Club Meeting January January 4,2023
President Dan Woods called the meeting to order at 7:15 PM with 9 members in attendance.
Dan read the Minutes of the December Meeting, They were approved as read.
Darrell Anderson gave Treasurers Report for Dec through Jan 1. It was approved as read. As of the meeting night 13 members have paid their 2023 dues.
We welcomed new member Gerry Knight to the Club. (Bob Osier joined January 6 at the Paris Gym)
Jim Hutchins had said he will not join the Club this year, so Dan appoined Jason Naranjo as Track Marshal.
Darrell will be changing the Complex Main Gate combo this week. To access the Complex you need to be current on your 2023 Club Dues. You can always send them to Darrell Anderson, 1412 5th Ave. No. GF59404
Dan introduced the Event Calendar for 2023. We may wait until Steve Woodhouse ok's the Ft. Benton Events
The complete schedule will be copied to the Event calendar and Newsletter of the January Newsletter.
There will be a one day Off Road Race on July 5, this is the hot time of year, and one day in the heat might work out better. More race events may be added. Also we hope to have a Summer League once a week this summer, more info on that to follow. Remember that Club members receive a discount on entry fees for Off Road Races. And the Complex is open 24-7 to all members to use on their own time schedule.
There was a discussion about just fixing up the outer oval track this summer and it should also be wired for racing at some point.
There was a discussion about a new outhouse. Its kind of an expensive ordeal, and it was suggested we
move it to a point between the Flight Line and the Race Track. Some prices need to be investigated.
The Club treasury is down a bit so we might have to wait until maybe later this summer. But it was mentioned that the best time to maybe dig a hole would be in March or April, as the Gumbo is really tough below the sureface. A quote for just the vault for the outhouse would be $2,700.
Tonight's meeting was held at Hardees, but the group would like to go back to the Pit Stop on the first
Tuesday of each month until March or April, then it will switch back to Wednesday nights at 7 PM.
Wasn't a very long meeting. Minutes were taken by Bruce Hadella.
Club Meeting January January 4,2023
President Dan Woods called the meeting to order at 7:15 PM with 9 members in attendance.
Dan read the Minutes of the December Meeting, They were approved as read.
Darrell Anderson gave Treasurers Report for Dec through Jan 1. It was approved as read. As of the meeting night 13 members have paid their 2023 dues.
We welcomed new member Gerry Knight to the Club. (Bob Osier joined January 6 at the Paris Gym)
Jim Hutchins had said he will not join the Club this year, so Dan appoined Jason Naranjo as Track Marshal.
Darrell will be changing the Complex Main Gate combo this week. To access the Complex you need to be current on your 2023 Club Dues. You can always send them to Darrell Anderson, 1412 5th Ave. No. GF59404
Dan introduced the Event Calendar for 2023. We may wait until Steve Woodhouse ok's the Ft. Benton Events
The complete schedule will be copied to the Event calendar and Newsletter of the January Newsletter.
There will be a one day Off Road Race on July 5, this is the hot time of year, and one day in the heat might work out better. More race events may be added. Also we hope to have a Summer League once a week this summer, more info on that to follow. Remember that Club members receive a discount on entry fees for Off Road Races. And the Complex is open 24-7 to all members to use on their own time schedule.
There was a discussion about just fixing up the outer oval track this summer and it should also be wired for racing at some point.
There was a discussion about a new outhouse. Its kind of an expensive ordeal, and it was suggested we
move it to a point between the Flight Line and the Race Track. Some prices need to be investigated.
The Club treasury is down a bit so we might have to wait until maybe later this summer. But it was mentioned that the best time to maybe dig a hole would be in March or April, as the Gumbo is really tough below the sureface. A quote for just the vault for the outhouse would be $2,700.
Tonight's meeting was held at Hardees, but the group would like to go back to the Pit Stop on the first
Tuesday of each month until March or April, then it will switch back to Wednesday nights at 7 PM.
Wasn't a very long meeting. Minutes were taken by Bruce Hadella.
------------------Big Sky RC Meeting Minutes Dec 07, 2022
President Dan Woods brought the meeting to order at 7:07 PM at the Pitstop with 10 members in attendance.
Secretary Don Gilles read November’s meeting minutes and they were accepted as read.
Treasurer Darrell Anderson read the Treasurer’s report and it was accepted as read.
Old business:
Mylaps. We had a lengthy discussion on the new hardware Dan Woods purchased. We'll be able to outfit the oval track this spring and hopefully run some races on it this summer. We still need to purchase the software, most likely LiveTime as that's what we use now. This software is a monthly subscription at around $35 a month if we go with a semi-annual purchase or $30 if we do a year long subscription. We're also still deciding on the final piece of this puzzle - the laptop.
New business:
Mat Permann asked to discuss the oval track and if we planned to race on it this coming summer. Several members stated they're ready to give it a go. Dan Woods stated that he plans to work the oval track into our summer schedule.
Jason Naranjo opened a discussion about our current sponsors and how long we might retain them. Dan Woods stated it's usually by year but we don't have an official policy.
Dan Woods briefed that club officer nominations are an action-item. Members names were thrown about as possible nominee's but in the end all voices went to whispers and Bruce Haddella quickly made a motion to retain all current officers, safety coordinator, and field/track marshals for another year. Before the club president could interject, it was seconded and all members present voiced unanimous approval.
IAW Article VI of the Big Sky R/C Modelers By-Laws, for 2023 the Officers remain as:
President: Dan Woods
Vice President: Dave Grosse
Treasurer: Darrell Anderson
Secretary: Don Gilles
As a reminder, we also have three non-elected positions which also remain the same for 2023:
Safety Coordinator: John Sandy
Field Marshal: Dave Grosse
Track Marshal: Jim Hutchins
Dan Woods re-opened the discussion of our upcoming Christmas banquet scheduled for 10 Dec, 6-10pm at the Pitstop. We decided on a 64-piece chicken dinner with beans, tots and garlic bread. Dan didn't get a very good response from his email requesting a head count so we decided to go with what worked last year.Dan Woods briefed that he should have the tentative 2023 BSRC calendar of events ready at the January meeting. It's going to be a busy season! We hope to get our events out early so members have advanced warning of our proposed events and to let other clubs know as well.
Thanks to all attendees, the meeting was adjourned at 8:12 pm. Don Gilles
Big Sky RC Meeting Minutes Nov 02, 2022
President Dan Woods brought the meeting to order at 7:03 PM at the Pitstop with 9 members in attendance.
Secretary Don Gilles read October’s meeting minutes and they were accepted as read.
Treasurer Darrell Anderson read the Treasurer’s report and it was accepted as read.
Old business:
Dan Woods briefed everyone the latest details of our upcoming Christmas banquet. It has been scheduled for 10 Dec, 6-10pm at the Pitstop. The menu is TBD but will be similar to last year. We still need input on our annual awards.
Dan Woods briefed us on the results of our "Last Chance" race event. We made a profit of $758. It was a long single day event but well worth the effort. John Sandy stepped up and cooked us all lunch - thanks John! Dan has a detailed breakdown of expenditures that was briefed.
Dan Woods re-opened the continuing discussion on purchasing our own MYLAPS timing system. Dan obtained a quote from MYLAPS for an entire system & 10 transponders with a 25% discount price. The quote was just under $4000.00 and is valid for 30 days. This price is less than what MYLAPS charges dealers and members agreed we'd be hard pressed to get a better deal. The aspects of this $4k purchase were discussed among members at length. Don Woods made a motion to use the quote before it expires and make the purchase. Motion passed with unanimous support by all members present. Dan Woods will make this purchase using our debit card. Dan also obtained a cost estimate from Zach Olson but it was more than the MYLAPS quote.
Dan Woods let us know that Gusto brewing donated $500.00 to the club and it has been deposited to our account. Thanks Gusto!
Dan Woods reminded everyone that nominations for all club positions are open. If you'd like to be a club officer or nominate someone for a position please bring it up at December's meeting.
Dan Woods briefed everyone that indoor flying is a go starting on 9 Nov, 6-9pm in the Paris Gibson gym.
New business:
Greg Ackerman brought up some ideas for smoothing out and tightening up our nitro buggy race starting procedure. These ideas were discussed and this is a quick summary. These ideas are TBD and we'll be bringing this up again to finalize them and test them at our first spring race.
- Nominate a "race marshal" who controls the process
- Recommend each racer have a buggy handler
- Have a 10-minute intermission after the final electric heat/main to allow racers who just finished time to get ready
- During this intermission no buggies are allowed to be started on the track
- At the end of intermission, a 2-minute warning is given to prepare to race by the race marshal - start your buggies
- At the end of the warning period the race marshal gives the signal to start the race
Jim Hutchins opened a discussion on our water tank, track watering in general and some track maintenance issues. At this time, we don't have enough water to prepare both our tracks as planned for next year. Dan Woods continues to look for a larger tank & the issues getting this larger tank filled. Jim reminded us we need to re-bury the timing loop as it's currently exposed. We also need to pull up / reset the track tubing to recover the dirt back to the racing surface.Thanks to all attendees, the meeting was adjourned at 8:05 pm.
Big Sky RC Meeting Minutes Oct 05, 2022
President Dan Woods brought the meeting to order at 7:04 PM at the Pitstop with 13 members in attendance.
Secretary Don Gilles read September’s meeting minutes and they were accepted as read.
Treasurer Darrell Anderson read the Treasurer’s report and it was accepted as read.
Old business:
Dan Woods briefed that the new highway signs are up. They look great and are quite readable from the road.
Dan Woods gave a run-down on our successful Fall Fury race event. We cleared a profit of nearly $900.00. Dan has an itemized list of expenditures if anyone would like to see it. Dan had several ideas to smoothen the financial trail between the club account and how we collect fees from the snack shack and entry fees - everyone present stated the ideas made sense. We received a lot of great feed-back from the racers, the weekend weather was good and the racing was nail-biting at times. The re-worked track provided new challenges taking some drivers by surprise but surely enjoyed by all.
John Sandy briefed that Leo's Memorial Fly-In was canceled because of rain and during the meeting it was decided to reschedule it for 29 October.
New business:
Darrel Anderson asked to be reimbursed for paper and materials he uses to perform actions as club finance officer. Members present voiced unanimous approval.
Dan Woods briefed that we're looking at either Dec 3rd or 10th for our Christmas banquet and asked if anyone knows of conflicting events.
Dan Woods reminded members that nominations for all club positions are due at November's meeting. This includes the four officer's positions, safety officer, field marshal and track marshal. If anyone would like to volunteer for one of these positions please make it known.
Dan Woods opened discussion on our upcoming Last Chance race event scheduled for October 15th. Jim Hutchins plans on preparing the track the Thursday prior to the race. Dan Woods stated the snack shack will be open with burgers for lunch. As a reminder, the race event is posted at: https://www.rcsignup.com/events/displayEvent.cfm?ID=11763
Dan Woods stated there's no plan for indoor flying this winter due to lack of participation last winter.
Jason Naranjo asked for a discussion on purchasing the MyLaps timing system. The general consensus is that the club will purchase a system prior to the start of next year's races.
For everyone that doesn't attend the meetings you're missing lots of great "non-official" side conversations that don't end up in the official minutes. Tonight we heard conversations on camping at the race events, track changes for next year, gravel for expanding our parking, moving the water tank and many more. I suspect that people who don't attend the meetings don't read the minutes either.
Lastly - a shout-out to Darrell Anderson for putting in a monumental effort to clear out the last of the kochia from under the flying tables. Darrell's hands took a beating but he stuck with it and we owe him a big thank-you. Also a thanks to Dan Woods for putting up the new signs by himself. I'm sure it was quite a juggling act holding them up and putting in the bolts while 8 feet up a ladder.
Thanks to all attendees, the meeting was adjourned at 8:07 pm.
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Don Gilles-----------
Sept 07, 2022
President Dan Woods brought the meeting to order at 7:05 PM at the Pitstop with 13 members in attendance.
Secretary Don Gilles read August’s meeting minutes and they were accepted as read.
Treasurer Darrell Anderson read the Treasurer’s report and it was accepted as read.
Old business:
During the treasurer's brief Bruce Hadella asked if we could send out an updated membership report. It was decided that an email should be sent out first asking if any member requests their information not be included on this report.
Dan Woods asked about progress on the smaller oval racing track. Dave Grosse stated he had done some dirt work recently and moved some dirt to the corners. Jim Hutchins said he had been to Builders FirstSource and looked at some edging to use that might work better than the large plastic pipe we're currently using.
Dan Woods gave an update on the new sign coverings for our highway sign. Dan said he'll definitely get the new coverings on before the September 17-18 "Fall Fury" R/C Car Race.
Dan Woods discussed the kochia condition out at the field and parking lot now that it's been about a month since Steve Woodhouse sprayed. Most of the kochia is dead but a few areas remain that Steve couldn't spray. We'll need to ensure we keep it mowed down and under control. We really need a member to use a weed eater and clear out under the flying tables.
Dan Woods reopened the discussion on changing the cutoff date for our early payment discount for club membership dues. Members discussed and agreed it's a good idea. Don Woods made a motion to change the cutoff date to "before or on the date of the January club meeting" for a $10.00 membership renewal discount for existing members. This would set a renewal fee of $75.00 for flyers and $90.00 for non-flyers. It was decided to table discussion of changing family membership rates to another meeting.
New business:
Dan Woods opened discussion on our upcoming Fall Fury race event. Jason Naranjo briefed members about making some modifications to our existing layout and asked everyone's opinion. The focus is on maintaining a balance that works for all scales that race our track. We don't want jumps so large we're breaking parts or so small the jumps aren't exciting. Jason is attempting to get a skid steer out to the track to help us move dirt. We'll work the track this Saturday and Sunday, 10-11 Sep, for a few hours each day. Jim Hutchins plans on watering and rolling the track the few nights prior to the 17-18 race event. Please stay off the track after the final Friday night track prep. Dan Woods stated the Snack Shack will be open with burgers for lunch.
As a reminder, the race event is posted at: https://www.rcsignup.com/events/displayEvent.cfm?ID=11763
Jason Naranjo brought up the idea of starting a points system for racers so we could have a "Grand Champion" at the end of the season. This was eagerly discussed and all members thought it a great idea. A plan will need to be written up on how this will work. We'll need a volunteer to do this. Thanks to all attendees, the meeting was adjourned at 7:56 pm. By Don Gilles