March Meeting Minutes

Washington Headquarters Neighborhood Association
Meeting Minutes – March 18, 2009


The WHNA meeting was held at the home Sue and Keith Walter of Olmstead Road, and was called to order at 8:07pm. Attendees included: Sue Walter, Jen Santori, Monica Boswell, Michele Lucas, Lucille Knapik, Rebecca Feldman, Sumner Parker, and Stephen Sumski.

Meeting Minutes
Minutes from the last WHNA meeting held January 20, 2009 were approved by Sue Walter and distributed to residents via email.

Treasurer’s Report
Dues collection for 2009 is going well. As of March 18, 130 families have paid dues and the WHNA has collected $2137, compared to a total collection of $2295 for all of 2008. The dues collected still just barely covers WHNA expenses. Several ideas were discussed to increase resident dues collection, including
o Accepting PayPal as a form of payment with increased emphasis on online dues drives
o Kicking-off dues collection for the new year with the October Chronicle vs. the February issue
o Charging a small fee to attend events (instead of increase amount of dues)
o Outlining in the Chronicle what residents get for their small dues contribution

Directory Status
2009 WHNA directories will be printed late March for early spring distribution to all dues-paid residents. A total of 250 copies will be printed at a cost of $270. Lucille Knapik is coordinating the directory reprint and will notify WHNA Reps with as much notice as possible about delivery and distribution requirements.

Chronicle Newsletter
The February 2009 Chronicle, managed by the new WHNA Editor-in-Chief Tami Ross, got rave reviews. Positive resident feedback was received, with particular interest in the “Getting to know your neighbors” story. The next edition is scheduled for May, which will be a four-page spread featuring the Summer Block Party. Other feature suggestions include “WHNA Dues: What you get for your money”. Also, the Board is seeking input from residents for Neighbor News—births, weddings, accomplishments, etc. Deadline for stories and submissions is May 1.

WHNA Survey
As of March 18, 25 neighbors had participated in the WHNA online survey, where the Board is seeking input from residents on what they expect from the WHNA, and what types of events would increase participation and generate excitement/enthusiasm. They survey closes March 31 and tabulated results will be read-out at the next WHNA meeting, scheduled for mid-May.

Upcoming 2009 Events

Earth Day Cleanup: Scheduled for Saturday, April 18 from 9:30-11:00. Event committee includes Lauren McQueeney, Stephen Sumski, Lucille Knapik, plus Jen Santori is following up on two additional leads. Volunteers will meet at Jacob Ford Park and will get a free t-shirt, donuts and coffee prior to the clean-up. A reminder email will go out to all residents on the email distribution list.

Neighborhood Garage Sale: Scheduled for Saturday, May 16 from 9:00-2:00, rain or shine. Sue Walter is chairing the event and coordinating (with the help of Anne Bertucci and Rebecca Feldman) balloons, signs, resident maps, newspaper classified advertisement. Reminders will be sent via email to increase participation.

Summer Block Party: Scheduled for Sunday, June 14 from 12:00—3:00. Jen Santori is chairing the event with the help of Robin Jenkins. They are seeking additional committee members. A budget of $350 was allocated to this event. The WHNA will provide “starter” food, condiments, entertainment and coordinated activities. Residents will be asked to participate by bringing appetizers, salads, food, or dessert.

Halloween Party: Scheduled for Saturday, October 31 from 3:00-6:00 (note earlier start time). The WHNA is seeking a chair for this event. Committee participants include Denise Serra and Tami Ross.

Holiday Party: Scheduled for Friday, December 4 from 8:00-11:00. Chair people include Annie Acken, Treloar Medd and Rachel Petr. A host family is still needed. To contain costs, this event will now be a “BYO”; the WHNA will not be providing any alcoholic beverages.

Holiday Caroling Event: Not currently scheduled. TBD based on demand, although there was a good resident turnout in 2008.

Open Discussion
Lucille Knapik asked if the WHNA could send an email to residents regarding a Kellogg Club event being held in May to support the Jersey Battered Women’s Shelter. The event is a narrated fashion show titled “27 Dresses”. The WHNA Board agreed that we could not use the resident email distribution lists for promoting the event, but did agree that we would post the event details and invitation on the WHNA Blog. Residents are encouraged to use the WHNA Blog for similar event postings, etc.


The meeting was adjourned at 9:50 pm. The next meeting is scheduled for 8:00 pm on Tuesday, May 19 at the home of Monica Boswell (Jen Santori as backup). A reminder will be sent to residents via email.