(erielack) Response to "ELHS Dues Increase and a New ELHS Board Member"

[Timothy Costello <tgcostello2_@_cox.net>]

Hi Henry and erielack readers:

This is an ELHS related post.  If it's not of interest to the reader,  my 
apologies.

There are some serious errors in The Diamond that will be corrected in 
future issues.

Dues is $30.00.  The Board has never discussed raising the dues to $35.00, 
and is not likely to do so in the next few years.

The Board conducted a highly visible campaign to identify and or recruit a 
new Membership Chair.  We posted notes in The Extra Board seeking 
candidates for the job after Bob Rose offered his resignation from that 
post early in 2004.  After interviewing the volunteers/candidates, Bruce 
Field was offered the position in the fourth quarter of 2004 and has now 
assumed one of the most time consuming tasks in the ELHS.  My thanks to 
Bruce for stepping up to the plate and taking this job.

Bob Rose did not resign from his seat on the Board of Directors, and 
continues to serve as VP.  Bruce is not on the Board, but serves a role in 
the organization similar to a Technical Advisor.

The next Board meeting will take place at our Eastern Spring Meeting.  I 
believe that resignations and appointments will be on the agenda.  I 
encourage all interested in the management and operations of the ELHS to 
attend the meeting.  We'll announce the time and location as we get closer 
to the event and details are firmed up.

In our recent Board teleconference, we recognized the need for a forum to 
discuss ELHS related matters, as erielack is intended for discussion of the 
railroad and modeling the railroad.  This sentiment has been raised several 
times here on the list.  The Board has requested that our webmaster, Will 
Shultz work to create a capability for such dialog on the website.  Will's 
working on it and I'm confident that he'll come through with a solution. 
Will and his team have done a terrific job developing the website.  My 
thanks to you Henry, for webhosting services and support to Will.

One final note related to Henry's post.  Jay Held's efforts, and 
contributions to the Society are immense, and are certainly recognized by 
all of us who do business with the Society.  (BTW, got may calendar 
yesterday Jay, thanks for the quick turn!).  Let me assure you that when 
the Board moved to publish The Diamond four times per year it was based 
upon a conservative review of our revenue stream, and that we have never 
asked Jay to increase his profit to accommodate our rising costs.

Sincerely yours,
Tim Costello
Member, Board of Directors: ELHS



At 04:38 AM 1/6/2005, J. Henry Priebe Jr. wrote:

>Going through the latest Diamond and Extra Board I saw two things of which
>ELHS subscribers should take notice.
>
>First is a yearly ELHS dues increase to $35.00. Maybe I missed something
>obvious along the way and I'm the last to hear about it. Was this not
>announced anywhere else besides being buried in the small type of the masthead
>of the latest Extra Board?
>
>Second is the appointment of Bruce Field to the ELHS board. This is noted in
>the masthead of both the Diamond and Extra Board. I hadn't heard any rumblings
>about this either. I find that interesting, especially in light of our recent
>discussions here.
>
>Nowhere else in the Diamond or EB did I see mention of these changes, it's
>almost as if they were meant to be missed by the majority of subscribers.
>
>I have to say that I am very disapoointed that Jay Held wasn't given this
>board position. In my eyes, Jay is the unsung hero of the ELHS and has been
>the single individual most deserving of a board position for the past several
>years. Jay has been tirelessly hawking our wares so that the bank account
>keeps pace with our rising costs. He's the go-to guy for our non-dues related
>revenue. He's the epitome of how volunteering for the society and being
>involved in the day to day operations for an extended period of time will not
>necessarily lead to lead to admittance into the inner circle. That is exactly
>why the society NEEDS some democracy and members and not plutocracy and
>subscribers.
>
>That's my two cents. Color me a malcontent I guess. :(
>
>Henry

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