Mid-West Corvettes, Inc.
1/7/25
President Patric Nichols called the meeting to order at 6:30PM. There were 25 members present and 0 guests. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. A moment of silence was observed for all Veterans, Fallen, Past and Current Military Personnel, and First Responders..
Reminder to set phones to silent, wear name tags to all Club functions and donate for birthdays/anniversaries/no name tag at the beginning of the meeting if wishing to do so.
Secretary’s Report: Jan Ebert – The minutes will only be posted to the website. Motion to accept the Minutes from last month as submitted was made by Sherri Brown and seconded by Kristin Early. Motion carried.
Treasurer’s Report: Carl Burney – Passed a current Club’s balance sheet around for members to see.
General Account: Beginning balance $6,846.19.
Income/credits were: dividend $0.24, awards dinner reservations $456.00, donation $300.00
Expenses/debits cleared were: awards dinner expenses $1,352.98, Governor’s meeting expense $518.20, NCCC dues remitted $1,470.00
Debits outstanding $0.00.
Checkbook ledger balance: $4,261.25.
Charity Account:
Beginning balance: $1,849.52
Income/credits were: 50/50 raffle, auctions and donations $183.00.
Expense/debits cleared were:
2024 Christmas charity donations $1,000.
Debits outstanding $0.00.
Checkbook ledger balance: $1,032.52
Motion to accept Treasurer’s report made by Quint Early and seconded by Roger Miller. Motion carried.
Governor’s Report: Roger Miller – Roger will be attending the February 22 meeting in St. Louis. Looking at the NCCC side, budget will be a hot topic at this meeting. Membership is down as it is with all clubs. The Convention will be in Wisconsin Dells August 17-22. An email was sent on 12/30/24 regarding insurance coverage for car shows. No response has yet been received. Discussion followed. John Severs believes we are covered. When we have the ralley or low speed, we request an insurance certificate to prove that we have insurance.
Membership: Cindy Kuehner – If you have a lost or damaged, need a name change on your Club name tag, let Cindy know as she’ll get you a new one. If you have changes (car, plates, address, phone, etc.), let Cindy know so she can update the information. And don’t forget – members can update their information themselves including any updates to your Corvette model, year, color, and license plate. As of 1/1/25, after everyone has renewed, dropped, or started a new membership, we have 12 lifetime members, six honorary members, and 80 regular members. This totals 98 members. We are thinking of some ways to draw new members.
Social: Donna Jochim – We welcome and encourage all members to take an active role to plan and lead one drive out. The 17 members who are going on the cruise are leaving in a few days. Dinner Club for this month is Wednesday, January 29, at 6 p.m. at Lunardi’s, 102 E Kimberly Rd, Davenport. Please try to RSVP on FB as an event has been created there. The restaurant needs an idea of how many are coming for staffing, etc. Breakfast Club will resume on a monthly basis as long as we have enough interest. The first 2025 Breakfast Club will meet on Wednesday, January 22, at 9 a.m. at the Davenport Family Restaurant at 902 W Kimberly Rd, Davenport. Trip to the Ozarks is April 24-26. Sean McKay provided info. John and Sue Severs are leading the Waterfalls and Winery drive out. Info is on MWC website re this which is set for May 17-19. Black Hills Corvette Classic is a three day event July 16-20. Sean McKay provided info. September 11-14 is Vettes vs the Dragon which is with the Glass Favorites Corvette Club from Galesburg. John Severs is the contact person. This drive out is limited to 200 corvettes.
Speed: Jeff Bellmyer – Nothing to report, but next month will have a sign-up sheet for help with the Spring Ralley.
Communications: Jeff Olson – A Christmas card was received from Rollie (sp?) and Pam. Reminder emails are sent at least one per week. If you are not getting these, contact Jeff and he can help you with this or go to the Club website and under the Members tab, there is a link for MailChimp; enter your name and email to sign up to receive emails. Please let Jeff know if something is not correct in an email by texting or calling him so it can be corrected.
Charity: Patti Bellmyer- Thank you notes were received from nine of the 10 charities which were sent donations before Christmas. Spring Bash was not held last year due to lack of interest and that may have been something that has lived its time. If you’d like to see it held again, please put your committee together and plan it. Silent auction items of fudge, turtles, and salsa were brought by Sue Severs with Quint Early getting the fudge, Jim foster getting the turtles, and the salsa went to Jeff Bellmyer. Jeff Olson brought a coconut cream pie for the silent auction which went to Gale Brown. Regarding the 50/25/25 raffle, you do not have to donate it back; please don’t think that is necessary. The raffle winners were Kristin Early and Jan Ebert, each getting $20.
Webmaster: Jess Toth (Luxe Marketing) – Please use the club’s website (https://mwcorvettes.com/). If you have any questions, contact Jess at webmaster@mwcorvettes.com. If you have suggestions or ideas for website improvements, please let Jess know. FYI, members are able to update information in your user profile including information on your Corvette such as Model, Year, Color, and License Plate #.
Car Shows: Jeff Bellmyer – A Rod & Custom Classic Car Show is at The Bend XPO January 17-19. Car shows are on the Mid-West Corvettes Calendar on the website. There are also links to external sites that list car shows. If you know of any local car shows, let Jeff know.
Publicity: Open position
Parades: Jim Scranton – no report as not present.
Quartermaster: Rita Painter – much discussion about the shirts for the 65th anniversary of MWC. Next month, Rita will have the shirts that we are going to go with and they will be snag free. The color will be steel gray. The MWC logo/emblem will have the year the club was established under the number 65. Static clings will be ordered which can be put in the windows of our Corvettes.
Historian: Waldo Arnholz – Nothing to report; not present.
Sunshine: Open Position – Birthdays and Anniversaries were noted.
Photos: Karen Brown – If you have photos of drive outs or Club events, you can email them to kjbudelierbrown@gmail.com
Old Business: Awards were given to those who were not able to attend the Awards Banquet in December.
New Business: Membership drive/car show update: Sean McKay is putting together a car show to coincide with MWC’s 65th anniversary club dinner on May 3 at Ericksen Chevy. Sean follows other clubs’ newsletters. Some clubs have higher membership and attendance for a lower population area, such as Ozarks. It seems that if a car show is linked to a fund-raiser/charity, you have better attendance. Information provided by Sean McKay regarding some of the other clubs in the Midwest. Advertising is the key to car shows. If we have flyers made, they could be put up in businesses.
Sherri Brown gave a report regarding our 65th club anniversary. It will be catered, held after the car show on May 3, dinner only for club members (not open to the public as part of the car show), we can use the meeting room at Ericksen’s after 2:00 (that’s when they close on Saturdays). Discussion on which caterer to use. Motion made by Gale Brown to have our meal catered by Dan Rettig Catering. Second by Marie Foster. Motion passed. Sherri asked for $200 in seed money for cake, paper products, etc. Motion by Carol Mathias, second by Quint Early. Motion passed. We will determine a cut-off date to RSVP your attendance so we can give the caterer a head count. This is not a fund-raiser so members will pay a certain amount for their dinner; this should be in the range of $18 or so per person.
Discussion re open positions of sunshine, publicity, and photo. Gail Olson stepped up to be our Sunshine chairperson. Publicity and Photo chairpersons are still needed.
Your new secretary didn’t remember that she needed to count the number of members present. Oops; sorry. I took a guess at the number…. JE
The Breakfast Club is going to start up. Sign up sheets are being passed around.
Respectfully submitted,
Jan Ebert, Secretary
MEETINGS ARE HELD AT 6:30PM ON THE FIRST TUESDAY OF THE MONTH
2024 Board of Directors are as follows:
President: Patric Nichols
Vice-President: Jeff Olson
Secretary: Jan Ebert
Treasurer: Carl Burney
Governor: Roger Miller
Membership: Cindy Kuehner
Eriksen Rep Erica Walker
Social: Donna Jochim
Speed: Jeff Bellmyer
Communications: Jeff Olson
Charity: Jan Ebert
Chair Persons:
Webmaster: Jess Toth (Luxe Marketing)
Car Shows: Jeff Bellmyer
Publicity: Open Position
Parade: Jim Scranton
Quartermaster: Rita Painter
Historian: Waldo Arnholz
Sunshine: Open Position
Photos: Karen Brown