GFA Board Meeting, Gansevoort, NY, July 18, 1998

Attendees:

Bruce D. Grinnell, Williamstown, MA (Attorney)
Lawrence J. Grinnell, Greenacres, FL (acting President, Genealogical Committee Chair, and Webmaster)
Don McMahon, Gansevoort, NY (acting Treasurer)
Mable McMahon, Gansevoort, NY (Executive Vice-President and Administrator)
Edsel W. Grinnell (and wife Swannie), Medina, NY (Senior Vice-President and Membership Chair)
Edward J. Grinnell (and wife Pat), Tully, NY (Immediate Past President)
numerous McMahon cats

The 1998 GFA Board of Directors meeting was called to order at 10:00 AM at the home of Don and Mable McMahon, 1 LaFond Drive, Gansevoort, NY 12831.

The first half of the meeting was dominated necessarily by the discussion of the apparent misappropriation of the GFA treasury by former President/Treasurer Elizabeth Bartelds, of Renton, WA.

Documentary evidence of the apparent misappropriation was gathered by Edward J. Grinnell, Tully, NY, thanks to his status as former president. His signature on the bank account was still valid, allowing him to request copies of all bank transactions carried out by Ms. Bartelds over the last two years at Seafirst Bank, in the metropolitan Seattle, WA area. All evidence points to the illegal misappropriation of GFA funds by Ms. Bartelds, due to the steady string of checks made out by her and to her personally. Efforts to contact her by several Board members have either failed entirely (constant busy signal or unanswered calls) and her refusal to pick up registered-return receipt mail at the post office, or when contact was made, individuals were assured that everything was in order, that the bills had been paid, etc., despite evidence to the contrary. Visits to her home by newsletter editor James S. Grinnell were met by surprise and eventually overt hostility as additional visits were made.

In May, GFA Attorney Bruce D. Grinnell arranged for a letter, demanding repayment of the treasury to the tune of some $11,500, to be hand delivered by a police officer to Elizabeth Bartelds of Renton, WA, not in an envelope (thus avoid any confusion as to the contents of the letter). The letter also stated that if the funds were not returned by 1 July 1998, legal action would be taken against her. As of the Board meeting date of 18 July 1998, no funds have yet to be returned.

Since the deadline passed without contact from Ms. Bartelds, the Board agreed to take the necessary steps to prosecute her in Washington State. Attorney Bruce Grinnell has been in contact with a police sergeant in the frauds division of the King County Sheriff's department. This sergeant will review the evidence as provided by the Board and if he deems it worthwhile, it will be presented to the King County Prosecutor for review. If the Prosecutor deems this to be a worthy case, criminal charges will be brought against Ms. Bartelds. The only caveat was that it may be necessary for one or more GFA officers to physically travel to Seattle to testify against Ms. Bartelds, otherwise the Prosecutor may not pursue the case. Bruce has agreed to go if necessary, and the other Board members agreed to provide one person. One way to avoid sending a Board member from the East Coast is to make James S. Grinnell, GFA newsletter editor, a director (likewise Bruce Grinnell will be named a director). The assembled Board members agreed to do so, with the formalities to be dealt with at the business meeting this same evening.

Bruce Grinnell then handed out a proposed complete revision to our by-laws that will be eventually placed on the GFA web site and otherwise made available to interested parties prior to voting for their approval at next year's reunion site. One of the major items that was better defined was the voting procedure. Basically, the "members" (defined as those paid members attending a reunion) elect the Directors. The Directors then elect officers among themselves.

After a fine lunch provided by the McMahon's, we resumed the Board meeting.

Bruce has also agreed to investigate the cost and process of bonding our treasurer, in order to protect our treasury. He has also suggested an improved audit process where another Director takes the bills in and authorizes the treasurer to pay them. With the exception of the bills from our printer for the Grinnell books, this is the case now, as all membership applications and book orders go to the membership chair, Ed. W. Grinnell of Medina, NY.

The genealogical committee report was next. Larry Grinnell reported on the following:

1. The 7-generation source citation project has languished this past year due to the organizational problems cited earlier in these minutes.
2. Over 200 copies of the Grinnell genealogy have now been shipped.
3. James L. Grinnell, of Hot Springs Village, AR, has asked to be replaced as a primary member of the genealogical committee, citing health problems. He has agreed to stay on until a volunteer is named. Once a suitable replacement is found, Jim will have to relinquish all genealogical records that were collected related to the production of the Grinnell genealogy. We may need to pay for copies of records collected by Jim personally over the years.

The membership report was presented by Membership Committee Chair Ed. W. Grinnell of Medina, NY. At last count we have 203 paid members, which, considering the upheaval we have gone through in the past year, is not bad. We have gained a number of new members via our website.

We have several individuals who have volunteered for GFA posts:

* Chuck Grinnell, Fort Myers, FL has offered to assist in any way he can help.
* Jay Bradley of California has agreed to be a future treasurer.
* Marjorie Murray has offered to assist with the genealogical committee and the 7-generation documentation project.

A note will be made in the next newsletter stating that while we are not actively seeking donations at this time, we would be happy to accept them.

Larry Grinnell of Greenacres, FL has offered to put the entire GFA newsletter collection on CD-ROM in Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format and offer them for sale to the public. No pricing has been determined at this time. The Board approved this project.

Larry Grinnell of Greenacres, FL has also offered to make the Grinnell genealogy available in Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format on CD-ROM for those interested at the reduced price of $25.00. The Board approved this project.

Larry Grinnell of Greenacres, FL has asked for financial assistance from the GFA of approximately $200 to register a domain name for the Grinnell Family Association web site (this fee is for two years registration, following years will cost $100 per year). This would change the current uniform resource locator (URL) code from http://www.gate.net/~grinnell/ to something like http://www.grinnell-fam.org/, to make it more recognizable, as well as giving Larry the flexibility to move his internet provider account to other providers without having to send out a huge number of address change items. Note, too, that the GFA is not paying for internet access at this time. Larry is using and will continue to use his own personal account at no cost to the GFA. The Board approved this expenditure.

Meeting was adjourned at 2:15 PM.

These minutes are correct to the best of my recollection.

Respectfully submitted,

Lawrence J. Grinnell, President
Grinnell Family Association of America