Diamond Club Meeting

November 3, 2008

Members present:  Coach Downey, John Hoffman, Mike Blumer, Jessica Hagemann, Dave Stacy, Jeff Hershey, Diane Hershey, Marquetta Nickols, Mark Anderson, Mary Anderson, Ken Porter, Rawn Roman, Patti Nouis, Julie Becker, Scott Becker, Janet Wilson, Gordy Eicher, Randy Reichert, and Miriam Zachary

The meeting was called to order by Mike Blumer at 7:06.

Minutes from October meeting:

A motion was made by Julie Becker to approve the October minutes. The motion was seconded by Dave Stacy.  All were in favor; the motion carried.

Overview:  Mike Blumer:

v     Silent Auction/Banquet - On Tuesday, November 18^th there will be a banquet working meeting at 7:30 at Green Mill for about 45 minutes.  We are still needing people to contact companies for donations for the silent auction.  Jessica will email a list to the Diamond Club of the companies needing to be contacted. We need to get all the business contacted within the next month.  The Decorations Committee will also meet at a side table at Green Mill on the 18^th.

o       We need a minimum of 220 tickets sold to make the Silent Auction/banquet a success.  We plan to sell all tickets in advance this year.

v     Composting - This fundraiser went extremely well. We made $1755 on Saturday alone.  Coach Downey was there on Sunday with a group, braving the weather!  A big thank you from Mike Blumer to all who helped with this event.  We'll only do two Cub baggings this year due to the success of the compost fundraiser. 

o       November 8^th is available to compost again but the group felt it was too short of a notice to get a group this close. 

o       We are scheduled to bag at Cub on Saturday, January 31st (Super Bowl weekend). We still need another date; Marquetta will secure another Cub bagging event for the club.

v     There was discussion about a car washing event at Papa Murphys across from Super Target in the spring.  Papa Murphys provides free pizzas during the entire fund raiser. The owner contacted Mike Blumer about bringing the baseball team for this event; he is interested in being a part of fund raising for MV.  We will visit this option again.

Coach Downey's update:  (See complete report on-line)

v     Annual MN High School Baseball Coaches Meeting - as their planning looks ahead 2-3 years, there was discussion about reducing total games by 10% across all sports due to the perceived amount of time players miss from school.  While baseball doesn't typically miss school, others sports do. Another option discussed was reducing the number of actual dates of scheduled games; this could work by holding double headers on a Saturday.

v     They are also discussing moving the start of the baseball season later - the state tournament would then fall in July. This would run into legion baseball; coaches are opposed to a later start.

v     Bethel's spring break - their break coincides with ours and they are indicating no availability. Coach Downey will verify and will then look at Augsburg, Macalester, and the Blaine Sports Complex.

v     A bus trip is still an option for spring break if there is enough interest.

Vice President Update:

v     Parents have volunteered for the Captain's Practices - thank you to all who offered your time to "supervise" these practices. 

Treasurer's Report:

v     Checkbook activity since spring 2008 presented.

v     There is an addition of over $2,000 for October due to the successful composting fundraiser.

v     The current beginning balance was $5,953; ending is $8,154.

Other Business:

v     Dave Stacy provided an update about the Diamond Club Capital Campaign.  The report will be posted on the website for review. 

v     501c3 status - Thanks to Randy and Ben Gallagher for their work on the 501(c)3 application.  It has been submitted to the IRS; we are now waiting for approval.

v     Fundraising: outfield banner program and buy-a-brick program. We've been approved by the City of Arden Hills to display banners on the outfield fence. We plan to sell 6' x 8' banners to local businesses - sold on an annual basis - renewable each year. SAYB will be given a free banner to advertise their program.  The buy-a-brick program will sell brings and build a patio of brick pavers from the home dugout to the home bleachers.  Donors can select who they wish to be engraved on the bricks.   Currently this area at the new field is called the "Friends of Mustang Baseball Patio.".  They are still meeting with the various brick companies who provide this service.

v     A checking account has been set up at Wells Fargo; there is currently $5,000 in the account representing gifts given.

Meeting adjourned at 7:45 with a motion by Mark Anderson and seconded by Scott Becker.  All in favor.

The next regular Diamond Club meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, December 2nd at 7:00 pm in the Mounds View Forum.  All are welcome!