Minutes
September 10, 2025
Officers Present
President: Mary Smith
Vice President: (vacant)
Secretary: Bobbie Berkman
Treasurer: Al Peters
Past President: Anne Squire
Group Reps Present
Amblers: Lena Birch
Ramblers: Nancy Verner & Harriet Schwartz
Trekkers: Rich Kinsey & Adrienne Roth
Scramblers: Slava Tetelbaum
Board approved July minutes.
Reports:
Treasurer Al Peters reported the club is on budget and the net cash balance as of August 31 is $14,662.45.The Board approved the financial report
Treasurer's Report: Al
Club Membership Joanie Boyle reported that we have 379 paid members. A breakdown of the membership is as follows:
- Amblers: 154 (41%)
- Ramblers: 157 (41%)
- Trekkers: 54 (14%)
- Scramblers: 46 (12%)
- Social: 12 (3%)
- Monday AM Walkers: 28 (7%)
- New members YTD is 86
Lori Miller-Klein, New Member Coordinator, reported that 10 new members joined in August, There is a New, and prospective, Membership Orientation scheduled for September 11, hosted by Lori, Harriet, and Mary. The presentation will include a demo of the website, hiking equipment, safety, history of the hiking group , and will welcome anyone who wishes to attend.
Hiking Group Reports
Ramblers: Harriet reported that the group needs to cover 102 hikes and has sent out emails to ask for volunteer leaders.
Trekkers: Adrienne reported her personal experience and her priority of setting aside the days for hiking. There is one person who leads the Saturday hikes.They have also sent out emails and for a variety of reasons people are not available to hike. Adrienne says they need a list of hikes for leaders to choose from for leading a hike.
Discussion
Anne noted that trail maps for regional parks were available on the website as is AllTrails. There a a lot of East Bay Regional Park brochures, including trail maps are kept in a brown box at our meeting spot for anyone to use. She questioned the effort involved in creating a comprehensive searchable database.
Lori lists the trails she plans to use in the description. TeamUp saves our calendars for 7 years which can provide information for future hikes.
Harriet adds links to AllTrails on the calendar after the hike for other leaders to use.
Hike safety:
Mary described a recent incident on a warm morning. She was able to contact 911 without cell service and firemen arrived to pick up the hiker who was ill. You can text your location to the dispatcher on Google maps or Apple Maps. The radios were not deployed responsibly on the hike. That is, It is important for the sweep to have a radio to be able to communicate with others in the group.
(Member M. Clark sent a letter of concern about Safety Issues to the Board about this same incident and one other one. See Attached).
Harriet noted that the leader has to take the first aid kit as a part of the safety procedures.
Hike leadership:
Harriet said that a training session needs to be scheduled to encourage people to lead hikes. She would like to do one in November and one in December.
Rich re-iterated safety measures that need to be followed.
Lori added that adequate equipment, including poles, hat, and boots need to be included on the hike description and leaders must check hikers to make sure they're adequately equipped.
Anne said to focus on everyday safety features for our hikes. A checklist for that purpose is available on the website under Hiking tab, How to Lead a Hike.
As noted at the last meeting sign-up sheets have also been updated to include emergency information.
Trails Steward, Jim Pearson worked on a downed oak tree on a trail near entry 5,
Terra Granada Drive. Jim reported that he and his crew will be doing their usual clean-up tasks when the weather gets cooler.
Events: Kathy reported on the following:
Annual meeting and Potluck on October 28 hosted by Mary with Kathy and Jackie Stewart. Jackie was assured that she will be helped with organizing the potluck.
Notable volunteer brunch on November 13, hosted by Mary and Anne.
Holiday Party on December 11 hosted by Shirley Wiegand and Janet Jolley. and the caterer will be Englunds. The entertainment will be provided by the band “Just Friends”, featuring Walter Barr, a famous trumpet player. Shirley and Al are certified alcoholic beverages servers who can apply for a one day liquor license.
For this event, the Board approved the addition of two bottles of wine per table. Attendees may also BYOB.
Chili Fest: Mary is working on getting it scheduled to be held in the Event Center rather than in the Fireside Room. It will be held at a different date than prior years.
Last Hike Party on December 20, hosts are Dave & Gloria Kern.
Prior Event: Joanie and helpers did a fabulous job hosting the potluck and ice cream social in August. Anne and Peter managed the sound system. Mary will look into a locked storage space to store this electronic equipment.
Publicity: Ellen Gilman has done a lovely job providing photos and articles for submissions to the newspaper and TV.
Outings: Ros Carol has none coming up.
Safaris
Sisters, Oregon: Anne reports we had wonderful safari and logistics was handily managed by Mary.
Joshua Tree: offered by Road Scholar in November is now closed. We have one person plus a guest on the waiting list.
Tucson March 22—27: Sue Margolis and Charlene Liu. Save the date and an information letter will be sent out soon. Registration will start on October 1. The names will be reviewed by leaders to assure active club hikers are given priority to join the safari.
Technology:
Anne said information is posted on the contents included in the emergency kits. She has been doing an audit of the signup sheets compared to the TeamUp sign up listing. We can correlate names on the signup sheets with what groups people go out with, who are leading the hikes, etc. This will give a data-rich picture of how the group is functioning. Thanks to Anne for this work.
Old Business
Mary announced the 2026 Board members and thanked the nominating committee for its work.
Officers:
President: Mary Smith
Vice President: Lori Wong
Secretary: Bobbie Berkman
Treasurer: Al Peters
Past President: Anne Squire
Group Reps:
Amblers: Margaret Smith, Lena Birch
Ramblers: Nancy Verner, Lori Miller-Klein
Trekkers: Adrienne Roth, Jackie Batik
Scramblers: Slava Tetelbaum, Marcelle Welch
This proposed Board slate will be voted on at the October meeting.
Last month the board approved resetting the calendar to meet every three months instead of every two months. After discussion, Anne made a motion that was approved to move to four meetings a year and reset the board calendar to February, May, August and November. It would still be the second Wednesday at 4 to 6 PM.
Adding this change to the bylaws will be will be voted on at the October AGM. Mary suggested additional meeting could be scheduled as needs arise. Votes can be arranged via email. This sequence doesn’t leave too long between November’s meeting this year and the next meeting in February. Also it will give Harriet time to arrange a new Board member training/orientation session in January. At the August meeting the next year’s Board will have to be presented.
The agenda and minutes and proposed changes in the bylaws will be sent out to the membership 30 days in advance of AGM. Proposal passed to accept the changes as stated above.
Mary suggested that membership renewals include any special knowledge or skills useful to the Club. Technology skills are especially welcome. We could ask for professional background. Anne also suggests that we also ask for birthdays (Month, Day) that we can acknowledge.
New Business:
Adrienne along with Sustainable Rossmoor Club have been in contact with Save Mt. Diablo and suggests a meeting to learn about the organization. It can be advertised and presented to the Rossmoor community.
In terms of donations Al Peters said it would be prudent to hold back an amount equal to a year of membership dues.
We benefit from 3 organizations: Save Mt. Diablo, East Bay Regional Parks, and John Muir Land Trust. We can approve a donation amount every year after the budget is approved.
We are anticipating a presentation by Save Mt. Diablo which will be arranged by Adrienne.
Respectively Submitted By Roberta Berkman
MEETING ADJOURNED at 5:30 PM
Next meeting: November 12, 2025
Letter regarding Safety issues received by the Board this month.
M Clark Safety Letter 091525.pdf
[Correction to Margaret's letter. Mary Smith had her iPhone enabled to send emergency messages via satellite and reached the 911 Operator who patched her through to the Oakland Fire Dept. She was the one able to call for help, not a passing hiker as was noted in the letter. A full Incident Report has been filled out and filed.]