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MACA Board Minutes
 MACA Board Meeting, November 3, 2013
 New England Sports Academy, 345 University Avenue, Westwood, MA 02090
 

MINUTES OF MACA BOARD MEETING – 11/3/2013

 

President N. Smolensky called the November Board Meeting to order at 6:10 PM at New England Sports Academy in Westwood.  Six people were in attendance: President Nathan Smolensky, Vice-President John Sadoff, Treasurer Robert Messenger, Clerk Nicholas Sterling, and Directors Stephen Dann and Richard Kinne (arrived 6:25 PM).

 

Minutes of the October Board Meeting were distributed by N. Sterling, and several amendments requested.  * * MOTION made by R. Messenger and seconded by

N. Smolensky to approve the October Board Meeting Minutes; with 2 abstentions, the MOTION passed. * *

 

Treasurer’s report was read by R. Messenger:

  (i) (1) Net income of the General Fund this period: $533.22.  (2) Net income of the General Fund year-to-date: $958.28.  (ii) (1) Special Fund income this period: $90.98, with $67.89 dividends. (2) Special Fund income year-to-date: $311.05, with $274.94 dividends. (iii) (1) Special Fund expenses this period: $719.23. (2) Special Fund expenses year-to-date: $2872.34. (iv) (1) Special Fund net income this period: $628.25 net loss. (2) Special Fund net income year-to-date: $2561.29 net loss. (v) (1) October 2013 Changes in Fund Balances this period: $95.03 net loss. (2) October 2013 Changes in Fund Balances year-to-date: $1603.01 net loss. (vi) Total Assets as of October 2013: $67676.78. (vii) Reserve for Chess Horizons: $3100.00. (viii) Unearned Tournament Revenue: $160.00.

 

Membership: R. Messenger read the 11/1/13 Membership numbers as follows: Adults: 237 (-7); Junior 495 (-2); Life 213 (=); Affiliate 8 (=); Complimentary 4 (=);

D. Library 6 (=); D. Subscriber 27 (=); Exchange 16 (=); Library 2 (=); Prison 285 (+1); Subscriber 17 (-4).  Total change in Membership and Subscribers: -12.  It was noted that some Memberships have dropped out because they expired after the term of their extension.

 

Tournament: R. Messenger reported that the Pillsbury Memorial will be held on 12/15/2013 in Marlborough.

 

Chess Horizons: R. Kinne reported that the edits are done and the articles are all in place.  The layout was to be processed by the end of that week.  Due dates for subsequent issues may have to be postponed because, with the delay in publication of the current issue, the due dates as currently scheduled come too soon after.

 

Scholastic:     (a) R. Messenger reported: (i) The 2nd Spiegel Cup Qualifer was held on 10/27/2013, and drew in 88 players, an increase from 79 players from last year.  The tournament netted $579.45, an increase from $471.20 from last year. (ii) The Fall Team Tournament will be held on 11/10/13, unfortunately with rather short notice for prospective teams.

                        (b) N. Sterling reported that the NESA Spiegel Cup Series Tournament will be held on 11/23/13.  He has to be careful that the Section titles match those of the Spiegel Cup Qualifiers (R. Messenger).

                        (c) (i) There was discussion about whether to use parental chaperones at Scholastic Tournaments, a point that S. Dann wanted to know more about in his role as Volunteer Coordinator.  R. Messenger objected to this plan on the grounds that parents with kids in a tournament will not be impartial and may not competently know USCF rules. (ii) There was thought of bringing high-school students on board to become TD’s.

 

Education:     (a) N. Sterling reported: (i) he is in contact with a company from India who is interested in offering supplemental educational programs at NESA, and may be interested in helping to train teachers to teach chess; (ii) at the prior NESA Educational Committee Meeting, 10/13/2013, both the Teacher Training Initiative and the Expo on 1/11/2014 were discussed intensively.  Tiffany Wang says that the MACA website already has a forum in place that can be used for the Online Chat needed for teachers in schools.  A particular book by Murray Chandler, Chess for Kids, may be selected for the manual.

                        (b) S. Dann reported that Mark Donlan’s site Chess Cafe (www.chesscafe.com) is selling chess equipment, including demo boards, at a very deep discount.  MACA should talk to S. Frymer about whether LMCF should purchase equipment from this site.

 

Bylaws: * * (i) ADVANCE MOTION (1113-1a) made by N. Smolensky and seconded by

R. Messenger to amend the Bylaws by extending terms of the MACA board to two (2) years beginning with 2015-2017. (ii) * * MOTION (1113-1b) made by R. Messenger and second by N. Smolensky to refer this Motion to the Bylaws Committee.  The VOTE was taken; the MOTION passed unanimously. * *

 

New Business:          (a) * * MOTION (1113-2) made by N. Smolensky and seconded by R. Messenger to provide funding to Eddie Wei and Andrew Liu of up to $500 each toward reimbursement of travel expenses to the World Youth Tournament.  The VOTE was taken; the MOTION passed unanimously. * *

                                    (b) (i) * * MOTION (1113-3a) made by R. Messenger and seconded by S. Dann to nominate Kenneth Ballou, Robert Messenger, and Nathan Smolensky as USCF Delegates.  The VOTE was taken; the MOTION passed unanimously. (ii) * * MOTION (1113-3b) made by N. Smolensky to nominate Walter Driscoll as Alternate USCF Delegate #1.  The VOTE was taken; the MOTION passed unanimously. * * (iii) * * MOTION (1113-3c) made by R. Messenger to nominate Stephen Dann as Alternate USCF Delegate #2.  The VOTE was taken; with four votes in favor versus one against and one abstention, the MOTION passed. * *

(iv) * * MOTION (1113-3d) made by J. Sadoff to nominate John Sadoff as Alternate USCF Delegate #3.  The VOTE was taken; with five votes in favor versus one abstention, the MOTION passed. * *

 

[Clerk’s NOTE: A MOTION (1113-4a) discussed under Executive Session was postponed by MOTION (1113-4b) made by R. Messenger and seconded by J. Sadoff  to the next Board Meeting; the Motion to Postpone passed with three votes in favor versus two against and one abstention.  For this reason, the contents of the original Motion are excluded from these Minutes.]

 

President N. Smolensky adjourned the November Board Meeting at 8:37 PM.  The date, time, and place of the January Board Meeting were set at Sunday 1/19/14 at 2:00 PM, at Whole Foods in Fresh Pond Mall in Cambridge.

 

                                                                        Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

                                                                        Nicholas Sterling, Clerk