2019 Annual Meeting Notes
Norfolk Hunt Club Annual Meeting Meeting Minutes
June 11, 2019
6:30 P.M.
The George B. Preston-Dover Legion 32 Dedham Street
Dover, MA 02030
The Norfolk Hunt Club 2018 Annual Meeting took place on June 11, 2019 at the George B. Preston Dover Legion in Dover, MA.
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Present were: Approximately 65 people, comprised of members and their spouses. xxx
The President (Lisa Lewis) called the meeting to order at 6:38 p.m. xxx
Secretary’s Report (Sarah Monaco):
The membership voted to forego the Secretary’s reading of the minutes. The membership voted to approve the minutes of the 2018 Annual Meeting.
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Admissions Report (Sarah Monaco):
Sarah announced that their were 12 resignationas and 7 new members joining. She welcomed Jessica Iorio, Beth Johnson, Kenneth Sallale, Phyllis Smith, Beth Johnson Lane, Adrienne Iorio and Kirsten Poler.
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Treasurer’s Report (Suzan Bater):
Sue presented the Treasurer’s report, which included the year-end financials and the balance sheet.
Sue reported that we are lucky to have Diana Edwards, CPA, helping us with our taxes and as well as conducting an audit of our books. Diana is also a horse lady and gets horses and clubs!
Lisa asked for a motion for not raising the annual dues. D.A. Hayden made the motion and Tom Lewis seconded it. All were in favor.
Lisa asked to keep the dues at $600. Bill Beacham made the motion and Soo Billings seconded that motion. All were in favor.
Lisa asked the membership to approve the Treasurer’s report. Soo Billings made the motion and Ruth Baltopoulous second the motion. All were in favor.
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Polo In The Country (Ruth Baltopoulos):
Ruth reported on behalf of the Committee that “Polo in the Country” made close to $20, 000 in profit. We
th want to match that this Fall and it is scheduled to be on Sunday, September 8 .
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Westport Hunter Pace (Gaelen Canning):
Westport Hunter Pace had close to 200 riders. We opened up a whole new area and she did a special thank you to Kevin McGrath for all his help clearing this area. The event resulted in a $8,300 profit for the Club even after a substantial amount of gross income had been donated to the farmers and the Westport Land Conservation.
This Fall, the Pace is scheduled for Octoeber 20th and we are working on a new course with the help of Vicki Cunningham.
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Norfolk Hunter Trials (Mike Paparo):
Mike reported that this isn’t a big fundraiser but we did break even.
Mike reported that the hunter trials had 25 riders, many whom also competed in the pairs classes as well. We welcomed riders from other hunts as well as the horse show community. In fact, we had far more riders in our Open divisions than our Qualified ones. Norfolk should be proud of the fact that we are one of the last New England hunts that still holds is own Hunter Trials. He thanked all our great volunteers who make this event happen.
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Spring Clean up Day (Tim Johnson):
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Clean Up day was on April 6 . We had approximately 45 members and cleared trails from Faye Field, the
Exercise Field, the Steeplechase Course all the way to Channing Pond. He thanked all the volunteers and his co-Chairs Lisa Lewis.
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New England Hound Show (Ruth Lawler):
There was tremedous success at the Hound Show on May 5 . She thanked Noel Estes, Lee McCloskey, Mary Hughes, Sue Bater and Ruth Baltopoulos for all their help and hard work to make the event so successful. The entries were up by a 1/3 and the junors were terrific. Ruth reported that all seven N.E. hunts participated. She thanked the following: Announcer, Soo Billings, Ring Steward, David Rousseau, Tom Lewis as the gate keeper. The show was a huge under taking and we had thirteen wonderful volunteers. The event made $2,500.
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109th Norfolk Hunt Horse Show Report (Desmond O’Leary):
Desmond reported that it was a beautful day and that before the show there were 103 pre-entries. There were some new barns that came and there were a solid group of sponsorship. People kept asking about the Turf Club so that was a hit the year before! People love our prizes and trophies.
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Desmond reported that the show had a significant increase in exhibitors due to a variety of changes inplemented by the show’s co-chairs especially around social media marketing. The show netted around $10,000.
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Hootenanny(Amey Moot):
Amey reported that the committee was small but energic! We sold over 150 tickets with 8 Grand Patron and 13 Patron and we rasied over $10,000. Amey especially thanked Lee McCloskey for her decorating genius.
Next year will be our Bi-Annual “Grounds For Celebration” and it is going to be our 125 anniversary!
Please save the date of Saturday, May 30th -it was be the Saturday after Memorial Day.
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There was a new location this year with starting at the Steeplechase Course, parking wasn’t a problem. It was a very successful day. It was a beautiful day with outstanding weather and there were 127 riders. 28 juniors and 20 volunteers. We made about $7,900.
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Field Hunter Show: (Lisa Lewis for Alex Quayle)
Lisa reported that is it going to be on Saturday, September 7th in the lower field.
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Maia Adams:
Maia read a very lovely and thoughtful letter about what the Hunt means to her. She got a huge round of applause after she finished.
Masters’ Report (Dominic Cammarata, Carolyn Pope, Robert Shuman):
Dominic reported there are now 10 1⁄2 couples at the Kennels and we have been retiring some of the older ones. We have a new kennel employee who is Meg Currier. She is working at the Kennels on Sunday and has been foxing. Bob Shuman has been working with the hounds and the kennels. Dr. David Rousseau has provided free vaccinations, hound care, etc. We are always looking for more people for help with the hounds and walking out with them.
Our huntsman, Alyse Phipps has now been with us for about a year. With the club leadership, she is now involved with the Professional Huntsman Leadership program. It is a year program. Dominic thanked Bob Shuman, as President as well as Associate Huntsman for his service. Dominic reported that they had spent many, many hours together- either cleaning the kennels, running lines, etc.
Carolyn thanked the Executive Committee and the NHC Club as she said it takes a village to get everything done. She meantion the varies areas of where we need volunteers which is many! “This is our club and this is Norfolk”! She reported that we had 32 subscriptions and over 100 new riders. We delivered over 70 land owner gifts. The challenge in the spring was the heavy and wet weather.
This summer we are planning on having some Hound Schooling and barbeques at the Kennels. Bob Shuman thanked the whole team and our mission.
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President’s Report (Lisa Lewis):
Lisa thanked everyone in the room for coming and reminded us about what a successful year it was for the Club.
Lisa meantioned Dominic’s blog as well as a very special “Thank You” to Diana McNamara for all her help with marketing materials including the focus on the hound truck.
Lisa mentioned that we are coming up on our 125th Anniversary and there will be a lot of fun events around this significant milestone.
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Nominating Committee (Tom Lewis, Catherine Kennedy and Ruth Lawler): Catherine Kennedy presented the slate for the 2019-2020 term:
Ms. Lisa Lewis – President
Ms. Sarah Monaco – Secretary
Ms. Suzan Bater – Treasurer
Mr. Dominic Cammarata, Ms.Carolyn Pope, Dr. David Rousseau, DVM – Masters of Foxhounds
Mr. George Chimento – Steward (term to expire in 2020) Mr. Nick Gleysteen – Steward (term to expire in 2022) Ms. Lisa Lemons – Steward (term to expire in 2022) Mr. Michael Paparo – Steward (term to expire in 2022)
The membership voted to approve the slate as presented.
D.A. Hayden made the motion and Gaelen Canning seconded the motion. The 2019-2020 slate was approved.
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Lisa thanked Soo Billings for her help for as serving as a steward for three consecutive terms. She has been very involved in stewarding the Steeplechase course. Lisa presented Soo Billings with a hunt print.
The Meeting was adjourned at 7:33 p.m. Ruth Baltopoulos made the motion to adjourn and Dominic Cammarata seconded the motion.
Respectfully submitted,
Sarah R. Monaco Secretary