[SLG logo]Welcome to
Shining Lakes Grove, ADF

SLG Business Meeting Minutes

November 11, 1999

The meeting was called to order by 7:56 by Annette Gabriel.

Present: Rob Henderson, Annette Gabriel, Rodney Cox, Jan Henderson, Genevieve Stoyak, Patrick Monagin, Maria Valayil, Don Clayton. There was a quorum.

After a check in, the agenda was reviewed and items were added.

Calendar Review

The January calendar was reviewed and adjusted as follows:
An Bruane was moved to Wednesday.
Brideog was scheduled for 2 days: the 28th for those in Detroit, Canton and Belleville and the 29th for Ann Arbor, South Lyon and Lansing
The January Producers Guild meeting will be at Gen's from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm.

Gingerbread House construction will be the focus of the first Producers Guild meeting on November 27 and 28 at Jan's.

Officer Reports

Senior Druid

Rob reported that we collected a total of $100 for the fund for Veronica Kuclo-Raub's children.

Administrator

Annette will be managing the business processes and Rod will be picking up the Grove mail to cover the open position. Annette asked that we send her any items we would like added to the agenda by the Sunday before the business meetings. (Annette, thank you for the great job you are doing keeping us organized.)

Rod reported that we may not be able to get the Friends House for our Yule ritual. He will check. The backup plan calls for us to change day or switch to ICC.

Rod will schedule Imbolc and Spring Equinox for the Friends House. He will also send email notifying us where Yule will be held.

Rod will also visit the mail box before the next business meeting.

Scribe

Jan had nothing to report. She will send the minutes to Rob, Rod and Annette for review before posting to the list. She will also start a binder for all official Grove papers including the minutes.

Outreach Coordinator

Gen wants to get a list of contacts and publications. Rob will give her a copy of the list he used as Outreach Coordinator.

Gen will also talk to Crazy Wisdom to see when their deadline is for getting them our calendar. There was a strong feeling that March, June, July and November 20 might be the closing dates. Gen will also try to get some of our dates including Lore Class, coffee hours and rituals into some local newspapers including the Seeker and the Metro Times. There is a pagan round table on the 2nd Tuesday of each month.

Pursewarden

Patrick and Rob will coordinate an orderly transition before the next business meeting. Patrick will have to be added to the bank account. There was a discussion about switching to another bank which would be more convenient for Patrick and not charge us huge fees. Great Lakes is not convenient for Patrick. Possible options include First Federal and Michigan National. Patrick will investigate banking options. Patrick will also be processing new memberships. Rob submitted his last financial report.

Grove Ecologist

This position has been open since Toad took a one year sabbatical. Don was appointed to fill this position.

Chronicler

Barb was not able to be with us.

Guild Leader Reports

Seers

Maria reminded everyone that the Seers provide counseling and mediation. It would be helpful for those who may not be aware that this service is available to publish guidelines on how to requests this service.

Healers

Rob reported that there will be a Level 2 Reiki attunement as well as elections at the next meeting. Rob will be stepping down as Guild Leader.

Warriors

Jacqui was not present but Rod reported that this guild also has elections scheduled. There are also Karate classes which are open to everyone for a fee of $5 per class.

Mages

Rod has suggested a ritual outline for the guild. The outline would be flexible to accommodate any Pantheon. Rob will be stepping down as Guild Leader. The question was posed, "What services should this Guild provide to the Grove?" This will be discussed at the Mages meeting.

Naturalists

Don reported that the Guild had mapped a creek at the October meeting. The water level is down in the Great Lakes and throughout the watershed. On January 8, there will be a measurement of the stone fly population. This measure is used to gauge overall health of the streams.

Producers

Necklaces have become the responsibilities of the Producers Guild. There is a backlog of necklaces needing beads. Gen will have envelops at rituals. Members who need beads should place their necklace in an envelop and label it with their name and what beads they need. Guild Leaders are responsible to give Gen a list of members who have earned beads.

New Business

Gen has gotten the Lore Class into the Crazy Wisdom calendar.

Rod will schedule Guild House and Friends House for the next quarter.

Rob will reserve the Hot Tub(s) for Yule, Imbolc and Spring Equinox. Jan offered to reserve a second tub if necessary.

There was a discussion about Guild Leader attendance and participation at the business meetings. The Guilds are an important part of the Grove. It was agreed that this is a valuable opportunity to share what is going on in the Guilds and to coordinate the Guild activities with other activities in the Grove. Guilds are composed of like minded people who are trying to serve their community. It requires a commitment by the Guild Leaders to make time in their busy schedules to attend the business meetings. Often those who hold office have the least amount of free time. Guild leaders are geographically dispersed which makes it even more of a challenge. Their dedication is appreciated. We want to be sure that their needs are met at these business meetings so that the meetings don't become 'one more meeting to attend.' They need to be productive and beneficial.

Calendar planning for Y2K will be held at Jan's from 9 to noon on November 20. Bring dates for all events you'd like to have included on the calendar. The calendar will be set up as 'tentative.'

Election results were announced and officially added to the minutes:

Blessed Be and Meet Me in Detroit

We still don't know the financial status yet. Estimated attendance was about 400 people on Saturday and 200 on Sunday. The media coverage was favorable. There are plans to hold the event again next year. Items to consider are the cost of the site this year ($5,000) and additional charges for parking.

Patrick attended the DC event and reported that it was a success.

Shining Lakes News

Annette will coordinate a meeting at Barb's convenience to review the processes and procedures. We want to see how we can make this process work smoothly for all.

Coffee Hour

A discussion was held to consider changing the night to Wednesday. We want to stimulate outside interest and encourage more newcomers to attend. We need to brainstorm ideas at the next meeting.

Yule Gifts

As a Pagan community, we would like to help Veronica's children this Yule. They have lost their mother and their father and this must be a very difficult time for them. Rob will post information on the Web page. Anyone who would like to send them a gift or message of love is encouraged to bring it to our Yule ritual.

The meeting adjourned at 10:30

Respectfully submitted,
Jan Henderson