Minutes of Subud PNW Conference Call Board Meeting November 8, 2017
Members Present: Aaron Mann, Chairman PNW, Sherwin O’Bar, Treasurer, Elizabeth Flanders, Oswald Norton, Regional Helper Liaisons, Chairpersons Camille Hofvendahl, Subud Portland, Honora Hildreth, Subud Seattle, Michael DuBois, Subud Skagit Valley, and Lydia Tedrow, Recording Secretary. All but Honora were on the phone; while they were waiting for her to come on, they had a discussion about registration at Menucha, which was reportedly around 50. That number of members was how it was when the Menucha retreat first started, a cozy number. Financially, the Region will take a hit but will make up for it. There is a manager for the Gift Shop – from Portland – Josephina Orchard.
Minutes: The minutes of the last meeting, October 11, 2017, were not available at this time.
Treasurer’s Report: Sherwin reported he didn’t have a Treasurer’s Report. He does a report every quarter and the quarterly report was given at last month’s meeting. Next month, we will know more about Menucha.
Center Reports: Portland: Camille reported Portland bought their chairs. She had mentioned that last month and wasn’t sure where they would store them. Apparently the group has now figured out where to put those chairs to store them; they take up more room than Portland’s last bunch of chairs. Rentals are rocking along and the membership keeps falling but a couple of new people have moved; she didn’t know if they would be regular.
Seattle: Honora stated there wasn’t a lot to report but she did report that the Regional Helpers will be arriving in Seattle on December 9th. They will be doing more testing and planning at Menucha as everybody will be in the same place at the same time. The group is planning a winter celebration on December 17th; they are in the early stages of putting that together. Hadijah O’Bar is leading the way on that one. And, after many months, they have arranged to have meetings and Dewan latihans taking place on the same day. Honora thought that might produce a better sense of communication and harmony and “all those lovely things”. The next three meetings have been scheduled. The Seattle group is also looking to replace their newsletter editor. Haryana Chilstrom is stepping down in December so they are looking – there has been some interest by a couple of members but Honora wanted to bring some ideas to the Committee before moving forward on that. The present secretary has officially stepped down now and someone is prepared to take over those duties. The Committee has been discussing creating some guidelines for the booking events with the Airbnb. They have some conflicts with events being scheduled and latihan times. The members have been asked if they would like to move the latihans, whether they should be moved at all. They are still talking about it. Honora is going over contracts and guidelines that have already been written. They want to build some good guidelines to keep moving forward so people can communicate with each other about booking events. They are still looking to schedule another general meeting and are trying to foster communication in Seattle. They would like to see everybody from Eastside and Greater Seattle latihan all in the same place. That is on the books for their next meeting.
Skagit Valley Michael thanked the Regional Helpers for coming to kejiwaan day in Skagit Valley last Sunday, November 5th. It was very productive. The group is having an issue about location of their Subud House; they are trying to address finding a more convenient place for everybody from the north part of Washington State. They will be setting up criteria to find out what their group needs. The business meeting for the Skagit Valley group will take place next month; no date has yet been set. They are waiting for Marius Hibbard to get back from Europe. He needs to be at that business meeting. The group will be doing the Bird Walk; it will be organized by different people. Paul Woodcock will be doing the legwork. Michael will be taking more control over the kitchen. Roosmiwati Reynolds will take over registration and Julia Hurd, who just came back from Europe, will be doing the promotion for it. Invitation cards will be sent out to Centers by snail mail. Registration can be done on line. Michael reported that the group has had half of the necessary work done on their house. They have new gutters and the house has been winterized. The windows will be replaced in the Spring. Michael mentioned that Subud Skagit Valley is a small group, some of the members are often away, so it is really nice for them when people come to visit. Paul Woodcock was the only person from their group who would be going to Menucha.
Helpers’ Report: Oswald reported for the Regional Helpers. Elijah and Oswald went and were a part of a testing session at the Skagit Valley group about what to do about their latihan facilities. There was fabulous food, as always, and great hospitality. Both commented about how beautiful the house is on the inside and how enjoyable it is to be in there with the group. They felt welcome and were glad to participate. The kejiwaan gathering will be happening at Menucha. The Regional Helpers are prepared and look forward to being with their brothers and sisters for this annual event. There will be an opening circle on Friday, a kejiwaan gathering and testing on Saturday and a closing circle on Sunday. They will bookend the kejiwaan gathering with circles on both ends. One of the things they want to offer during this particular weekend is testing how to bring the latihan into our daily lives and the world. They will also be offering personal testing throughout the weekend. On Saturday, December 9th, the helpers will be with the Greater Seattle group for their kejiwaan day. For the Regional call-in latihans, on October 19th they had four men and four women and this Monday they had four men and three women. Elizabeth reported that there are people who don’t call in to the Regional latihan but they let the helpers know that they will be joining them – they just tally the people who actually call in. People are joining them from L.A. and Alaska that don’t call in.
New Business: Michael reported he had an email in front of him from Robert Mertens regarding food for Subud in Caracas. Aaron forwarded that email to Center chairs. There was a discussion about whether it should be done by group or the region and they concluded it would be up to the group chair people to decide that. Right now, Aaron thought the Region ought to wait until next month to see where the Region is financially. If the money could be sent from the Region, that would be great. This was also something he thought they could talk about at Menucha. Honora will be going to Menucha and Camille will only be there on Saturday. Camille will put the letter on the list serve so everybody could see it. She thought that passing the hat at Menucha could work pretty well. Fundraising will be brought up at the next meeting of the Region; should the center chairs raise money at their centers before the next regional meeting, the Region will know how much money is owed to Menucha and have an idea of how much the Region can spend at that time. Aaron reported there was a National Board Meeting last Sunday, November 5th, a type of general meeting. Basically, it was a treasurer’s report; no regional reports. The main piece of business that came up during that meeting that Aaron thought was interesting is Subud U.S.A. is looking into setting up a Subud Credit Union and it will be an online – doesn’t require a building. It was the idea of the National Treasurer; he knows how to do that. A meeting is planned specifically for looking into that and we will be hearing more about that in the future. Camille asked if Subud would be making money on that and the answer was “yes”. Money put into the credit union would be interest-bearing and could loan money for small enterprises. Camille mentioned that Portland still has not been able to transfer the Treasurer; it has not yet happened. Maria will be at Menucha the whole time and Jasminah will be there on Friday. Aaron reported the next National Congress will be taking place in Vancouver, Washington, Memorial Day weekend. A motion was made to adjourn the meeting and was seconded. All were in favor and the meeting was adjourned.
Signed by the Recording Secretary, Lydia Tedrow.