Salem Bicycle Club
Board Meeting Minutes
May 14th, 2025
Call To Order- Present: Ken Freeman, Colin Benson, Terry Robbins, Robin Robbins, Steve Budde, Mary Schmidgall, Juan Lopez, Tim Newman, Debbie Miller
Approval of April Minutes- Board Members reviewed and approved the April minutes unanimously.
Treasurer’s Report- Robin Robbins reports that the current assets are $40,048.45. The Event Account has been closed and current Operating Account signers are Tim Newman, Robin Robbins, and Debbie Miller. Robin suggests that we invest in another CD for $20,000 for 5 months at 3.75% interest. The Board discussed this and approved this investment unanimously.
Rides Committee Report- Terry Robbins has agreed to be the new Rides Committee Chairman since Michael Karnosh resigned effective at the end of May. Ken offered to help Terry with whatever he needs to set up the Zoom account for meetings. Terry reports that the gravel rides are going well. The calendar is full of rides and there are some rides left that need leaders. Event rides for Club miles credit may need promotions and reminders and Debbie will send emails to Tim monthly for an email blast.
Membership Update- Tim Reports that our membership has grown from 248 to 262 since the Monster Cookie.
Spokes Update-Colin Benson reports that he sent out 1554 newsletters with a 46% open rate. He is getting some rejections and bounce backs on the newsletters. He continues to request ideas and information for the newsletter.
Monster Cookie Update-Ken Freeman reports that overall things went smoother this year. We had over 500 participants and it looks like we made a similar amount of money as last year, though bills are still outstanding. Rider expenses were $12,036 and half of this was rider insurance, which has gone up. 10% of the income this year was in swag. Mary reports that the food went well and she will be writing this up for the benefit of the new Food coordinator, Karen Freeman. The food this year was closer to what was needed but needs to be fine-tuned. Winco will no longer take back non-perishable foods. Debbie Miller felt we should look at lowering the cost of the half-cookie ride to be more in line with what other event rides do. Tim mentioned lowering the cost of the registration for the 50th anniversary. Debbie mentioned possible raffle incentives. The MC surveys are still open but preliminary review looks favorable. Tim will rebuild the registration portal for next year's 50th Monster Cookie event with new pricing structure. We will do a deeper dive at a smaller meeting at the end of this month for the MC committee. Steve asked if we could as a one-time cost send a 2025 MC bike jersey to PNW mobile bike repair Marc Couvillion, since Marc had expected a shirt with his logo on it for volunteering for mechanical support. The board voted unanimously to approve this and Steve will look into sizing and shipping. Debbie will reorganize and update the cookbook format with timeline, details, and contacts sections based on what is sent to her by organizers.
Safe Routes to School Update- Debbie Miller reports that we had 19 volunteers who worked 465 hours to bring Bike Safety Education to 1,233 total students in 6 schools this year. Tim requests help in writing a grant for SRTS again this year and Debbie agrees to help. SRTS is hoping to get a bike fleet to continue the program next school year.
San Juan Islands Tour Update- Steve reports that we may have about 30 participants and he will get out an email with the island’s routes, maps, ferry schedule, etc. He will send this information to Colin for inclusion in Spokes. Terry Robbins suggests that we use the forum on the website to have a group discussion and will assist with that.
Iron Man Update- Juan Lopez reports that 20 out of 40 volunteer slots are filled. He will get a map of our Bike support area to Colin for Spokes. Juan will complete Iron Man aid station captain registration and forward grant-related emails to Tim
New Business-
Gran Fondo- Travel Salem approached Dan Shryock about possible SBC support for a Grand Fond in September of 2026. This involves times races and recreational events as well. SBC board members agreed that we felt this would be the type of event we would support in Salem and would like Dan to have a seat at the table for further discussions and report back to the board.
Ride of Silence- co-sponsored with Salem Bike Vision is on track for 5/21. Ken will bring a speaker and microphone to the event.
DMV safety and wellness event. – we were requested to table at this event on 7/17 10 AM to 12:30 AM and Ken, and Debbie expressed willingness to table.
Reimbursement request- Tim Newman has been doing a lot of copying for the club and requests reimbursement for $14.00 for this for reems of paper. The board voted unanimously to approve this.
Next Meeting- Wednesday June 11th at 6:30 PM via Zoom. Steve Budde will run the meeting as Tim Newman will be at a meeting involving rural area farmers concerns about cyclists on the roads where they work and live and the relationships with cyclists.