Attendees:  Pat & Judy Brescia, Linda Giannino, Sheryl Williams, Leslie Gottesman, Rhonda Boatwright, Patty Tracy, Jean Luczak, Charlie Ducharme, Ellen Sanford, Suzanne DeSaix, Rosemary Lawler, Sharon Dix, Lee Cline, Mary Gustafson, Sharon Egan, Kathy Broadus, Andrea & Bob Justus, Janice Butt, Sharlene Febrey, Janice Webster, Janet Vandervaart, Laurie & Mark Allen, Mary Sitnik

The January 24, 2008 meeting of the Tri-State Riding Club was called to order at 7:04 pm by President Pat Brescia.

Minutes from the November meeting were accepted.  Announcements from the December meeting were stated – congratulations to Leslie Gottesman on her election to the office of VP.  MANY thanks to Rhonda Boatwright for her many years of service.  Congratulations to Sheryl Williams for her re-election to the office of Secretary.  The proposed changes to the by-laws were voted on at the December meeting / Christmas party were passed.

The treasurers’ report was submitted by Linda Giannino and accepted.

Obstacle Clinic:

The Clinic will be at Rosemary Lawler’s farm in Lucketts.  She has many obstacles already there but will need the club to provide some as we have used in the past.  If you’d like to participate on the committees, contact Rosemary – she’ll be getting things rolling shortly. 

Design & Build (and set up) committee – Pat & Judy Brescia, Ellen Sanford, Susan DeSaix, Rosemary Lawler, Patty Tracy, Rhonda Boatwright (lead)

Advertising – Mary Gustafson (lead), Diane Hutchinson

Show Secretary - Rosemary Lawler (lead)

Volunteers for the Day - 

If you have any ideas for obstacles, etc – please send an e-mail to anyone on the Design & Build committee as they are looking for new ideas.  The will hold their initial meeting 2/2. 

We have a bit of a snag with our date as Dennis Reis will be holding a Horsemanship Clinic at Morven Park on our planned dates.  The Dennis Reis clinic will likely draw from the same audience that would attend our clinic, thus, we will move our Obstacle Clinic to April 11^th & 12^th. 

Rosemary asks that we all be aware that she does have a dog who likes to ‘participate’ and some may find him to be an obstacle all on his own.  It’s a great way to get used to all those barking dogs that can greet you when you are out trail riding. 

Christmas Party Review:

Leslie Gottesman surveyed the group via e-mail and gave an update at the meeting.  She’ll post the full results for your perusal.   Overwhelmingly, we loved the venue.  Some great feedback was received regarding the food & games.  

Thanks to Patti Geyer for organizing such an excellent party to the club!

Lessons:

Be prepared to sign up for lessons at the February meeting.

Bettina Gregory has obtained a venue for Western Pleasure lessons in Waterford off of Loyalty Road.  If you are interested in pursuing this, contact Bettina as she’s trying to ascertain the level of interest and whether we need one day or two at week – Tuesday and Thursday seem to be the dates of choice.

The dressage clinic Bettina put together is going smashingly well.  (Who knew we could canter as a group!).  She is looking at putting additional clinics together to help people prepare for tests, etc.  Let her know of your interest so she can determine how to go forward.

Joseph Keusch will be putting on Fox Hunting clinics in April again at his place in Middleburg.  Sign up now or contact Bettina if you are interested.

Camp will be June 23^rd thru 27^th this year.  Block the time on your calendar if you are planning to attend.  A camp survey was handed out to those who attended last year (those that were not picked up will be mailed).  This is an opportunity to tweak camp to make sure it is meeting the needs of the club. 

Poker Ride will be October 12^th at Morven Park.  We had an excellent time last year and look forward to another successful day this year.  We will be volunteering at Morven to offset the cost.  Potential volunteer opportunities will be the Horse Trial (Dressage phase – October 2^nd & 3^rd) and the George Morris Clinic the following week.  

Jump painting for Morven will be in August this year. 

Volunteers:

Leslie Gottesman gave an update on how we will track volunteer hours this year.  When you collect 8 hours of volunteer work, you will receive a discount for camp <<or>> on lessons <<or>> for the Poker Ride.  We’re looking at this to help increase volunteerism throughout the club.  Leslie will print and distribute cards for the purpose of tracking our hours along with the guidelines for how the program will run.

Parks & Recreation:

The county Parks & Recreation is looking for input again.  We received short notice of a meeting this morning and Pat Brescia believes there are three more to follow.  The 2^nd meeting will be February 13^th at 7pm at the  Carver Center (off Route 611) in Lovettsville.  This is a great opportunity to get the needs of the Equestrian community heard.  He’s working to find out dates for the remaining meetings.  At the meeting this morning, five questions were posed and input is being gathered.  From there, focus groups will be set up to address / look into the issues.  There was a good turnout of Equestrian minded people at the meeting today.  Let’s attend and bring all your ‘horsey’ friends to ensure the needs of the Equestrian community continue getting visibility in the county.  

The equestrian patrols continue at the Lovettsville park.  Keep signing up and volunteering – let’s keep supporting this effort and keep the visibility up.  

Miscellaneous:

We are taking out a listing in the Virginia Horseman’s Journal this year – watch for it!

Kathi Watts has been working diligently updating the website and will be getting the new site up soon.  She’s done some excellent work.

Suzanne DeSaix gave an update that there are 48 horses at the county shelter.  Many of them are pregnant mares.  There will be a volunteer orientation this Saturday at the shelter from 9:30 to 11.  Contact Amy Seymour  (amy.seymour@loudoun.gov).  to sign up for the session.  Volunteers are needed to muck, general horse care, and assistance with socializing the foals once they come.  Check their website for additional details.

IF YOU”VE NOT YET RENEWED – GET YOUR RENEWALS IN TO LESLIE GOTTESMAN NOW!!  We wouldn’t want anyone missing out on the fun this year!

Meeting was adjourned at 8:18 pm.

Next meeting:  February 21, 2008 - 7PM at Morven Park – Hoffman Building - Classroom.

Respectfully submitted,

Sheryl Williams
Secretary, TSRC