President M. Reilly called the March Board Meeting to order at 2:05 PM at the Papa Gino’s in Natick.  Eleven people were in attendance: President Maryanne Reilly, Vice-President Kenneth Ballou (arrived 2:10 PM, departed 2:44 PM, returned 3:10 PM), Treasurer Robert Messenger, Clerk Nicholas Sterling, and Directors George Mirijanian, Alex Relyea, Brian Mottershead, Steven Frymer, Stephen Dann, Robert E. King, and one guest: Nita Patel.

Treasurer’s report was read by B. Messenger.   Net loss for the General Fund in this period as of 2/28/10: ($1883.16).  Net loss for the General Fund year-to-date as of 2/28/10: ($614.16).  Net loss for the Scholastic Qualifier #4 on 1/10/10: ($69.65); the loss there may be attributed to the unexpected expense of onsite security. 

Membership: (a) B. Messenger read the Membership numbers as follows: Adults 211; Family 43; Junior 335; Life 219; Affiliate 1; Complimentary 2; Exchange 17; Library 5; Prison 238; Subscriber 56. (b) * * MOTION (310-1) made by B. Messenger and seconded by S. Frymer to approve a Life Membership for John Elmore of Stratham, NH.  The Motion passed unanimously. * * (c) * * MOTION (310-2) made by G. Mirijanian and seconded by S. Dann to approve a Life Membership for John Bossi of Gardner Institution in Newtown, CT.  The Motion passed unanimously. * * (d) A third Life Membership request was submitted, but the potential Member is 6 years old, so there is a need to confirm first that this was not an erroneous submission. (e) MACA will need to decide whether to continue accepting Life Membership requests in view of the recently passed Motion to discontinue Life Memberships. 

Minutes of the February Board Meeting were distributed by K. Ballou.  * * Motion (310-3) made by G. Mirijanian; the February Minutes were approved (1 abstention). * * 

Publications: (a) B. Messenger reported that Max Sewell will be the layout Editor for the April Chess Horizons, and B. Messenger is the acting Editor.  There are 24 pages proposed for the issue, and they include many annotated games, some of which were paid for.  Many of the annotated games can be placed on the website as well as or instead of in the printed copy.  The issue will be printed at Fed-Ex unless a lower-cost alternative can be found before then. (b) * * MOTION (310-4) made by B. Messenger and seconded by S. Dann: “Junior Members will receive a notice in their April Chess Horizons issue that, unless they request explicitly to receive subsequent printed copy issues on or before 6/1/10, they will not receive the July Chess Horizons or any subsequent issues thereafter.”  The VOTE was taken; with two dissenting votes and one abstention, the Motion passed. (c) * * Appropriations MOTION (310-5) made by

B. Messenger and seconded by M. Reilly: “MACA may spend up to $2600 from the General Fund toward expenses incurred in the publication of the April Chess Horizons issue.”  The VOTE was taken; with two abstentions, the Motion passed. * * (d) It was agreed that Life Members should also be allowed until 6/1/10 rather than 5/1/10 (as stated in a prior Motion) to indicate explicitly that they wish to continue to receive Chess Horizons in printed copy form.  (e) * * MOTION (310-6) made by R. King and seconded by S. Dann: “MACA will create a supplemental fund for Chess Horizons donations and other fund-raising proceeds.”  The purpose of this fund is to ensure that these revenues are accounted explicitly, but it was felt that this was an unnecessary step as there are already other restricted funds in existence that would serve this purpose.  The VOTE was taken; with two votes in favor, six against, and one abstention, the Motion was defeated. * * 

Tournaments: K. Ballou reported that fliers would be mailed for the G/60 MA Championship (5/1-5/2/10) and the MA Open in Leominster (5/29-5/31/10). 

Scholastics: M. Reilly reported that the Hurvitz Cup was held on 3/7/10 at the Waltham Hilton Hotel (moved there at the last minute from Sage School).  The number of registrations was cut off at 160 because the new smaller site did not have room for more.

Elections: The ballots were present at the Meeting and ready for mailing.  Mr. King, Mrs. King, and Mr. Dann were added as candidates for Director, and Mr. King was added as candidate for President. 

Education: (a) S. Dann reported that he and N. Sterling are compiling information about Library chess programs into an Excel database toward the advancement of Library Chess Challenge. (b) N. Sterling reported that the new chess instruction program at New England Sports Academy is beginning to grow. 

New Business: (a) * * Appropriations MOTION (310-7) made by B. Mottershead and seconded by S. Dann: “MACA may spend up to $1000 from the General Fund toward the purchase of a new public address system.”  The VOTE was taken; with one dissenting vote and two abstentions, the Motion passed. * * (b) B. Mottershead also said that MACA would do well to post signs or banners at events; K. Ballou, however, said that they may be awkward for him to transport, and M. Reilly said that it may be hard to find enough available volunteers at the site itself to take on that additional task. 

President M. Reilly adjourned the March Board Meeting at 3:53 PM.  The date, time, and place for the April Board Meeting is Sunday, 4/25/10, 3:00 PM at the Papa Gino’s in Natick.

                                                                        Respectfully submitted,

                                                                        Nicholas Sterling, Clerk