OPA Board Meeting, Jan. 10, 2023

I. Call to Order 6:32pm

Present: Sue Fagalde Lick, Nancy Christopherson, Lauren Mallett, Bob Sterry, Lorna Rose-Hahn, Debra Wöhrmann                                             

Absent: Efrain Diaz-Horna, Jade Rosina McCutcheon

II. Approval of Nov. 7, 2022 minutes

III. Resignation of membership chair—still in need of someone.

IV. Officer Reports

1. President (Sue): Mid-Valley has received the grant they requested $2385. They will use it for this year’s Poetry in Performance events.
2. Historian position—Sue will take on this responsibility.
3. Vice President (Nancy): Intern finished on Dec.15 and is now applying to be an editorial assistant for Tin House. She did a good job, and Nancy wrote a recommendation.
4. Secretary (Debra): Most mail needs to be forwarded to the Treasurer. Should we

change the P.O. Box to Bend?

     D. Treasurer (Melissa): She has been able to access account balance but still does not have the

ability to write checks nor a debit card in her name. She still needs to be added as a “signer” on the account, and coordination with Rana has been difficult.

• Melissa can be issued a debit card, and this is what she has requested from Rana ASAP.
• OPA needs to have a system in place for the transfer of one person to the next as Treasurer and with a secondary name on the account (the president?)
• Board needs to look at the by-laws to see if a system is already outlined
• Bank said that Rana can fill out a signature card and send it to Melissa, and this could expediate the process.
• Melissa will contact Diane Corson, whose name is also on the account, and see if she can help in this process.
• $ 46,346.73 is the current balance.
• Refund to J.V. Foerster is needed because they double-paid.

V. Committee Reports

     A. Social Media (Lorna): FB sees the most traffic, and she is trying to post more on

Instagram. She welcomes any suggestions for posts or news.

– Lorna asked the contest coordinators to let her know when she should post information about the contests, and they plan to do so.

– Nancy said our mainstay is our website and the services we provide. Bob agreed.

– Melissa is working in the schools in Bend to encourage more youth participation.

     B. Membership: 342 active, 82 overdue, 81 lapsed, 2 new—Sue has been keeping up on this until someone offers to take this on.

• Some problems with the “join” button on the website need to be addressed

• Adult Contests (Nancy)—Goes live Feb. 1^st with all the judges lined up and ready to go.
• Debra moved and Lorna seconded a motion to add an additional $1000 for next year’s Adult Contests to equal $5000 in all.

     D. Youth Contests—Opens Feb 1-May 1, and Board Members will judge.

• Lauren recommends saving the date: June 1^st beginning at 6pm for the winners’ reading on Zoom.
• “Cascadia” is the name of the contest and the online document that will include all youth winners’ poems
• Winners each receive $50
• Contest is unranked
• Last year this event included young people from homeschool and incarcerated youth.

     E. Webmaster (Jade/Sue): Sue has been working on it while Jade is out of town.

• Someone has been trying to join via the website without success.
• Minutes need to be posted.

VI . Old Business:

A. Post Office box and merch collection—picked up yet?

– Efrain had planned to pick up merch from Rana. We don’t know if he has done this.

B.  Certificates for retiring board members-Nothing has happened

– Efrain is the lead on appreciation certificates.

C. Verseweaver readings-March: No discussion

VII. New business

1. Feb. national Haiku Writing Month—nahaiwrimo—want to do something?
2. No past events, but maybe Lorna will do something on Social Media.
3. Debra suggested posting an invitation to write Haiku and then respond to each other, something like “a river of haiku.” The board agreed it’s a good idea.  
4. National Poetry Month-April:
5. Nancy suggested readings for newly and recently published books (past three years)

be held on Monday nights @ 7pm (April 3, 10, 17, 24) for four weeks in April.

• Debra will investigate an in-person event at McMenamin’s The Kennedy School in NE Portland
• Bob will investigate a possible event at Artichoke Music, but they will need some money
• Oregon poetry collection event in Eugene, maybe next spring—postpone for later

discussion.

D. 2023 hybrid conference—where? Create committee? Bring in non-board members?

• Nancy would like to have the conference in Pendleton and will look into this venue:

The Pendleton Wildhorse Resort & Casino address is:

46510 Wildhorse Blvd

Pendleton, OR 97801

Ph. 1 800 654 9543

• Proposed date: October 7^th
• Melissa will look into the Caldera Arts Center in Sisters as an alternative
• Sue invites any board member interested in having the conference in their town to find a venue and investigate the dates and costs

E. Poetry Readings: 2022 Judges will be invited to read at Verseweaver readings in March.

• Also, newly published poets will be invited to read on every Monday in April

VIII. Next board meeting

Monday February 13, 6:30pm

IX. Adjournment

Sue moved to adjourn the meeting, and Nancy seconded @ 8:08pm