October 7th, 2024 Minutes

Shamokin Area High School Alumni Association

Fall Meeting Minutes

October 7th, 2024

 

The Fall Business Meeting was held at Brewser’s Sports Grille - Shamokin, PA.

 

16 members were in attendance.

 

President Ann Henniger Watts ’78 called the business meeting to order at 7pm.

 

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT:  Todd Hockenbroch’s ’97 report was unavailable.

 

SECRETARY’S REPORT:  Minutes from the April 8th 2024 meeting were posted on the website for review.  On a motion from Jeff Clutcher ‘78 and John Klinger ‘68, the minutes were approved.  All were in favor.

 

Note – We need a secretary for the alumni association.  If you have an interest or some input, please see an alumni association officer.

 

TREASURER’S REPORT:  Greg Dwulet ’68 reported the following balances after the meeting:

General account = $18,411.96

Educational account = $26,338.02

 

COMMUNICATIONS:  Amy Henninger Rachau '83 reported future notifications concerning the meeting may be posted in the News-Item or WGAL TV.  We do send out postcards to all class reps, past presidents and committee members to inform many of the meeting.

 

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

 

Banquet:  John Klinger ’68 reported we are set for the banquet on Saturday May 24th 2025 at Masser’s Catering of Paxinos – Banquet Hall.  Details on how to attend and cost will be in our spring newsletter.  Discussion concerning if students should secure a banquet spot with a prepaid $20 deposit, which is refundable at the banquet was made.  Bruce Clutcher ’72 will be looking at options to bring back to a later meeting.  No changes will occur for the process for this year.

 

Our current policy and procedure document for this discussion item is on our website.  See "SAHS Alumni Association - Banquet Registration” under Policy and Procedures.  This document was last updated on 01/23/2024.

 

Note as a reference - The discussion of this item is reflected in the April 8th 2024 meeting notes with a $10 fee being suggested.

 

Afterglow:  Eric Anderson ’97 will pull together information for the trivia game.  He will also take care of the gift cards to be used during this event.

 

Entertainment:  Mary Anne Brennan Stump ’00 will discuss with choral director - Joe Dudeck – the student entertainment for the night.

 

Invitations/Newsletters:  No update from Madison Blackwell '17 (Newsletter Chairperson) concerning the newsletter.  Most activity will start the beginning of the new year to pull together details.

 

Note - A document on the newsletter publication process is available on the website which describes what the committee uses to create, publish, and mail.  See " SAHS Alumni Association - Newsletter Responsibilities" under Policy and Procedures.

 

Program:  Mary Anne Pitorak Miller ’74 reported the need to have an accurate count of numbers attending the banquet in a timely fashion for her to order the needed number of programs.

 

Auditing:  Nothing to report.

 

Awards:  Nothing to report.

 

Note - A document on the awards program is available on the website which describes the process.  See "SAHS Alumni Association Scholastic Awards Program Procedural Document" under Policy and Procedures.

 

By-Laws:  We do have an opening on this committee.

 

Class Representatives:  Jeff Clutcher '78 gave notice at the October 25th 2021 meeting that in 2026 he would like to give up his registrar and historian positions.  Please contact Jeff if you have an interest in learning more about this opportunity to help the Alumni Association. Consider working alongside Jeff for a period of time to review what he does and to establish an orderly turnover of his current responsibilities.

 

Jeff to work with Bruce Clutcher ’72 to secure the address of a class rep.

 

Educational Fund:  See note on Awards for details.  Next meeting for this group is on October 30th.  Details to be reported back at our next meeting in January 2025.

 

Memorabilia:  Nothing to report.

 

Nominations:  We are in the need for a female VP for the 2025 banquet business meeting.

 

Publicity:  Amy Henninger Rachu ’83 requested a photographer from the News-Item for the banquet, but they were not available.  Photos were submitted at a later date to the News-Item with the help of John Clutcher ’74.

 

Website:  John Clutcher ‘74 reported Ashley Miller Yeager '03 will be taking over the duties of the webpage and Facebook for the alumni association.  Thank you Ashley!  John will still be active, helping Ashley as needed.

For a historical perspective, the initial alumni webpage was created on April 8th, 1998 using my AOL account.  It relocated to the high school server on February 12th, 2002.  On June 20th, 2011, it relocated to the schoolwires.net server as part of the school district web service.

Routine maintenance, such as email updates, posting minutes/newsletter, graduation/banquet programs, updating “US Mailing Addresses Missing,” posting Class Reunion information, and changing class representatives are an ongoing process.  You can check out the website using the following path:

 

http://www.indians.k12.pa.us/alumni

 

Webpage report reflects Facebook entry for the alumni association created in the fall 2014.  Current membership is at 477 (up from 355 at the April 8th 2024 meeting).

 

Facebook Group for Shamokin Area High School Alumni Association

https://www.facebook.com/groups/539207516138422/

 

OLD BUSINESS:  None to review.

 

NEW BUSINESS: 

Bonny Ensinger Klinger ’68 and John Klinger ’68 to discuss with our treasurer Greg Dwulet ’68 the possibility of using a product such as Stripe for payment processing to the alumni association.

 

Bonny Ensinger Klinger ’68 and John Klinger ’68 to discuss with Erik Anderson ’97 the possibility of getting a banner and/or advertising from the alumni association.

 

COMMENTS:

Winter Meeting - Monday January 6th 2025 – Grace Lutheran Church – 6pm.

Spring Meeting - Monday April 7th 2025 – Grace Lutheran Church – 6pm.

If bad weather, a Zoom call may be used.  Review the alumni webpage for last minute changes.

 

With no further business, on a motion from Bruce Clutcher ’72 and Charlie Wayne ’77, the meeting was adjourned around 8pm.

 

 

Respectfully Submitted,

 

John Clutcher ‘74

Acting Secretary