Annual & Executive Meeting Minutes to Current

October 8, 2006 26th Marines Annual Meeting Minutes

Ø      Executive Director Harvey Lang called the meeting to order and welcomed all in attendance. He advised he wanted to stick to the posted agenda.

A motion was made; seconded and approved by all attendees to follow the posted agenda.

Ø      Total attending this year’s reunion banquet was 41 (up from 31 the previous year).

Ø      First order of business was to elect new officers. The responsibilities of the Executive Director Position were maintained as is. The Organization Secretary was combined with the Treasurer. A new Officer, Public Relations Officer was established. This officer’s responsibility will be to promote the association to prospective members, and various entities such as American Legion, DAV, Army Times, MOPH, VFW, etc. These three offices would combine to be the Executive Committee which will continue to manage the organization.

A motion was made; seconded and approved by all attendees to elect the officers with a 100% vote as follows:

Executive Director, Harvey Lang
Secretary / Treasurer, G. H. “Sonny” Hollub, Jr.
Public Relations Officer, Richard Soto.

Ø      The next item of “Annual Dues of $40.00” was discussed. The current dues status is based on a “calendar” basis. Various suggestions were voiced regarding this status.

A motion was made; seconded and approved by all attendees as follows:

Annual dues of $40.00 will remain $40.00 per year and be based on a calendar basis, January 1 – December 31 of each year.

The annual dues will be due no later than March 31 of each year. Dues received after March 31 of each year will incur a penalty of $10 per year.

Only Members current on dues will have voting rights.

New Members annual dues will be prorated on a semiannual basis. Join January 1 – June 30, pay full amount. July 1 – December 31, pay ½ of amount.

Effective Date of this system is January 1, 2007.

Ø      The next item was “Financial”. The last “balance sheet” submitted by the previous treasurer, who resigned about a week before this years reunion, reflected a balance of $3,798.00. Two checks were sent to Executive Director by the previous treasurer as follows: Cashiers Check (Clayton Bank and Trust # 324343) in the amount of $3100.00 and a personal check from the previous treasurer (Check # 1556 in the amount of $500.00) for a total of $3600.00, leaving a deficit of ($198.00). This deficit was discussed.

A motion was made; seconded and approved by all attendees, after a review of existing data was made, to accept this deficiency as long as it did not exceed $200.00. In that neither check provided by the previous treasurer was cashable in Reno for payment of this year’s reunion expenses, Harvey Lang agreed to pay all unpaid reunion expenses.

A motion was made; seconded and approved by all attendees that Sonny Hollub would immediately deposit the checks in a new account for the association and refund funds covered by Harvey to him.

A motion was made; seconded and approved by all attendees future reimbursements will be made for expenses approved by the Executive Committee prior to spending and only those expenses with a paid receipt for those expenses. Invoices made by the individual do not qualify as “paid receipts”. Qualifying receipts for reimbursement must come from the “company or business” providing the merchandise or service.

A motion was made; seconded and approved by all attendees that the Treasurer, Sonny Hollub, would take necessary action to legitimately form the association, “new from scratch, in the simplest, legitimate and most economical manner”.

Ø      The next item was “2007 Reunion Site Selection” (3) for current membership to vote on” for the 2007 Reunion. Discussion regarding possible “piggy backing” with the Khe Sahn” Organization was discussed prior to selection of potential sites. The following cites were discussed and proposed for selecting 3 cities for membership vote at a later date:

Myrtle Beach, S. C., Atlanta, Ga., Atlantic City, N. J., Jacksonville, Fla., Norfolk, Va., Orlando, Fla.

A round of voting to reduce the above number of cities to a choice of 3 cities was conducted.

The results were as follows: Atlanta, Ga., Atlantic City, N. J., Orlando, Fla.

A motion was made; seconded and approved by all attendees that Atlanta, Ga., Atlantic City, N. J., Orlando, Fla., would be researched by Richard Soto - Atlanta, Ga., Sonny Hollub - Atlantic City and Harvey Lang - N. J., Orlando, Fla., for current membership vote in early 2007.

The next item was “2007 Reunion Date Selection”. The following times were proposed and discussed: September – October, April – May, and July – August.

A membership vote was taken to select the time frame.

A motion was made; seconded and approved by all attendees that the time for 2007’s reunion would be the September – October time frame.

Ø      The next item was discussion of and selection of the “Organization Websites”. We have two at the present. www.26thMarines.com and www.26^thMarines.org

The www.26thMarine.com site contains all the business, reunion, meeting minutes, membership rosters, etc. While the www.26thMarines.org contains Nam pictures, historical data, etc.

A motion was made; seconded and approved by all attendees www.26thMarines.com would be our organizations “official website” while the www.26thMarines.org would be a supplement to the organizations official website and a compendium of Nam photos, Unit Historical data and whatever the Executive Committee decided should be reflected on that site which Quinn Harry (the org Site Manager) agrees to post. Each site will refer to the other as necessary.

Next the costs of maintaining the two websites were discussed. The approximate cost of each website is $10 - $14 per month (subject to increase).

A motion was made; seconded and approved by all attendees that all costs approved by the Executive Committee, related to the purchase, registering and maintenance of each website be paid by the organization.

Ø      The next item was discussion of and selection of the “Current Public Roster” as shown on the organizations official website, www.26thMarines.com . The “Current Public Roster” contains, the Member Name, Email Address, Phone #, Unit served with, Years in Nam and MOS. The potential sensitivity of data included was discussed.

A motion was made; seconded and approved by all attendees that the “Current Public Roster” should remain “as is” and all requests to be added or requests for change must be done by email or in writing. Such requests should specify what items the member wishes to reflect on the “Current Public Roster”.

Ø      The next item was discussion of the organizations “Original Colors”.   A review of the previous “Executive Meeting Minutes” was made and discussed to explain/determine any disputes, etc., regarding the organizations original colors.

A motion was made; seconded and approved by all attendees to allow time for proper review and accumulation of information, then the Executive Committee take whatever action it deems necessary.

Ø      The 2006 Annual Membership Meeting for 26thMarines Organization was adjourned.

All members congratulated each other for concluding the meeting in a timely manner and sticking to the agenda.

Completed by G. H. “Sonny” Hollub, Jr., Organization Secretary/Treasurer

Minutes reviewed by Executive Committee, Harvey Lang, Executive Director, Sonny Hollub, Secretary/Treasurer and Richard Soto, Public Relations Officer.

Posted on www.26thMarine.com November 29, 2006

October 4, 2006 Executive Committee Meeting by Telephone Conference Call

Ø      A conference call was arranged by Executive Director Harvey Lang with Secretary Sonny Hollub, to discuss the current status of hotel reservations etc. Harvey received the association’s money (two separate checks) and some of the records, but no Treasurer’s report for the meeting. Harvey will bring what he received to the reunion and we will go over them and attempt to formulate a reasonable report for the meeting…

Ø      Sonny is to bring a hard copy of all minutes since the last membership meeting.

October 3, 2006 Executive Committee Meeting by Telephone Conference Call

Ø      A conference call was arranged by Executive Director Harvey Lang with Secretary Sonny Hollub, to discuss the current status of hotel reservations etc.

Ø      Harvey advised he and Marie had communicated and Mike will not call or talk to either of us. She further stated Mike has resigned as Treasurer and they will not be at the reunion. Marie was sending a cashiers check for the balance owed to the association and all records to Harvey along with all the flags, etc.

Ø      Harvey has not received anything to date (Tuesday 9:00 PM, October 3, 2006). We discussed plans to proceed in the event the association’s money is not received prior to the Reunion.

Ø      Harvey asked Sonny to bring a hard copy of all minutes since the last Membership meeting to the reunion.

October 1, 2006 Executive Committee Meeting by Telephone Conference Call

Ø      A conference call was arranged by Secretary Sonny Hollub with the other members of the Executive Committee, Harvey Lang and Mike Townes to discuss the current status of hotel reservations etc

.Ø      Sonny had contacted Jackie Eells and reported we had 77 room rents. Also, we need to bring cash to buy our items for the hospitality room. They do not cash checks… They do have ATM’s in the hotel and would be willing to take Mike to the bank to get money as needed.

Ø      Mike then stated his changed position regarding ownership of the “colors” which prior to this he indicated the association had paid for them, Not Quinn. He now advised he had paid for them (but could not produce a receipt) and had never been reimbursed and he was going to keep them “period”. He said he deserved something for all he had put into the organization. We could not believe he had suddenly changed his position. I attempted to explain that he was our treasurer and we relied on information he gave us to be fact, and we acted on that information accordingly. Mike responded, well the facts have changed. Harvey advised Mike to bring all the flags to the reunion at which point the “membership” would make a decision on disposition of the “new set” of colors. Mike said he would only bring one set of colors, keep the original set for himself and refused to transport or send “all those damn yellow flags Quinn bought” to the reunion. He got mad and refused to discuss any further items… stating Marie had been taking care of the records during that time. Mike then turned the phone over to Marie… who attempted to explain she had taken care of the records up until a certain time and if any one was to blame it was her. I advised Marie, Mike is the treasurer and should be providing facts when he says they are facts and is the responsible party as treasurer. Marie basically indicated she felt they had paid for them, but could not produce a receipt. Harvey attempted to tell Marie, as he had told Mike, that Mike had previously submitted a report showing the organization had paid for the original colors. Marie indicated she would UPS or FedEx all the flags Monday in whatever fashion was necessary to get them there to Reno by Friday…

Ø      Harvey said he would let Mike cool off and call him later. I agreed.

September 21, 2006 Executive Committee Meeting by Telephone Conference Call

Ø      A conference call was arranged by Secretary Sonny Hollub with the other members of the Executive Committee, Harvey Lang and Mike Townes to discuss the current status of hotel reservations etc.

Ø      In lieu of receiving our old colors from Quinn (there were some miscommunications regarding promised delivery, etc.), Mike ordered and has received the new set of colors… they cost $318.40 + 31.84 shipping. After receiving the new set, Mike did receive the old colors plus the individual company guidons. Per Quinn, we think Quinn Harry and Richard Soto may have originally purchased all (guidons, etc.) except for our colors. In either event, per Quinn’s email of September 9, 2006, they donated whatever they had purchased to the organization some time ago. Mike had indicated before ordering the new set, if we ended up with two sets, he would buy the new set for himself. Mike now offered to buy the original set at the original price of $212.65. This was discussed and Mike was reminded of his original stated intent to buy the new colors at the new price. He again indicated he would only pay the original price. We discussed it and decided it would not be fair to the organization to sell Mike the flags at the original price. Mike should bring both sets of flags to the reunion and if it was approved by the membership, the new set of colors would be auctioned off with the opening bid of $212.65 (which is the price paid for the original set of colors or the price paid for the new colors, whichever the membership decided).

Ø      Sonny should contact Jackie Eells and determine number of rooms rented to date, number of people in each room if possible… also ask her what the check cashing policy for the association to cover cash expenses at the reunion (i.e., Drinks, snacks, food, etc., for the hospitality room).

Ø      Mike has sent $350 for meals etc. Jackie Eells advised the balance could be paid when we get there.

Ø      Harvey advised, William Stubblefield, Home 262-539-2560, Cell 262-492-2420, a corpsman who went over in June 66, called and would be there. Mike has reported about 30 will be attending the banquet, but he will give an update to the executive committee and Jackie Eells, one week prior to the event.

Ø      Harvey has received all the “formal” documents on the organization and this will be discussed at the upcoming membership meeting.

Ø      Harvey requested we provide input for items to be included in the agenda of the Membership meeting. Sonny is to bring a hard copy of the minutes and Mike is to bring and present the Treasurer’s Report (financial statement) on the organization.

September 2, 2006 Executive Committee Meeting by Telephone Conference Call

Ø      A conference call was arranged by Secretary Sonny Hollub with the other members of the Executive Committee, Harvey Lang and Mike Townes to discuss the current status of hotel reservations etc.

Ø      Discussed the “In Memoriam” page and decided what is there is OK, thus far. Sonny has notified all 26’ers and we will wait input for future revisions.

Ø      Discussed the Nam pictures and what we should suggest be included by each 26’er in his folder. Our conclusion was pictures included should be pictures they took themselves or pictures from a friend who was there but does not have a folder on our site.

Ø      Discussed photo availability. Should we make CD’s and or prints for people who desire copies? The way Sonny has set it up, each person can order their own photos via the image station… we agreed this is the best way.

Ø      Discussed our new website ownership. It currently costs us $10.00 per month. We decided to purchase the site in 2/26’s name for a year or more, to avoid potentially losing our new web site name www.26thMarines.com

Ø      Our Colors… we discussed our last request and deadline of 9-1-2006 for Quinn to send our Colors to either Mike or Harvey (as promised last year and this year but has never done) has passed. We decided to purchase the Colors again for the unit as indicated in our last request to Quinn. In the future, our Colors will be held in the possession of the current Executive Director who’s responsibility is to take our Colors home from each reunion and insure they be returned to the next reunion whether attending or not… remembering these are the units colors not an individuals. When a new Executive Director is elected, that Executive Director will take possession at the membership meeting he is elected in. How to handle these types’ situations in the future will be discussed at the membership meeting in Reno.

Ø      Banquet and Buffet… we need to reiterate to all 26’ers and their guests, they need to have the money in Mike’s hands by the 18^th of September (not mailed by the 18^th, but in his hands). At that point the final headcount will be called into the hotel. Whoever is added after that as previously advised, may or may not be able to order off a regular menu.

Ø      Notify all who desire to make input for the next reunion site, bring info for their suggestion… ie, city, attractions, hotel information, airport information, etc.

Ø      Reunion regional alternation will be discussed at this years membership meeting, for future sites, etc., the east one year, the west one year, the north one year, the south one year, central one year, etc.

Ø      Define “current membership” status at the next membership meeting… ie, if you joined in 2002, but have only paid 2002 and 2005 membership fees, are you a “current member”? The EC believes to maintain solid financial standings, it is imperative that “current member” be defined as dues paid yearly since joining. This will be discussed at the upcoming membership meeting.

Ø      Mike will email numbers reported paid for banquet, registration and dues.

Ø      To cut expenses of letters, stamps etc., everyone needs to gain access to a computer via your local library or buddy to prevent waste of organization money.Ø      Sonny will send out notification of our new site updates.

August 16, 2006 Executive Committee Meeting by Telephone Conference Call

Ø      A conference call was arranged by Secretary Sonny Hollub with the other members of the Executive Committee, Harvey Lang and Mike Townes to discuss the current status of hotel reservations etc.

Ø      Mike Townes new numbers are 731-668-0076 Home 731-608-3558.

Ø      Discussed alternate website construction 26thMarines.com to achieve timely updates of information and a backup for changes in the event the site manager will not be available. In that we have requested the password to the current 26thMarines.org sight and been refused that request and have experienced timeliness problems regarding our requested changes, we agreed to continue at least as a supplement to the 26thMarines.org or potential replacement for the 26^th Marines to achieve more timely updates. We agreed the current Association Secretary (Sonny Hollub) would build and maintain the sight. We also agreed the password for the construction sight for building and making changes would be shared with all Executive Committee members

Ø      It was mentioned that we bring a laptop to the annual meeting for people to see. It was also mentioned they will have already seen it via email to Quinn requesting a link be added to the org site.

Ø      Discuss itinerary…

Ø      Landing party will be in the Hospitality Room. Options for food layout at landing party are tacos or finger food. We decided on sandwiches condiments and chips. Landing party will start at 5:00PM, come early if you like or late if you like… but do come. Room number and location will be determined on the day of the landing party and posted on a “Welcome Marines Poster” in the lobby.

Ø      Banquet will be held on Saturday night at 6:00PM. Banquet menu will be as cited below… also, if you have not paid for banquet reservations prior to arriving, while we have a small amount of leeway, you may be required to order from the menu. Cash bar at banquet. Also will provide miniature flags with stands at each table with goal being one for each couple or individual to take home. Mike will secure these.

Ø      Annual Membership meeting at 10:00AM Sunday morning will be held in the Hospitality Room. Harvey will also ask for three keys to the hospitality room for the officers. Remember only members who are current on their dues will be able to attend the Membership meeting. If you have not paid your dues until you arrive, you have to pay the penalty rate specified in previous communications.

Ø      Colors… numerous requests have been made for the organizations colors from Quinn Harry. Last year, in lieu of his delivery of our colors, Vince Slaby secured colors and loaned them to us for the Chicago reunion. We have made numerous requests since to Quinn, each time being promised delivery to Mike Townes. If we have not received the colors as promised by September 1, 2006, we will purchase another set to be kept in the possession of each years Executive Director until the next Reunion.

Ø      Should we rent a vehicle for the associations use for sightseeing? We concluded no. Each person provides their own travel.

Ø      Harvey will determine if a fee is required for parking at the hotel. 775-786-5151 is the number at the hotel to call for transportation from the airport to the hotel. Harvey will check for continuous transportation… i.e. a Hotel shuttle.

Ø      Harvey is working on a list of things you can do or see in the area.

Minutes prior to this date starting with the Annual Membership Meeting Minutes of July 9, 2005 are maintained by the Secretary G. H. "Sonny" Hollub, Jr. They can be provided upon request for a fee of $.35 per page, plus postage and handling.