MaCKRO Meeting Minutes from Annual Meeting on November 14, 2022.
In Attendance: By ZOOM meeting, Aili Hartikka, Dan Baumert, Linda Basilicato, Clayton Cole, RW Estella, Chris Dalton. The group discussed a quorum. We will be sending the recording to a few people to listen to the meeting in order to meet our quorum for approval of the treasurers report and election of 2023 officers. We also discussed that hopefully, next year, we can do the meeting in person again, if COVID numbers have come down. We also discussed if we should try to do the meeting earlier in the season, say, sometime in October. The group came to the conclusion that it doesn’t matter that we have the meeting in November and October might be too hard considering all of the other events happening then.
- We discussed the new law that went into effect in May of 2022 requiring us to inspect boats taking part in our races on inland waterways to make sure that no invasive species are attached to the boats. Clayton said that his slalom race on the Kenduskeag was the first race of the season that fell under the new requirements. He did not have any real issues. Dan said that he didn’t have any real issues with any of his races. The new requirements just mean that a little more time needs to be spent in the preparation of the race. We discussed that the different race directors will need to be informed as to what they need to do as to this. We discussed that perhaps we should reach out to all of the ww race directors before the season starts so that they are ready for this new law. That said, we don’t want to have to start chasing down race directors. Suggest that as WW race directors are contacted to confirm their 2023 race dates that they are reminded and informed of the new stae law requiring permits. Also suggest giving them the IF&W contact for getting these permits. Chris Dalton informed the group that he also took the class. Aili H. stated that she would be looking into whether or not another training session will be held in the spring and that if they are, she will let MaCKRO members know so that more people in our circle will be certified to do the inspections.
- Treasurer’s Report:
142.98 website
681.78 ww awards
824.76 total debit
542.02 dues PayPal
505.00 dues checks
40.00 dues check
1087.02 total credit
Balance of 6491.62
701.28 in PayPal
Total with PayPal, 7192.90
We discussed the fact that we have a fair amount of money in our account and how can we start distributing it or spending it to benefit the club. Aili H. brought up the idea of doing a BBQ for MaCKRO members at some point during the season, maybe after the Union, and instead of the Deighans paying for it, we do. Aili also told the group that Mark R. said that the youth groups didn’t ask for any money. The group discussed that we should reach out to other youth groups. Laurie and Mike Sproul have a group in Milo area and they might be able to use some financial assistance. There is also a group in Danforth that might be able to use our assistance. **** the group unanimously voted to accept the Treasurer’s Report. Note: need to record confirmation from two more board members (not on ZOOM meeting) to approve treasurers report.
- Membership Report: Aili H. informed the group that we had 22 renewing or new members this year. This includes 6 new members, one of which is a group membership for the Lakes Association, which was the group that spearheaded the boat inspection law. We also had one new lifetime member added to the list this year. The number of new or renewing members is up by over 10 people this year from last year and there were a few from southern Maine.
- WW series update. RW and Chris discussed that perhaps we need more categories for women. RW indicated that there are 3 classifications for men’s canoe and only one for women. There are 2 classifications for men’s kayak and again, only one for women. Another thing that was discussed is whether or not we should get away from rewarding people from simply showing up. Linda brought up the point that due to scheduling conflicts, she was unable to participate in some of the races, but the ones she did participate in, she did well in. There is a potential for someone who showed up to a number of races and got points just for that (and not placing) could beat her out in points. We discussed that there a couple of races that will not be held any longer; The Kenduskeag Sprints and the Machias. Jeff might have someone lined up to take over on the Machias, but it’s not a guarantee. The group also discussed about sending out a mailing by Valentine’s day, to remind them of upcoming races and to renew their memberships. We reminded RW and Chris to contact Leslie before reaching out to race directors so as to not duplicate efforts.
- Dan discussed the FW series. He stated that each winner of a race received 4 points, for second place they would receive 3 points, for third place they would receive 2 points and if they finished a race, they would receive 1 point. Mark Ranco received 35 out of a possible 40 points. There were 56 male participants and 23 female participants in his races through the course of the season. The new Androscoggin Race will become a large race, attracting a lot of participants. Aili introduced a new race on the flatwater section of the Cathance in Bowdoinham. Dan presented a spreadsheet showing the winners and details of the 2022 flatwater series. These results are posted on the MaCKRO website.
- Publicity report: we discussed if we should start adding other accounts to our Facebook account, like Instagram. No one really goes onto our website or uses the outdated forum feature on our website any longer. We discussed discontinuing it. We also discussed advertising our races more. Aili discussed needing more safety on the race courses if we start doing that as we could start getting more inexperienced racers, which is good, but we would want them to be safe. We also discussed the BDN (spell out Bangor Daily News) and trying to get ourselves in there more. Linda may reach out to them. We also need to keep our content, both on the website and in our social media platforms up to date. Aili and Linda will reach out to Ray to discuss getting ourselves on other social media platforms.
- Youth outreach report: Jeff was not able to attend the meeting but sent an email beforehand. Orono Paddlers will no longer be running the Kenduskeag Sprint race or the Machias, but he hopes that he has someone lined up to take over the Machias race. (Suggest adding the exact verbage from Jeffs email for his report to be include in these minutes) The group discussed if the Orono group should be expanded. We also discussed the fact that there are other youth groups in the state, like the one that Laurie Sproul is involved with and the one that Dave Conley is involved in up in Danforth and that these youth groups should start talking to each other to see what they do and the programs they offer to kids. It seems MaCKRO might be able to facilitate this?
- President’s Choice Award Winner for 2022: Terry Wescott. “The President’s Choice Award is an award to be given, at the complete discretion of the sitting Mackro President, to a paddler who demonstrated during that racing season, a willingness to go outside of their comfort zone in their paddling, showing an improvement in their paddling and racing skills, while also maintaining a positive and upbeat attitude, great sportsmanship and showing up to a lot of races.” Most of us can attest to Terry’s great sportsmanship and amazing positive attitude. This year, he continued to race as he always does, despite being in obvious continued pain. It is for these reasons that Aili chose him to win.
- Clayton Cole let us know who the winners of the ‘Muir the Merrier’ award were: David Thanhauser and Chloe Chunn from the Penobscot River Paddling Trail.
- Linda discussed the ‘women’s paddle’ group. She said that it was more of a newcommer’s paddle. She said that Peggy McGee had been very involved and they do send out emails to let people know about the paddles.
- Dan discussed the Tuesday night paddles in Old Town. He said that there were a core group of paddlers that would show up to these paddles. They occurred June through September.
- Dan showed us his graphs as to the amount of race miles we did collectively. There was a total of 6,500 race miles raced in Maine during the racing season.
- We discussed the special events and races that some people took part in during the racing season. Mark Risinger and Dean Loring finishing the Yukon 1000. Dan showed pictures of him, Paula Lunt and Hannah Rubin all taking part in the Chattajack in Tennessee in October. It’s a 32 mile race in one day. There were 500 boats in the field.
All four officers, Aili Hartikka as President, Dan Baumert as Vice President, Mark Risinger as Treasurer and Allisen Risinger as Secretary were reelected to their respective offices unanimously. Note: need to record confirmation from two more board members (not on ZOOM meeting) to approve officers for 2023. We discussed that Mark and Alli should listen to the recording of the meeting in order to meet a quorum. The meeting was adjourned.