Metropolitan Airport Commission

ATTENDEES:

Peg & Mark Backes, Cindy Mokos, Rick Biddle, Patrice & Kent Klayum, Deb & Rich Martenson, Les Gagner, Darrell & Linda Tamosuinas, Teresa Whitson, Stephanie & Terry Thome, Heidi & Jon Stignani, John Gnazzo, Jim Ross, Tim McLean, Mary & Bob Peplin, Debra & Jin Baik, Kim Landecker, and Scott Wood.

THE MEETING WAS CALLED TO ORDER at 9:10 a.m. by Mark Backes.

MINUTES of the May 6, 2006 meeting were distributed and approved.

TREASURER’S REPORT – Jon Stignani submitted a financial report that indicates our current reconciled balance is $7394.21.

OLD BUSINESS

Orientation Meeting - Mark Backes discussed the meeting which was held on June 3, 2006, wondering if the meeting had met the expectations of the incoming class of 2010. The club was strongly urged by 2010 parents to continue this meeting, as it gave valuable information to both the parents and cadets.

2006 Picnic – Mark thanked everyone for helping with and attending the summer picnic. He stated that the picnic is a good time for all the club parents to get together and for the new parents to share and ask questions about their new experiences.

Parent’s Night Out – The November 12 PNO was held at the Olive Garden in Rochester this month. Teresa Whitson reported that those that attended enjoyed the evening.

Parent Club President’s Conference – Peg Backes reported that each year parent club representatives are invited to attend this conference, which is held the day before Parent’s Weekend at USAFA. She stated that she, Cindy Mokos, and the Klayums attended the meeting this year, and that it was very informative. Parent groups from all over the United States attended the meeting. A two-hour question and answer panel was held, consisting of General Regni and other board members. They took time to announce some of the changes that will be occurring during the upcoming academic year and answered questions of the membership.

One major change announced at the conference was the 7:00 a.m. start-time of each day for mandatory breakfast. This earlier start effectively adds eight additional days of leave for the cadets during the academic year.

Peg reported that the weekly Noon Meal Formation has been changed from Thursday to Wednesday, which allows the intercollegiate athletes to participate.

Colonel Walker announced at this conference that there will be home football games for the next five consecutive years. Mark Backes stated that a tailgate party will be planned for the Minnesota Parent’s Club and cadets for September 2007.

NEW BUSINESS

Mark Backes welcomed the new 2010 parents, as well as the 2011 Prep School parents to the club and to the meeting.

Club Positions - Discussion was held on club positions that need assistance.

Webmaster – John Gnazzo reported that the current website is somewhat out of date, and that he would welcome any ideas and input on how to make it better.

Newsletter – Teresa Whitson requested that any information regarding the club should be submitted to her and she will coordinate with John Gnazzo to get this information onto the website. Rather than sending out four newsletters each year, she suggested that post cards with relevant information be sent out to each member, referring them to the address of the website. All current newsletter information, as well as static information (such as class rosters), would be published in an up-to-date format that each member could access via password. You can submit club/cadet information to Teresa at whitson@redwing.net.

A sub-committee, chaired by Teresa, was formed that will review these issues and report back at the next meeting, on how to best accomplish these initiatives.

Registrar – This position would be in charge of creating/upkeeping the class roster database. Tim McLean (2010 parent) has volunteered to work on this with Jon Stignani. It was agreed that we would continue working with the database currently used (Filemaker Pro), but that an effort would be made to make the use of the database more user friendly.

Treasurer – In an effort to create continuity as each class graduates, Bob Peplin (2010 parent) has volunteered to work with Jon Stignani, our current Treasurer.

Announcements

Mabel – Patrice Klayum reported that Mabel was for sale to other clubs to use as a fundraiser for the MN Parent’s Club.

Cookie Packing – The annual cooking packing meeting will be held on December 9, 2006. Class reps should arrive early to help with the preparation for the packing. All parents were asked to provide 120 individually wrapped “treats”, which will be put into boxes and flown to the Minnesota cadets by Northwest Airlines. The boxes are shipped to the Colorado Springs Airport where upperclass cadets will collect and distribute the boxes to each cadet’s squadron.

All Academy Ball – This year the ball will be held at Olympic Hills Gold Club on December 29^th, 2006. This is a formal occasion and invitations/details will be sent to each individual cadet family. Jin Baik has volunteered to teach us ballroom dancing before the event so that we can make a good showing for Air Force.

Class news and cadet sharing rounded out the meeting, which was then adjourned at 11:30 a.m.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Parent’s Club Meeting – Saturday, Nov 4, 2006, 9:00 a.m. at the MAC Building.

Parent’s Night Out – Thursday, Nov 9, 2006

Houlihans in Eagan 7:00 p.m.

Call or email Patrice Klayum if you will be coming to Parent’s Night Out at 952.997.6325 or likelafn@aol.com

Cookie Packing Day – Saturday, Dec 9, 2006, 9:00 a.m. at the MAC Building.

Deborah Martenson

Secretary