Minutes of the Oregon Poetry Association (OPA) Board Meeting of July 20, 2021
The meeting was scheduled to begin at 7:02 pm via Zoom.
Present: Jennifer Jennifer Rood (President, Historian), Sue Fagalde Lick (Vice-President), Dan Liberthson (Secretary), Dale Champlin (Newsletter and Verseweavers Editor), Dave Mehler (Membership Co-chair), Susan Morse (Assistant Secretary, Adult Contest Chairperson)
Not Present: Rana Tahir (Treasurer), Rayn Roberts (At-Large), Lorna Rose Hahn (Membership Co-Chair, Outreach Chair)
I. Jennifer called the meeting to order at 7:00.
II. Approval of Minutes
A motion by Dan to accept the June 8, 2021 board meeting minutes was seconded by Susan Morse and approved unanimously by voice vote.
III. Officer Reports
A. President’s Report (Jennifer Rood)
July Events
We had great success with our two events this month:
July 16: Third Friday Birthday Party celebrating Pablo Neruda and “The Sea”
Twelve people attended. Most were members, but there was one person who came because she saw it on our FaceBook page. Free events like this are a way to introduce people to our organization!
July 17: Workshop with Armin Tolentino–“Metaphor and the Fantastical Imagination”
We had 26 participants at the height of attendance, meaning that this paid for itself and then some. It was an engaging, fun, interesting workshop that went two hours instead of only the one that we asked Armin to prepare for, so that was also an added bonus. He is interested in doing a follow-up event.
Banta Award
We have three nominations. I will be activating the committee to discuss the choices soon.
Grant Writer for Cascadia
We hired Duy Doan to write a grant to revive the Cascadia Student Contest and Journal. After looking at two other grants that we did not qualify for, we settled on the Collins grant to focus on. The application is due next month, and Rana and I are working with him to get the information he needs. If funded, notification would likely be in December, and the contest could potentially be run in 2022.
Recruitment for Open Board Seats
We have three seats open in October, but need to have a ballot by September to send out to members for voting. We currently have two people interested in running. Each of us needs to ask one or two people to consider! Need to send out ballot in Sept. Need to nail down next month.
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. Transition to new website at time new person comes in. Stacy does updating, backup, and security but not content. Stacey is now the website host.
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.
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)
As OPA has not registered with the State of Oregon since 2017, I am in the process of registering us. Our current Bank Balance is $46,277.55.
IV. Committee Reports
A. Membership (Dave Mehler)
OPA membership is now about 360. We have 2 nominees for the election committee who were on the general list of volunteers and need 2 more. A request for nominees should go into the newsletter and website.
B. Contests (Susan Morse)
Susan is working on finding judges for the poetry contest, hopefully some that we have not used before. They must be lined up by Aug. 15. Various venues for advertising the contest were discussed, including social media and newpages.com, which has reasonable prices. Susan will let Lorna know so she can put a notice of submissions on social media and will contact newpages.com. Overall themes for the contest were discussed.
C. Verseweavers, Pandemic 2020 Anthology, Newsletter (Dale Champlin)
Verseweavers is coming along. The newsletter is time-consuming. Dale is interested in doing another anthology.
D. Social media (Lorna Rose Hahn)
No report
V. Old Business
The theme for the October conference will be Bearing Witness. Jen will use the same schedule as last year. There was a discussion about who to recruit for workshops and the keynote speaker, and how long the keynote should be, as well as whether to pay the keynote speaker. It was decided to pay the keynote speaker and the workshop presenters $100. Registration fees will be $45 for members and $55 for nonmembers. Conference preparation is on track except for workshop solicitations, which Jen will do next week
VI. New Business
Whether to do another anthology and whether to offer another workshop before the October conference were discussed. Dale will invite Armin Tolentino to present a follow-on workshop, for which Rana can handle the Zoom technology as she did with his first workshop.
VII. Announcements
The next board meeting will be on Monday, August 16 at 7 pm.
VIII. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 8:05 pm.
Minutes recorded and prepared by Dan Liberthson, Secretary