Minutes of the last meeting were not read.  They are available for viewing on the website and the forum.

Reports of Officers:

·         President’s Report:  President announced that there were many things to accomplish at this meeting and asked that members remain focused on topic of discussion and speak in turn.

·         Treasurer’s Report:  General club funds = $373.00 plus $100 in checks to be cashed.  Charity fund = $310.00

Reports of Committees:

·         Bylaws committee:  Members:  Rodney Phillips, John Lamont, Jay Scott and Chris Bell.  The president read bylaws that were proposed by the committee and each article was offered for discussion.  Motions were made and voted on to make changes to several articles.  Review of bylaws as completed and changes agreed upon will be amended.  Final written document will be presented to membership at next meeting. 

Unfinished Business:

·         Dave Gullick presented information on some of the surrounding off-road parks to consider for our next weekend trip.  The location was not decided, but the date was set for April 10-12 2009.

·         Administrative Officer reported that the 4WD club discount set up was complete.  Each member should be receiving mailed information with their account number included.  Members will receive 10% discount and the club will get 3% of all sales to our members at the end of the year.

·         Participation in the Redneck parade was discussed.  Jay Scott, David Gallant, Ken Meadows (and someone else?) stated they would drive their Jeeps in the parade.  They will be responsible for their own entry fees. 

·         Toy donations were collected for Santa Rosa Kids House.  A vote was conducted on how to give our club charity money to the organization with the option of shopping ourselves or giving the money to Kids House staff to purchase (what children/families) are requesting.  The membership decided to give purchased items and not cash.

New Business:

·         Brian announced that our former President has stepped down and he has assumed the position of president.  Vacant positions of Vice President and Treasurer were announced.  Jay Scott was appointed Treasurer. Position of Vice President was not filled.

·         Upcoming events were discussed. 

o    Jay Scott is leading a ride in Eglin on Sat 22 November 08.

o    Mobile Jeep Club invited us to join his club and several others on Sun 23 November 08 near Mobile.

o    Meet&Greet was deferred for December because of the busy time of the year and a location could not be identified.  The Oval Office was a location discussed.

o    Next club meeting will be Thursday, 18 December 08 at 1900 at Milton Dodge. (Note:  This is a deviation from our regular schedule of the last Thu of the month due to the holiday)

There were no other motions for new business and no announcements from the members.

The meeting was adjourned at 2018.

Respectfully Submitted,  Michelle Douglas, Administrative Officer

Emerald Coast Jeepers October 2008 Meeting

Attendance: 16 members in attendance and several guests with over 30 people present on 30 October 2008 7pm

Ongoing Business:

1.  Charity Projects/Events: 

• Adopt-a-Highway:  Item closed.  Will not pursue at this time. 
• We will be doing events to support a Toy drive for the SR Kids House for the holidays.  Mike Palmer, from Milton Dodge will collect toys and coordinate distribution.  We would like to collect unwrapped toys at all organized club rides and events between now and 15 December.  Funds from the winch raffle will go towards purchasing toys.

2.  Membership: 

• We currently have 25 members.  Three new members were welcomed.

3.  Meeting location and time: 

• Item was closed.  We will continue to meet at Milton Dodge on the last Thu of the month at 7pm

4.  Organize a Farmer’s Opry gathering:

• Alan Dallman volunteered to coordinate this event for sometime in November.  He was not at meeting tonight.

5.  Website updates: 

• Tammy and Brian are going to work on getting website updated.

6.   Local Rides:

• We continue to discuss options for areas to do some group rides locally.   
• We will go to local ATV park in Alabama this weekend.  It was opened to 4WD vehicles on a trial basis to see if it works out for the park and the riders. 
• Mobile Jeep club guests discussed a few areas that they ride in and invited us to join them.  They will discuss with land owners before confirming a location and date.   

7.     Out of Town rides:

• There are plenty of places North, but most are at least 5+ hours away.  It was suggested to plan 3-4 long weekend trips a year.  Dave Gullick will research regional offroad parks and present information to members at an upcoming meeting.
• A jeep club in North GA has many parks on their links page.  Check out www.southernjeeps.org.  

8.      Eglin Rides:

·         CHECK YOUR PASS   Members were reminded to exercise caution when riding at Eglin as it is patrolled frequently and tickets will be issued if you are found in an area that is not a ‘marked road’

9.     Discounts from 4WD Hardware:

·         We have a package to request a club discount from 4WD Hardware for ECJ members.  We will send them a roster.  Members will then receive a welcome package from the company.  They will get a 10% discount and the club will get 3% back at the end of the year.  Addendum:  Roster has been sent

10.  Local holiday events:

• We discussed participating in the local holiday parades.  Ken Meadows will check into the Redneck parade.

New Business

1.     TREAD lightly: Brochures were passed out and reviewed by the members.  It was decided to not include this information in our bi-laws.

2.     Club “Bi-laws”:

• We discussed creating club bi-laws and many opinions were discussed.  It was decided that a committee would prepare guidelines for the members to review, discuss as necessary and approve at the next meeting.  The committee includes Rodney Phillips, John Lamont, Jay Scott and Chris Bell.  Forward your input to them via forum private message or e-mail.

3.     President position: 

• Current President, Fred announced that he no longer owned a Jeep.  Requirements of holding an officer position were discussed.  Because we do not have written guidelines in place it was difficult to come to a consensus on how to proceed.  Many opinions were verbalized.  The item was not voted on because clear options could not be decided at this time.  It will be resolved, along with presentation of guidelines, at the next meeting. 

4.      Upcoming Events:

• 20 Novermber 2008 7:00pm:  Club meeting at Milton Dodge.  ****ATTN*** this is a week earlier than planned because the last Thu of the minth is Thanksgiving.

• Club ride:  Date and location to be determined.  We will ride with the Mobile Jeep club, likely on Sunday, 23 November. 
• 08 November:  White Sands Jeep Club Car and Truck Show which includes a raffle for a jeep Cherokee.
• Meet&Greet not scheduled for November due to the holiday and other events planned.
• Mobile Jeep Club is riding with a Mississippi club about 1.5hrs west of Mobile.  ECJ members were invited to attend.