Memberships Represented: Barak(2), Battista, Freeman, James, Johnstone, Livingston(2), Logan, Marincel, Opila, Rzewski(2), Shank, Sheaffer, Strat, Wolfe. The 2's indicate that two voters were present from that membership.
Jim Wolfe Called the meeting to order at 2:34 pm.
1. Minutes from 13 November, 2011 were approved.
2. Election of Officers
The following officers were nominated and
seconded and elected by acclamation, as there were no other nominations-
each to a two year term.
a. President- Jim Wolfe
b. Vice President- Dave Battista
c. Secretary- Jennifer Livingston
3. The club membership thanked Barbara Johnstone for her service as volunteer coordinator. The club also thanked the members who served as meet directors in 2012 and Dave Battista and Jim Wolfe who served as the only vetters for 2012.
4. Report on the Achievements of 2012
a. WPOC held 10 orienteering events for 2012, plus one yet to be conducted
on Dec. 1st at Frick Park.
b. Five club members held a total of approximately 16 orienteering workshops
around Western PA throughout the year.
c. Progress on establishing permanent orienteering courses has been slow.
Paperwork for one at Keystone was submitted and denied by the state due
to “too many permanent orienteering courses in the area”. Our club
was advised to wait and resubmit our request in 6 months. Prince
Gallitzin has not had theirs installed yet. One has been installed
at Highland Regional Park as a Boy Scout project.
d. Our club now has several new maps including: a new portion of Yellow
Creek State park, and Prince Gallitzin.
5. Financial Report
A financial report was made for WPOC through 11 November 2012. It
shows the club to be financially stable. The decrease shown in our
balance was explained as our club membership spending the profit from Keystone
Capers and Raccoongaine on equipment for electronic punching.
6. Discussions and Goals for 2013.
a. Discussion was had regarding the Board Action of increasing prices for
the 2013 membership fee which is now being used and an increase of meet
entry fees by $1 to $5 for members and $6 for non-members. The price
increase reflects the increase in price that we pay to OUSA for insurance.
b. The club would like to hold 10 or more local events with at least one
being training oriented. The club plans to skip using Hartwood Acres
this year.
c. The club membership will continue to hold workshops and promotional
events for orienteering.
d. Discussion was had regarding the need to increase volunteerism at meets.
Club members saw a visual aid that showed how many meets club members attended
and how many meets those same club members volunteered for. With
the club membership currently at 27 family memberships and 26 individual
memberships, it showed that many did volunteer at or above the 40% mark
and many had little to no participation at all. The target group
to aim for more volunteers would be those who attend events but have never
or seldom volunteered. Discussion involving a ranking system for
club members in which one would also earn points for volunteering was also
discussed, but the club decided against implementing something like that
at this time. Volunteers at meets will still generally have the opportunity
to do one course for free when they volunteer.
e. Discussion was had regarding a scout’s only orienteering event such
as Ed Scott from DVOA puts on each year. Or as an alternative, a
meet for only new people with several white and yellow courses available
in which scouts would be invited as well as the public. It was decided
to try to host a “Beginner’s only” event where all of our volunteers could
be involved in teaching the beginners.
f. Discussion regarding map printing showed that many printing places charge
more than others. Pro Packet in Indiana, PA is the preferred provider
of the maps for our events because it has the most reasonable prices. Club
members who need to obtain map copies from other sources should try to
find similar prices if possible for their printing needs.
7. No new business.
Meeting adjourned at 3:34