Draft Meeting Minutes; 10 November 2024

South Mountain Division – Mid-Eastern Region – National Model Railroad Association

Draft Meeting Minutes; November 10th, 2024

Division members met in-person at the Cumberland Valley Model Railroad Club in Chambersburg, MD. The Superintendent called the meeting to order at 2:30pm with approximately 15 members in attendance. Superintendent Bob Johnson thanked the Club for hosting the Division, thanked John Pursell for arranging the visit, and introduced the club president. This is the second time the Division has visited the club in recent memory, which has nearly every scale short of live steam represented under one roof.

Draft Minutes & Paymaster’s Report

The Superintendent submitted one amendment to the previous meeting minutes (an incorrect date was cited for the Mini-Con) and asked for a motion to approve the amended minutes, which was made, seconded, and carried. Treasurer Ray Price reported a current treasury balance of $3921.67 after a $64.00 disbursement by MER which allocates $1 per Division member twice annually.

Old Business:

The Superintendent revisited the subject of potential volunteers for the elected officer positions of Superintendent and Clerk, and asked Clerk Alex Polimeni for an update on officer position descriptions, who reported they would be ready before the next Wheel Report was due to be published.

A matter was clarified that non-Division members cannot be elected Superintendent even if they’re NMRA members of another Division.

The Superintendent revisited the subject of a Christmas card/letter to be “snail mailed” to the Division, and distributed a draft copy of the card/letter for those in attendance to review. Division members Don Florwick, Andrew Dodge, and Tom Fedor all contributed to the card/letter. The Superintendent confirmed he would take charge of the mailing going forward.

The Superintendent updated the Division on the matter of new brochures and reported that he had placed the order for a new supply which would be ready before December.

The Superintendent revisited the topic of the Susquehanna Division asking SMD about co-hosting the April Mini-Con, and said that although he responded to Susquehanna Division, they have not gotten back to him.

New Business:

The Superintendent addressed the matter of recruiting new members into the Division and formally introduced a “model railroading meet & greet” at Division member Richard Benjamin’s Hobbytown USA location in Frederick MD in lieu of a December membership meeting.

The Superintendent proposes a motion to approve funds to have a vinyl banner made for use at the meet & greet, Mini-Con and other Division activities. Abroad NMRA member Jane Clarke recommended a $150 banner by VistaPrint. A motion to approve funds was made, seconded, and carried.

The Superintendent asked for volunteers for the December meet & greet.

Division member John Pursell inquired about the hours of the meet & greet, which are 10am-4pm. Discussion followed about the practicalities of demonstrating DCC.

The Treasurer made mention of an NMRA fiscal incentive program for people over the age of 65. The Superintendent commented that an annual NMRA membership costs about the same as an average meal for two at a chain restaurant.

The Superintendent confirmed the 2025 MER convention will be in King of Prussia, PA. The Superintendent then asked for volunteers to form an exploratory committee for the October 2027 convention, which SMD has been asked to host. Clerk Alex Polimeni and abroad NMRA member Rich Randall volunteered due to familiarity in working with venues. Division member Steve King was mentioned as being knowledgeable about hotels. The Comfort Inn in Frederick was cited as a possible venue. Abroad NMRA member Jane Clarke suggested the East Broad Top as a possible prototype to visit. Discussion followed about the practicalities of chartering a bus.

The Superintendent asked the Clarkes for an update on the EBT, who encouraged everyone to visit the EBT and its museum in Robertsdale. They cited the new ownership as applying for “every possible grant” to raise money and secure funding, raising $1.6 mil for the line’s “surprisingly salvageable” steel girder bridge. The EBT has also added two new miles of track to Jordan’s Summit.

The Superintendent introduced the Cumberland Valley Model Railroad Club President. Discussion followed regarding the history of the club, which was founded in 1996 and currently resides in their 3rd and final location, which was originally a pipe warehouse. The club stands at about 35 active members and most of the layouts were built after 2005.

A motion to adjourn was made, seconded, and carried around 3:30pm.

Next Business Meeting: 12 January

After a short break to accommodate the HobbyTown event in December we will resume our regular meeting schedule on Sunday, 12 January with the meeting starting at 2:00 PM. Our host for this meeting is Steve King who resides in Fayetteville (Pond Bank), PA.

Please email southmountaindiv@gmail.com to obtain the street address.

Steve operates the Virginia Midland Railroad which is a large N scale layout which features heavy coal operations with just enough general freight traffic thrown in to make things interesting for the operators. To my mind the Virginia Midland brings back memories of the N&W (post Virginian merger) and features long trains of hoppers, multi-engine power consists, and even independently controlled helpers. Even if you are not personally into heavy freight drag operations this layout is worth seeing. This is probably one of the largest N scale layouts in the area. All operations are controlled using CVP (Easy DCC) wireless throttles.

From the Desk of the Superintendent

Robert “Bob” Johnson, Superintendent (2022-24)

By now I am sure that most of you know about the membership promotion program that we are undertaking. This program has two objectives. First, to encourage current members of the SMD to become more active in the Division.

Second, to recruit new members by promoting the benefits of membership in the NMRA.

A December promotional event at Hobbytown – Frederick was our first effort to reach out to non-members. I want to again thank Hobbytown – Frederick’s owner, and SMD member Richard Benjamin, for his support in this endeavor. I also want to thank the Division members who participated. The results of the event were not spectacular but we did get one new member and possibly two others. We will have to wait for the January membership report to come out to determine if the two possibles actually follow through.

Being our first effort, we obviously could have done a few things better but overall, I was satisfied. Probably the biggest thing we need to improve on in the future is getting better advance publicity. For unknown reasons, one of the internet publicity efforts did not appear until the actual day of the event.

During a post event critique we have decided that we should do three promotional events each year, including the Mini-Con.

Holiday Mailing:

Following up on a suggestion from a couple of our members we sent a “Happy Holidays” card to every member of the Division, as listed in the most recent NMRA membership report, encouraging all of you to become more active.

The data in this report is not always 100% accurate and two of the cards were returned to me for incorrect addresses. If you did not get your card please let me know so that we can correct our database.

Again, thanks to the informal committee that wrote the card and got it printed.

January Meeting:

Please email southmountaindiv@gmail.com to obtain the street address.

Elections:

We will need to vote on our officers for the 2025 – 2026 program year at the March meeting. As of now we have one candidate for the position of Superintendent and one for Paymaster. We have a possible volunteer for the position of Clerk but it is not definite at this time. If you would like to be considered for any of these positions please let me know and/or attend the upcoming January meeting and volunteer there.

In addition, we need a number of volunteers to serve in appointed positions. A listing of the primary positions, along with a description of the associated duties, was published in the last Wheel Report and on our web site.

Thanks go out to Alex Polimeni for developing this information.

Meeting Schedule:

As previously noted, a number of volunteers have stepped up to host Division meetings. As of this writing, with the exception of May, all of the 2024/2025 meeting dates have been spoken for. The schedule is as follows.

9 February, Richard Benjamin, Frederick, MD
9 March, Pete and Jane Clarke, Damascus, MD
5 April (first Saturday), Annual Mini-Con, Blue Ridge Summit, PA
18 May (3rd Sunday to avoid Mother’s Day conflict) TBD; Volunteer needed

2025 Mini Con:

Grant Berry has agreed to take the lead on the Division Mini-Con again this coming spring (April) and Mainline Hobby Supply has again offered to support the event. It will be held on Saturday, 5 April. As always, Grant will need help with registration, event set-up, and of course clinicians. Start thinking now as to what sort of table clinic you could present at the event.

The Susquehanna Division has expressed interest in participating in the event with us this coming spring but details have not been finalized. More to come on this development.

2027 MER Convention:

We are still looking for two or three volunteers to form an exploratory committee to get things started for the 2027 MER convention which we are scheduled to host. Since the MER handles most of the convention arrangements the committee’s responsibilities at this time will primarily be centered around locating a suitable host hotel, developing a list of potential layout tour hosts, and to identify some sort of rail related prototype tour. Again, if you are interested please let me know. Email southmountaindiv@gmail.com.

From the Desk of the Superintendent

First, I want to remind everyone that there will not be a business meeting in December. The Division will be conducting an NMRA membership recruiting event at HobbyTown – Frederick on Saturday, 14 December. It was agreed that this event would take the place of the regular meeting. The next business meeting will be held on 12 January 2025, at the home of Steve King in Pond Bank, PA.

On to other thoughts…

At the risk of being accused of beating a dead horse, I am again asking you to consider taking a more active role in the management and operation of the Division. It is hard to believe that we need to have candidates for the positions of Superintendent, Clerk, and Paymaster identified by the end of February so that we can follow the prescribed process for nomination and election of officers in time to notify the NMRA as to who our officers will be during the 2025/2026 program year. As of this writing Ray Price has agreed to continue as Paymaster and we have one potential candidate for Superintendent. We are still looking for volunteers to serve as Clerk. If we don’t get one we may have a “work around” but I would prefer that we had a volunteer who is qualified under MER guidelines.

In addition, we need a number of volunteers to serve in appointed positions. A listing of the primary positions, along with a description of the associated duties, can be found here. My thanks to Alex Polimeni for developing this information.

Division Job Board

By Alex Polimeni

As anybody who’s ever worked on something at a hobby bench before knows, sometimes you don’t see what’s right in front of you. At least, that’s how I felt after our October meeting at Andrew Dodge’s when the question was asked, “are there job descriptions for the Division officers?” I think many of us have been with SMD for so long we don’t always realize there’s folks who haven’t been. So, let’s take a look at the officer positions of South Mountain Division!

To begin, there are elected officers and appointed positions. Each January, the Division assembles an impartial nominating committee to solicit potential officer candidates. The membership then votes on these candidates during the May meeting, who then begin their term in July. Supporting the elected officers are a number of appointed positions, which require only a volunteer and the Superintendent’s formal recognition.

Superintendent (president, elected)

The most important obligations of the “Super” include appointing volunteers, soliciting potential membership meeting hosts, and presiding over the meetings themselves. The Super is also our Division’s point of contact with MER and NMRA national, whom we liaison with for insurance coverage and other support. Having served four years as Super, I would say that outside the meetings themselves, I’ve spent only 2-3 hours per month on my duties and most of that was writing emails. As Super, you can expect to:

Chair a mid-summer meeting of officers to identify meeting hosts to contact and address other concerns before the coming Sept-May season
Reach out to potential meeting hosts, clinicians, and guest speakers
Send reminders by email before each month’s meeting
Chair membership meetings according to Robert’s Rules of Order
Coordinate with the other officers and appointed positions to make sure they have the support they need (and are providing the support the Super needs)
Maintain Division property such as the Marv Kershner gratuity boxcar and our projector screen
Liaison with MER regarding NMRA paperwork and conduct a bi-annual review of Division bylaws

Now, all this isn’t to say the Super has to go it alone, as perhaps’ the Super’s greatest power is the power of delegation!

Paymaster (treasurer, elected)

The Paymaster is responsible for maintaining the Division bank account, and is the only member authorized to make deposits or withdrawals. The Paymaster is expected to provide a report of the current balance at each meeting and promptly reimburse members who have made out-of-pocket expenditures on SMD’s behalf.

Clerk (secretary, elected)

The Clerk is responsible for taking minutes at each membership meeting and forwarding them to the Super to be distributed before the next meeting, creating a record of all Division business and helping to keep the membership informed. Currently, I take notes at the meeting and then format them into a pre-made document template afterward.

Assistant Superintendent (appointed)

The Assistant Super ostensibly has all the same responsibilities as the Super when required, and serves to ensure the Super can fulfill his/her duties. It is also customary for the assistant Super to reach out to new and expiring members to welcome them into SMD or ask if there’s anything we can do to bring them back. If the Super is unavailable to chair a meeting, it is typically the Assistant who will do so in their stead.

Achievement Program Coordinator (appointed)

The AP Coordinator is responsible for helping Division members work toward their Master Model Railroader milestones.

Mini-Con Coordinator (appointed)

The Mini-Con Coordinator works with Blue Ridge Hobby Supply, the Blue Ridge Summit fire hall, the Division at large, and guest speakers, food vendors and visitor marketing (such as modular layouts) to organize our annual, April Mini-Convention, which regularly draws 200+ members of the public.

Newsletter editor (appointed)

The editor pulls together information for our monthly newsletter the Wheel Report. Editors have a lot of room to make the WR their own, and it fulfills a vital function in keeping the Division on the same page.

Webmaster (appointed)

The webmaster maintains our online presence, making sure important information is kept up to date and accessible to the public.

Advisory Committee (appointed)

The Super typically asks involved Division members- often former officers or volunteers-to join an advisory committee, which simply weighs in on matters as varied as potential meeting hosts to Christmas cards!