The meeting was held at Pistone's Restaurant at Seven Corners. Officers and directors attending were: Leo Cardillo, Margot Hennings, Dale Dallaire, Marjorie Gazzola, Kathryn Kiley, John Mason, Paul Krueger, Unit Game Chief Director Marshall Kuschner, Education Chair Joanne Pretti and NVBA Youth Advisor David Banh. Ron Kral and Scott Merritt were absent. President Cardillo called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

Minutes. Margot Hennings made a motion to accept the minutes for June 2005, Paul Kreuger seconded the motion, and the motion carried.

Treasurer's Report.

Financial Reports: Treasurer Dale Dallaire provided the Board with copies of the NVBA Balance Sheet as of June 30, 2005, and Profit & Loss statements for May and June 2005. The Board discussed timing of moving funds into CDs, considering amounts that are now in various CDs and when they come due. Margot said that she and Kathryn will need a $3500 advance in January to prepare for the 2006 Alexandria Regional.

Unit Game Payments: Dale requested that she be notified when the unit game has been cancelled so she will know not to pay Beth El. She will start paying for both rooms at one time instead of separately, as we've done in the past. This way we will always have the smaller room available.

Review: Ed Heberg still wants to be chairman of the review committee, and Dale will schedule a meeting with him at her home early in August. Rod Severson may also assist in this effort. Doug Grove offered to answer questions that arise during our review, and reported that the WBL does not perform audits or reviews, though they plan to. We will compare notes with them.

Other: Dale is looking at the idea of a budget, starting with last year's as a strawman, and asking Board members and chairs how much they plan to spend. There has been no budgeting effort in the NVBA for several years. Dale will also prepare a detailed breakout of unit game expenses by September. She has been able to put her name on our QUIKBOOKS license.

President's Report

Washington Post Bridge Column: President Leo Cardillo reported that The Washington Post has recently moved Frank Stewart's daily bridge column from its regular position in Comics to various locations within the Style section, where it is often hard to find, and they have discontinued the column on Saturdays. The local bridge community thinks this is a disturbing trend. WBL President Dick Wegman has written a letter to the Post and President Cardillo has drafted an email. The Board discussed other actions that individuals might take such as calling, writing or emailing the Post, and we will encourage NVBA members to do this.

Inventory: No change from last month. Beth El has not returned calls about meeting to discuss our lease.

Conduct & Ethics Activity: Co-Chairs of the District 6 Appellate Committee are Darwin Afdahl and Donald Hennings. Names of individuals to serve on Unit and District C&E positions were discussed and final assignments are being settled.

Bridge Information Line(BIL) Update: The line has been installed in Sam Coleman's home and is now working. The MCI BIL charge is $40 per month for three mailboxes.

District 6 Meeting: The District 6 weighted vote(a unit's weighted vote is proportional to membership) and proxy issues(who is allowed to have a proxy represent their vote) were discussed at length, but final vote on both issues will take place at Hunt Valley in August. Andre L'Heureux is the newly-elected District 6 President.

Partnerships: Dale will be responsible for Partnerships at the NVBA September 8-11 Sectional. David Banh may be able to come home from college and help.

Financial: Wachovia is now up to speed electronically. Former Treasurer Ron Spieker has been deleted from NWFCU records, and the four new NVBA Board officers will be installed as soon as we obtain former Secretary Lucy McCoy's signature on a release form.

“Instant Bridge”: Dr. Steve Forsythe has been giving an “Instant Bridge” presentation twice a year at the WBL unit game. It has been suggested that he give his presentation at a Sectional or at next summer's Regional. No one knows whether his presentation is free or if it's a commercial enterprise. A suggestion was made that the presentation be offered on the “0-5 Free Play” day at the Regional if we have a room available.

Newsletter: The Board discussed the article in the July-September 2005 NVBA Newsletter which states the ACBL's Zero Tolerance policies and disciplinary penalties. Directors have received emails from the ACBL stating these policies. NVBA Recorder Jeff Roman will write an article for the next newsletter describing the functions of the Unit Recorder, and, as part of an ongoing educational process, there will be future articles about Conduct and Ethics committee actions.

Vice President's Report

Scheduling Meeting: Vice President Margot Hennings reminded the Board that there is a scheduling meeting for 2006 coming up and solicited everyone's comments and suggestions. She is looking for a date that is satisfactory to all attendees.

Zero Tolerance: Margot showed us a "STAY COOL" graphic that she has selected to be displayed as a Zero Tolerance reminder. She plans to have enlarged, framed copies made to take to Sectionals and the unit game.

Other Chair Reports

Club Liaison Chair: John Mason reported that he is developing a comprehensive listing of club games and discussing holding NAP games with the directors. He will use this information to update the club page on the NVBA web site.

Unit Game Manager: NVBA Youth Advisor and substitute Club Manager David Banh reported that the Unit Game table count has been about 25-30 tables on most nights. The Board discussed “free plays” at the Unit Game, noting that “winner” free plays should be separated from other kinds of free plays. Unit Game Director Marshall Kuschner said that he does this, but that substitute directors do not always differentiate free plays. Margot reported that she and Kathryn have been tracking free plays on a monthly basis.

Education Chair: President Cardillo welcomed Joanne Pretti, the new NVBA Education Committee Chair, and offered to give her the NVBA's position description for this function. Joanne told the Board that the listings of bridge teachers in the Newsletter and on the web site are incomplete, and she will collect and update this information.

Youth Advisor: NVBA Youth Advisor David Banh reported that Annie Morton, a junior, will be the new Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology("TJ") bridge club president. David reported that the club will do its own fund-raising next year. Bridge club meetings at TJ currently have about 16 tables. Unfortunately no other high schools in Northern Virginia have bridge clubs. In Maryland Donna Bowser and Charity Sack are seeing whether it is feasible to have a high school tournament at the Regional next summer. TJ would participate and possibly two schools from Maryland. Leo suggested that perhaps the newly-started District 6 Charity Foundation could attach some scholarship money to this tournament. Tonight's Board meeting will be Youth Advisor David Banh's last, as he will start classes at the University of Virginia in August.

New Business

NVBA August Board meeting: The Board decided that we will not meet in August since several members will be out of town or playing at Hunt Valley. Instead we will have a "virtual" meeting where members exchange information via email.

Dale motioned that the meeting be adjourned, John seconded the motion, and the meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p. m. The next NVBA Board meeting will be held Monday, September 12, 2005 at 7:00 p.m., with the dinner portion beginning at 6:00 p.m., at Pistone's at Seven Corners.