Minutes of the Wisconsin Walnut Council Board of Directors 6-20-03 meeting
DNR Service Center-Dodgeville, Wisconsin

BOD members present: Russ Moody, Matt Singer, Ron Jervis, Arthur Luttig, Mike Pfanku, Aaron Young
BOD members absent: Odell Anderson, Bob Weiland
Others present: John Nielsen, Dale Parker, Al Goetsch

President Ron Jervis (numbers below refer to the agenda items) passed out agenda (on file). Meeting called to order at 9:20 a.m.

1) John Nielsen pointed out that direct seeding on CRP land is approved under practice CP3-A, according to CRP manual Rev.16, amendment 1. No one at the meeting was sure of what species is eligible, and hopefully technical standards are available through the NRCS. Walnuts and other species can be ordered through the DNR nursery. Seed is available at other sources too. John Nielsen will write a newsletter regarding direct seeding.

2) Results of the May 16 2003 spring field day were discussed. 40 people attended. Special thanks were extended to Mike Pfanku. Discussion ensued at to pros and cons of having field days on a weekday vs. weekend, pros and cons of renting a bus vs. not renting a bus. If we do rent a bus in the future we need to get reservations from attendees well in advance to make sure costs will at least come close to the rental fees and to rent the appropriate sized bus. There are a lot of details to consider when organizing a field day. Ron Jervis asked Mike Pfanku to head up the team for documenting the guidelines for conducting a Field Day, based on his recent experience with the Spring 2003 Field Day. Aaron Young and John Nielsen are to be part of the team and contribute their great experience of past field days.

3) Matt passed out the minutes of the 3-25-03 BOD meeting. No discussion, no changes. Russ Moody motion to accept minutes, Arthur second. Passed.

4) Treasurer’s report given by Russ Moody (on file). The first portion of the report deals with the 2003 spring field day. Report was amended to show and pay for the following costs for the field day: $125.00 for mileage for Mike, $30.00 for the bus driver tip, and $90.00 for rolls, juice and safety glasses. Motion for this made by Matt, 2nd by Arthur. Motion passed. Russ pointed out that income was about $500.00 less than expenses for the field day. We needed a full bus to break even. More discussion on the pros and cons of taking a bus. Russ volunteered to help set registration fees for future field days.

Treasurer’s summary for 2003 shows WWC has a net worth of $4,378.97. $735 in dues was taken in so far in 2003. Discussion followed on how we can raise some revenue. Arthur mentioned that corporate sponsorship might be a possibility if we put up signs at field days and do a regular newsletter. Corporations would like to see their name on the things we do and perhaps they would contribute to WWC. Ron has made a map of Wisconsin showing the locations of all the WWC members’ property locations, and we should incorporate that into the display material. Russ reminded us that we need to be careful of our spending. Motion to accept treasurer’s report by Aaron, Matt 2nd. Passed.

5) Personal contact program. As of 6-20-03 WWC has 137 members. 27 people have not renewed membership. A letter has gone out (on file) reminding those people of benefits of joining WWC. If they do not renew by 7-1-03 they will be dropped from the members list. John Nielsen said that DNR employees on the board (or otherwise) should not be making the personal calls/contacts “over-promoting”. DNR employees could be requested to do that for every worthwhile organization. Ron mentioned that more members will give Wisconsin a bigger voice nationally and will set and example for other state chapters.

6) Review and Status of Committee Plans:

a) Genetic Improvement of Trees and Nuts: no plan on file. There is a committee meeting set for July 22nd at the DNR Boscobel Nursery with Nursery manager Joe VandeHey, and DNR genetics improvement head Greg Edge. They will set the parameters of desirable tree characteristics and come up with an action plan for collection this fall.
b) Membership: report on file. Dale Parker: 137 current paid members, 27 not renewed yet. Letter was sent to those who have purchased walnut seedlings from the DNR nursery. Poor response. Could send a letter to MFL entries. Discussion followed on what subset of MFL owners to send a letter to. Was decided that 100 MFL entries in Grant County would be the target. Ron will get this list to Dale and Dale will send out the letter. John Nielsen said he would send a colored paper WWC application to the DNR foresters in the southern part of the state so they can include this in their mailings to the new 2004 MFL entries.
c) Web site and PC technology: report on file. Task #6 is the marketing and sales website. Discussion followed about should WWC be getting into this? Was decided this is a matter to take to the members at the next membership meeting this fall.
d) Marketing tree farm products: no report, no discussion. Will have the report in September at the next B.O.D meeting.
e) Chapter revenue generation: no report, Discussion on how WWC might pursue some grants from either private or government entities. Russ stated he did not have time to do this. Ron asked for volunteers to look into this. No takers.
f) Charter revision: no report, no discussion
g) Public Relations and exhibitions (“promotional committee”): report on file. Was decided to not make a web site for sign-ups for displays as the report says. John will work on getting us some space for a booth at Wisconsin Farm Technology Days (formerly known as “Farm Progress Days”) in Waupaca July 15-17, 2003. Dale, Russ and Arthur volunteered to man the booth. Ron will somehow get the WI map showing the members’ locations to this event. Need handouts for this and other events the WWC will be at. Applications are a must, and a “newsletter” (which will be a revision of Russ’ mailing to non-renewed members) will be available at the booth. Was decided that samples of both would be available and if someone shows an interest then the person manning the booths can hand one to the passerby. Else, we will go through many, many copies at a large expense.
Other events for WWC display: Light on the Land Logging (9/26-27/2003) near Viroqua. Also, Forest Productivity Day in Columbia County in October, 2003.
Aaron will make a WWC member e-mail distribution list using Ron’s membership spreadsheet. This would be useful for John Nielsen so he can easily ask for volunteers to man the Exhibition booths and to notify members of various events.
Committee could/should send articles with pictures to various newspapers summarizing our field days. Hopefully television would be a medium to use too. Was decided that, if possible, the WWC president would be the first choice of contact for this type of media exposure.

h) Fall field day and members meeting: discussion: the field site near FonDuLac has fallen through. Can save a tour of the Inlay Plant for another field day. B.O.D. decided to stick with a two day event. First day: Aaron will coordinate a field day in Richland County and points north for Friday, September 26th. Friday night will be a dinner/Annual Membership Meeting at a restaurant near Readstown. Saturday September 27th will attend the Light on the Land Field Day near Viroqua.. Aaron will set this up and get a final report/agenda with details in a field-day brochure to the B.O.D. on July 22nd at Boscobel after the Tree Improvement Committee meeting. That short B.0.D meeting on July 22nd is also when the B.O.D. will decide the final action plan as to nut collection/selling this fall.

8) National Meeting in Kansas this July. As of now Mike, Arthur, Ron and Al are attending.

9) Plaques for outgoing board members: Al and Aaron picked up 10 cutouts and the clock works from Walnut Hollow for a cost of $55.00 Al volunteered to finish the cot outs. Clocks then need to be assembled. To personalize the clocks, Arthur suggested that small brass plaques could be engraved at Wal-Mart for a small expense of about $3.00. Rudy Nigl and Aaron Young will be responsible for doing this.
Discussion followed regarding needing some part-time secretarial help on an “as-needed” basis. Sandy Singer had been hired to do 6 hours of work at $10.00 for the spring 2003 field day mailing. This type of help especially comes in handy when B.O.D members are up against tight deadlines. Motion made by Aaron to hire a part time secretary in this manner, no 2nd. Not enough board members to vote on it anyway, as Russ had left the meeting earlier. Tabled to take up at a future meeting.