Open: President Duane Clark opened the meeting at 7:05 p.m. Visitors were introduced.

Minutes: Don Lapworth moved to approve the September membership meeting minutes. Gary Walter seconded the motion. The motion passed.

Member Updates: Jo Fuqua has been having some health issues lately. She had surgery on Tuesday on an inpatient basis and will undergo five weeks of radiation. Renata Staab is coordinating drivers to take Jo for the treatment, which is in Mount Vernon. Dial-a-ride is also another possibility.

Lois Worthington passed away about three weeks ago. Lois moved into Cap Sante Court Retirement Community in February of 2002. She found out about the Rotary family park project in Ajloun, Jordan, which Duane was involved with, and made a financial donation toward it. Lois also contributed to a park that was built in Umm Sayhun, the town where the Bedouins living in Petra were forced to move to by the government. Lois was also one of the chief sponsors of our golf tournament as Duane’s partner in the Lois and Clark Adventures sponsorship. She also made anonymous donations of about $5,000 to $6,000 per year to ASCA through the Worthington Foundation.

Her family approved Duane telling the membership about these donations. Lois was also the first person to suggest supporting international travel for Anacortes students. The Student Travel Fund was her idea, and she provided some of the funding for it. Duane plans to ask the Executive Board to rename it the ASCA Lois Worthington Student Travel Fund. If you agree, let a board member know.

Duane said that Lois’ generous financial support is one of the main reasons ASCA has been in such a strong financial situation over the past few years.

Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer Mark Lijek reported a checking account balance of $4,244.80 and savings account balances of $2,816.34 in the general reserve, $14,852.67 in the operating reserve, and $18,371.93 in the dedicated reserves for a total of $40,285.74 in assets. The golf tournament reserve is the largest savings account balance with $10,428.59. Significant events include $360 in olive oil sales and the payment of $1,000 to Kevin Steen from the Student Travel Fund. See Attachment A.

The Washington State Charities Office notified Mark that we were delinquent in filing as a charity in 2006. In 2006 our income broke the threshold income of $25,000 because of our sponsorship of Kumpania.

Mark has filed for 2006 and does not think it is likely to reoccur in the future. An application for 2% funding has been made. If we receive a 2% grant, it will be a two to one match.

The Audit Committee has submitted a report. See Attachment B. The one suggestion, which has been made previously, was to improve cash control. Members give Mark cash in envelopes without receipts or even a note about the amount in the envelope or pay him for dinner after the cashier has closed up.

Luckily, this is not a big problem as only a small amount of our revenues is received in cash, except for the golf tournament at which there are good controls. Those collecting Mulligan and raffle payments write out the amount of money they give to Mark.

Vice President’s Report: Vice President John Lovric reported that the Croatia Fest would be this weekend at the Seattle Center.

John, who has been a member of the Croatia Fest Committee since the beginning, put together an ASCA booth representing the Croatian community of Anacortes. Sunday is the main day from noon to 8 p.m. with the main entertainment from 12 to 4 p.m. There will be a lot of activities.

John will be performing as part of the Vela Luka Dancers, who will perform around 2:30 p.m. There is also a symphony from Dbrovnik, which will also play in Edmonds at the community theater, Ruz Dalmantinka, and the Toks orchestra from Vancouver, BC. John Sarich, the Chef for Chateau Ste. Michelle, will give a cooking demonstration.

Duane will be taking his van and has space for a few more people. Contact Duane if you are interested in going to Croatia Fest in his van. The van will leave Anacortes at 10:30 a.m. and leave Seattle around 3:30 p.m. to return by 5 p.m.

Passengers will be dropped at the door of Seattle Center.

Election: Special Assistant to the President Don Lapworth announced that the election for officers would be held next month. He has canvassed the current officers, and they are all willing to serve another two years. If any other members are interested in being an ASCA office, he or she can nominate him/herself or be nominated by another member, and there can be write-in candidates.

Lomonosov: Chair Don Lapworth said that the Lomonosov Committee is trying to initiate a high school exchange for Anacortes students to go to Lomonosov for a 10-14-day visit. He has not received a response from Lomonosov yet. Don will keep working on it. Julia (Solapova) Wilson has volunteered to give survival Russian lessons to the students. Don will talk with AHS principal Pam Estovold about access to the high school. Don hopes to have an initial program by the spring. Duane said Don has a good foundation for this endeavor. Zoya is very excited about the proposed student visit.

Kisakata/Nikaho: Co-Chair Cora Amburn-Lijek reported that she and Co-Chair Anne Martin McCool and the chaperones met with the students who went to Kisakata/Nikaho about three weeks ago. She will write up a report of their comments and email it out with the booklet of students’ reflections forwarded by Kyoko Honma. Cora said that it is time to start recruiting students for the next exchange with Japan. She met with interested students and their parents about two weeks ago. Applications will be sent out and received electronically this time and are available by contacting Cora. Teresa Lewis, who was a chaperone for this last group, is recruiting chaperones for the next group.

Sidney: Chair David Rapella asked members to let him know if they would like to attend the Sidney Christmas parade. We will take the ferry on Saturday November 29 and return the next day. The parade is in the evening. Homestays will be provided. Visitors from Sidney will be coming to our Christmas parade.

Town Crier: Duane reported that Town Crier Rich Riddell plans to attend an international competition in Bermuda next year, and possibly one other one.

Vela Luka: Duane said there are about three cases of olive oil left from the 30 cases we purchased. Because of the number of buyers of full cases of olive oil, Duane will be giving two boat tours around Fidalgo Island next yeaer. There are also some bottles available at Anne Martin McCool’s gallery. The cost is $12 per bottle or $120 for a case of 12 bottles, which is $10 per bottle. Matthew Tweten, our Town Crier in training, visited Vela Luka with his mother this summer. He made an official visit to the Mayor’s Office and visited with Lena.

Student Travel Fund: Duane gave an update on our traveling students. Kevin Steen is in Brazil and will be there for nine months. Christina Heyne has returned from Peru. She had a remarkable adventure. Christina will share her story with us at our November 6 meeting. Her trip was part of a WWU course. Maddy Crowe is in Spain. She was originally assigned to a town in northern Spain, but the student of her host family returned home after just 25 days in Canada, so Maddy was relocated to a host family in Madrid. She is enjoying her experience and having a great time.

Program: Bev Bowen, Teresa Lewis, and Lin Nichols put together a power point presentation about their trip to Kisakata/Nikaho this summer with the students. Teresa was out of town, so Bev and Lin made the presentation. Members were especially interested in the photos showing old friends they have met either in Anacortes or in Kisakata. Bev and Teresa said their hosts were incredible and that despite communication challenges, they were actually able to bond and make lasting relationships.