General Monthly Meeting Minutes for May 16, 2023
Meeting Location –
Little Italy, 480 Main St. Groveport, OH, 43125.
Members in Attendance –
Attending the May meeting were Mike Allen (President), Henning Carlsen (Treasurer), Larry Laskorski (Secretary), Rich McCoy (Activities), Ann Allen, Al Holtsberry, Joshua Casto, Joie Casto, Steve Wolfe, and new members – Connor Casto and Rich Amiton.
Call to Order –
Mike Allen called the meeting to order at 7:50 P.M.
Secretary’s report –
Larry Laskorski read the minutes of the meeting held on April 18. 2023. Mike Allen moved to accept the minutes, as written, and that they be entered into the organization’s records. Rich McCoy seconded the motion. All members in attendance voted in favor, with no objections, and the motion was approved.
Treasurer's report –
Henning Carlsen provided a short financial report that indicated the treasury balance and that the club is solvent.
Larry Laskorski moved to accept the Treasurer’s Report, as provided, and that it be entered into the organization’s records. Mike Allen seconded the motion. All members in attendance voted in favor, with no objections, and the motion was approved. Should any members not attending this meeting need information on the current financial position of the club, please reach out to Henning.
Membership report –
With the club currently searching to replace Cory Samuell as Membership Director, resulting from his move out of state, Mike Allen presented the membership report.
The club currently has forty-five members, including new members Rich Amiton and Connor Casto, both of whom were in attendance for this meeting.
Rich McCoy moved to accept the Membership report, as presented, and that it be entered into the organization’s records. Larry Laskorski seconded the motion. All members in attendance voted in favor, with no objections, and the motion was approved.
Activities Report –
Rich McCoy discussed and presented information on the following activities:
• BMW MOA National Rally – June 8th - 10th. Rich has secured an area with 20 campsites for members/guests to camp. He is hoping to have our site next to/near the Cincinnati BMW club site. Mike suggested that we purchase a small banner with the Buckeye Beemer’s club name to help identify our camping area at the rally. The members in attendance supported this suggestion.
• The Cincinnati club will be having a fall outing to Marietta on September 23 – 24. This will be a hotel-based trip and have invited our membership to participate. Rich will obtain more details and post them on our website.
• The calendar on our website has been updated. Rich will try to provide a link to the Motohio website for the calendar of weekly dinner rides.
• June Club ride – participation in the BMW MOA National Rally will take the place of this normally scheduled ride as the rally takes place when the club ride would normally take place.
• Waylin’ Wayne – September 6 – 10. Participants may participate in the entire event or just ride down for the day. There will be organized rides on all surfaces (dirt, gravel & paved roads). Joshua Casto stated that he will be there for the entire event and will have a 12’x20’ tent set up. He will be room to hang out and sleep (bring a cot and contact Joshua if you w0uld like to sleep in the tent). For those interested in just riding down for the day, a ride from Motohio may be scheduled. Please contact Rich McCoy.
• Oregonia Hill Climb – October 8th.
• Mid-Ohio Vintage Days – July 21st – 23rd.
• Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride – May 21st, Website: Distinguished Gentleman's Ride. Meet Sunday morning at 10:00 AM at Motohio.
• Motohio Demo Ride event – August 11th to 12th.
Larry Laskorski moved to accept the Activities Report, as presented, and that it be entered into the organization’s records. Mike Allen seconded the motion. All members in attendance voted in favor, with no objections, and the motion was approved.
Old business -
Mike Allen reiterated that we are still looking for a Membership Director, as well as someone to assist the Membership Director by maintaining the club website and possibly a private Facebook page. Any members interested in filling any of these roles should contact Mike Allen.
Mike reminded the members in attendance that Motohio will pay the first-year club membership for any purchaser of a new BMW motorcycle that expresses interest in becoming a member of the club.
At the April meeting a discussion was held regarding the challenges that the club has faced with the operation of the website with respect to some members not being able to log in to the Members Only section. Additionally, the monthly cost of maintaining the website, in its current form, has been increasing. The members in attendance at the April meeting discussed modifying the club website to both reduce the monthly maintenance cost of the site and eliminate the member access problems that have occurred. In the revised website form, the information contained therein would be accessible by everyone, without the requirement to login. Updates and modifications to the website would only be made by the Board members (E.G.; President’s messages, Secretary’s notes, Activities Calendar, etc.). The personal information of members would not be available on the website. It was agreed that this was the best course of action for the club to take.
The implementation of this change was anticipated to be effective on or about Monday, May 1, 2023, and was delayed due to Mike not being able to contact Cory. Mike will reach out to Cory again to request that he implement this change. Once implemented, members will not be able to log in to the Members Only section and may receive an email notice that their membership has expired. Larry had previously made the membership aware of this possibility. He stated that he would again provide this information to all members when he sends out the notification that the May meeting minutes have been posted on the website.
Joshua Casto volunteered to develop a mockup of a closed group Facebook site for the club which he would plan to present at the next club meeting. This would be a way to provide members with real-time updates about the club and activities.
Charitable activities – historically, the club has supported Smile Train. Mike distributed flyers for BMW’s “Ride It Forward Day of Charity Event” on June 10th. BMW Clubs and riders are encouraged to connect with and support local charities. Mike suggested that on June 10th, the club support Growler’s Dog Bones (a charity that supports individuals with disabilities – Autism). Individuals interested in participating would meet at the dealership for breakfast and then ride to Growler’s Dog Bone’s location. More information to follow.
Joshua Casto made a motion to change the club’s charity from Smile Train to Growler’s Dog Bones. Rich McCoy seconded the motion. All members in attendance voted in favor, with no objections, and the motion was approved.
Another charity that the club will investigate is one where we could support by donating old usable riding gear. The charity could then auction/sell the gear to raise funds or provide the gear the younger riders in need thereof.
New business –
The following new business topics were discussed:
• As was done during last year’s Demo Truck Event at Motohio, Mike would like to set up the membership tent to attempt to recruit additional new members. Rich McCoy and Joshua Cast volunteered to man the tent. Please let Mike know if anyone else would like to volunteer to staff the tent and what availability you may have over this two-day event?
• Motohio has added the schedule of the Buckeye Beemer club’s meeting on their website calendar.
Questions raised – None.
Next Meeting –
The next regularly scheduled club meeting will be Tuesday, June 20th. Location: Hickory House, 7051 E Main St., Reynoldsburg, OH, 43068. Website: Hickory House.
Adjournment –
A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Mike Allen at 8:43 PM which was seconded by Rich McCoy. All members in attendance voted in favor, with no objections, and the motion was approved. The meeting was then adjourned.
