New Hampshire Good Sam

October 20th, 2007 Meeting

A meeting of New Hampshire Good Sam was held at the Red Apple Restaurant in Concord, NH on October 20^th, 2007.

            The meeting was called to order at 1:20 PM, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of prayer.

Those in attendance were as follows:

Secretary’s Report:   

A motion was made by Rene Desrosiers and seconded by Jim Belanger to accept the secretary’s report which had been sent to everyone after the June meeting.  The motion passed.

Treasurer’s Report:   

The report was handed out to all present. The balance as of 10/16/07 was $11,188.26.  On a motion by Jim Belanger and seconded by Betty Houle, the report was accepted. The motion passed.

A check for $200.00 was presented to Betty Houle, representative for NH Special Olympics. This was the amount collected at the Samboree, from various activities earmarked for this cause.

Correspondence: 

            A letter confirming the re-election of Dick Coderre for another two year term was read. This term will extend from January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2010.  He stated that he did not plan to run another term when that one is over, so if any presidents or chapter members show interest, he would like to put them on State staff. Please inform your chapters.

            A letter of thanks was read from the “Shriners” for the generous donation of tabs.

            A list of new Directors was received from Ca. and the only new Director in the New England area is RI Director John Rousseau. The Maine State Director, Sandy Bowie has resigned so they will be having a special election in December.

Wagonmaster: 

Jack Houle stated that there were not major problems with parking at the Samboree.

The wagonmasters did the best they could to park chapters together.  

Old Business:

            Storage Trailer Update

            A “1978”, 27’ bunk house trailer was donated to the State by “Mark Bergeron, of Mark’s RV Supply”. At this time it has been towed to the State Directors home and the remodeling has begun.

Shelving will be installed for all the supplies.  We’re looking for an adjustable head hitch so anyone can tow the trailer. If anyone has one, please let Dick know.  The tires will need replacing as they are the original ones and are not road worthy. On a motion by Elise Smith and seconded by Betty Houle, up to $800.00 would be allocated to purchase four tires.  Motion passed.

            Samboree Comments

-All agreed that the chapters parking together worked well.

-A question as to why someone has to pay the full weekend fee if they arrive as late as Saturday evening was posed to a chapter president. After a discussion it was agreed that the full weekend fee should be charged as it has been in the past.

-There was a concern at the Saturday evening entertainment with the lighting crew setting up in the isle way. This was a safety concern.  There were also complaints about talking in the back of the building during the entertainment. It was distracting for those in the area.

-There was a discussion of the $10.00 fee (donated to Special Olympics) for private sales during the chapter raffles. There were some complaints that the fee was too high. We had agreed at a prior meeting that there would be no selling at rigs. A solution was not resolved at this time.

-It was agreed that each chapter would set their own meeting time at the Samborees.

-The majority liked the Friday evening opening.

-We will continue to work on shortening the closing ceremonies as much as possible.

-The chapter raffles didn’t net as much profit this year even if the prize was cash, and it was agreed that this is due to the economy.        

-We will continue to search for a food vendor for next year.

All were reminded to turn in their updated chapter rosters so they can be sent into California.

New Business: 

            The State Treasurer is an elected position by the chapter president, so at this time Dick accepted a motion to re-elect Don York for another two year term. Motion was made by Rene Desrosiers and seconded by Bob Lamontagne to elect Don York. Motion passed.

All were reminded again to please reply when they get any correspondence from us, so we’ll know it has been received.

Most chapters have been sending their newsletters, but he urged all do so. They are always read.

Samboree dates will be sent as soon as we receive them.

2008 Good Sam Rally will be held in Perry, Ga, March 14 -18, 2008.  We will be going.

2009 Good Sam Rally will be held in Albuquerque, NM—(3^rd week of April)

2008 Samboree

-The theme for 2008 will be “circus”. All were encouraged to decorate the tables and wall space at the raffle drawings.

-There will be a “Circus Theme” parade.  We’re hoping to get more participation from all chapters.

-Wednesday evening we’ll have the pot luck dinner, and the usual activities will take place throughout the weekend.  A Yankee Swap was suggested for Thursday evening. If someone comes forth to oversee this, we’d be happy to include it in the program. Suggestions for activities are always welcome.

-We intend to do some children’s games as we did this past Samboree. Joanne and Curtis Page have offered to help, but anyone is encouraged to come forth to help out and with ideas.

-Being a Circus theme, we hope to have items such as pop corn, cotton candy & peanuts to sell during the entertainment. 

-A dunking booth was suggested, so if anyone has information as to where we can get one, please let us know.

-The teens from the 4-H Club will be selling ice cream again. It was suggested to contact them about the price of giving each Samboree attendee an ice cream cone certificate. This would take the place of the ice cream social. Once a price is determined, we will make a decision as to which way to go.

-The NH Wanderers will once again cook our pancake and sausage breakfast, which will be served Saturday morning. 

-We’re always looking for new vendors.  Please let us know if you know of someone interested.

-Job assignments were reviewed and most everyone was okay with their past Samboree commitments.

-Sign Up sheets worked well, so we’ll be doing that again. Please encourage chapter members to see the folks at registration if they want to help out.  This is OUR STATE SAMBOREE, so it’s our time to host our fellow Good Sammers from other states.

-A sing –along worship service will take place on Sunday AM. We are gifted to have the voice of Judy Botsford lead us in song. Times of church services in the area will be posted on the bulletin board.

-Tabs will again be collected for the Shriners Hospital.

-Chinese Auction items will be needed.  Encourage members to bring only clean and good items.

-Each chapter is asked to donate five door prizes.  They should be of a $10.00 value per item.

-Siobhain and Amanda Page will once again be our “badge police” collecting $1.00 per person not wearing a name badge.  The funds collected will go to a charitable organization to be determined.

-Our entertainment has already been contracted.  On Friday evening it will be the Doerfel Family (bluegrass, etc), and on Saturday evening it will be Jose Duddy, a male vocalist. We’ve heard both and they are great.

-It was suggested that we suspend the “goodie bags” given at registration, and put all the literature received on a table where people can take what they want. A motion was made by Ginny Lamontagne and seconded by Betty Houle to discontinue the distribution of bags.  Motion Passed

If chapters want to give an item to attendees, they should put them on their raffle tables.

-The number system will once again be used for our “Special Drawings” donated by merchants.

  A discussion was held about doing this for chapter raffles as well, but the majority weren’t comfortable with that.  All were urged to think about a way to hasten the chapter drawings, and when this should be done.

It was brought to our attention by the coffee committee that we’re in great need of new coffee pots.

Six new ones are needed as well as timers. On a motion by Betty Houle and seconded by Tom Merchant, the amount of $1000.00 would be allotted for these items.  Motion Passed

            This year the food items left were given to the Elderly Home in North Haverhill.

They received:  1 case orange juice, ½ case sausages, 2 tubs of ice cream, and 1 sheet cake.

They were very grateful for the donation.   The leftover donuts from Sunday AM were sold.

New Good Sam member lists were handed out.  It’s been encouraged to use the list to work on perspective chapter members.

            At our next meeting we’ll be choosing a theme for our 2009 Samboree. Get ideas from your chapter members so they can have some input as well.

            We will not be having a January meeting next year due to so many going south.

            Our next scheduled meeting will be at our State Campout to be held at “Seven Maples Campground, Hancock, NH, June 13 to 15, 2008.  More details at a later date.

            We have been very blessed to receive a monetary gift of $250.00 from  Good Sam chapter members.

They had an unfortunate loss of their camper due to a severe rain and wind storm, when a tree fell across the middle of the camper. It was beyond repair, and at this time, they feel that their camping days have come to an end. We are so grateful for the donation and our thoughts and prayers will be with them. They will be missed greatly!!!!!!                                                                                                                              They suggested using this toward a new sound system or wherever we feel it is needed the most.                 Jim Belanger and Curtis Page are doing some research. 

            A thank you went out to Bob and Ginny Lamontagne who set up the dinner meeting. All enjoyed the food very much.

            We wish all of you happy and healthy holidays, and may the “snowbirds” have safe travels.

 On a motion by Jim Belanger and seconded by Betty Houle, the meeting adjourned at 3:00PM. Motion accepted.

Respectfully Submitted,

Judy Coderre, State Secretary