Last Meeting Minutes - Houston Canoe Club

Last Meeting Minutes

by Frank Ohrt

Houston Canoe Club

General Membership Meeting
February 10, 2021
Bayland Park Community Center

Recorder: Frank Ohrt

Commodore Natalie Wiest called the meeting to order. Officers present were Ms. Wiest, Purser Kent Walters, Boatswain Alice Nissen, Fleet Captain Bruce Bodson, and Recorder Frank Ohrt. Also present were Conservation Chair Tom Douglas and Sergeant-at-Arms Ann Derby.

Ms. Wiest asked that the minutes of the previous month’s meetings be approved, and they were.

Mr. Bodson gave the Fleet Captain’s report. Club trips taken since the last meeting, and the trip leaders, included:

Jan. 16: Armand Bayou, Natalie Wiest;
Jan. 30: Brazos River, US 290 to SH 159, Bruce Bodson;
Feb. 6: Brazos River, SH 159 to FM 529, Bruce Bodson;
Feb. 20: Trinity River, SH 105 to US 90, Bruce Bodson.

Unofficial trips included:

Jan. 16: San Bernard River, FM 2919 to Allen Park, Bruce Bodson;
Jan. 23: San Bernard river, FM 60 to FM 2019, Bruce Bodson;
Feb. 23: Texas Winter 100K, Colorado River, Austin to Bastrop, Brent Hwang.

Upcoming trips announced were:

Feb. 13: San Bernard River, FM 1301 to Hansen Riverside Park, Bruce Bodson;
Feb. 20: Christmas Bay annual Crab Trap Removal, Bruce Bodson;
Feb. 27: Colorado River, Garwood to Glen Flora,
Feb. 27: Annual San Marcos River Clean-up, Frank Ohrt.

Mr. Bodson then presented the 2020 100-Miler Awards. Those honored were Brent Hwang, Christy Long, Constantin Platon, David Portz, Kent Walters, and Mr. Bodson himself. Honorees received nifty HCC cover-19 masks. Mr. Ohrt asked if members had fewer than 100 miles (or 10!) could purchase similar masks. Mr. Bodson said that they could get them from the same online supplier if they wished.

Trip leaders honored were Mr. Bodson (17 trips), Kent Walters (10 trips), Christy Long (5 trips) and Natalie Wiest (2 trips).

Ms. Nissen gave the Boatswain’s report. We have two new members, Leslie Taylor and Kimberly Russell, and a total of 131 members.

Mr. Walters gave the Purser’s report. We are ahead of budget for 2021, as club expenses have been minimal. He added that we’re cool with the IRS for another year.

Mr. Douglas gave the Conservation report. Mud Lake, the lower portion of Armand Bayou, has been re-named Lake Mark Kramer, after the long-time Armand Bayou Nature Center naturalist. The Cypress Creek Watershed Partnership has posted the first draft of its Watershed Protection Plan, and it is open for public comment. The Urban Riparian Symposium is in progress. There are two podcasts from KUHF: a TED Radio Hour episode concerning our relationship to water, and an Engines of Our Ingenuity episode on why rivers meander.

Ms. Wiest announced the speakers for the coming months’ meetings. In March, representatives of “Paddle Florida” will talk about their trips in that state. In April, Carl Franklin will give his talk on Texas turtles, postponed from January; in May, there will be a presentation by wildlife rehabilitators to be named later.

She then introduced HCC member Constantin Platon, who talked about his eleven day/120 mile trip on the Green River in Utah with his two children. His stove conked out on him, but it looked like a lovely trip.

Ms Wiest then asked how the Zoom meeting process had been working for everyone. Everyone said it was working well, and she then adjourned the meeting.

Houston Canoe Club

Board Meeting
February 3, 2021
Bayland Park Community Center

Recorder: Frank Ohrt

Commodore Natalie Wiest called the meeting to order. Officers present were Ms. Wiest, Vice Commodore Christy Long, Purser Kent Walters, Boatswain Alice Nissen, and Recorder Frank Ohrt. Also present was Conservation Chair Tom Douglas.

Ms. Wiest asked that the minutes of the previous month’s meetings be approved. They were. She then asked if anyone had a Safety Minute for the membership meeting. Mr. Ohrt said he sort of had one, and Ms. Long said she could mention the usefulness of having a set of jumper cables when on trips. Mr. Ohrt allowed that that beat what he had.

Ms. Long reported on upcoming months’ speakers. The February speaker will be HCC member Constantin Platon, talking about his trip down the Green River in Utah with his two children. The March speakers will be a group from “Paddle Florida”, a company that has paddling tours in that state. In April, Carl Franklin will give a talk on Texas turtles that was postponed from January. Ms. Long said that she’s trying to find someone from a wildlife rehabilitation group, and Mr. Douglas said he could refer her to someone good.

There was no Fleet Captain’s report, as Mr. Bodson was off paddling the entire Brazos River, or something. Mr. Ohrt spoke briefly about the upcoming San Marcos River clean-up, noting that it was not an official HCC event.

Mr. Walters reported that the club is ahead of budget for the year, as we haven’t had many expenses. He said he had filed whatever he files annually with the IRS, and all is well, as usual.Good work, Kent! Ms. Wiest asked that we try to set things up so that we can process memberships, renewals, and payments online as much as possible. There was discussion of revisions to the “Join/Renew” website page. Some revisions to that end were approved.

Mr. Douglas noted that Mud Lake (the lower portion of Armand Bayou) has been re-named Mark Kramer Lake, after the long-time Armand Bayou Nature Center naturalist. He then reported that the Cypress Creek Watershed protection Partnership had formed a draft water quality plan. He reminded us of the Urban Riparian Symposium, February 10-12. He then announced that there were two interesting podcasts available from radio station KUHF. One is an episode of “Engines of Our Ingenuity”, concerning why rivers meander. The other is a TED talk on water issues. (Both can be accessed from his post on the Conservation Forum.)

Ms. Wiest discussed our strategy for avoiding “Zoom bombing”.

Ms. Nissen noted that there was a discrepancy between our number of paid members and our total membership, due to some family memberships with multiple members.

Ms. Wiest adjoined the meeting.

Recorder,

Frank Ohrt