The meeting began at 12:10 p.m. Present were: Bob Wiley – President, Ronalyn Hurley – Treasurer and Membership Coordinator, Paula Kennedy – Secretary, Patricia Daugherty -- Education Coordinator, Milli Jewell – Publicity Coordinator, and Tabiatha McKeever – Member-at-Large. Absent was Betsy Fraser – Vice-President .

Treasurer’s and Membership reports: Ronalyn reported that the guild has $7057.89 in our band account and we have 52 paid members.

Education Report:Sandra McCaw’s class on April 10-11 has a lot of interest. Fifteen people have put their names on the reservation list for the 20 available slots. Jill will be out-of-town and her home will be unavailable that weekend. Houston Garden Center in Hermann Park is available for $180/day. Because we expect the class to fill the guild will take in enough moneyto cover that expense. Paula has contacted HAL-PC about renting space in their Galleria-area building but has not received a reply. Patricia will wait to hear from Paula before making a deposit on Houston Garden Center.

Judy Belcher is willing to have an evening reception for all guild members on Friday evening Sept. 24 before her Saturday class free of charge. She may do a demo at the reception.

Laurie Mika will be teaching August 14 & 15.

Milli has decided that there is not enough material that will not be covered in Betsy’s fundamentals of caning to hold a beginner’s class of her own. Betsy’s class will be Saturday, February 27 at Bayou Manor.

Patricia will bring a suggestion box to the next gereral meeting so members can suggest teachers, items for the library, demo topics, etc.

Publicity Report: Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) has solicited proposals for their Hands-On-Houston monthly Saturday event. Bob will see if he can get copies of other guilds’ proposals as examples of what to submit.

The traveling exhibit which had been tabled until the new year was brought back up. Milli will send out a submission request for items to be placed in the exhibit. She will contact libraries and high schools about housing the exhibit for a month or so each.

Gracie of Read it Again and Again is willing to take items on consignment. She will take 20% of the sale price. More details will follow.

It was decided that the guild needs a policy regarding advertising on the Yahoo group. Patricia moved that no ads be allowed and Ronalyn seconded the motion which passed. Bob will write a policy that describes what type of language is allowed/not allowed on the Yahoo list emails.

Future meetings: January: Paula will do a demo on finalizing your raw clay pieces before baking.
February: Patricia will demo Skinner blend and possibly a brain cane using the blend.
March: Milli will demo backfilling
April: Paula will do the second half of her finishing demo – sanding, buffing, and findings.

Challenge: The April challenge will be “Skinner blends”.

Nominating Committee: A nominating committee consisting of one board member and two general members is to be formed in January. Tabiatha volunteered to be the board member. Bob will solicit volunteers from the general membership at the meeting today. [sec’y note: Jill Kershner and Mary Alvarez volunteered to be on the nominating committee during the general meeting.]

Spring Sale: Paula reported that she had discussed the possibility of a sale with the owner of Bead Boutique in Clear Lake. The shop is willing to hold a trunk show on a Friday from 3 – 7 p.m. in late April. They would provide refreshments and do the advertising. The shop would take 20% of the total sales. The board will scout for other locations before making a final decision.

The meeting adjourned at 12:57 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Paula Kennedy, secretary