OPA Board Minutes March 18, 2024
Call to Order 6:30pm
Present
Bob Sterry, president
Aaron Erhardt, treasurer
Kate Ristau, vice-president
Juan Cervantes
David Goodrum
Sharon Johnson
Debra Elisa Wöhrmann, secretary
New Board Member: Elisa Carlsen
Resigned: Sherri Levine
A Reading by Debra
Approve minutes of the last meeting
Dave moves to accept the minutes
Aaron seconded it – and all approved
President’s report
Planning retreat – April 12-13 at the Agate Beach Hotel
OPA will cover rooms for members
Insurance coverage – We need coverage to protect board members and the possibility of complaints at public venues
Verseweaver – Dale will choose the cover to expediate the process of getting it out
Poetry month – Do we want to have an event?
The Zone is an option for hosting an event
Juan will meet with Bob and anyone else: Saturday, March 23 @ 10am If it works for the manager
The Zone’s Capacity is 67 people, and it has a second floor
The option of the Central library requires paperwork that might take longer than we have for an event in April
New member of the Board
Vote to appoint Elisa Carlsen: She is interested in engaging in the literary community in Oregon and wants to support new writers. Strong interest in non-profit management. She also likes the challenge of making something out of chaos
-Kate and Sharon are working on ways to better support new board member so that we can retain good people. They will work with Elisa.
Sharon moved to accept Elisa as a new board member; David seconded, and the vote was unanimous to welcome her onto the board.
Another possible candidate – Juan suggests Steve Slamenda, a retired college teacher who was the founder of the Silverton Poetry Association. He was active as president and secretary. He has also had a radio program talking about poetry and lives in Silverton.
Kate and Sharon are working on a new process for candidate for the board who are appointed without having been on the ballet. Perhaps candidate would be invited to sit in on a meeting before making a commitment.
Treasurer’s report
Bank status – two accounts: $46,500 total
Inquiry for the OPA to accept payment via Venmo or Cashapp, and Aaron will check with JB
Meeting set up with Sandra, with Honest Bookkeeping to better understand the system
Sandra has suggested we consider donations in order to show as a line-item that there has been in-kind donations that include board members’ time. Board members will need to know what to submit
OPA should be able to stash $20K without a problem, perhaps in $5K increments.
Membership: 286 active members; 150 lapsed & 130 overdue
We need to make it simple to become a member. As of now, people can become members or renew through Submittable or through Wild Apricot.
People have the option to renew for one or two years
Refreshing the OPA website can be a tool for attracting new members and making clear what the OPA offers (this will be addressed at the retreat)
State filings: Paperwork is getting filed
Federal filings: Paperwork is getting filed
Secretary’s report – nothing to report
Finance Committee – Bob will drop by to see JB to learn more about accessing the accounts and to talk about possible ways to invest OPA money.
Contest Committee
Entry requirements for the Spanish Poetry Contest which opens in May
Identifying information cannot appear on the poems
It is suggested that the prose poem be set at a 500-word max
The board members are asked to read the draft of the document posted by Juan and offer suggestions
Sharon, the new chair, is asking what needs to be done now for the Youth contest
The name of the coordinator needs to be changed from Corinne to Sharon
Kate will add Sharon onto Submittable so she can check on the entries
3 entries so far
Get the contest posted weekly on Facebook and Instagram
Check in with Lauren, last year’s Youth Contest Chair.
Contest Standards and Acceptance of Entries: The contest committee will talk about this during their next meeting. They want to communicate to entrants the importance of following guidelines so their entries will not be disqualified.
Conference Committee –
Save the date announcement- Kate has done a mock-up of a “Save the date” announcement. We want to get the word out soon!
We want to emphasize this is the first time we will have a live conference for many year—and the first OPA conference at the coast
Looking for workshop proposals
A.O.B.
Julia Cummings from NFSPS notified OPA to say we sponsor the William Stafford Contest: We will send the $100 and continue to support this contest.
Verselandia April 25 – and Kate suggests we post an interview/highlight on Website of the winning youth poet.
Ed Joyce from Astoria wants to start a poetry reading at The Dragonfly: Bob will suggest he post a call for interested poets through his website. We can also post such an announcement through the OPA website.
In order to more easily promote the OPA, we need to better understand what OPA offers – and put it on a postcard.
Next meeting – Board Retreat is our next meeting
Friday & Saturday, April 12-13: The meeting will be held on Saturday, but Friday evening will be a social time. For anyone who cannot attend this meeting in person, a Zoom option will be made available.
Meeting Adjourned: 8:15pm
Minutes recorder by Debra Elisa Wöhrmann