OHA Steering Committee
Meeting Minutes, June 13, 2023
Called to Order: 6:33pm
Attendance:
Steering Committee Present: Phoebe Howe, Jared Liu, Lawrence “Stroker” Rogovin, Kimberly
“Schroeder” Steward, Gerry Whiting, Dawson Winch, Alex Ziko, Bethany Taylor
Steering Committee Absent: Carter Bascom, Emma “EB” Brandt, Jeff Colt, Riley Steward, Deirdre Vander
Schaff
Guests: Bill Barrett (phone), Emily Benson, Brian Post, Ken Olson
Secretary’s Report (Jared)
Action: Stroker made a motion to accept the minutes from 4/11/23, Gerry seconded, unanimously
approved.
As a follow‐up to the April meeting, Jared did a deeper analysis of membership. Although initially
thought that all but about 20 members who paid last year had paid this year, that was not the case
when reviewed at the individual level. At a high level:
45% (583 of 1300) of members solicited paid dues in one or more of the last three years. That’s
a strong measure for the OHA!
40% (186 of 464) of members who paid dues last year still haven’t renewed this year. This is an
increase from 35% (140 of 405) in 2022, although 2023 numbers are YTD and it’s likely that
some of those 186 will still pay dues. Let’s reach out to this group again. Many of them may not
realize that they haven’t renewed.
12% (59 of 464) of dues paying members in 2023 did not pay in the previous 2 years.
Awesome… welcome back. Let’s hang onto this group!
The number of lifetime members is great, and is part of the context for why there are fewer
regular members paying annual dues.
See the attached report for more information.
There was some conversation about whether to follow‐up with the 186 again, because they might not
know that they haven’t renewed after 3 membership messages. Various ideas were suggested about an
auto‐pay option in the future, better understanding the link between membership and the Tator, vetting
the list before taking further action, and YOH membership. Ultimately, the Steering Committee
confirmed not to send another membership letter this year, but to review membership outreach again
for next year.
Treasurer’s Report (Alex)
Income. We are at 94% of our budgeted goal. Certainly this is bolstered by Lifetime memberships, but
we’ve also spent less than half of what we budgeted for dues mailing due to MailChimp and not
including membership card.
Expenses. The Steering Committee Costs is Zoom, and Miscellaneous Expenses is the award to Morgan
for artwork. There were no questions for Alex!
Badger Land. Phoebe helped to finalize this transaction, but a special thanks goes to Bill Oliver for
seeing this through. The additional property will likely cost us about $100 in taxes annually on an
assessed value of $13,000. Note that Lot 32 (1 acre) is owned by the Town of Jackson. Bill raised the
question about current use, which Alex will look into.
Treasurer search. We’re still looking, although confident that we’ll have a replacement for 2024. Alex
will need to do some due diligence about the hand‐off process before the September meeting, and is
creating an ops manual to assist with that. Brian asks that the new Treasurer be digitally comfortable.
Cabin (Emily and Brian)
Status of physical improvements: Fire extinguishers have all been inspected, wood delivered, and the
chimney sweep came. In progress: Mike is finishing the bunkroom egress door, still need to get an
electrician in, and will be replacing storm window panes. Also watch for an invitation to a painting party
in your favorite shade of green!
An OHA member had to be removed from the Association and prohibited from Cabin. Thanks to Emily,
Brian, and others for remediating the situation and keeping everyone safe. The OHA reviewed our Code
of Conduct compared to the AMC’s and affirmed that the cabin is not intended to be long‐term housing.
Emily is following up with law enforcement about a no trespassing order.
Stroker read the following code of conduct:
OHA Code of Conduct
We expect all members to conduct themselves in a manner consistent with the organization’s mission
and values, and in a way that is not detrimental to the OHA, its members, their guests, partner
organizations, or the general public. All members will behave in a manner that supports the highest
level of enjoyment of the cabin and OHA activities.
We aspire to uphold a community built on mutual trust, integrity, and dignity for all, where differences
are addressed in a respectful and inclusive manner. Our goal is to be a community that values kindness,
and is comfortable, inviting, and accessible for people with a broad range of identities and backgrounds.
Behavior that runs counter to these standards is unacceptable and may result in the loss of membership,
cabin privileges, or both. Some examples include:
‐ Willful disregard for personal and group safety during OHA activities resulting in imminent risk
toward self or others
‐ Physical or sexual assault; violence or threats of violence toward others
‐ Discrimination, harassment, or hostility toward others of any kind (based on identities including,
but not limited to race, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, physical ability,
physical characteristic, socioeconomic background, nationality, age, religion, or beliefs)
‐ Bullying
‐ Sexual harassment
‐ Illegal or unethical activity while participating in OHA sponsored activities, or outside of OHA
sponsored activities when such misconduct may result in harm to the organization, other
members, the cabin, or the outdoor places we value
‐ Misuse or embezzlement of OHA funds or other assets
Action: Stroker made a motion to approve the Code of Conduct, Jared seconded, unanimously approved.
Spring Reunion (Emily)
There was a great turnout of multigenerational OH on both days. Saturday the group swept the
Hutmen’s Trail end‐to‐end, and on Sunday swept the Hall’s Ledge Trail to the picnic table and back.
Both trails are good to go for the summer. Thanks to the Stetsons, John Lamanna for the clams, EB and
Jesse Carlson for arranging YOH participation, and Bill Barrett.
Fallfest (Phoebe)
Phoebe is working on several details including: Nicole Zussman will attend, follow‐up on feedback about
the food from last year, room reservations, and more. Of note, Brian Fowler will speak about the legacy
of the Old Man of the Mountain, which fell 20 years ago. It will accompany a field trip to the Franconia
Notch viewing site. The OHA will make a donation to the Old Man of the Mountain Legacy Fund, and
may make the Old Man of the Mountain an Honorary member.
Action: Stroker made a motion to swap the wording of Special and Honorary members in the bylaws.
Essentially, Honorary Members worked in the hut system, whereas Special Members never did. Dawson
seconded, and it was unanimously approved by 8 Steering Committee members. Unfortunately, Article
IX, Section 1 requires at least 10 days advance notice and a 2/3 vote of the full Steering Committee for
bylaws changes. So this motion will need to be considered again at the next regular meeting.
Action: Dawson made a motion to nominate Betsy Byrd as an Honorary member, Bethany seconded,
unanimously approved. Ken Olson anchored lots of nice conversation about Betsy’s legacy, ultimately
retiring from the AMC in the 1990s after several decades of service across many Huts Managers. The
OHA will look to make the award earlier than Fallfest.
Hut Ambassador Program (Phoebe)
All slots are filled, Bethany led a training with them, and we’re looking forward to a positive program!
Merch (Brian)
We’ve nearly depleted older merch and will be ordering some newer stuff soon.
Website (Schroeder and Brian)
Everything is working well. We’ll look into auto pay option for the next membership period.
Croo Photo Project (Phoebe)
Creating a binder of photos collected by Sally. Stay tuned for something awesome!
Hut System (Bethany)
All 8 huts are up and running as smoothly as ever after a wonderful Gala with Phoebe at Mizpah and an
enjoyable 3 days of reaming with Jared at Greenleaf. We’re on track with fall staffing. Amanda goes on
maternity leave in one week, and will return remotely in August; Bill offered to pitch in with anything
needed in the interim.
Trails (Bill)
There was a great turnout for trails work. The Hutmen’s Trail on Saturday and Hall’s Ledge Trail all the
way to the picnic table on Sunday. Credit to Jesse and EB for arraigning this.
Summer Old Bridle Path work: Summer OH Day on the Old Bridle Path: Still scheduled for July 15 and
still looking for more sign‐ups. Bill is talking with the Trails Department about what they need in the
hopes that we can be an asset to them.
Resuscitator (EB)
n/a
New & Other Bidness (Stroker)
Paul Cunha, who is the AMC’s VP of Operations and, in that capacity oversees trails, huts, and camps,
has been diagnosed with brain cancer. Trails is taking the lead to setup a fund to support Paul. Stroker
will find out more and circle back with the OHA and individuals who may want to donate.
Bill Johnson, who worked in the huts in the 1980s, is once again offering Croo a 5% discount if they
attend the Ossipee Valley Music Festival in Maine the last weekend in July. The discount code is in the
spring Resuscitator. Stroker, EB, Jesse Carlson, and many other OH will be attending.
2023 remaining dates: 9/19, 11/14 at 6:30pm ET. The September meeting will be via Zoom using the
credentials below. A proposal was made for an in‐person meeting around Spring Reunion or Fallfest,
but it was largely agreed that virtual or hybrid was here to stay.
Action: Alex made a motion for there to be 2 in‐person Saturday meetings in the 2024 schedule, likely to
be in Jackson and Portsmouth/Boston, possibly 1 in the summer and 1 in the winter, and without a hybrid
option. Dawson seconded. Motion tabled until September meeting.
URL: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/3105879688?pwd=bW1NQUxnNUZPaURCdi9EdXBtM3hkQT09
Or Phone: 929‐205‐6099, Meeting Number: 3105879688#, Passcode: 780291#
Adjourned: 8:20pm