DRM Annual General Meeting, November 5, 2022
Location: Smitty’s Restaurant
Selkirk, MB
Call to order: 1:09 pm
Board Members in Attendance
Darice Whyte – President
Carrie Wilson – Vice-President
Christine Steendam – Secretary
Wendy Nagtegaal via online – Treasurer
Members in Attendance
Tricia Mason, Andy Dunlop, “D”, Kelli Hayhurst, Linda Gillies, Terri McKee, Iris Oleskchuk, Brenda Tolpa, Kari Hasselris, Angela Roberts
Approval of Agenda
DRM AGM Agenda, November 5, 2022, was accepted and approved.
Motion by Carrie to accept the agenda. Andy seconded. Motion carried.
Approval of Minutes (DRM AGM Nov 6, 2021)
The meeting minutes from the AGM, November 6, 2021, were accepted and approved.
Motion by Kelli to accept the minutes. Seconded by Tricia. Motion carried.
President’s Report (Darice Whyte)
See copy of President’s Report 2022: http://www.distanceridersofmanitoba.ca/DRM/elementor-2437/
Treasurer’s Report (Christine Steendam on behalf of Wendy Nagtegaal)
Christine reviewed the report. Printed copies were distributed to attendees.
Treasurer’s Report (see attached). Fiscal Year End: October 31, 2022
Our primary source of income in 2022 was from memberships, ride fees, MHC, and clothing.
As of October 31, 2024, what monies are left in the old travel fund will be moved to the new travel fund, with $1000 being moved from old to new fund each year. In accordance with this, $1000 was moved to the new fund.
The Spruce Woods ride in May operated at a loss of ~$251.
The June ride in Birds Hill Park also operated at a loss of ~$130.
Our Fall season was much better. The August Belair ride operated at a profit of ~$389.
The September long weekend Benefit Ride in Souris bend resulted in a profit of $10 and we were able to donate $270.
Our final ride in Birds Hill park resulted in a profit of ~$204
Overall the rides operated at a profit of ~$224.
Andy moved to accept the Treasurer Report, seconded by Tricia. Motion carried.
MHC Rep Report (Christine Steendam)
Christine reported that MHC continues to support the club. Linda Hazelwood has retired and there is a new business manager in her role. So far MHC seems to be active and interested in the broader horse community.
Christine has requested that someone else step into the role of MHC rep for the coming year.
There are no new Covid-19 restrictions or requirements.
Mileage and Points Report (Darice Whyte)
Darice reported that mileage awards were handed out prior to the meeting.
Shannon tracked the mileage and points this year, but it is being handed back to the board. Someone on the board–likely the same person doing the AERC points and mileage (Carrie Wilson)–will take over the points and mileage tracking for 2023.
Joint Equipment Report (Vacant)
Kelli and Shannon did an extensive cleaning and inventory during the October Birds Hill Park ride. Restocking of clothes pins is needed. The trailer should also be stocked with two chairs and a manure fork.
Kelli reported that the trailer was a big mess. Discussion around who is responsible for ensuring the trailer is clean and organized after each ride occurred. It was suggested that maybe we should have someone in charge of organizing the trailer so that it’s not always n the ride manager. Or perhaps volunteers should be staying behind to help clean up. It was determined that in the end, it is the ride manager’s responsibility to ensure the trailer is clean and organized after their ride. If they choose to ask volunteers to stay or line up volunteers for tear-down and clean-up, that is their responsibility.
Part of the problem is that the trailer isn’t very organized and it’s hard to find things. Tricia volunteered to organize and label the trailer and boxes over the winter with Darice.
Carrie offered to draft a responsibilities list regarding equipment use.
Andy suggested that we incorporate a “last checked” sheet in the trailer for people to sign and date when they return the equipment trailer after use.
Policy Committee Report
- DRM Rule Book
No changes to rules were presented this year.
- DRM Policy Statements
No changes to the policy statements were presented this year.
- Bylaw Change for Virtual Communication
Kelli motions to add an item “g” to the general meetings bylaws implementing a virtual communication option allowing for virtual attendance and voting in meetings moving forward.
Motion is seconded by Andy. Motion carries.
- Coggins Requirement
Kelli Hayhurst read the current Coggins requirements:
A valid negative EIA test (6 months from the blood sample draw date) is required for the rides that occur prior to August 15th (or the end of the tabanid season) and for any rides after that, EIA testing is not required.
No changes are needed for the coming season.
Elections (Kelli Hayhurst chaired)
- Darice and Shannon’s positions are up for election. Christine, Wendy, and Carrie are staying on for the 2nd year of their term.
Accept Nominations for 2 new board members.
Darice/Carrie nominates: Tricia (allowed name to stand)
Darice/Carrie nominates: Andy (allowed name to stand)
Carrie/Darice nominates: Angela (did not allow name to stand)
Carrie/Linda nominates: Mary (did not allow name to stand)
Carrie/Linda nominates: Iris (did not allow name to stand)
Carrie/Linda nominates: “D” (did not allow name to stand)
Carrie/Tricia nominates: Linda (did not allow name to stand)
Carrie/Iris moves to close nominations: Motion carried.
Results by acclamation: Tricia Mason and Andy Dunlop are elected to the board.
- Election of officers (President and Vice President)
Accept nominations for President
Tricia/Andy nominates Christine Steendam for president (allowed name to stand)
Carrie/Christine nominates Andy Dunlop for president (allowed name to stand)
Carrie/Iris moves to close nominations. Motion carried.
Voting commences on Slido.
Voting results: Christine Steendam is President.
Accept nominations for Vice-President
Andy/Darice nominates Carrie Wilson for Vice-President (Does not allow name to stand)
Carrie/Tricia nominates Andy Dunlop for Vice-President (Allows name to stand)
Andy Dunlop is Vice President by acclamation.
Christine chooses Tricia Mason as her Secretary, Wendy Nagtegaal as her Treasurer, and Carrie Wilson as Member at Large. All members agreed to their new positions.
New DRM Board Members
Christine Steendam – President
Andy Dunlop – Vice President
Wendy Nagtegaal – Treasurer
Tricia Mason – Secretary
Carrie Wilson – Member at Large
Kelly turned the meeting over to the President to continue with new business.
Christine defers the meeting to the outgoing president (Darice) for the remainder of the meeting.
Club Operations
Fundraising (Andy Dunlop)
There were no fundraising activities in 2022 to report. Andy will be planning a tack sale for possibly spring 2023 and will contact Trish about the use of Superior Equestrian’s arena space for the sale.
Year End Awards (Darice Whyte)
Year end awards were handed out prior to the meeting.
Darice arranged and procured the year-end awards for 2022 but would like to pass the job on to someone else for 2023. The job would entail coordinating and purchasing year end awards and embroidery and badges and distributing awards. Wendy N suggested that Andy take over the awards.
Andy agrees to manage the year end awards for 2023. Andy also brought up that she would like to add a volunteer of the year award, or something to that effect, to reward our dedicated volunteers. Carrie moves to table this discussion for the next meeting so that more thought can be put into how the award might work.
Tricia motions to amend the wording on all high-point awards to include horse/rider combo for clarification and to review the wording for the limited-distance awards and junior awards and amend where needed for clarity. Carrie seconds the motion. Motion carries. Wording of the year-end awards is to be reviewed and ammended text brought for approval.
DRM Apparel (Shannon Lightfoot)
Shannon was not in attendance to give a report on the apparel. Darice has a few hoodies and tshirts left over–approximately 3.
A new volunteer is needed to take over apparel for 2023. Kelli volunteers to oversee apparel.
Communications – Website, Facebook, Email List, Google Account, MTRC Rep
- Website – Mark will continue to operate as the DRM webmaster and Tricia offered to ensure details get sent to Mark to be posted on the website.
- Facebook – Christine took over the management of the facebook account in 2022 and will continue to manage it in 2023.
- Google Account – Wendy is managing the google account.
- MTRC Rep – Iris agrees to remain as the MTRC rep for DRM.
Meeting Schedule
Meetings are to be held every two months, starting in February, on the first Tuesday or Thursday of the month, depending on Board Member availability.
Meeting dates for 2023 are:
- Monday, Feb 6, 2023 at 6:30 pm.
- Monday, April 17, 2023 at 6:30 pm.
- Monday, June 12, 2023 at 6:30 pm.
- Tuesday, August 8, 2023 at 6:30 pm.
- Oct meeting TBD if required
- AGM Saturday, November 4, 2023
Meeting locations to be determined.
Ride Operations
Emergency Response Planning
Tricia spoke to conservation regarding emergency rescues in back woods areas. Calling 911 will dispatch Search and Rescue. The Turn-in Poachers line is also the number to use to call conservations to dispatch search and rescue. Conservation has emergency removal equipment for people but not horses.
When we submit our applications for our ride permits we can put in a request for a rescue ATV (no trail marking or other tasks). That can be approved and avoid ticketing due to ATV use in places that don’t allow ATVs regularly. Tricia suggested that as a standard, it should be requested on all our permits.
Sanctioning – AERC 2023
Carrie/Andy move to continue with AERC for sanctioning in 2023. Motion carried.
Carrie will continue to apply for the AERC sanctioning for all DRM rides in 2023.
2023 Ride Fees
Tabled discussion of 2023 ride fees to the Feb 6th meeting.
Ride Registrar
Ride registration closed at 5 pm during the 2022 season. Registration needs to close later in the evening. Kelli/Andy move to use midnight as the standard for when to close registration. Motion carries.
Andy/Darice move to have registrations close at midnight on the wednesday of the ride. Motion carries.
Carrie to reach out to Kara and confirm she is willing to continue her role as registrar.
“D” will look into database integration with the Zoho forms we use for registrations.
Refunds and race scratches to be dicussed at the Feb 2023 meeting.
2023 Ride Schedule
Tentative Ride Schedule:
May 13/14 2023 Birds Hill Park
June 25 2023 Spruce (in conjunction with MTRC on the 24th)
August 19/20 2023 Belair
Sept 2 2023 Souris Bend
Oct 7 2023 Birds Hill Park
All rides need someone to step up as ride manager before they can be confirmed.
Darice will do the permit submissions for the Birds Hill Park rides.
Open Discussion on trail conditions, footing/shoe requirements
Darice moves that DRM adopt wording in the trail/ride descriptions that puts the onus on the rider whether to use hoof protection or not. Everyone needs to know their horse and what they can handle..
Other comments were that riders should expect some gravel on every ride as well as a variety of other terrain including but not limited to: pavement, rocks, hills, sand, water crossings etc…
When ride info is sent to the webmaster, it should include a note on the trails and to expect technical trails. Technical trails can include but are not limited to: pavement, rocks, hills, sand, water crossings, logs etc… ride to conditions.
Carrie suggested a rider responsibility document. It was also suggested that a code of conduct should be posted at every ride.
Meeting Adjournment
Linda/Christine move to adjourn the meeting at 3:19 pm. Motion carried.
Minutes by Christine Steendam, DRM Secretary (Term as Secretary ending November 5, 2022)
Minutes edited/reviewed by