Salem Bicycle Club
Board Meeting Minutes
September 9, 2026
Call to Order- Present: Debbie Miller, Jim Miller, Tim Newman, Stewart Wuest, Colin Benson, Karen Freman, Steve Budde, Robin Robbins, Terry Robbins, Ken Freeman
Approval of Minutes- The June minutes were approved unanimously
Membership Report-Robin Robbins reports that membership is at a high and has grown from 333 to 339. She thanks Tim for making mention of new and renewing members on the website regularly and he notes that he has it set up that the web page does it on its own.
Treasurer Report- Tim Newman notes that our total account assets are $36,995.89. Our 3 CD’ s are due in October and we’ve been making about $90 per month on those and a decision on whether to renew will be made at the October board meeting.
Spokes update- Colin Benson reports that Spokes is doing well with about 2000 subscriptions sent and 45% opens so over 900 opened, well above our total membership.
Safe Routes to School Update – Debbie Miller gave a brief recap of the very busy summer SRTS has had including their new Transit Town layout being voted the single most popular activity of the entire Keizer Blast Camp Session. They purchased a second cargo trailer and received and put together 40 Trek bikes with the help of the Rotary Club of Salem. The 2026-27 School year is packed with 11 schools for Bike Safety, learn to ride, or both. 6 schools for Pedestrian Safety Education and Transit town and 5 schools hosting Public Transit Safety Education with Cherriots. They are always looking for and appreciative of SBC volunteers. Ken invited the SRTS director, Jacob Lippert, to attend the Club picnic to look for more volunteer support.
Rides Committee Report- Terry Robbins reports that the procedures for Ride Coordinators, Ride Cancellation, and Ride Mileage Guidelines have been revamped. They will be sent out to the Board to review and to be voted on for approval likely at the October meeting. They will also try and get and informational article in Spokes. Rides have been scheduled through mid-November. A subcommittee is planned to look at tour options for the summer and Karen Freeman will lead this effort. They hope to get things more solidified by January and plan on sending out a survey to gauge club interest.
San Juan Tour- Steve Budde was the organizer but unfortunately was unable to stay for the tour due to illness so is unable to give an update. The general consensus was the it was great fun again this year. Tim and Kerry with both successful in summiting Mt Constitution this year and were congratulated.
Summer Picnic- Karen and Ken Freeman are hosting this at their lovely home and 20 people have signed up so far. The club is purchasing the main course which will be both meat and vegetarian grilling options. Members will bring a side dish or dessert. The club will supply non-alcoholic beverages and members can bring anything else they want to drink. Attendees will be encouraged to bring chairs and Tim will send out an email reminder about this.
Ride tracking update- Juan Lopez was unable to be here but he has stayed up to date on this and contacts ride leaders directly if anything is not entered correctly.
Salem Art Fair Bike Corral- Jim Miller started out by thanking Tim for all his work in getting the preliminary scheduling done while Jim was away for several weeks. Ken Freeman scoped the site out today and presented photos with the plan for set up. Tim has obtained small prizes for the wheel of fortune game and asked for approval for 3 $15.00 gift cards by the board tobe used for daily raffles. This was approved unanimously. Tim will also provide some gifts from our stock like socks and T-shirts for prizes. Jim will purchase some drinks and snacks for volunteers.
Iron Man- Juan Lopez was unable to attend, but the general consensus was that Bike Aid Station 2 went off well and members enjoyed their volunteer time there. Iron Man increased their grant to SBC this year to $1250.00 which will be primarily supporting helmet programs.
Board Member Fleeces- Tim Newman recently scanned in old Spokes issues for decades (Thank you Tim!) and noted that things like appreciation gifts for Board Members were done in the past. He suggested doing that again and getting matching embroidered fleeces, #24 for the price point minimum, with the cost of $19.85 each. The board unanimously approved up to $800.00 from the budget for this expense.
Helmet funding- Tim Newman placed and was awarded a grant for $1250.00 from the Iron Man, which was and increased from last year. SBC has traditionally matched this. The grant was placed for helmet funding and it was agreed that the Keizer helmet funding program led by the Sangsters should receive $2000.00 of this open ended to be used as they need through the end of 2027. The board approved this unanimously. The option to use the additional $500 for helmet related support was agreed to.
November Pot Luck- Tim Newman reports that he has secured Painter’s Hall on November 7th from 4-7 PM for the potluck with a recurrent Thanksgiving theme. Turkey and Stuffing will be provided by SBC and members will fill in with side dishes and desserts.
Board Elections- Stewart Wuest and Karen Freeman will put together Mission Statements and photos for the election as they have expressed interest in joining the board.
Annual Volunteer Dinner- Tim Newman will scope out dinner options and present them at the next meeting. The Dinner will take place in January.
Next Meeting- October 14th 6:30 PM via Zoom