CAMP FIRE TODAY

VOL. 18
Jan./Feb. 1997

Board Notes
Reported By: Ellen Neumaier, Chair, Community Relations
835-7585; 835-7598 Fax

The Camp Fire Board of Directors has been in a good news-bad news mode
of late.

So what's the good news?:

- Board president Joe Gagliano and the search committee have hired
John P. Crawford as Camp Fire's new executive director. The board as a whole got a chance to welcome John aboard at the November 25 meeting.

- Camp Fire has received a $1000 grant from the Larson Family
Foundation to help fund five Peacemakers Prevention programs.

- The board's Niagara Clipper Cruise fund-raiser in June raised
approximately $7000 for Camp Fire.

- "A Christmas Carol For Two" was a lot of fun, and it also served
as a small scale fund-raiser. If you missed it, the show became available on short notice, and was held at the Tri-Main Center (where the Camp Fire offices are located). Presented by the Studio Arena Theater School, the show pulled many of the children from the audience to help out...and picked Joe Gagliano to fill in, too. We won't go into full details, but Joe (the guy who was scorching, we mean cooking, the hot dogs at Camp Howleywood) may have been the burliest Tiny Tim on record.

- The United Way funding proposal is further along than most
agencies'are. That may seem like luke-warm good news, but the application for United Way funds (and from which Camp Fire receives a sizable chunk of its budget) changes every year. It's a difficult, complicated and frustrating task, and Waidene Murphy and her youth services committee deserve credit for the effort and skill with which they do the job.

And what's the not-so-good news?:

- That the finance committee's year-end statement (which will be
finalized after the audit) shows a deficit of over $12,000. There are several reasons, but it primarily comes down to increased expenses and decreases in income. Those are issues that the fund development committee and the entire board will be looking over in coming months.

Other items of note:

- The board is looking for candidates for next year. If you think
you know of someone who would make a good board candidate, call the Camp Fire office and leave a message for Joe Janowski and the nominating committee. The deadline is January 10. If you're uncertain of what is required of a board member, Joe or the office staff will be able to fill you in.

- By the time you read this, we hope that a new club coordinator
will be hired and in place.

--Elmer Ploetz
(filling in for Ellen Neumaier)