MINN-KOTA MCC RELIEF SALE, Inc.
GENERAL SALE MEETING MINUTES

November 11, 2006; 1:00 p.m.
Sermon on the Mount Church, Sioux Falls, SD

Willard opened the meeting by reviewing the year.  The board had a very helpful strategic planning meeting led by Barb Schrag.  We are approaching the $2 million dollar mark for Minn-Kota donations to MCC.  We have a change of leadership this year.  Marjorie Baerg has finished her term as sale chairperson and we want to thank her for her many years of leadership.  Lynette and Peter Preheim will be our new co-chairs.  Willard then read Psalm 146 and led in prayer.

 Secretary’s report:  Approved as read.

 Treasurer’s report:   Expenses 2006:  $29,969.12
                               
                                2006 budget:             29,450.00
                                Revenue:                   21,718.97
                                Budget shortfall:        -7,731.03                              

We had a balance carryover from 2005 to help offset this deficit. We sent $92,899.55 to MCC.  Currently we have about $700 in the checking account.  Today’s offering was $1,830.

 Board development committee:  We reviewed the constitution.  There used to be a separate sale board and executive board.  Since we have been meeting together we decided to combine the boards and have 9 elected members and 2 appointed members.  The appointed members are the treasurer and sale chairperson.  The 9 positions are 3-year terms and each can serve 2 consecutive terms.  Three people will be elected each year.  Treasurer and chairperson are appointed for 2-year terms and can serve 3 consecutive terms.  The treasurer and chairperson’s terms will end on opposite years so the positions will not both be open the same year to provide continuity.  We want to have members represented from Minnesota, Freeman area, and Sioux Falls.  It was moved and seconded to accept the new constitution as presented. Passed.

 Nominations:  Eldon Berg, Marilyn Brockmueller, Jon Harder and Maryann Harder were presented as nominees for board positions. It was moved and seconded to cease nominations and cast a unanimous ballot. Passed.

 Proposed Budget:      2007

Advertising                          7,500
Arena services
     Rent                               2,400
    
Other                              4,900
Equipment                               500
Food                                    3,000
Fresh/dried fruit                    1,500
Insurance                              1,000
Printing                                 2,000
Services                               1,250
Supplies                               1,500
Transportation fruit                      0
Misc.                                        500
                                         $26,050

Could we have the budget printed in the annual report?  It would be helpful to see the numbers.  It was moved and seconded to accept the budget.  Passed.

Annual report:  The annual reports are available today.  Please take one or more for your church.  Write the amount you’re taking beside your name on the sign-in sheet so we know who has a report and who still needs one.

Feature quilt:  Rodney asked who is doing the feature quilt this year. He needs a picture for the advertising.  Mt. Lake did the feature quilt last year. Do we still need a feature quilt?  What is the purpose? 

Fresh fruit:  How essential is it that we have fresh fruit at the sale?  We’ve had trouble in previous years with bad fruit and too much fruit.  Peoria is not selling fruit anymore and we cannot afford to ship the fruit on our own.  The dried fruit went well and it is not perishable.  No action taken. 

Credit card sales:  How did it go this first year?  We did $13,000 in credit card sales.  It cost $300-400 to have this option.  It worked well in baked goods.  People liked the convenience.  No non-paying bidders this year.

Food line:  How can we speed up the food line?  We plan on accepting credit cards in the food line next year since it went well in the booths this year. Are there any other suggestions to speed up the line?

Sale checkout:  Some people had to wait in line quite a while at the checkout because their buying slips were not turned in to the cashiers in a timely manner.  Runners should be encouraged to check more often with the auctions for full pages.  The auction clerks could try starting their auction sheets at the bottom so the slips can be torn off and sent to the cashiers sooner. (sidenote-this could mess up the times the items are for sale that they put on the sheets. It would be harder to find what items were sold for.) The booths are already instructed to start at the bottom. That way, buyers can check out sooner if they wish.

Kitchen Time Savers:  The items in this booth went over well.  The frozen entrees were delicious.  They ended up with leftover dry mixes but had more mixes donated than they expected.

Organic chickens:  The organic chickens would bring a lot more money if they were sold cooked.  The people who donated them didn’t have enough time to cook the chickens themselves this year.  We need someone willing to cook the chickens to sell at the sale.

Woodworking:  Please encourage more people to make one or two items for the sale.  The more people we get to donate, the more variety of items we have.

Ink jet/cell phone recycling:  Barb Schrag presented an ink jet/cell phone-recycling program that benefits MCC.  The pre-addressed, stamped envelopes are self-sealing and available from any participating MCC thrift store.

Willard closed by thanking Marjorie Baerg for her many years of service as sale chairman and presented her with a thank you card.  Everyone is invited to share a piece cake in her honor after the meeting.  Edie thanked Willard for his years of service as board president and presented him with a thank you card.  Willard closed with prayer. 

Loretta Krahn, recording secretary

Next meeting:  April 21, 2007, 1:00 pm, Lincoln Hills Church, Sioux Falls

(back)