FOS Meeting - 11 February 2004

In attendance: Bill Stone, Stanley Torrey, Deedee West, Jodi Miller, Burt Allaire, Jay Horschak, Dirk Faegre, Rosemary Levin, Garry Levin, Jeanie Wilson, Ruth Sargent, Sally McKinnon, Pauline Angione, Tom Mayer, Nancy Horschak, Bill Zoellick

The meeting was at Tom Mayer and Jeanie Wilson's house and began at 7:05

Agenda

• election of officers
• report on current activities
• plans for summer
• separation from Schoodic Futures
• meeting with FOA

Nominating Committee Report

Pauline Angione, Deedee West, and Ruth Sargent, the nominating committee, recommended election of the following slate of candidates: -- Chairman: Tom Meyer; Vice Chairman: Dirk Faegre; Treasurer:. Stanley Torrey; Secretary: Bill Zoellick

Burt Allaire moved to elect the slate as recommended by the committee..  Seconded by Ruth Sargent.  The nominees were elected by a unanimous vote..

Current Activities

• Removal of the fence around the old Navy base is underway -- the park may have uses for some of the fencing
• moving from old warehouse to new warehouse is complete - 7-9 volunteers assisted.  The old warehouse building will start to come down on Monday.
• Fence work will resume this coming Tuesday, starting at 10 AM.
• The NPS has requested help in flagging trails.  Particularly the east trail.   They want the cedar rail fence taken down on road to Schoodic Head.

Summer Activities

Gatehouse coverage will run from the Memorial day weekend ... then begin on a regular basis on June 23, continuing through Labor Day. FOS will cover the morning from 9 to 1.  Organizationally, we will provide two options.  A four hour shift every other week, or a two hour shift every week.

Everyone who works in the gatehouse will need to go through a 1 day training session.

The park would like to have a group adopt Little Moose.  This group of 8-10 people would be responsible for whatever cleanup and trail work that needs to be done.  Mary and Dick Wilson, who have been doing this for years, should be contacted and asked to play a role.

Regarding trails,  Tom asked for feedback on the idea of a core group of people who are trained and dedicated to working on trails.  There was general agreement to this suggestion.

One concern, expressed by Dirk, is that there needs to be ways for new people to be engaged.  It was agreed that the core groups should be open to new recruits.

Shore clean ups:  one is planned for September -- there will be two others over the course of the summer.

Tom proposed that we identify all these planned activities and create a newsletter of summer activities that would be sent to the mailing list of members and perhaps as a bulk mailing as well.

Nancy also noted that it would be good to have a community event that makes it clear that the campus will be opened up to the community.

Tom will create the draft newsletter and send it to Dirk and Jay so that they can fill out the details.

Jeanie suggested that we also have impromptu pickups, particularly after a storm, and that this be added to the newsletter.

Tom raised the question of whether we might also add hikes to the schedule.  Perhaps once a month?  The motivation is to raise the visibility of the organization.  Perhaps in conjunction with healthy communities? Sally McKinnon will follow up with Healthy Communities.  Tom will follow up with Ed to see what he thinks of the idea.  This idea, if it goes, could also be in the newsletter.

Separation from Schoodic Futures

Tom proposed a survey to identify how the steering committed feels about having FOS become an independent organization, separate from Schoodic Futures.

The broader sense was that the steering committee could just as effectively discuss the issues immediately, at this meeting, at least to identify the issues.

Nancy pointed out that the level of activity undertaken by FOS outstrips SF's ability to cover it.

Bill Zoellick argued for separation because FOS and Schoodic Futures serve different constituencies and have different missions.  He noted that the Schoodic Futures board is supportive of either course -- that there is no conflict over separation.

Bill Stone will contact Fred Stocking about legal issues.  Bill Zoellick will draw up a list of steps toward separation.

Meeting with Friends of Acadia

Bill Stone, Tom Mayer, and Bill Zoellick reported on an informal meeting with Dianna Emory, chairman of Friends of Acadia, and Ken Olsen, the organizations President and lead staff person.  The meeting was requested by Friends of Acadia as a way to keep up with developments within Friends of Schoodic.  There are a number of issues that the organizations can work on jointly, including long term efforts to ensure that the lands adjoining the Schoodic District of the Park continue to be managed in a way that is consistent with Park values and use. Friends of Acadia extended an offer to Friends of Schoodic to assist with membership development.

The meeting adjourned at 9 PM.