MINUTES OF SUBUD PNW CONFERENCE CALL BOARD MEETING DECEMBER 13, 2017

Members Present: Aaron Mann, Chairman PNW, Sherwin O’Bar, Treasurer, Oswald Norton, Isadora Roth, Regional Helper Liaison, Camille Hofvendahl, Chairperson Subud Portland, Honora Hildreth, Subud Seattle, Michael DuBois, Skagit Valley, Lydia Tedrow, Recording Secretary.

Minutes of Last Meeting
The minutes of the last meeting, which had been received by all, were approved.

Treasurer’s Report:
Sherwin reported that, as noted, the Treasurer’s Report is done quarterly. However, further on down the agenda he would give the Menucha report.

Center Reports:
PORTLAND:
Camille had a brief report. The Portland group had had a business meeting the previous Sunday. The Treasurer’s post finally got transferred over, so Jasminah would be keeping the books; she is also an active helper. Camille thought Maria would be doing the Susila Dharma bookkeeping.

At the meeting, it was announced that Marius is trying to raise money to help people go to the World Congress. Subud Portland will be having a matching fund. They already have $500 towards the matching fund; Camille was not sure how high they would go; they are hoping to raise a couple of thousand.

Camille reported Portland got its chairs a while back and they have been talking about what color to re-paint the three pews that are painted; Gabriella has offered to pay to have them stripped so it’s a relief as they don’t have to worry about the color.

Camille mentioned a regional report that had come out on the Subud PNW website the previous week. She was embarrassed as the information in it was old and it seemed really outdated for Portland. She just wanted to mention that – she didn’t know where the information had come from.

Camille announced that Portland will be having a Christmas party, a potluck, on Saturday, December 16th.

SEATTLE:
Honora stated her report wasn’t very long because Seattle’s December meeting is actually occurring this coming Saturday but she did want to mention they had their regional helper visit last weekend and it was fun. She knew that lots of people who were on the call today has also been there; she didn’t know if anybody had a story to share but she wanted to say it was amazing to have everybody come out and she was glad it seemed to be a success. She would like to do a lot more of them. She is going to talk to the group about trying to have a regular kejiwaan day. The Seattle group was inspired by the Skagit group and how well organized they are. Honora thanked them for being a good example and for coming to visit.

Seattle has a brand new newsletter editor; Haryana Chilstrom had to step down so Rachman Cantrell will be taking over the newsletter. Seattle also has a new secretary. Leandra Hildreth is taking over as secretary for Seattle.

Honora asked Sherwin to report about Seattle’s financial status. He stated Seattle is doing pretty well. The Airbnb is the main source of income and also generates expenses so he thought Seattle would end the year a little bit negative but that was primarily due to some sewer re-work that had had to be done earlier in the year. The cost was $10,000 and it came out of operating funds.

Oswald wanted to follow up on the kejiwaan held the previous week in Seattle. He stated it was very, very nice; someone in the background stated it was excellent. Oswald thought it was very useful for everyone that attended. He asked Honora when Seattle was having its Christmas party. She stated it was the coming weekend – the official date was Sunday, December 17th. Oswald stated it was on the FGS website and that was what it said.

SKAGIT VALLEY:
Michael reported Skagit Valley had had a Center meeting the other day at which they had set up the Bird Walk. Julia Hurd made a beautiful poster and Michael would be sending a copy of it to all of the Subud Centers in the Region. He would also be sending some to our Canadian friends. The dates are set – it will take place on Saturday, February 17th. There will be the usual driving. They will have either four cars or one van.

The Woodcocks are out of the country again but they will be back in time for the Bird Walk. They will not be there on January 17th when the International Helpers will be in Skagit Valley.

Michael reported Elissa Sunflower visited Skagit Valley that day; she has moved back to Olympia from Texas.

The group has finished all of the gutter work on the house. They were unsuccessful in catching the un-spayed female cat. The windows will be done in the Spring; the cost will be picked up by a member. Everything else has been done.

Michael reported the latihans at Skagit Valley take place on Wednesdays and Sundays and they would like visitors. Rosalyn Neel has been doing the books and the group is running in the black, paying off its debts. They have a certain level of money coming in but the Bird Walk will generate more money for the house repairs.

Upon request from Aaron, Michael agreed to send a flyer promoting the Bird Walk to Spokane. Aaron also wanted to know if people outside of Subud were invited to the Bird Walk and the answer was, “Of course”. Michael read the flyer – basically, the Bird Walk is limited to 15 people. The cost will be $45, consisting of a $20 nonrefundable deposit. People can register with Roosmiwati Reynolds, either by phone or by email at roosmiwati@gmail.com. The flyer will be sent out in the next few days.

Helpers Report:
Oswald reported that, as Honora mentioned, all of the Regional Helpers were able to attend the Subud Seattle kejiwaan day. Their format was that each member could speak clearly about what they had been experiencing in Subud and what they needed. The members set the agenda. The helpers had outlined an agenda but they let the members control what they wanted. They determined how many latihans they would have and how they would test. He stated it was a great event. The food was great. Participation was great. Both during and after the event, people were asking why they didn’t do this more often. Honora, in fact, is looking to having more of these scheduled. Oswald offered the help of the Regional Helpers in setting them up.

Regarding future visits, Oswald said he thought all the chairs were aware that, after some emails went back and forth with regard to possible dates for the International Helpers to visit, what worked best for both groups was a time frame for January 11th or the 18th with the first event occurring on Friday, January 12th, at the Eastside facility, January 13th in Skagit, Sunday January 14th in Greater Seattle and Monday and Tuesday, including travel, to Portland and latihan on January 15th and 16th.

Oswald mentioned the Regional Helpers were also trying to examine other visits that might take place before their term is up. No Regional Helpers on this Dewan will continue after their term is up which will be at the National Congress in Vancouver, Washington, this Spring. A planning meeting will take place in February and they will work on other groups to visit before their term is over. They recently got a request from Boise asking if the RHs could visit them again.

The Regional Helpers are working on the portion of the isolated members for the Annual Census for Subud U.S.A.; the men are calling the male isolated members – they are called Regional members now – and the women are calling the female members. Besides the work Elizabeth and Isadora are doing, they have gotten help from Helene Chapman and Margarite Charney who are also participating. They hope to get numbers in by the following Friday. Oswald mostly connected with the Idaho men and his calls have been made.

There are no real numbers on Regional latihans; the helpers have been promoting it in their emails out to the people they haven’t been able to connect with via phone calls. They have tried to call everybody. There was a technical glitch on the 4th with the phone service they were using. People were unable to call in so there were no numbers from that. The numbers from November 16th are still being gathered.

Isadora reported that the women tested two new Regional Helpers for the coming term. One of them, Rosalyn Neel, will start with them in February. They are looking for one more. Djoharia Toor will be the other one. She will start after the National Congress.

The men have a candidate, David Lynch tested at Menucha and will put his name forward. The final confirmation testing will take place at the National Congress in Vancouver.

Menucha Report:
Sherwin gave an update on the financials for Menucha. Most of the expenses have been reported. There are a couple of outstanding gift shop checks to vendors. One was cashed and the other is still outstanding.

The revenues for Menucha were $20,613. The expenses were $21,693, so far. So right now expenses are greater than revenue by $1,080, and the two gift shop checks to vendors are probably another $300 to $400. So it will be in the $1,400 to $1,500 range of expenses exceeding revenue for Menucha.

On the other hand, the Great Create ended positive by $1,346 so the two together are pretty even in total.

Aaron commented that he and Alexandra were talking about Menucha financials and she told him that the Menucha management told her that everyone, all the groups that attended for the year, have been down about 30% so it isn’t out of the norm for the year for us to take a hit on Menucha. Also, when we consider we have made money for at least the last two years, we’re still okay with Menucha. His perspective was that Menucha did pretty well this year. He thought everything there was absolutely fabulous.

Aaron noted that the woman who had the singing bowls – Grace – had bowls that were really big, 18” across or bigger, two different sizes, made out of a special type of crystal. When she ran a stick around the bowls, they sang so loud the sound filled the entire building. It was unreal! He thought that Benedict Herrman’s workshop was great and asked if anybody had attended. It was a workshop where women could express what it is like to be a woman, how sexism affected them. It was a chance for women to tell their stories and for the men to listen. It was a great workshop.

Oswald reported he was really touched by Menucha. It was a very strong event for him even as a regional helper participating. He loved the fact that Aaron didn’t have to run the gift shop; he thought Josephina Orchard, who ran it, did a fantastic job.

Aaron thought the silent auction was fabulous. He was impressed with the items and he went home with a bunch of stuff from that auction – great pieces of pottery and paintings, photographs and carvings from Indonesia – he had put up in his Airbnb. Camille reported they made $1,400 and it was all last minute, apparently, after the entertainment on Saturday night, in the last 15 minutes. The snack bar also made about $100.

New Business:
Spring Regional Congress: Aaron thought we would normally be scheduled to have the Regional Congress in March to select a new Chair and Vice Chair. Aaron stated he was approached by the National committee to postpone it and have it in conjunction with the National Congress. They wanted to have it on Friday, in Vancouver, at the hotel. He thought the hotel was the Hilton. Normally it would be happening in Portland. There were none. No one expressed any problem with postponing the Regional Congress.

There would be an opportunity to just register for one day for the Regional Congress. Michael stated he assumed that Registration would be done for the Regional Congress as well as the National Congress. Aaron stated that will all have to be figured out – the fees, etc. If people wanted to register for the Regional Congress, it would be just for one day, on Friday, and that registration would include all meals. Aaron would keep everybody informed on things as soon as he knew. Michael mentioned that California was having its Regional Congress there as well.

Camille mentioned her term would be over in February so there would probably be a different Chairperson for Portland. They don’t know who will be willing to do it. She stated Halima Taylor was going to move back to Portland and they are trying to get her used to the idea of becoming the Chairperson.

Aaron asked Oswald if there was any information about the International Helpers. Oswald reported there was nothing more than what he had mentioned. He is apparently working on dates. The International Helpers stated they would probably fly out from Portland somewhere between January 17th and 18th. He is waiting for confirmation that they are, in fact, coming on those dates before publishing their visit on SDS and Subud PNW websites.

Camille suggested talking to an International Helper to see if that would be appropriate. Oswald thought it a good idea and was just about to write them an email and tell them we need to know exactly when you will be here in order to write the publicity and, by the way, there has been a proposal that we have our Board meeting at the same time you’re here during the Seattle part of your visit. Camille mentioned it is a regional kejiwaan thing, it’s not like they have business to talk about. Oswald mentioned they do talk business but they do latihan and testing and if it would be appropriate for the International Helpers to be there for testing and latihan. If not, could they do it on the 13th. They have to decide what day to do it and find out if the Subud House is available. Honora stated she could figure that out right then.

Oswald mentioned they might start thinking about February as it seemed that January was really filled out. Honora saw nothing on the books except for the latihan. Aaron mentioned February 3rd. Nobody seemed opposed to that date so February so the date was confirmed – Groundhog Day. Isidora said she would check to see if Elizabeth could go and, if not, maybe should could make a shift at work. It was suggested they begin at 9:00 a.m. but Michael and Camille thought 10:00 a.m. would be more realistic for them as they had a long way to drive to get there. Aaron mentioned he was driving from Spokane.

Oswald stated what had really worked that past Saturday, the kejiwaan event, was a 9:45 a.m. quiet period and a 10:00 a.m. latihan start – and he held off starting the latihan because he knew people who he knew would be there would be arriving. If they decided on a 10:00 a.m. or 10:15 a.m. latihan start with a quiet period beforehand, that might work for people. Everyone was in agreement.

Aaron then talked about the Great Create. He had been talking about it with Alexandra and Oswald and they thought it should be postponed for a year because there is so much going on in the coming year. So many events were planned for already that trying to do the Great Create would be just too much so they wanted to postpone it to 2019, with the possibility that they should reserve a date well in advance so they can book the exact date that they want. For instance, if we want to have it on July 4th weekend . . . . Camille mentioned that the National Congress is usually on that weekend – although this year it will be held on Memorial Day weekend. Aaron stated that could be decided later. Oswald did add that we might like to publicize that, to announce that, due to the Congresses happening this summer, the Great Create would be put off for a year but it will definitely occur the year after.

Aaron said the World Congress would be a great opportunity to promote Subud Pacific NorthWest in general. He would like to have some sort of display, whether it is just a pictorial display – something to showcase Subud Pacific NorthWest at the World Congress. He was planning on going so he felt he could also help with taking those items. He asked if anyone in the group was planning on going to the World Congress – Honora said she was planning on going. Aaron told her that maybe they could talk about the display and maybe getting a couple more people involved that are going. You don’t have to even be going to be on the committee – it’s just some type of planning committee so that we can have a presence there at the World Congress, even if it’s just a board with photos on it. Other countries will be doing that. Michael said others would be going; he would check with his group to see who else would be going.

Aaron stated we have artists, beautiful countryside with lakes, rivers – all kinds of things. Someone mentioned we have photographers. Our houses could be on the display, photos of members. Aaron mentioned he would bring it up again at the next meeting in January.

Michael mentioned they could discuss it at their Board Meeting in February as that would give them time to find others who would be willing to be representatives for the Region. Centers could be involved, presenting photos of their houses. Maybe people would want to move here (laughter). Oswald mentioned a Subud member called him the other day and said he was coming to scout out the area, as it was a possible place for him to move to. He said he thought it was a great idea to promote our area. Aaron said he thought Washington is a great state and we are lucky to be living here. There was agreement.

Aaron said he was excited about the World Congress. He already had his tickets and he had already booked his lodging. It was not expensive and it was right in the middle of everything. He suggested that people book their lodging now.

There was no new business to bring up so a motion to adjourn was made and seconded; all were in favor so the meeting was adjourned followed by goodbyes all around.

Signed by the Recording Secretary, Lydia Tedrow.