Minutes of 8/9/06 Meeting

This meeting opened at 7:30 p.m. by Sis. B. Vondra at American Sokol Office in Oak Brook, Illinois. The Pledge of Allegiance was given. The following BOI members were present: John Bazata, Lynda Bazata, Christina Curran, Chuck Kalat, Jan Kalat, Matt Kocek, Bob Kucera, Paul Lebloch, Juanita LoGiudice, Nancy Pajeau, Kandi Pajer, Tom Pajer, Barb Vondra, Patti Vondra, Howie Wise and Jane Wise. Bev Domzalski, Maryann Fiordelis, Barb Kucera and Irena Polashek were excused.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
– Birthday greetings: Nancy Pajeau and Ed Schnabl. Anniversary greetings: Tom and Kandi Pajer (3rd); Ed and EllenJeanne Schnabl (50th). Get well wishes: Eva Balas. Sympathy: Dagmar Fiala (Sokol Washington DC).
– 2006-2007 Women’s Board Staff Members: Nancy Pajeau (1st assistant), Jan Kalat (2nd assistant), Juanita LoGiudice, Bev Domzalski, Barb Kucera, Patti Vondra, Beth Kocek, Jane Wise, Sandy Benak, Maryann Fiordelis, Kandi Pajer, Irena Polashek, Christina Curran. At this time, no formal acceptance received from Lynn Conrad and Mary Cushing. Pat Satek will not be returning.
– 2006-2007 Men’s Board Staff Members: Bob Kucera (1st assistant), Tom Pajer (2nd assistant), Bud Benak, Ed Schnabl, Matt Kocek and Paul Lebloch. At this time, no formal acceptance received from Jerry Milan, Frank Michalek, Buddy Benak, Rich Vachata and Joe Vrzalik.

MINUTES:
– Minutes of the June 14, 2006, meeting were reviewed.
MOTION made by Br. T. Pajer to approve the minutes of the June 14, 2006, American Sokol – BOI Meeting, seconded by Br. B. Kucera and passed.

BILLS:
– Chuck Kalat, USAG Congress travel expense, 8/16-19/2006 in St. Paul, MN, $416.60.
– COS, postage and uniform samples received, $273.33 (6180, 00 Kc).
– Chuck Kalat, travel to Sokol USA technical meeting in Pittsburgh, PA, $309.00.
MOTION made by Br. T. Pajer to approve bills, seconded by Br. B. Kucera and passed.

CORRESPONDENCE:
Mail Sent:
– Invitations to past BOI Women’s Board for the new year.

Mail Received:
– Patti Komara, packet of specials; VHS tapes $20 until 8/31/06, only DVDs available after 8/31/06.
– Patti Komara postcard, preschool kits ad; www.tumblebear.com.
– Illinois State Judges Cup postcard, South – 10/7-8/06, Springfield, IL; North – 11/10-12/06, University of Illinois, Chicago; www.ilnawgj.com.
– USAG letter, being a non-member club;
– USAG letter, World Record Cartwheel-a-thon, 8/3/06, Minnesota State Fairgrounds.
– August, 2006 Directors’ Newsletter.

E-mails received:
– Illinois USAG Gymnastics State Congress, 7/21-23/06, Itasca Park District, www.region5.com/illinois.
– Bev Domzalski, American Sokol BOI June Minutes; Tom Pajer posted on web site www.american-sokol/boi/members.
– Sokol Naperville participated in National Gymnastics Day, 8/5/06.
– Christina Curran, Central District Weekend Instructors Course, 9/29-10/1/06.
– American Council on Exercise, www.acefitness.org, July and August newsletters and ACE Fitness Symposium, 9/6-9/2006 in Las Vegas, NV at the Rio Hotel and Casino; early registration 6/15/2006, otherwise 8/15/06.
– Tiffin Mats, Congress Specials, www.tiffinmats.com.
– USA Gymnastics, National Gymnastics Day, 8/5/06, educational courses at National Congress, St. Paul, MN; Visa Championship tickets available, 8/16-19/06.
– PE-NEWS, August/September Newsletter, www.pelinks4u.org.
– PE4life, DuPage County Institute in Naperville, IL, www.pe4life.org.
– The President’s Challenge, July newsletter, www.presidentschallenge.org.
– The Dumpling Newsletter, www.thedumplingnews.com.

E-mails sent:
– Registered American Sokol to be a 50th Anniversary partner with the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, www.fitness.gov. Units can do the same.

YOUTH MEMBERSHIP:
– Youth Committee Status Report submitted August 9, 2006, attached.

Bills:
– Postage, $702.00 (on credit card)
– Newsletter copying, $342.13 (on credit card).

2006-2007 Registration:
– Br. Kucera sent out a survey to the District Directors asking when unit classes begin. Majority of responses were early September start; one unit starts late September; one starts early October.
– In September, 2006, Br. Kucera will be sending by e-mail registration to unit youth coordinators or women’s director with a return deadline of November 15, 2006. After the registration deadline date, all old members will be removed from the e-mail list.

Upcoming Activities:
– August newsletter has been mailed and posted on the website; includes contest of the month which is the first annual youth newsletter quiz.
– Br. P. Lebloch noted COS has a similar youth newsletter.
– Br. Kucera is working with Sis. M. Fiordelis on attendance figures.
– Discussion regarding Executive Board’s interaction with youth membership and units adult associate membership. Executive Board needs to monitor this membership between youths and parents. Presently, there is no monitoring of associate members by the ASO Executive Board.

2006 PRAGUE SLET – July 5-6, 2006
Reports:
– Br. P. Lebloch saw a lot of positive moments during the Slet participation and the American Sokol youth.
Performance Team (ASPT)
– Br. T. Pajer reported the team represented the American Sokol very well.
– Team is still working to complete commitments, i.e., DVD, adoption letters, etc.
– Team did earn more money than needed; due to a lot of generous donations from everyone and COS helping cover cost of hostel. Br. Pajer would like to see extra money used to start a new fund/account to be used for the same purpose as the ASPT. Br. H. Wise commented that the money was raised for the organization and the money should be turned back in as part of the BOI fundraising project that BOI needs to do during the post-convention five years.
– It was felt it is not the BOI’s responsibility to raise money; it should be the executive board’s responsibility; however, in order for the BOI to get the money they ask for, the deal was to have the BOI raise an average of $5, 000 per year for five years.

MOTION made by Br. T. Pajer that the funds, about $12, 000 to $13, 000, that are left over from the ASPT fundraising be put into an account and held for the purpose of supporting other guests that we invite to our Slet to perform as did the ASPT at the Prague Slet, seconded by Sis. L. Bazata and passed (1 opposed).

Comments:
– Tom Pajer, Kandi Pajer, Matt Kocek and Paul Lebloch described some of their experiences in Prague and the Czech Republic. All were impressed by the European Slet and Gala performances. Tom talked about the energy from the spectators and participants for Sokol. Kandi was amazed by the mass of adults and children in the numbers and the length of the numbers. Paul Lebloch explained that the COS BOI only deals with the calisthenics; the sports department deals with gymnastics, baseball, etc.; the school deals with fitness, first aid, etc. The people who run these departments work at these jobs and get paid for doing them.
– Several American Sokol members were interviewed by the Czech radio station (John Bazata) and Czech TV (Paul Lebloch), while they were lined up waiting for the parade to begin.
– Br. T. Pajer put together a CD called “Call of the Falcon – Music of the American Sokol Performance Team.”
– Southern District created postcards that were distributed during Sokol Slet events advertising the 2009 American Sokol Slet in Texas.
– Br. T. Pajer found it helpful to have an interpreter; felt any group coming to U.S. for a Slet should have an interpreter assigned to them to make communication easier.
– Sis. B. Vondra compared this Slet to the Slet in 2000 in Prague and felt it was much better this time. Sis. J. Hruby and Sis. B. Vondra were able to sit in the sky box for the evening Slet performance. Br. Larry and Sis. Lil Laznovsky sat in the sky box for the afternoon Slet performance along with the President of the Czech Republic.
– Sis. J. Hruby is looking for the banner from the Czech Republic for our flag.
– Unaware if COS will be creating a DVD of all of the performances. Czech TV televised the afternoon Slet performance.
– Br. T. Pajer felt the team should have had a public relations person to do the pictures and video at all times.

NEW WING
– No report.

OTHER OLD AND NEW BUSINESS:
2006 National Instructors School- July 17-31, 2006
– Received e-mail report from Br. B. Benak. Br. Benak reported there were 42 students. Kevin Fitzpatrick, Gretchen Vencl, Steve Wise and Mike Dropka were assistant instructors this year and should now be considered regular instructors for the coming instructors schools. They used the study guides that Jane Wise and Mary Cushing worked on for previous courses. They had some new practice teaching lessons that were produced by Mary Cushing and Pete Lattanzio.
– Br. T. Pajer discussed Course during National Camp; questioned whether Course is following BOI objectives; does the school board set the program around the BOI’s suggestions; does Course use the skill cards.
– Br. C. Kalat explained that the school board reports to the National BOI; the staff members generate the curriculum; school board reviews it. It is difficult to get a lot of information into a two week course; Units are expected to teach instructors in addition to the school.
– Sis. B. Vondra suggested this topic be placed on the agenda for the next school board meeting. The Instructor Handbook needs to be updated.
2006 National Sokol Camp – July 31 to August 6, 2006
– Br. C. Kalat spoke to Sis. L. Laznovsky. This was a better camp than in the past; campers had a lot of enthusiasm; everyone worked well with the staff. There were 39 campers involved in sports, canoe trip and chili cook-off. Br. T. Pajer commented that this camp was a good one, also. This camp worked much better because it did not directly follow the Slet; the campers were allowed to recuperate from Slet and then attend camp well rested.
– There were 8 campers that came directly from Instructors Course; also, three instructors from Course came to camp. Of those 8, possibly three were from St. Louis.
– Sis. L. Laznovsky also indicated that there was some money left over from the camp funds; Sis. Laznovsky recommends that these extra funds be used for a staff meeting in the spring to plan the next camp.
– Br. T. Pajer feels more needs to be added to the camp, including more pre-planning.
MOTION made by Br. T. Pajer that some of the extra funds be set aside to support a 2-3 day weekend planning session for camp staff, seconded by Br. B. Kucera and passed.

2006 Summer Traveling Camps
– Central District held camp June 16-18, 2006, at Sokol Spirit. There were 30 campers; there would have been 32, but injuries prior to camp kept them away. There were more asking to come, but it was after the deadline. Many campers were picked up and taken home; it was felt the camp should be overnight for all ages; at this time, the 7 and 8 year olds go home to sleep.
– Br. J. Bazata praised the camp counselors/staff; they were very competent and did a good job. The staff was Kevin Fitzpatrick, Stacey Domzalski, Kaitlin Short and Matt Petkus. Maria Breidenbach is also part of the staff but was not available for this camp.
Strategic Planning Committee Plans
– Br. T. Pajer is working on the power point presentation for the Executive Board meeting in August, 2006. There will also be a presentation at the President’s Conference in November and an informal discussion at the BOI Conference in October.

Uniform Committee
– Br. C. Kalat noted that comments were made about not spending a lot of time on the socks project. Sis. J. Hruby will not move on these changes until mid-2007 due to the volume of inventory we have on hand. This topic will be discussed and decisions made during the BOI conference in October, 2006.
Adult Merit Award
– Sis. N. Pajeau reported it is still being worked on.

2006 National Skills Month
– There are enough skill cards; ribbons will need to be ordered with new Sokol logo on them. Skills month is December; Br. T. Pajer will have everything ready in time for Directors’ Conference in October.

2006 District Directors’ Conference – October 20-22, 2006
– Hotel has been booked at $130/night. Sokol New York is helping with the use of their tax exempt status. Sokol New York will cook all meals and take care of all food.
– There are a few people leaving Tuesday night to do some sightseeing in New York.
– Transportation from airport to hotel has not yet been worked out.
– California people can arrive on Thursday. Everyone else will arrive on Friday morning.
– Reimbursement of trip and hotel is for District Directors, Assistants and Juanita LoGiudice and Bev Domzalski.
– Agenda items should be sent to Br. C. Kalat or Sis. B. Vondra; deadline is August 23, 2006.

2007 Sokol USA Slet – Pittsburgh
– Br. C. Kalat is going to the technical meeting in September, 2006. Slet materials should be available at that meeting; Br. C. Kalat will give them a mailing list to send the materials out.
– American Sokol special number presentation was shown by Br. M. Kocek.

Other
– Sis. J. LoGiudice is still waiting for transcript from Greg Weyers; also waiting for a receipt from Appa Hargiss for merit award.
– A check was received from Sandy Benak in the amount of $345.00 for 23 Instructors School Manuals.
– Ed and EllenJeanne Schnabl have a new e-mail address: edandej@verizon.net.
– Chicago Marathon is 10/22/06; Beth Kocek is forming a Sokol team; Bill Kool is coming in to do a fundraiser for Sokol Baltimore.
– Br. H. Wise asked how other units would be able to view the completed scrapbook; asked when it is on display. Scrapbook should be available at Sokol events for viewing.
– Sis. J. Hruby would like to post the uniform price list on the BOI web site.
– Sis. B. Vondra would like to set aside time on BOI meeting nights to work on certain projects, i.e. items from the action list, preparing a National event, uniform discussions, etc.

ACTION LIST:
– Action list was reviewed; an updated copy is posted on the BOI members web site.

The next ASO-BOI meeting will be held at the American Sokol office at 122 West 22nd Street, Oak Brook, IL, on Wednesday, September 13, 2006, at 7:30 p.m. There was no further business to discuss.

Meeting adjourned at 9:45 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Beverly R. Domzalski, Secretary