American Volkssport Association

National Executive Council Meeting

December 1, 2007  Mason, Ohio

 

 

 

Report to the Northeast Region – by Phil Hait

 

All National Officers, Regional Directors & the AVA Executive Director in attendance.

 

 

AVA Club count as of this date – 313

 

The President’s report was presented by Curt Myron. The current AVA Committees were outlined with the new committee chairs named (see attached). The following committees are still looking for volunteers to assist the chair: 2009 Convention Volunteers, Standards & Evaluations, Bylaws, Marketing, Publicity and Sponsors. If you are interested please let me know.

 

The current IVV situation was discussed briefly and the recently named Advisory Commission will meet to brainstorm and they hope to have a preliminary report/action plan to present at the next NEC meeting on March 1, 2008 in Washington DC. Shirley Lindberg, past President of AVA is chairing this group.

Just this past week, the AVA received the minutes from the July 2007 Congress of Delegates IVV Convention. The minutes were received in German without an English translation as required under the IVV bylaws. The minutes are being translated and will be made available to the AVA officers upon completion.

 

The President’s report also included numbers tabulated by Curt Myron that show walk statistics for all 10 AVA Regions in 2005, 2006 & the first half of 2007.

I have included the portion for the Northeast (13 clubs) & Atlantic (41 clubs) Regions for your review. It shows quite a drop in the number of regular events in 2006. It also indicates that the Northeast Region benefited from the June 2005 AVA Convention that was held in the Atlantic Region. Our YRE/SE events totals were quite a bit higher following the Convention compared to 2006 numbers. Surprisingly the number of YRE/SE events remained the same for both years.

 

I have also included two charts which show the total number of event books processed per region for the past 4 years. A separate page detailing only the 10 Event books is also included. This category is an important indicator of growth for AVA. The Northeast Region has the fewest clubs (13) and we need to cultivate more new walkers. Collectively we need to figure out how to bring new people into our sport. The financial health and well being for the region are at stake. Please give our club leaders your ideas on how we can grow.

 

 

 

 

 

The Executive Director reported a snafu on 40 new YREs/SEs happened when the “Y” designation did not show up on the sanction request/number assignment. The Clubs & Region Directors need to be more thorough when entering & checking this information. If any club has not received their new stamp in time for the start of the event, please contact Jackie at AVA. Jackie also indicated that she has hired a new person “again” for the Events position, the 4th person in the last 2 years. She also told us that Eric who has been in charge of Awards will be leaving to pursue his college degree. A new hire is on board and will have the benefit of several weeks training with Eric before he leaves.

 

The Special Events Committee Chair (Phil Hait) presented 4 new programs to commence on January 1, 2009 & a modification to an existing program. All were approved. The summary of the proposals are outlined below.

 

(A). Museum Walk America, sponsored by The Penn Dutch Pacers Volksmarch Club, Lancaster, PA. Qualifications are to walk in 25 scheduled events or YREs between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2011. A “museum” is defined as a building, place, or institution devoted to the acquisition, conservation, study, exhibit, or artistic value and/or a building or location that has a name on a sign that includes the word Museum.

 

(B). Celebrate America’s Gardens, sponsored by The Central Minnesota Volkssports Club, St. Cloud, MN. Qualifications are to walk in 20 scheduled events or YREs between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2011. The purpose of the Celebrate America’s Gardens program is to enable walkers to get a closer look at flower gardens as a part of their walking adventures by experiencing the pathway designs and other features of gardens created for the enjoyment of community members. Public Flower Gardens, Flower Festivals, Arboretums, Plantations, Botanic Gardens, and Parks containing named gardens may also be used.

 

(C). Veteran Memorials, sponsored by The Holy Family Walkers Volksmarch Club of Lawton, OK. Qualifications are to walk 30 scheduled events or YREs between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2011. Events that pass a veteran’s statue/memorial/monument meet the criteria. A veteran’s statue must include the military rank. The following do not qualify: military vehicles, cannons/military equipment, flags, cemeteries, veteran organizations (VFW, American Legion, etc.).

 

 

(D). Walkin’ Waterfalls, sponsored by the Finger Lakes Region Volkssport Club of Binghamton, NY. Qualifications are to walk 12 scheduled events or YREs between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2011. The definition of a waterfall event is any event that includes a waterfall within sight of the walking route. A waterfall is defined as a body of water that has a drop of at least 10 feet. It does not include dams, spillways, fountains, or rapids. A lengthy list of YRE’s from 2007 shows qualifying events from 9 of the 10 AVA Regions.

 

 

(E). Riverwalk Program modification. The Canadian Volkssport Federation has proposed their own River Program to commence January 1, 2009 and have approached the POC for the AVA Riverwalk Program about allowing walkers from both countries to participate in a joint effort similar to The Covered Bridge Program already in effect.

Lorraine Weaver, the POC for the AVA Riverwalk is receptive to the concept as well.

 

 

New Business: There were quite a few motions before the NEC. The details were sent out in a recent issue of Checkpoint. A summary of the actions is outlined.

 

A) Approval to expend funds                                                                Approved

B) No Limits on Special Events                                                 Approved

C) Change to cost to RD’s for Awards                                     Approved

D) Change to AVA Homepage/Starting a New Club                             Approved

E) Request AVA to pursue canoeing as an event category                     Motion amended

Motion now reads: AVA to initiate procedures, to make it

possible for the AVA to sanction canoeing, row boat &

kayaking events of between 1500M & 2000M for credit only.

At present, only the IVV has the authority to add new event/

sport categories for the organization.                                                Approved

F) Kayaking                                                                                         Motion withdrawn

G) Recommendation to move NEC meetings                             Motion failed

H) NEC Reimbursement policy change                                     Motion withdrawn

I) Special stamp for Global events                                                         Approved

J) Change in SE sanctioning window                                                     Motion amended

Motion now reads: Effective March 1, 2008, Seasonal Events

can be sanctioned at any time. The 90 day period from

sanction request to start of event still applies. A Seasonal

Event is defined as an event of less than 11 months long.                    Approved

K) Recommendation to change Seasonal sanctioning                 Motion withdrawn

L) Replace wording of “regular” event with “traditional”             Motion failed   

M) AVA Volkssport gift coupons                                                         Motion failed

N) Distinctive attire for NEC members                                      Motion failed

 

 

This concluded the NEC business meeting.