2015

Minutes of 19 September 2015 General Meeting

1) Agenda, opening chaired by Scott Mackay, President

2) Hartzog Award comments by Amanda Corman and display of award; Framed picture of KMTC members in Washington, D.C. with Johnny Isakson autograph presented to Amanda


3) Slate of Officers- all officers nominated by the Nominating committee were elected to office by acclimation; Doug Tasse accepts nomination as President and Chairs remainder of the meeting

4) Trail work Report given by Doug Tasse

5) Scout Report sent by Donald Olds

6) Invasive Plants Report- sent by Danny Leigh

7) Treasurer’s Report- given by Tom Okerberg

8) Historian’s report- provided by Jay Haney and presented by Anne Strand

9) Program Planning Report- provided by Lucy Denzin and presented by Anne Strand

10) Trail Ambassador Report- provided by Cam Graham and presented by David Strand

11) Membership Report- given by Sherry Shogren

2016

Minutes of 1 October 2016 General Meeting

1) Agenda, chaired by Doug Tasse, President

2) Slate of Officers-all officers nominated by the Nominating committee were elected to office by acclimation. New officers are Gloria Downey, Secretary; Janie Brier, Trail Ambassador Director and Rusty Bradley, Historian.

3) Trail work Report -prepared by Ken Hale and given by Doug Tasse



4) Scout Report-given by Donald Olds

5) Invasive Plants Report-prepared by Danny Leigh and given by Doug Tasse

6) Treasurer’s Report -given by Tom Okerberg

7) Historian’s report -given by Jay Haney

8) Program Planning Report-given by Lucy Denzin



9) Trail Ambassador Report -prepared by Cam Graham given by Jay Haney

10) Technology Report-given by Jerry Givan

11) Membership Report -given by Sherry Shogren

2017

Minutes of 22 September 2017 General Meeting

1) Agenda, chaired by Scott Mackay, Interim President. Doug Tasse had resigned for health reasons.

2) Updated by-laws were adopted.

3) Slate of officers--all officers nominated by the Nominating committee were elected to office by acclimation. New officers are Donald Olds, Vice President; Bruce Rugg, Trails Director; Jay Haney, Director of Program Planning; Peter Stell, Fundraising Director and Paul Eubanks, Logistics Director

4) Trail Work Report--prepared by Ken Hale and given by Scott Mackay

5) Scout Report--given by Donald Olds

6) Invasive Plants Report--prepared by Danny Leigh and given by Scott Mackay

7) Treasurer’s Report—verbal report given by Tom Okerberg

8) Historian’s Report—verbal report given by Rusty Bradley

9) Trail Ambassadors Report--prepared by Janie Brier

10) Technology Report--given by Jerry Givan

11) Membership Report--given by Anne Strand

12) Scott Mackay discussed Trail Club Plans for 2017-2018

13) Proposed changes to NPS operations at KEMO are in Public Comment stage through 10 October 2017

14) Program for 15th Anniversary Trail Club Party, Saturday, 28 October.

2018

View from Illinois Monument in 1934, note McCook monument in distance

Anne Strand Receives 2018 George and Helen Hartzog Enduring Service Award
Article by Amanda Corman

KMTC Annual Business Meeting
Education Room, Visitor Center
September 15, 2018, 10:00AM

-Opening Comments/Remarks by Scott Mackay
2018 was a successfully year. As a board we:

-Election of Officers see Minutes

Board Member Yearly Reports 2017 – 2018

-By-Laws Amendment	Bob Brier
-2018 – 2019 Look Ahead	Don Olds see Minutes
-Installation of New Board Members	Scott Mackay see Minutes

2019

1) In April the archives were donated to the NPS for safe keeping at the KEMO Visitors Center. Index of archives

2) In April the Club signed a 20 year agreement with NPS defining how the two organizations work together. Part of that agreement was publishing an Annual Work Plan



-The meeting was called to order by KMTC President Don Olds at 9:00AM in the
Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield Park Visitors' Center Education Room.
Attendees included:

Officers -
Don Olds, President
Bill Gurry, Vice-
Tom Okerberg, Treasurer
Bob Brier, Secretary

Directors -
Bill Gurry, Acting Trail Director
Rena Bailey, Community Volunteers Director
Fred Feltmann, Communications/Newsletter Director
(Trail Ambassador Director, Janie Brier, and Invasive Plants Director, Danny Leigh, were absent)

Additional Board Members -
Jay Haney, Program Planning & Archives
Scott Mackay, Fundraising


Additional KMTC Voting Members –
Geoff Grosguth, Dave Skilling, Debbie Dement


-President’s Remarks. Don Olds reflected on the past year including the number of work days, additional Club events & activities, and the impacts of both weather and the government shutdown. He expressed his thanks to all for their continued involvement and support.

-The next order of business was the election of Officers/Directors for the coming year. The slate of nominees listed below were proposed by the Nominating Committee established by President Don Olds following the July 2019 Quarterly Board Meeting. Bill Gurry headed up that committee. There were no nominations from the floor and the slate of candidates was approved by acclamation. Per Club By-Laws, the new officers are installed for the 2019/20 year upon completion of this meeting.

President – Don Olds
Vice President – Robert Willoughby
Secretary – Bob Brier
Treasurer – Tom Okerberg
Trail Director – Bill Gurry
Communications/Newsletter Director - Fred Feltmann
Community Volunteers Director – Rena Bailey
Trail Ambassador Director – Janie Brier
Invasive Plants Director – Danny Leigh

Election notes:
- At the conclusion of this meeting, the Program Planning Directorship is being retired and the Archive function is being transitioned to the new Friends of Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park organization under the leadership of Scott Mackay. Jay Haney has agreed to continue wearing the archives ‘hat’ during this one-year transition period while he establishes a new archive methodology for the future and the Club seeks a new archivist to assume the role.

-Next up, was the presentation of annual Officer/Director reports. The following individuals presented or made available their reports per the published meeting agenda. Those reports accompany these minutes

-President, Don Olds reported ( 2019 Fundraising Report .pdf) in more detail on various Club activities and focused on the enhanced coordination process with Park staff for approval of work plans. He recognized Jay Haney for his years of work with the Club acknowledging his ‘move’ to the KMNBP Friends group. He also highlighted the year’s Boy Scout work in the Park in which he has been particularly involved.

-Treasurer, Tom Okerberg’s financial report (2019 KMTC Annual Meeting - Financial Report.pdf) indicated that the Club remains comfortably ‘in the black’, donations remain apace with prior years, and the Club insurance premiums have been recently paid. Tom also stated that IBM will likely match some Club members donations and that a significant donation from Cobb EMC for improvements to the Environmental Trail is imminent.

-Acting Trail Director, Bill Gurry reported (Trail Director annual report 2019.pdf) on Club Trail Work Day results, Crew Leader Training and the need for more recruitment, and the recent SCA ‘visit’ (praise for the students and thanks to the helpers!). He also made a pitch for more Crew Leader help in the work planning process, and singled out both Janie Brier and Rena Bailey for thanks for their respective Trail Ambassador and Community Volunteer support.

-In her absence, Don Olds read Janie Brier’s Trail Ambassador report (Trail Ambassador 2019 Year End Report.pdf) highlighting current numbers of TA’s, on-going training, and the year’s very busy schedule of TA support of Park activities/events. A ‘first ever’ TA’s annual meeting is scheduled for September 21st. President Olds praised Janie’s exceptional organization and conduct of the TA program since taking on the role.

-Community Volunteers Director, Rena Bailey reported (2019 Annual Report Community Volunter Director.pdf) on the Club’s recent support of the KSU Volunteering Fair where Club members emphasized both TA and Crew Leader recruitment. She also provided a current ‘snapshot’ of our volunteers’ numbers and demographics (ages, sources, etc.) as well as the fact that we presently have about a 75% volunteer returnee rate.

-In his absence, Don Olds read Danny Leigh’s Invasive Plants report (Invasive Plants Annual Report 090719.pdf) highlighting the year’s efforts against garlic mustard, privet, wisteria, bamboo, etc. He singled out the work of Cam Graham with his periodic high school groups and the SCA, and noted the work of the EPMT crew from South Carolina. Danny additionally thanked Harry Carpenter, Eric Sawyer, Rich Robinson and Pic Petelle for their continued leadership and support.

-Communications Director, Fred Feltmann reported (Communications Director Annual Report 2019 .pdf) on subscriber status, Facebook activity, and participation growth status. He plans to try again to offer a Mailchimp training class some TBD time this Fall.

KEMO Eagle Scout projects 2019 fiscal final.pdf

-Look Ahead The remainder of the meeting was devoted to a wide-ranging discussion of future activities/plans for the coming year.

-President Don Olds welcomed aboard new VP, Robert Willoughby, stressing his corporate world background and work with the Boy Scouts.

-Don addressed the next Quarterly Board Meeting which will be devoted to planning and will take place on October 28th. Planned topics will include the calendar, work plans ‘big picture’, archive plan status (Jay Haney), fundraising, ID’ing future Trail Work Day leads, and possible work interface with other area parks. Superintendent Walther will also give her quarterly Park report.

-Don also announced the scheduled dates for the next year’s Club meetings (10/28, 1/27, 5/4, 7/27 and 9/19 (Annual Business Meeting)) and advised that – like the October meeting – not every session would include reporting.

-This month’s Trail Work Day will be a split location effort which prompted a conversation about the ‘smarts’ of doing that in the future. It raises questions about registration coverage as well as transportation of ‘stuff’ and people to multiple locations. The idea of having assigned groups for each area of the Park (north, central, south) was broached along with the concept of self-initiated (?) periodic minor trail maintenance/upkeep work. And, questions of liaison work with other parks such as Chattahoochee were raised (see October meeting above).

-The need for some sort of enhanced digital communication posture was discussed. The growing popular use such media as Twitter and Instagram would seem to warrant investigation. It was suggested that, perhaps, a KSU student might be interested in putting together a Trail Work Day (?) video for dissemination.

-Scott Mackay briefed the group on an updated Volunteer Hours Recording app created by Mark Angeli that he’s implementing for the KMNBP Friends group. It should be readily adaptable for KMTC and would allow easy entry of and look back at volunteer hours. Park staff will have ready access to its database for reporting purposes. Scott will host a demo in the Park Visitor Center on September 28th at 9:00AM.

-Don reminded the group of coming ‘events’ such as the new traffic roundabout, the Wallace House project, the city/county multi-use trails, and of the potential for KMTC involvement in those projects.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:40AM. The next Quarterly Board Meeting – a dedicated planning session - is set for October 28th, 2019 at 6:00PM in the Park Visitors’ Center Education Room.

JROTC and ditch witch
Rena and Bill in a Gator
TA continuing ed

2020



Owing to the on-going coronavirus pandemic, the meeting was conducted virtually using Zoom. It was called to order by KMTC President Don Olds at 9:00AM. Attendees included:

Officers
Don Olds, President
Tom Okerberg, Treasurer
Bob Brier, Secretary
(Vice-President Robert Willoughby was absent)

Directors
Bill Gurry, Trail Director
Rena Bailey, Community Volunteers Director
Janie Brier, Trail Ambassador Director (Trail Ambassador Rpt
(Fred Feltmann, Communications/Newsletter Director and Danny Leigh, Invasive Plants Director, were absent)

Additional Board Members Jay Haney, Program Planning & Archives
Scott Mackay, Fundraising

Additional KMTC Voting Members
Laurie Poppell (taking over archiving/record-keeping duties from Jay Haney)
Ted Spetnagel, Trail Ambassador

-President Olds welcomed everyone and introduced new Park Superintendent, Patrick Gammon, who gave the group a rundown on his background and some of what he envisions for the Park on his watch.

-Mr. Gammon has been with NPS since 1990 and has served at multiple locations across the country. He is a hiker, backpacker, and occasional horse rider.

-He is sensitive to the need for more public outreach and the increased use of technology to get out both the Park’s and the Civil War’s story.

-He is more interested in getting the existing trails ‘up-to-speed’ than in creating new trails, as well as better defining and marking (or, closing) ‘feeder’ vs ‘social’ vs ‘formal’ trails.

-He believes recent legislation providing more funding for NPS will result over the next couple of years in more contracting out of maintenance activities as well as, possibly, an increase in Park staff.

-He will seek to strike a balance between the needs of the various Park user groups while protecting the grounds (i.e., more signage, public education, and media use).

-President Olds then took the opportunity to recap the year just completed and provide a look-ahead to the next stating that much will be determined by the on-going pandemic

-He summed up the trail project planning and the training of KMTC members that took place

-He reported on a recent meeting between himself, Trail Ambassador Director, Janie Brier, and Park staff to address the Club’s current roles & activities versus their original ‘back in the day’ charter. KMTC needs to support the staff’s goals and objectives, but standardization of training and roles needs to be better clarified.

-He highlighted recent equipment training for KMTC members and spoke to possible options for compliance training in the future. More Crew Leader training is in the offing.

-He emphasized the need for the Club to be ready to adapt to the ‘new normal’ in the months ahead. The days of the LARGE volunteer Trail Workday may be over for a while.

-He spoke to the need for us all to be constantly recruiting and giving thought to who may take our places and lead the Club in future.

-Secretary, Bob Brier, then reported on the annual election results. All currently serving Officers/Directors other than the Vice-President agreed to serve for another year. There were no nominations ‘from the floor’ or dissenting votes. The slate of nominees was accepted by, essentially, acclamation and the Officers/Directors were immediately – per the Club By-Laws - installed in office.

-Treasurer, Tom Okerberg, reviewed his annual Financial Report (Treasurer's Report ). He highlighted recent donations (particularly those of various Club members), spoke to the status of our liability insurance (he found a cheaper provider), and reported that we remain comfortably (about $10K) ‘in the black’.

-Trail Director, Bill Gurry, gave a summary (Trail accomplishments Rpt ) of the relatively uneventful past year, spoke to some recent trail maintenance activity, and provided his take on the likely year ahead from a trail work perspective.

-Last year we lost nine Trail Workdays to a combination of weather and coronavirus restrictions.

-He has about half a dozen work projects planned that are awaiting the Park’s (Carlos Thurston’s) approval/direction. These are envisioned as small (10 people or less) actions using just Club personnel.

-A recent such small group effort on the 24-Gun Trail bridge was a resounding success.

-Future larger scale projects (some likely requiring contract work with Club assistance) include: a new Kolb Farm Trail bridge; the Hensley Creek dam pipe ‘rehab’; Cheatham Hill trail rut/erosion repair (there are compliance and archaeology issues there); general Mountain Trail maintenance; the New Salem Church Trail/Burnt Hickory road crossing.

-Once again – as at the late-July Board Meeting - he emphasized the need for simple, basic trail maintenance actions all over the Park (in small groups) and the requirement for direction from Carlos on such actions.

-At this point, the meeting was opened for general discussion/comment. Community Volunteers Director, Rena Bailey, advised that she has been in contact with KSU regarding their desire to come out and do some work. President Olds advised that it is still too early to plan such an event not least because the Park has not yet resumed their own volunteer activities.

-President Olds then wrapped up the meeting by 1) announcing a memorial luncheon for late KMTC Crew Leader and friend, Ken Hale, to be held at Laredo’s restaurant on Saturday, 26 September, and 2) providing the dates for the scheduled Quarterly Board Meetings in the coming year (10/26, 1/25, 4/26/7/26) and next year’s Annual Business Meeting (9/26).

The meeting was adjourned at 10:00AM.

Bob Brier
KMTC Secretary

2021

KMTC Annual Business Meeting Minutes September 18, 2021

2022

KMTC Annual Business Meeting Minutes

September 17, 2022

The KMTC Annual meeting was held at the Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield Park’s Visitor Center - Education Room and was called to order by KMTC Vice-President Don Olds at 9:00 AM.
Attendees included:
Officers: Don Olds, Vice President; Tom Okerberg, Treasurer; Laurie Poppell, Secretary
Directors: Mike Collett, Trail Director; Rena Bailey, Community Volunteers Director; Fred Feltmann, Communications/Newsletter Director;
(Danny Leigh, Invasive Plants Director, & Jerry Given, Technology Director were absent)
Ad Hoc Directors: Scott Mackay, Fundraising
KEMO Park: Amanda Corman, Park Ranger & Volunteer Coordinator, Raymond Hamel, KEMO Chief of Interpretation; Daniel Lee, Intern; Avery Stanley, Intern
Additional KMTC Voting Members
Gayle McAllister, Tom Taylor, Wendy Turner, Lewis Bramlett, Anne Haney, Jay Haney, Geoffrey Grosguth, & Bob Brier

Order of Business:

1. Welcome: Vice President Olds did a brief welcome.

2. Park Status (Amanda Corman)
Amanda reported the need for volunteers to get hours in before the end of the Park’s fiscal year (Sept 30) and how important the volunteers hours help the Park with allocation funds from the National Park to the Park. Amanda reported on the Park will be participating on the Scarecrow on the Square in Marietta in October and encourage folks to come out support this, more information will be provided. Amanda introduced the Park’s new intern, Avery Stanley who helps with volunteer activities at the Park and will be here through the end of the year. The other intern is Daniel Lee, the new KEMO Community Volunteer Ambassador who will be assisting Amanda on volunteer matters over the next year.

3. Treasurer Report (Tom Okerberg)
Tom provided an overview of the annual Financial Report (attached Financial Report). Tom highlighted recent donations and reported that we remain comfortably with a $25,692.00 current balance.

4. Trails Director Report (Mike Collett)
Mike gave a brief summary of the past year and will meet with the Park to establish future work in 2023. See attached Trail Director Report.

5. Community Volunteers Director Report (Rena Bailey)
Rena reported that 2022 was a much-improved year over the last two years. Rena acknowledged the hard work of the TA’s, CL’s and Community Volunteers. See attached Community Volunteer Report attached.

6. Elections (Laurie Poppell)
The following were nominated and with no floor nominations, Laurie Poppell moved that the elections of the 2022-2023 Officers/Directors be approved. All seconded the motion and motion passed unanimously for the 2022-2023. New/current Officer’s and Director’s as follows:
President - Donald Olds
Vice President – Raj Gupta
Secretary - Laurie Poppell
Treasurer - Tom Okerberg
Trail Director - Mike Collett
Community Volunteers Director -Rena Bailey
Communications Editor/Newsletters Editor - Fred Feltmann
Invasive Plants Director – Danny Leigh
Information/Technology Director – Jerry Givan
Trail Ambassador Co-Directors – Gayle McAllister and Wendy Turner
Fundraising Director – Scott Mackay
Records Management – Laurie Poppell

7. President’s Report (Donald Olds)
Don did a brief overview of the past year and the challenges we faced with the pandemic. Don thanked the hard work of all the volunteers and work of the Directors.

8. FOKM/KMTC Proposed Merger (Donald Olds)
Don discussed the possibility of proposing the merger the Friends of Kennesaw Mountain (FOKM) and the KMTC. Don laid out the pros (see attached PowerPoint presentation) laying out the benefits for both organizations if merged into one club. Membership would not be a required buy-in or donations and other benefits could be a better experience for volunteers, the Board/committee structure, one Park agreement, and assignment of duties. After presenting, Don opens the floor for discussion. Members addressed their concerns and some addressing the advantages if a merge did happen. Many questions were asked about how this process would happen and when. After much discussions a motion was called - to form a due diligence committee of KMTC members that will consider the consolidation of KMTC with FOKM and if found favorable, present their recommendation with a working plan to the voting members by March 31st of 2023 for final approval. All attending voting members seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.

9. Open Discussion – No further discussions

10. The meeting was adjourned at 10:45AM.

Future Dates:
October 8, 2022 – Trail Work Day
October 25, 2022 – KMTC Board Meeting

Laurie Poppell
KMTC Secretary

Reports from the meeting

1) KMTC Annual Business Meeting Minutes September 17, 2022

2) KMTC - Trail Director (Mike Collett)-2022 Annual Report - 9-17-2022

3) KMTC - Community Volunteers Director (Rena Bailey) Year End Report

4) KEMOTRAIL CORPS INC 2022 annual meeting treasurer's report 9-17-2022

5) KMTC 2022 annual meeting Presentation