NMSC BOARD AND MEMBERSHIP MEETING IDEAS WANTED

Giles,
For thinking about planning board meetings for next year, how do you divide your time these days? Besides travel, are you now mostly at Laguna Vista or still living part- or most-time in Albuquerque?

Very rough "strawman" thinking so far is that, during the next year, the NMSC board/club meetings might wind up being about a third each in the greater Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Heron Lake/marina areas. This year there will still be the Holiday party and a wrap-up meeting; next year there would be meetings early in the year to do the budget and schedule, then meetings in the spring to check up on lake conditions/snowpack/marina work.

Activities, programs, regatta plans, publicity, training, recruiting/membership, safety, communications, marina improvements/restoration/plans, youth sailing, sailing classes, state park projects, water law/planning/administration, drought plans, and emergency plans could be topics of other meetings. Suggestions are wanted and needed!

Wild ideas about meeting places: maybe about 1/2 restaurant dinners and about 1/3 potlucks at the marina or homes and maybe a couple of non-food meetings. Maybe a few programs along with meetings... slides of someone's trip or a presentation by the Bureau of Reclamation/State Parks/Coast Guard Auxiliary or whoever or maybe some sort of safety demonstration or training. Or watch a sailing video.

Marina/Heron Lake: meetings under the shelter during the main summer sailing season. Perhaps meetings somewhere nearby indoors (Park Visitor Center or a home in Laguna Vista near the lake) in the April or September. Maybe have a joint meeting or coordinated meeting with the Friends of El Vado and Heron Lakes.

Santa Fe area: Maybe another meeting or few at Quail Run -- provided we're not imposing too much on Buzz ____ and their hospitality. Or some other restaurant, to be determined. Probably we'll be really glad to take up Lisa's offer to have a meeting two in her home in s.w. Santa Fe. And maybe we could consider having a meeting in either Española or Los Alamos. Or maybe there's a museum in Santa Fe that would be an interesting place to meet. Or maybe the big athletic/activity center.

Albuquerque: I don't know whether it's practical or not, but it might be fun to meet at someplace like the Rio Grande Aquarium. Or maybe the Natural History Museum, Albuquerque Museum, the Unser's car museum, or the new Balloon museum would have a place for us. Plus, of course, restaurants; there are several that the RGSC northern fleet has used for socials. And, we might be able to get the Strasias or some other couple to volunteer their home for a one-time meeting.

Other possibilities: libraries, movie theaters, athletic clubs, country clubs, boat repair shops/dealerships, parks, townhome/mobile home community clubhouses, seafood restaurants, a swimming pool (if they'd let us put kayaks or dinghies in the pool), Merry Roundhouse/State Parks offices, a college or university (to try to recruit college sailors/help them form a club), who knows?

Got an interesting idea for a meeting program or place? Suggest it. Let us know.

[John responded that weekend meetings in Albuquerque would be a problem, but in between Albuquerque and the lake on Friday evenings should work well. Meg said, "It was always nice when there was a program of some sort - maybe someone reporting on a sailing trip they took or some such adventure. Yes please."]