OPA Board Minutes, August 16, 2021

Minutes of the Oregon Poetry Association (OPA) Board Meeting of August 16, 2021

The meeting was scheduled to begin at 7:00 pm via Zoom.

Present: Jennifer Rood (President, Historian), Sue Fagalde Lick (Vice-President), Dan Liberthson (Secretary), Rana Tahir (Treasurer), Dave Mehler (Membership Co-chair), Dale Champlin (Newsletter and Verseweavers Editor), Susan Morse (Assistant Secretary, Adult Contest Chairperson),

Not Present: Lorna Rose Hahn (Membership Co-Chair, Outreach Chair), Rayn Roberts (At-Large)

I. Jennifer called the meeting to order at 7:15.
II. Approval of Minutes
A motion by Dan to accept the July 20, 2021 board meeting minutes was seconded and approved unanimously.
III. Officer Reports
A. President’s Report (Jennifer Rood)
Banta Award
We have four nominations and all materials have been sent to the selection committee, made up of myself and two other OPA members. We will have a recommendation at the next Board meeting.
Collins Grant
We hired Duy Doan to write a grant to revive the Cascadia Student Contest and Journal. The grant proposal is due this Thursday, August 19, and we are on track to submit a completed proposal. Mr. Doan reports that he has invested 8.25 hours as of today of the 10 that we budgeted for, so we are on target to come in on budget. I will also say that his expertise has been absolutely necessary in helping us to navigate this process. If we receive the grant, it will be announced in December and the new board will need to work for implementation in the 2022-23 school year.
Strophes
I’ll be writing an update for the National Federation of State Poetry Societies (NFSPS) regarding what we are up to as an organization for their newsletter Strophes. If you would like to write a craft article, let me know; the deadline to submit for he upcoming quarterly newsletter is this Wednesday, August 25.

Judges
We’ve had a couple of asks from two other NFSPS member organizations regarding finding judges for their contests. Indiana asked for, then found judges for their contest, but Iowa may still need judges for their Adult General (20-line limit) and Traditional Forms contests (again, with a 20-line limit). There is a $25 honorarium for judging the adult general contest, and judges for both contests receive a copy of the anthology of winning poets. If interested, let Dave or me know.
Need for a Website Content Manager
Bruce Parker is stepping down after the Fall Conference as Website Content Manager. To make the transition to the new board as seamless as possible, it would be best to find someone soon who would be willing to serve as a replacement. Sue and Rana indicated that they are interested.
Upcoming Third Friday Summer Poetry Readings Celebrating Poets’ Birthdays
We need advertising for our next event. Rana has already set up the Wild Apricot and Zoom links.
August 20—“How to Be a Poet“ by Wendell Berry
Incorporate a line from Wendell Berry’s “How to Be a Poet” into a poem, or write a new poem celebrating the experience of being a poet. In honor of his birthday: August 5, 1934. Susan broached idea of putting the Berry poem on screen. Jen says she will do it.
September 17—“The Summer Day” by Mary Oliver
Incorporate a line from Mary Oliver’s “The Summer Day” into a poem, or write a new poem that is rooted in summer in some way. In honor of her birthday: September 10, 1935.

B. Vice-President (Sue Lick)

No report

C. Secretary (Dan)

No report

D. Treasurer’s Report (Rana Tahir)

OPA is now registered with the state of Oregon.

– Total Funds Left in 2021 Budget: $34,551
– Bank Balance: $46,631

IV. Committee Reports

A. Membership (Dave Mehler)

We have 366 members. Responses to an emailed request for votes on new board members are coming in.

B. Contests (Susan Morse)

Fifteen people have entered the poetry contest so far. We may extend the deadline by 15 days.

C. Verseweavers, Pandemic 2020 Anthology, Newsletter (Dale Champlin)

Dale is sending out 4-5 newsletters every month.

D. Social media (Lorna Rose Hahn)

OPA has 1033 followers on Facebook. Lorna requests that people share with her for social media posting any contests they hear of or other information of interest to poets.

V. Old Business

Jennifer has four workshop proposals of the eight needed for the October conference. The keynote speaker invited (Oregon poet laureate) hasn’t responded yet. Jennifer plans to wait one more week before looking for another keynote speaker. We may need to purchase extra Zoom capacity if there are more than 100 attendees at the fall conference, as our current plan with Zoom is for a maximum of 100. Dave mentioned that last year 150 attended. There was discussion of how to prepare for the additional attendees. Rana will investigate using her business Zoom account. Otherwise, we will need to purchase extra capacity from Zoom.

VI. New Business

None.

VII. Announcements

The next board meeting will be on Tuesday, September 9 at 7 pm.

VIII. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 pm.

Minutes recorded and prepared by Dan Liberthson, Secretary
OPA Boare

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