Trails Club of Oregon Board Meeting Minutes
Date: October 14,2023 Time: 7:00-9:00 PM Location: zoom
Attendees:
President: Bev Drottar
Vice President: Eric Zimmerman
Treasurer: Vacant
Secretary: Rebecca Knudeson
Publications: Joel Reitz
Membership: Lori Leach
Tyee Trustee: Paul Cutter
Trips Trustee: Craig Gwydir
Outdoor Ed/Outreach Trustee: Vacant
Committee Chairs: Jeff Churchill (Social),
Dolores Niebergall (Leave No Trace)
Absent:
Nesika Trustee: Pete Recksiek
REGULAR BUSINESS
Minutes were approved on September 15, 2025 by email prior to the Blazer publication.
On October 9, 2025, via email, the board approved Tyee usage by Catlin Gabel for June 21-27,
2026. Paul will host.
Treasurer’s Report, Nicole Rogers
Nicole has had to resign her position as Club treasurer effective October 8, 2025. The Board
appreciates the professional skill, time and concern she brought to the position.
Beginning Balance, 9 /30/25 : $8,058.68
Checks and Payment: 458.39
Deposits and Credits: 2,536.96
Cleared Balance: 10,137.25
The most current Fidelity statement value: $466,629.
Complete reports can be found by the Board in Dropbox.
Membership Report, Lori
Empty Boots: Jane Gunn
First Readings: Gregory Bishop – Sponsored by Rebecca Knudeson and John Koger
Second Reading approved unanimously: Cara Nixon – Sponsored by Lori Leach and Nancy
Schmidt
Membership Summary Total: 252
9 Golden, 2 Junior, 32 Life, 3 Life/Golden, 19 Provisional, 187 Regular
Publications Report, Joel
Nothing to report.
Nesika Report, Pete
A letter was sent on 9/15/25 to the parents of Lucas Bernabe, the wayward hiker who forced his entry into the lodge, suggesting a donation to the TCO. We have not heard back. Rob Parker repaired the kitchen floor and replaced the window molding on the door which was broken by the lost hiker. The molding had to be custom made (no charge to the club, thanks
Rob!). Replacement glass was ordered and received, to be installed the next work trip. Another
wayward hiker had stumbled to the lodge and was met by Rob, who guided him back out with
directions to Multnomah Falls. Rachel Sigman (plus one) stayed at the lodge for 4 days (9/23 -
9/26), paying $42 per night. Work on the Basin Road by the Forestry Department (clearing,
water bars, etc) that was planned for “late October” has been cancelled due to the government
shutdown as of 10/10/2025.
Tyee Report, Paul
September started with a three night stay hosted by Gerda Eck and company. The lodge was
open the last weekend for the Wilderness First Aid training on the Sunday. Thirteen attended.
On the last Saturday of the month 12 volunteers, for four hours each, picked up 250 lbs of litter,
resulting in approximately $1200 earned for the work-in-lieu program. Paul’s second two year
term expires on December 31, 2025. He has chosen not to extend his position. It has been a
very good, productive, four years despite the furnace issue, frozen and burst pipes, flooding
in the basement due to the heavy rain runoff outside, flooding in the games room (Paul’s fault!)
and, then to cap it off, a major sewer blockage in mid-January. There are too many names to
mention in the "Thanks" list, but you know who you are and should be very proud of your
accomplishments. Going forward, if the board and new lodge trustee wishes, Paul is more than
willing to coordinate with any outside groups and host when he’s available. He also will be
available to continue to coordinate with The Forest Service regarding the litter pickup towards
the work-in-lieu program. He will also continue hosting at the lodge and has already signed up
for the weekend following New Year's Day. Volunteers are needed for the week beforehand.
Trips Report, Craig
There were 2 day hikes, one backpack, a TCO Hike Leaders Online meeting, as well as the
weekly Wednesday evening hikes during the month of September. The TCO CPR/AED/WFA
course at Tyee Lodge was well attended with 13 members. The TCO Stormy Trails committee
examined the following trails and found them clear of obstacles during the weekend of Oct 4:
High Water Trail, Basin Cutoff Trail, Ornament Trail and Nesika/Franklin Ridge Connector trail.
There is a 10 inch diameter log laying on the ground on the Nesika/Franklin Ridge Connector
Trail, but it is easy to step over. Trail work will be performed during the Oct 18 work weekend at
Nesika Lodge. The trail work should be fun and relatively easy, focusing on Cougar Rock trail
and upper Elevator Shaft trail. We may look at scouting historic trails around Cougar Rock
during that time. Thank you, volunteers of the committee, for this work.
Please email tripschair@trailsclub.org if you are interested in assisting with trail work, including
trail scouting, restoration and maintenance.
Call for help: If you are interested in learning about adventures on the Multnomah Plateau and
willing to help co-lead hikes and/or join a TCO trips planning committee, please join our "TCO
Hike Leaders Meeting" this month, or send questions to tripschair@trailsclub.org.
Outdoor Ed and Outreach, vacant
Board level trustee needed!! If you want to know more about this position, please contact
president@trailsclub.org
OLD BUSINESS
Policies & Practices document for TCO
We went through sections of this document that needed work and made changes. One main area of change was the procedures for membership. We decided to simplify the requirements and steps. The new member application process will be online with a simple form that includes
the place and date of the single TCO activity, hike or visit, the printed names of the two member sponsors and, then, online payment. Sponsors will be contacted to vouch for the person they sponsor. After that, there will only be a first reading and vote by the board. New members’ names will be published in the Blazer. This process eliminates the delay, confusion
and frustrations over provisional member status. We moved, seconded and unanimously
approved to accept the Policies and Practices document. It can be easily amended in the
future. Members can view the completed copy on TCO’s website.
501(c)3, Lori
We have run into significant issues with our IRS application. We found out we have to submit a
more lengthy application because we have more than $250,000 in assets. Lori, Bev and Eric
will work on it.
Insurance, Eric
Eric has embarked down an exploratory path with a very old and reputable insurance agent in
Portland, WWW.JDFULWILER.COM. He’s working with Commercial agent Kim Hutchinson.
We have some options on how to proceed and Kim is trying to help us through them. Being a
non-profit opens up more paths for us on insurance, so after we apply for it, we can follow that
path. We have a couple different carriers Eric is working on paper work with to see if they
would work. (He might need some help on details from people who have been on the board
longer.) Kim said our current carrier, Nautilus, is pretty reputable, so we might not find anything
better.
Hopefully, before the November meeting, we will have more concrete numbers to discuss. Our
current insurance premium renews on 12/12 so we could possibly transition seamlessly. Eric is
always looking for input as he is not an insurance guy and many hands make lighter work.
NEW BUSINESS
PO Box
We moved, seconded and unanimously approved to change the Post Office box to a more
central location with decent parking. We will discuss the location via email.
Annual Meeting Plans
The meeting will be offered on zoom, so more members can participate and vote. Jeff will
coordinate the technology. All board members need to submit their reports to Bev. Lori will put
together a slide show. We discussed awards.
To Do:
Joel will find the document from last year for preparing the budget so that we can work on nex
year’s budget.
Craig will locate the Garmin.
Rebecca will get the PO box key from Bev, check with Vicki Wood to see if she has a key and
take responsibility to make sure the mail is regularly collected.
Eric will look for Waespe award plaque at Nesika this weekend.
Lori, Bev and Eric will work on the 501(c)3 application.
Joel will send out Bev’s letter via email to the membership.
Bev can write a check to Adventure Medics when we receive the invoice for the class.
Adjorned at 9:48
Next meeting, Nov. 4, 2025, zoom
Submitted by Rebecca Knudeson, Secretary
