Opening Business

Minutes from the July 26 board meeting were approved. Kathy will update the bylaws and make a permanent record of the votes taken at the annual meeting.

The 2004-2005 membership drive is going spectacularly well. We have 97 members toward our goal of 100. There was general praise all around for a job well done. Shara noted that the club is also impressive because the members are active. The club's current bank balance is $3137.54. Toby will be changing the signing authority and Marty is looking to switch the account to a bank with smaller fees.

Programming Report

Annual Meeting: A good time was had by all at the brunch and meeting. There were 108 attendees, 99 adults and 9 children. Income was $2750 and expenses $3092, for a total cost of $342. The board agreed that this was money well spent. The Lenox Club was a nice location that seemed to be a good draw.

Zinck's Night: Kim Bixler has arranged for a gathering at The Gateways Inn at 6:00 on October 21. Cornellians will pay a $5 cover charge, which will include appetizers. Information is on the Cornell website.

Book Discussion Group: Judy Katz agreed to lead the discussion on this year's book, The Trial , by Kafka. Kim and Tim Bixler have volunteered their house for the discussion and pot luck dinner. Twenty-three people have purchased books and/or expressed interest. Tentative dates were set for Sunday, December 5 and Thursday, December 2 at 5:30. Emails will be sent to all members and Janice will contact the few without email. People will RSVP to Kim, who can control the numbers and menu. If no wine is offered, we will purchase some with money from the treasury.

Discussion of determining how to notify people led to praise for Janice and her impressive work with databases, mailings, email and the website. Janice is talking to Cornell about her/our needs and desires, for example, job networking for younger alums. People should let Janice know of any ideas for the website. Tiffany Wilding-White volunteered to look into the possibility of hosting an event in the spring for local students accepted to Cornell or a send-off for students who plan to attend.

CAAAN

Tiffany volunteered to help with the CAAAN committee. Elizabeth Young will be teaching in California in the spring, so a local co-chair will be helpful. The purpose of the group is to be a local face and contact for Cornell. They get the word out and answer questions. The suggested to meet with guidance counselors was met with agreement by the board. Shara noted that there is grant money from CAF for "outside of the box" ideas for recruitment.

Shara will send the viewbook to Elizabeth and the CAAAN group will set goals for their first year.

Scholarship

Fran Rubenstein reported that she will be out of town for much of the winter and would benefit from having a co-chair. The committee is basically fundraising at the moment, but goals need to be set. Fran and Phil Gellert agreed to educate us in a future meeting and the board can reflect and decide on a direction.

New Business

No word had been heard from the Cornell freshmen who attended the brunch at The Lenox Club. Kathy will email them to inquire about their Cornell experience so far.

The next board meeting will be Thursday, November 4 at 7:15 at Toby Levine's house.

Respectfully submitted,
Kathy Erickson
Secretary