harvey. Second by Jody Lowrey. Motion passed.
Read minutes of last meeting: Jody Lowrey, Secretary
Motion to accept minutes by Jessica Bishop. Second by Michele Chico. Motion passed.
Secretary report and correspondence: Jody Lowrey, Secretary
Showed everyone the old rule book from 1979. Sent from someone in Arizona, did send him a thank you card.
Treasurer Report: Michele Chico, Treasurer
Petty cash fund started for Lou Jacobsen for membership costs. The amount was $300 and Lou does put cash from members that send cash to supplement the fund. This is set up currently with Lou Jacobsen who is the membership chairperson. There were some older checks that needed to be replaced by members and Casie is in the process of taking care of this, at this time there is still one outstanding for her Leva/SSA. Michele did supply everyone with a balance sheet and a profit & loss report. Total amount in Wells Fargo account is 30,929.09 as of the end of January. It was recommended to diversify some money in the savings even move some to checking. Jessica asked about bank fees and Michele said there are no fees at this time since we do not have paper balance sheets from the bank, all this is done electronic and our balance is above $10,000. Motion to accept report by Jessica Bishop. Second by Becky Santucci. Motion passed.
Old Business & Reports:
Executive Report: Maggie Moore, Vice President
Mariah Keuler sent a letter with concerns about the costs of double judged shows. Jeanne Raede brought up if this has really helped with our shows and Jessica and JoDe both brought up that the numbers at the shows and has helped our association. We will continue with the doubled judged shows and discussed helping youths with show fees. Motion to accept the report by Jessica Bishop. Second by Kellie Shields. Motion passed.
Performance & Judges Report: JoDe Collins/Emily Berman, Chairperson
Blossom Trail Spring Show assessment $1296, Gold Country Spring show $1,596, Bear Valley $582, Gold Country fall show $1,448 and Blossom Trail fall show $1,136. Bishop assessment fees $2,346 and has been paid. Still outstanding Spectacular assessment $186. All approval fees paid for 2022 in the total of $350. The first Spectacular show does not have to pay for approval fees. Total for the year was $8940.
Approval fees paid and deposited for Blossom Trail, Gold Country (spring shows) and Bear Valley for this year for a total of $175. Calendar for this year for shows; Blossom 4/21-4/23 & 10/20-10/22, Gold Country 5/12-5/14 & 9/15-9/17, Spectacular 6/16-18, Bear Valley 8/4-6 and Mule Classic 10/4/-10/8. Discussion about some additional shows Rebecca brought up. It they want to offer mule/donkey classed they first need to get dates in and class list to Performance person and make sure they word everything correctly for class lists they can get approved. This does need to be done at least 2 months before the shows so everything can be completed and approved. It is important as a competitor to read the show premium and know what classes are AMA approved. Some show secretaries do make notes on class list what are non-AMA approved. Kathy is tentatively working on a May show 5/26/2-5/28. Motion to accept the report by Michele Chico. Second by Jessica Bishop. Motion passed.
Youth Scholarship: Emily Berman, Chairperson
No report. Emily will be revamping the application.
Membership: Lou Jacobsen, Chairperson
Total memberships for 2023 starting 10/2022 to current is 96. Individual memberships 44, family 20, Junior 2 and judges 9. Also 30 lifetime members. There was also 4 more membership paid at meeting. Motion to accept the report by Kellie Shields. Second by Michele Chico. Motion passed.
Registrations & Transfers: Jody Lowrey, Chairperson
Total monies for registrations and transfers $605 plus $90 towards memberships. Motion to accept the report by Michele Chico. Second by Kellie Shields. Motion passed.
Points Committee: Maggie Moore, Chairperson
The year ended with 11 approved shows. All show managers (including Bishop) sent their results in a timely manner with the exception of Bishop Mule Days their results were complete, although BMD did send any requests for judge’s cards without problems. On report there is a recap of competitors for each division, but not all qualified. We had 12 participants for SSA and 7 for LEVA. This program has steadily increased from what it was just several years ago when we only had 2 participants. Motion to accept the report by Jody Lowrey. Second by Becky Santucci. Motion passed.
Newsletter Report: Lou Jacobsen, Casie Fairbanks, Emily Berman, Editor
Will put in new Board Members in the next newsletter. Upcoming shows we should make it a feature and also of new members. To help with featuring upcoming shows it would help to get a little write up from the show secretaries. Motion to accept the report by Kellie Shield. Second by Becky Santucci. Motion passed.
Leva/SSA: Casie Fairbanks/Maggie Moore, Chairperson
No report
Teamster Committee: Barbara Schuyler/Emily Berman, Chairperson
No report
Packing Report: Joe Gonzalez, Chairperson
Every show except for Gold Country last year held packing classes and we had a consistent turnout. Two strong women in the Open Division: Mariah Kueler and Anna Baglione, and two strong women in the Non-Pro: Justine Fike and Jody Lowrey. In the Youth Division we had Maclain Rossi up against Klara Greene. They showed up at every show to pack. Motion to accept the report by Jessica Bishop. Second by Jody Lowrey. Motion passed.
Awards Committee Kellie Shields/Michele Chico, Chairperson
Awards awarded include 38 buckles, 2 saddles for AA and Amateur AA, 30 divisions and Top 8 Amateurs. Awards feature a new partner with Stay Prickly Designs, owned by Alycia Anthenusesse, who helped round out the divisional award placings with her custom patches and designs. Unaudited expenditures total approximately $18,348 with sponsorships of $6460 and budget of $13,000, total monies excess of $1,112. Will have the final numbers at the July meeting since all monies are not in and also there might be additional monies coming in from sponsors. Also we do have an extra buckle that Kellie will hold on to, there was a mishap with the youth since one youth did not have 3 qualifying shows. Motion to accept report by Jessica Bishop. Second by Michele Chico. Motion passed.
Rule Change Committee: Casie Fairbanks/JoDe Collins/Lou Jacobsen, Chairperson
No Report.
Election Committee: Brian Morris/Jessica Bishop/Lou Jacobsen, Chairperson
38 ballots turned in. All votes turned were all current members and one ballot sent in was 4 days over the end date, so was not counted. Motion to accept the report by Jessica Bishop. Second by Michele Chico. Motion passed.
Cattle Committee: Joe Gonzalez, Chairperson
2022 was a bit short on shows for the cattle division, the cattle division comprises of roping and penning, steer stopping, sorting etc. It’s open to both mules and donkeys now. The only show that had AMA sanctioned cattle events were two Gold Country and because they were both double points it counted essentially for four show, enabling us to get points for year end. We are grateful to Jessica Bishop for continuing to host cattle events. I was not going to mention Bishop, but we do have results for the steer stopping class, the roping and penning turned out to not be following the rules and are therefore not on our list for points. Motion to accept report by Michele Chico. Second by Becky Santucci. Motion passed.
Banquet Committee: Becky Santucci, Chairperson
Total results for 2022 raffle: live auction $4571, silent auction $1,113, raffle tickets $1,277 for a total of $6,961. Attendees last year was 97 adults and 6 kids, this year 93 adults and 3 kids. Dinners were $65 per person will cover the cost of the two rooms, buffet, service fees and tips. Bar-minimum $500. Amount collected via web $5,799, amount due from AMA $195 (auctioneer, auction spouse & Jess), uncollected meals $130 for a total of $6,189. There is a $3 charge for each person at the meeting for coffee, ice tea and water. Jessica Bishop makes a motion that the AMA pays for the concessions for the meeting. Second by Kellie Shields. Motion passed. Brian has donated another ice chest for raffling. Banquet room-4:00pm to set up. The room opens at 5:00 for everyone. Need to have the banquet end by 10:00pm (this includes the $325 we approved to pay). Motion to accept report by Jessica Bishop. Second by Jody Lowrey. Motion passed.
Promotions & Website: Emily Berman/Michele Chico/Chris Lowrey
I have been in contact with the photographers, from 2022 for the program and one way to show our appreciation from 2022 for the program and one way to show out appreciation for their donations is to promote them on social media. Once the banquet is over I will be doing photographer spotlights on Facebook. When you are scrolling through Facebook would you please like and share the AMA posts. If you need an event or have something you would like our followers to know please send it my way. Motion to accept the report by Jody Lowrey. Second by Becky Santucci. Motion passed.
Historical Committee: Lou Jacobsen, Chairperson
No report
Break 10:21am Back at 10:34am
New Business:
Seat new Board Members:
Maggie Moore, Jody Lowrey, Casie Fairbanks, Kellie Shields, Becky Santucci, Joy Valcheck and Devrie Montgomery.
President: Motion to nominate Casie Fairbanks by JoDe Collins. Casie Fairbanks accepts. Second by Joe Gonzalez. No other nominations.
Vice President: Motion by Becky Santucci to nominate Maggie Moore. Maggie Moore accepts. Second by Jody Lowrey. No other nominations.
Treasurer: Motion by Kellie Shields to nominate Michele Chico. Michele Chico accepts. Second by Becky Santucci. No other nominations.
Secretary: Jody Lowrey
Membership: Lou Jacobsen/Erin Kight
Registrations & Transfers: Jody Lowrey
Performance & Judges: Maggie Moore/Emily Berman/Kellie Shields
Rule Change Committee: Casie Fairbanks, Lou Jacobsen, Jeanne Raede and Maggie Moore
Youth Scholarship: Emily Berman
Packing Committee: Joe Gonzalez
Newsletter: Lou Jacobsen
Teamster Committee: Barbara Schuyler & Emily Berman
Cattle Committee: Joe Gonzalez/Rebecca Raede
Points Committee: Maggie Moore/Jeanne Raede/Rebecca Raede and Devrie Montgomery
Awards Committee: Kellie Shields/Sue Wallace and Rebecca Raede
Election Committee: Brian Morris & Jessica Bishop
Leva/SSA: Casie Fairbanks & Maggie Moore
Banquet Committee: Sue Wallace/Michele Chico & Barbara Schuyler
Historical Committee: Lou Jacobsen & JoDe Collins
Promotions/Website: Emily Berman & Chris Lowrey. We need to take Michele Chico off as administrator on Facebook. Emily will take care of.
Discussion about upcoming ranch shows: The folks that put on the Ranch shows in Corning would like to get AMA approval and offer classes to mules/donkeys. JoDe states that they need to get in right away since we need it at least 2 months before the show to get all the information and approvals. Barbara will get a hold of them to get in touch with Maggie to get the show packet and get this turned in. One show is in April and one in June.
Discussion about scholarship fund: Right now we have a $500 fund, would like to increase this to $1000. Which we have given out the $1000 before, but we should word it in the application as long as we have the funds we can allocate more to the applicant. We also give this to any type of further education like a trade school. Emily is in the process of redoing the application. Michele Chico makes a motion that Emily submit a draft to the Board when completed for approval. Second by Joy Valcheck. Motion passed.
Discussion on advertising budget: Emily is asking if we can set an amount each year for advertising. After discussion we will have Emily do some investigations on where we can get the most for our advertising. Ideas discussed in to put adds in Mules and More, Western Mule maybe try some local advertising to try and get youths involved. Emily asked for any ideas from the Board and members of any advertising that we think may help with getting more information out to people. Kellie Shields makes a motion that we allocate $3000 for the 2023 year in advertising. JoDe Collins seconds. Motion did pass by majority.
Discussion on out of state members: We need to up the prizes for Leva/SSA, make it more interesting to out of state members. We have a budget of $1000 plus entries. Michele also brings up about the youths that show at other shows outside of AMA, make it more inviting to get more interest. We should also enforce more on the Leva with getting secretary signatures, Chris will add a box on the Leva form for contact information also for members that do this online. We will also change the dates for hours from December 1-November 31. This will help with purchasing prizes and to calculate hours. Michele Chico makes a motion we increase the amount for awards to $2000 that will be $1000 for each. JoDe Collins seconds. Motion passed.
For Leva/SSA we need to collaborate with other organizations so that people on mule/donkeys are aware of our program and all they need to do is become members, register their animals and sign up for one of the programs. They can be given a brochure of our online forms and payment. As soon as they make their payment they are active and then they can send in pictures and get this all done. They need to also know they do not need the lineage of their animals or dates of birth. Casie will get some brochures made and pass out. We also could get online with other organizations to let them know we can co-sanction with them also as members if can take our mules/donkeys to other shows and see if there are other competitors showing with mules/donkeys we can be more active with the show organization.
Discussion on Performance: JoDe Collins will still follow up on a few things that are still in action now so that Maggie is not left with having to take care of. Do not know all the details about the show in Winnemucca, they are still working on this to make it AMA friendly. Kathy Pettit is still working on a show in May. JoDe did let her know that some competitors will still be going to Bishop even though it is not AMA approved, but Bishop is history with a lot of competitors. She is making this an All Breed show, this will be single judged and she will compete with Bishop next year. This show also will be a memorial for Donna Hampton. Casie asked that Amanda at Bishop was to get a letter to her about 2024 Bishop Mule Days. JoDe said that she did talk to Donna and she filled in JoDe with their activities and that there was going to be a lot of changes. They are putting a lot of energy in the entertainment. The class list will be out March 1 and you will be able to enter classes at Bishop up to the night before. They are putting in a loudspeaker in the barn area. There also will be a code of conduct in the show packet that everyone has to sign and they are following AMA and Quarter horse format. The show also will be starting on Tuesday. All monies are still going to the Bishop office, so they will be handling all monies.
Projected budget for next year awards will more than likely stand at the $13,000, we can finalize this at our July meeting. We are probably going to have another year of struggling with low attendance with competitors at shows. Casie also brought up that we will need to be careful about raffles since we are nonprofit and this is considered gambling.
Barbara Schuyler felt there was some members that have strong opinions about not going to Bishop and had the attitude that you are a trader if you go. Most members in the room have not had that type of encounter and felt that if you wanted to go that is fine and if you don’t go that is fine. Everyone has strong opinions about Bishop but at no time was that meant to anyone that wants to go. We as a group need to represent our association and to trouble shoot some of the misunderstanding that some members have about going or not going to Bishop. Jeanne Raede brought up that she just heard from Amanda at Bishop and Amanda said she will get the letter out and Bishop does want to move forward for 2024 with the AMA. Kellie Shields did read the letter from Schat’s Bakery to everyone. It is basically letting Bishop Mule Days know that they will not be sponsoring them this year.
Kellie Shields will be presenting the Bishop High Point reins tonight at the banquet.
Also Kellie would like to thank Sue Wallace for getting a hold of all the sponsors and putting so much work into it. Also updated the mailing lists for the sponsors.
Discussion about giving something other than buckles for division winners. We have done this in the past, we did it for Tucker one year when he won all the divisions. It is more difficult to get another prize, you need to wait and see who is winning the division and then ask them what they would like. It would be reasonable if another year someone is winning a lot of the divisions to mix it up.
JoDe Collins also brought up about how hectic it can be at the banquet and no one really gets to share stories about their mule/donkey. It can so much more memorable if we can share a little story about our animals. Kellie said that if anyone thinks that someone should be recognized maybe we can fill Kellie in with a little background, she could share the information as the award is being presented.
Discussion about teamsters: Barbara was approached before Jessica’s fall show by a teamster if there is a rule about 2 wheel or 4 wheel vehicle in the gamblers choice or cone classes. JoDe Collins thought that there was a rule about that in the previous rule books. JoDe will look up the information and get back to Barbara about this to see if maybe we need to address this.
Discussion about a credit card for the Awards chairperson to use to shop for awards. Right now Kellie can only shop online and Michele brought up then this would not need to be audited. Michele brought up that there are 2 debit cards and only one accounted for. Casie will cancel the card that is unaccounted for. Joy Valcheck makes a motion to supply a credit card for the awards chairperson. Devrie Montgomery seconds. Motion passed.
Jeanne Raede makes a motion to have an alert from the bank on purchases made and Michele Chico to decide the amount for the alert. Second by Barbara Schuyler. Motion passed.
Jody Lowrey makes a motion to adjourn the meeting at 12:36. Becky Santucci seconds. Motion passed.