Meeting Minutes March 24, 2001.

Called to order by first officer at 1:45 PM

Quorum was met. With the exception of Moon Mist Rising, all other member covens represented.

Officer Reports

Fist Officer- Puck has been busy. A lot of restructuring going on in his group at the moment.

Second Officer- Banshee hopes to get out the agenda sooner next time. She has an example of an egroup welcome page, and the Beltane ritual she wrote to go over.

Membership Officer- Caridwyn was not able to attend. Oberon gave a quick report in her absence. She gave a copy of the mailing list to Oberon and Pat to make sure they have an updated list for the mailing of the Beltane fliers. She will be on Mari’s e-mail until she gets back from Florida.

Pursewarden- No report. Mari was also unable to attend. We may need to give a deposit to hold space at Affirmations for an upcoming event. Otherwise, there should not be any major changes.

Recorder- The meeting notes were forwarded to national via e-mail. The meeting minutes were passed by consensus.

Board Contact/PIO- Figment sent letter and left a message with the national membership officer about our credentials and charter numbers. One issue that was brought up in the national board meeting was that any member that wishes to switch their status needs to reapply. The Ohio LC has disbanded. We need to start getting information together for possibly hosting Merry Meet. It was suggested that one of us try to run for national membership officer. The elections would be during Merry Meet and the term would start Samhain. We tabled discussion on it for now. One of the major things in the news is the local girl that committed suicide. Discussion on how we could outreach to schools to make sure the staff has information , and knowledge that groups such as ours are out there. It was suggested that we put together some pamphlets appropriate to the school staff to let them know about us. Also, it was suggested that a good way to approach this would be to take part in a multifaith panel discussion at the schools.

Webmaster- Omega is in the process of looking a various e-groups rules/guidelines. She has a sample copy of what she has gathered so far on the Cog-nition list in the file listing.

Old Business

Raffle Management/ Auction- A silent auction could be done at the same time as a raffle. Some ideas of auction items given were a tarot party, massage treatments, services, and a large item to bid on. Proposal passed by consensus for Puck to run a silent auction at the Beltane ritual. He will need a information sheet for each item that is donated for auction just stating the product, its base value, contact information to give winner if applicable (for a service or such that would be collected at a latter time) , and the minimum starting bid. It was suggested that the pursewarden would usually be the person to run the raffle/auction. Decided that it was best if person has to be present to win, and we may want to put a cap on the bids for the auction. Also, suggested that auction proceeds go toward sending officers to Merry Meet.

Duties of Ritual Coordinator- Ritual coordinator responsible for securing the site, troubleshooting, and main contact for the event. The ritualists are responsible for writing and presenting the ritual. We will sometimes need an event coordinator to be in charge of greeters, security, and parking issues. When there is a feast at the event we would need a feast coordinator in charge of assigning kitchen duties (such as set up, food prep, and clean up) and making sure the feast goes as planned. The person that wants to do the ritual can take the position of ritual coordinator. Banshee will be coordinating the Beltane and Kala will be working on the Lady Liberty ritual. Need to work on setting up calendar ahead of time. It was suggested it would be 2 times a year for spring/summer than fall/winter events.

Prospective new members- Oberon read the letter the group Caer group gave Caridwyn. It sounds like they have many traditions reflected in their group. That the group as a whole does not identify itself as witches. Per the COG bylaws Article 2, Section B.1a. "be recognized as being in fact a Coven of members of Our Religion,... and proclaim themselves as Witches or Wiccans in the statement of practice". Proposal passed by consensus that we recommend to Caridwyn that they do not meet the COG requirements as a group. It was suggested that any of their members that do identify themselves as witches are welcome to apply to join as a solitary.

E-group- Banshee gave Omega the example of the rules and regulations page she put together. Omega will be looking over all the information. It was suggested that members that post things inappropriate be sent a warning about it. The group can be used to poll members on a subject but not take votes. Remember to read twice and think it over before post something containing a rumor or similar. The necessary information might be best snipped out and sent along with out sending all the unnecessary or inappropriate details. A reminder to all that any flaming, or unacknowledged copyrighted material can cause the site to be shut down if seen by Yahoo moderators.

New Business

Updates on Upcoming events

Beltane- Date set for May 5 at Paradise Pines. A copy of the ritual was give to each group present. Anyone that wishes to volunteer for a part in the ritual please let Oberon and/or Banshee know. Any comments or suggestions on the ritual please feel free to post to the e-group.

Lady Liberty- It will be June 30 at the MAP picnic. Picnic starts at 12 ritual at 3pm. Anyone participating in the ritual please be ready to go at 2:30. Kala had fliers done and gave some to Pat for the mailing. We need to check about rules for using an amplifier at the park. Will be using a small one at the start of the ritual.

Psychic Fair- It will be October 14 at Affirmations. The time will be 12-6. They should have the doors open by 10:30 so people can set up. It will be advertised on the Witches Voice website. Help is needed with coordinating vendors.

Group Ritual Workshop- It will be August 12 at Affirmations. Will reserve the room for 1-5. It will cost about $60. Anyone interested in the Samhain ritual should try to attend. The workshop will work on creating the ritual for Samhain.

Samhain- The date is confirmed for Paradise Pines October 27

Other items

Public outreach/Media contact- When there is a news story to pass a long a link to the story could be posted to the e-group instead of the whole story. Only problem is the links don’t stay active for very long. Figment can contact Wren (Witches Voice) to have news sent along to us. Figment will work on a letter for the Lincoln Park school offering them information and will post it to the egroup.

Permanent Meeting Space- Idea was suggested of having two open houses every year. Affirmation is a good place to meet, or we can look into a room at a restaurant. Tabled the discussion on it for now. Eventually do need a location.

Next meeting June 9th at Pat’s house 1PM.

Meeting Adjourned 4PM