November 2002 MDDA Meeting

President Theresa Burns called the meeting to order at the home of Wes and Jane Licht, McFarland, Wisconsin, at 7:30pm on November 4, 2002.

Members Present: Connie Gray Theresa Burns Sandy Rudstrum Ramona Radtke
Pauline Stollenwerk Wes Licht Jacque Deweese Marguerite Deweese Jane Licht
Roger Houk Dana Houk Gerald Millard

March 16th Minutes: postponed until our annual meeting

Treasurer's Report:
Connie distributed an itemized list of expenses and revenues from 2002 and remainder from 2001.
Roger/Pauline moved to approve the treasurer's report. Motion carried. There was discussion regarding how well the ride/drives did financially for MDDA. We had sponsors for Iron Oaks Novice and Glacier Trails. Ramona acts as ride manager for Glacier Trails and we provide the volunteers for this event and collect all the revenue. In addition, out ledger sheet looks good because Tom Krueger donated postage for the newsletters and Deb Dixon took care of the editing and printing at no cost to MDDA.

Year End Awards and Standings:
Theresa reported that the year end awards could not be tallied since she did not have the information from the Point Chaser event.

The categories are High Mileage, Champion Horse and Driver, Reserve Champion Horse and Driver, Rookie and then Breed Awards

There is no multiples award this year. All categories require a minimum of 5 drives except for Rookie which requires 3. Connie and Sandy agreed to distribute prizes to the winners. Motions were made and passed to establish amounts.
Marquerite/Ramona - Champion at $50 and Reserve at $40.Marguerite/Wes - Breed awards at $25 each. Marguerite/Pauline High Mileage award at $40. Pauline will donate for the breed awards. Sandy said that for 2002 we had agreed to continue using the driver and horse combo scores plus a point for each mile driven at each event. The same driver/horse combo had to complete at least 60 miles to qualify. Sandy/ Ramona moved to use the UMECRA scoring system for 2003. Motion Passed.

Ways to Promote MDDA
Wes/Pauline moved that we develop a welcome letter for new members. Motion passed. When new members send their registration to Connie, she will send them the letter that explains our activities, mentions our newsletter, gives our website, and includes a membership card. Jane will draft a letter and Wes will edit. There was discussion about the fact that 3 MDDA clinics were given last year but resulted in only a few new distance drives. Ramona said we need 7-10 drivers consistently. The ride managers may not want to put up with just a few drivers. Sandy said we only have 3 years left under the umbrella of UMECRA and we must grow the sport or we will not be sanctioned by UMECRA.
Ramona suggested holding a mini CDE in combination with a distance drive. The key is offering stabling since that seems to be important to the CDE people. We could have the drive in the morning, serve lunch and have the cones in the afternoon. Pauline/Jacque moved that MDDA sponsor a "bring your horse clinic" in the morning and a novice ride/drive in the afternoon. Motion carried. Wes suggested using Richard Loeb's Farm and he volunteered to work on it with Jacque Deweese and Linda Jacobson. It would be out Iron Oaks Novice ride/drive on Saturday, April 26th, 2003. There was also discussion that it would be good to have a combination distance drive and mini CDE later in the year.

New Business: Roger/Dana moved to have an MDDA membership list prepared the first of May. Motion passed. We should also welcome new members in the newsletter. Roger said renewal/membership notices should be in the newsletter. Wes said we should send out membership notices ASAP with forms and remind members to pay their fees.

Roger/Pauline move to adjourn. Motion passed.

Respectfully submitted.

Jane Licht, secretary