2023 EIDEA Board Minutes
December
EIDEA BOARD MINUTES
November
EIDEA BOARD MINUTES
October
EIDEA BOARD MINUTES
September
EIDEA BOARD MINUTES
August
August
July
EIDEA BOARD MINUTES
Date: July 10, 2023
Time: 7-8:00 PM
Organizer: Leah Ennen
In Attendance: Leah Ennen, Jerri Allen, Kate Kostenbader, Donna Hammond, and Ted Lepic
Approval of Minutes: Donna approves; Ted seconds.
Budget Report:
From 6/1 to 6/30
Beginning balance = $7770.16
Withdrawals = $307.78
> Mailchimp = $13.78
> Anne Sushko = $130.00 (test clinic sound system)
> USDF = $24.00
> Port-a-Potty for RAT = $140.00
Deposits = $627.21 (all RAT)
Ending balance = $8089.59
Volunteer update: Lots of volunteers were on hand to keep Ride a Test activity moving along smoothly. One scribe was needed at the last minute due to another having to cancel. Emma Frimml was able to fill in. Donna, Uli & her daughter were instrumental with set up and tear down of arena, along with Jerri/Wade & Ted/Kate who also rented chairs/tables- with padded chair for judge. Tammy/Tom Lisi provided the sound system & tents.
Social Media: FB advertising and boosting posts of Silent Auction etc. went well.
Newsletter: Does the board believe that paper copies of the Newsletter would be more widely read by our members?
Membership update: 1 new member renewal, Julie Hayek.
Ride A TEST in REVIEW
• Attendance was lower this year. Could be because was the same week as July 4th and 2 weeks after Tamarack schooling show. Pony cups also same weekend.
• Some think $75 is out of reach. Given each rider had 40 minutes with Judge-does not seem unreasonable.
• Silent Auction/Raffle went well & enjoyed by participants.
• Could we have another form of “entertainment” such as Larry Brady on Trailer loading.
New Business: USDF reached out to Leigh asking what was needed to make our GMO successful. Participation nationwide is generally about 10% of membership, a very common issue.
We can survey members as to their interests. Promote the available opportunities through USDF, such as the University, have a ready to print newsletter template. Could we have an education budget and advertise this through social media.
• Plan dates out 9-12 months in advance.
• Reach out to Tammy Lisi of Tamarack to get a list of 2024 shows.
• Once dates are determined reach out to venues/judges.
• Create posters for area barns.
• Kate & Donna would like to create templates of action items/timelines per event.
• Items would include facility, parking, judges, registration, social media, volunteers, invites, advertising, donations/grants.
• The board would like to purchase a speaker system.
August Trail Ride @ Catalpa. Stall costs are $10-$15.
September 15-17 Julie Christie at Green Briar- what is their commitment as far as riders. Leigh will speak with Megan and Robin.
October Karen Rarick- nutrition. Matt Day-hay quality. Check to see if we could use the new Abrahams facility for this meeting.
Next Meeting Monday August 14 @ 7:00 PM. Venue TBD.
June
EIDEA BOARD MINUTES
Date: 6/8/23
Time: 7:14- 8:15
Organizer: Leah Ennen
In Attendance: Jerri Allen, Kate Kostenbader, Donna Hammond, Lois Pienkos, Ted Lepic, Karen Ray
Approval of Minutes: Karen voted to approve. Donna seconds.
Budget Report:
5/1/23 Beginning balance = $7519.8
Deposits = $1059.34
- one pony club membership $39.12
- new test clinic donation from Donna $100
- Clinic reimbursement from USDF $920.22
Withdrawals = $809.01
- Mailchimp $13.78
- postage for new test clinic banner return $25.20
- Equisure Insurance $746.03
- USDF membership $24.00
5/31/23 Ending balance =$7770.16
Volunteer update: Leigh will send out info for Ride-A-Test duties on July 8th.
Social Media update: Donna and Jerri have been added as administrators to Facebook. Send reminders to save the dates for events at least 8 weeks out. Publicity regarding future events. Kate suggests creating a binder with a list of procedures/tasks/timelines so as not to have to recreate the wheel for the future.
Newsletter update Karen volunteered to take over this duty. Discussion regarding how often we publish.
Membership update: Donna reports 63 members; no additions since last month.
Review of past monthly Events: N/A
Upcoming Events:
July 8th RAT
Leigh will add a sign-up Genius & add FB postings via email to all members with invitation to participate in Ride A Test on July 8th at Winds Reach.
Volunteer positions needed:
Silent auction person for AM, Traffic Director, Announcer, Jenna Lovett will be photographer.
Stewards AM/PM shifts 8-12/1-5; Scribes, Score person.
Lois will monitor Wine Table.
Donna will handle arena set up for both indoor/outdoor arenas.
Items needed: Water/Gatorade provided by EIDEA.
Leigh will contact Tammy Lisi for sound system/tents. Leigh will arrange for porta- potty. Ted will reserve/rent 6 tables.
Crackers from Costco. Who will pick up???
Auction Item Ideas: Wine glasses with dressage letters, Leigh will cook dinner. Donna will create a basket & offer 3 hours of weeding/gardening.
Jerri offered to pick up small purchase gift cards to give away at various intervals throughout the day via a drawing.
August Trail Ride- Leigh Ennen property
Veterinarian/Nutritionist- Hay evaluation
Next Meeting Monday, July 10 @ 7pm. Venue to be determined.
May
EIDEA BOARD MINUTES
Date: 5/10/22
Time: 7-8 PM
Organizer: Leah Ennen
In Attendance: Jerri Allen, Kate Kostenbader, Ali Hayford, Donna Hammond, Lois Pienkos, Ted Lepic. Absent Megan Ward
Approval of Minutes: Donna approves minutes. Lois seconds.
Budget Report:
Ted reports the below balances. At an earlier date he sent three spread sheets detailing Julie Christie Clinic, Membership and Ride A Test enrollments to date.
April Beginning balance = $9015.15
Deposits = $953.38
> JC Clinic = $415.64
> Membership = $354.46
> TAT = $183.28
Withdrawals = $2707.66
> JC Clinic = $2590.00
> USDF = $106.00
> Mailchimp = #11.66
Ending Balance = $7260.87
Volunteer update:
• Leigh has set up a sign-up sheet for the Ride A Test in June. We will need several volunteers for a variety of duties. Rhea Allen will scribe. Hannah Owens will practice scribe/judge/silent auction items.
• Sub-committee for Ride A Test will meet in 2 weeks to review additional details of items needed such as sound system, tent/tables.
• Demo riders will be needed for Instructor events in October.
Social Media update:
• Leigh is concerned that some evening events are not well attended. Messages are getting out through social media. Not everyone has Facebook, but it appears posts are shared. Donna indicates attendance is sporadic at various times of year etc.
• The Pilates class at Club Pilates is in 2 weeks. We will push this out on social media again.
Newsletter update:
• Kate reports there are 82 recipients of newsletter, 81 received. It appears that one member -Diane Riccolo may need to be contacted for updated address. Lois will get that info to Kate.
• Kate can see the number of “clicks” on each newsletter link. The most “clicks” are related to upcoming events, schooling show awards and equestrian pages.
Membership update: Kelly Kramer, Robin White, Amy Cone, Joyce Pundt, Jana Marlatt (family).
Upcoming Events:
5/7-8/22 Maffitt Lake Fantasy Schooling Show
5/21-22 Lamplight Equestrian Wayne, IL
5/23/22- Anne Cizaldo Clinic- various locations
5/24/22- Club Pilates -Reformer class Cedar Rapids
6/4/22- Ride A Test Winds Reach
6/ 11-12/22 Maffitt Dressage Classic 1-2.
6/18/22- Tamarack Schooling Show- Winds Reach
6/24-26/22 Laura Ashley Clinic- Evergold Stable
7/5-8/22 Anne Cizaldo Clinic- various locations
7/15-17 2022 National Pony Club Championships East. St Louis, MO.
8/9-12/22 Anne Cizaldo Clinic-various locations
8/20/22 USEF/USDF Level 1- Winds Reach
8/22- Recognized Show- Catalpa
9/2-5 Anne Cizaldo Clinic various locations
9/9-11/22 Tamarack Schooling/Championships- Iowa Equestrian Center
9/7-10 2022 Regional Championship St. Louis, MO
October (6-9) and (28-29) Instructors Clinic Winds Reach
Ideas needed for events in July, August, September.
• Donna said that Erik Diercks will have pony club camp second week of June- perhaps ask if he will do an adult event in the evening.
• Leigh would like to host a trail ride at her home in August or September.
• Could we bring Julie Christie back in September???
Next Meeting: Tuesday, June 14 @ 7:00 PM
April
EIDEA BOARD MINUTES
Date: 4/13/23
Time: 7-8 PM
Organizer: Leah Ennen
In Attendance: Ted Lepic, Leigh Ennen, Kate Kostenbader, Donna , Beth Dinoff, Jerri Allen, Karen Ray, Megan Ward
Approval of Minutes: Donna approves, Ted seconds.
Budget Report:
Beginning balance as of March 1st = $8423.27
Withdrawals = $133.78
> Mailchimp = $13.78
> USDF = $120
Deposits = $695.56
> Membership = $368.90
> New Test Symposium = $326.66
Ending balance as of March 31st = $8985.05
Ted would like to research other billing services than WIX. We are currently paid through February so will have time to research possibilities.
Volunteer update for Symposium:
• River Ridge boarders/students and staff will serve as the primary volunteers for the New Test Symposium with Anne Cizaldo. Ann Shusko and Kelly Kramer are the organizers.
• Live Riders are Intro/Training/First-Third Level. 4th and above will be on video.
• Anne & Megan will have all video recordings plus the sound system. Megan is checking on the TV.
• Remind people that cut-off for lunch orders in 4/24/23. Another email blast & FB push is needed. Kate will send L Judge info to those in her group. Food and Porta Potty arranged.
• Leigh would like to offer volunteer training prior to events, in order that people understand the roles involved at Dressage/Jumping events.
Newsletter update:
• Beth will add Kelly Kramer to the member spotlight and will include her in the volunteer network.
• Jean Walker is to be the next featured member in the newsletter.
• An article/pics on “How to prep for a Dressage Test” will be featured in the next issue.
• The Roving Reporter for next month will be Adelyn Nelson, one of our youth members.
• Beth asked that people take pictures and report on the New Test Symposium as she is unable to attend.
• Karen Ray would like to write an article regarding 2 young riders in our area who received bronze medals.
• Donna also has received recognition in the USDF Connection magazine for Schooling Show participation.
Membership update: Donna reports 7 new members have joined from eastern Iowa which brings our total to 75!
Social Media:
• Leigh learned of a great website, TheHorse.com. She added articles written by Veterinarians and will post those regularly as permitted by copyright. Beth will add the link to the Newsletter.
• Leigh asked the board whether we promote events in both Facebook and email. We concluded that both are optimal considering not everyone is on FB.
• Megan has ownership of the new website but is not receiving any emails. She thinks Ali may still be getting those.
• Donna thinks Megan can delegate certain people to receive those emails. We should also designate another board member to administrate Facebook postings. Jerri and Donna offered.
Month in Review:
• Several attended the How to prep for a Dressage Test at Kirkwood last month. Donna & Megan provided a PPT presentation which was well received and generated much discussion. Many Non-Members were in attendance as well.
Facility searches for events: Shall we ask members where they would like events held and the best scheduling times?
Calendar of Events: Rather than an annual calendar shall we post seasonally or quarterly?
• Greenbriar Open House is scheduled for April 23rd 12-4PM Kate will pick up the cookies that were requested.
• Julie Christie is scheduled for September 15-17 at Green Briar. 4-8 riders can attend on Friday, 10 on Saturday & 8 on Sunday. All expenses will be $1855. 00. Leigh will write a newsletter article to promote. If auditors arecharged a fee, we need to have an adequate speaker system in place. We should open this opportunity to members first with available days/time slots.
• Volunteer Training prior to Catalpa event. It does not seem feasible to have the night prior due to so many other preparation duties. Could we have a July volunteer event prior to the August event? Or offer on June 3 or 10th at Winds Reach.
• June 24/25th Tamarack Schooling Show @ Green Briar
• July 8th Ride a Test/Wine Tasting @ Winds Reach Farm
Other: Information was recently received that USDF suspended combined schooling/recognized shows in region 6 due to unauthorized attendance of banned members/trainers.
Next Meeting Thursday, May 4th @ 7:00 PM Central