Present: Margie Brennan, Eric Hill, Barb Maas, Carolyn Miller, Craig Nelsen, Bonni
Newton, Kate Reynolds, Penny Rittgers, Carolyn Sabroske, Bill Wallace, Gregg Walsh,
Dee Wilson

Eric Hill made a motion to approve the minutes from the 10.17.16 meeting with a
second from Bill Wallace.

Bonni Newton was elected President and Kate Reynolds was elected Vice-President.

Craig Nelsen will write a change to the bylaws, so the vice-president succeeds as
president the following year. The change will include adding a year to the vicepresident’s
term on the board if necessary.

Holiday Tournament - Not all of the receipts have been submitted, so it is not yet
known how much if any money was made. There were an average of four more tables
for this year’s tournament. Table fees for the next tournament will be raised by $1 in
order to ensure a profit. Panera has not provided an invoice upon delivery of the
sandwiches for the past two tournaments. Gregg is going to contact Subway about
catering the next tournament.

Regional Tournament - The schedule has been submitted to the Regional Tournament
Coordinator. Barb Maas will make the reservations for the Tournament Director who
will arrive the night before the tournament begins. We do not have enough bidding
boxes for the tournament. Craig Nelsen will contact eastern Iowa Unit about
borrowing from them for the tournament. Eric Hill and Bill Wallace will update Unit
216 bidding boxes to make sure they are complete.

Education - Winter classes are posted on the website. Mentoring will be handled by the
Directors of the Sunday afternoon, Monday evening and Wednesday afternoon games.
The Education Committee is interested in having Audrey Grant return for another
presentation geared toward advanced beginners and intermediate players. The cost is a
minimum of $5,000 per day. The Board agreed to her return pending agreement by the
Gustafson-Byers fund to provide the shortfall of up to $1,500 if not enough
participants are registered.
Penny will contact a local school district about partnering to offer a beginning bridge
class.

Treasurer’s Report - Carolyn presented reports for 2016 expenditures. Board has about
$29,000 in bank. The only sources of revenue are the tournaments and ACBL dues.
Des Moines Bridge Center Board of Directors Meeting 1.09.17

New Business - How can we increase our profits or decrease our expenditures? The
Hawkeyer costs about $2,100 per year to print and mail. Carolyn Sabroske will research
the options for the Hawkeyer in an attempt to reduce expenses.

Gratuities are given to the person/s coordinating the assembly of the Hawkeyer and the
webmaster. Carolyn Miller will forego her gratuity as treasurer.

Bonni Newton will make sure that Sally Nelson is chairing the Spring Tournament.

A defibrillator should be a joint purchase between the board and the corporation. Bill
Wallace will check on pricing.

The next meeting will be Thursday, February 9 after the game. We will discuss the
upcoming Spring Festival Tournament, March 30-April 2.

Submitted by Penny Rittgers