Last Meeting Minutes
HOUSTON CANOE CLUB GENERAL MEETING
March 12th, 2014
Bayland Park Community Center
Temporary Recorder: John Rich
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Harmon Everett |
Commodore Harmon Everett called the meeting to order, and introduced the board of officers. Harmon announced again the two open board positions which need to be filled: Vice Commodore and Recorder. If interested in serving in one of those roles, please contact Harmon.
The Safety Minute took on a different character this month. First of all, it was misspelled as "Minuet" on the agenda display, so Harmon danced a little minuet as was fitting. Next, instead of having one pre-arranged member come forward and talk about a safety item at length, Harmon went around the room and had each person give a very brief talk about some safety item of their choosing. Topics included; weather forecasts, vehicle tie-downs, proper clothing, being pinned in moving water, cold weather, injuries getting in and out of boats, equipment checklists, being willing to call a trip off if conditions warrant, bow saws, first aid kits, awareness of obstacles and proximity to others, PFD's, paddling buddies, safety education, and rope throw-bags. Excellent!
Temporary Recorder John Rich read the February Meeting Minutes, and they were approved.
Honey Leveen, 50th Anniversary chairwoman, gave an update on preparations for the 50th anniversary party to be hold on Oct. 11th.
Purser Bob Naeger was not present, but Harmon noted that Club Finances are healthy and in-order. And also that Bob is trying to get ACA waivers completed by 100% of the membership.
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Kenny Pape |
Bosun Kenny Pape introduced a new guest named April, who just moved to Houston from Florida, and hopes to be paddling with us soon.
Fleet Captain Dave Kitson ran down the list of recent paddle trips, and had a participant chat about each one. These included:
- San Marcos River Cleanup, by Ken Anderson
- San Bernard River, by Terri Morgan
- Luce Bayou, by Terri Morgan
- Boquillas Canyon, by Ken Anderson
- Coleto Creek, by Cindy Cox
- Galveston Beach, by Kenny Pape
Next, Dave had folks talk about planned upcoming trips:
- Columbus Loop, led by Phil & Tisha Matticks
- Armand Bayou Trash Bash, by John Bartos
- Tom Douglas has three upcoming trips: 1) Turtle Bayou, 2) Lake Charlotte, and 3) Cypress Creek.
- Buffalo Bayou Regatta, by John Ohrt. Terri Herdlicka and Christi Long are entered and looking to win the race in their category in this event, as practice for the Texas Water Safari.
Newsletter Editor John Rich highlighted the monthly newsletter feature called "In the News", which provides a sampling of paddling-related news stories from around the nation and the world.
Conservation officer John Bartos yielded his speech time to provide more of the clock to our guest speaker.
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Bacteria
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Rachel Powers
& Harmon Everett |
The guest speaker was Rachel Powers, Executive Director & Managing Editor of the Citizens Environmental Coalition, or CEC. Rachel talked about water quality issues in area waterways, including sources of pollution like animal waste and wastewater treatment plants, various types of bacteria like e. coli, and the pollution levels of local streams. While the water qualtiy in the area has been vastly improved over he preceding decade, it still has a long way to go to meet accepted standards. The Houston-Galveston Area Council has a new iphone app called "How's the Water", which allows you to interactively check, from your mobile device, the water quality levels at any local water monitoring station. There is also the "Texas Stream Team" network of citizen volunteers who help collect water samples for water quality monitoring, and more volunteers are welcome. At the end of her program, Harmon presented Rachel with a complimentary copy of Natalie Wiest's paddling guidebook: "Canoeing and Kayaking Houston Waterways".
The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 pm, and tables and chairs put away as the custodian arrived to turn out the lights.
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Temporary Recorder,
John Rich |