MNOC Board Meeting Minutes: March 2006
Date: March 16, 2006
Location: Ian Harding's house
The meeting was called to order at 7:25 p.m.
Present: Ian Harding, Julia Bohnen, Mike Carlson, Pete Curtis, Jerritt Johnston, Andrea Schneider.
- Approval of minutes
Mike made the motion to approve the January 2006 minutes, seconded by Julia; motion was accepted unanimously.
Andrea communicated to the group present that she will be available as secretary only for another 2 MNOC meetings,
as the family will be moving away for about three years.
- Recent Events
Afton - there was not enough snow for a winter event, the event was still very good, with a good turnout. The
Nordic Adventure O is definitely something worthwhile pursuing, maybe at Telemark.
Nerstrand - another fun meet, without enough snow though for Ski-O. Micro-O was a really good element, especially
considering that for Snow-O you have many tracks, and this helps break up the field of competitors.
Georgia Navigator Cup - Ian and Pete reported on their participation in this fun event, including on some variations,
like Extreme-O, with Trail-O and Photo-O as interesting additions to the event. Ian explained how Photo-O works. The report can
be found on Attackpoint and in the Newsletter.
AR Kickoff party - REI Bloomington, with about 60 participants, and about $50 donations.
- Recent and Upcoming Events
OCAD 8 for setters / vetters scheduled for Mar. 17: Setters using OCAD 8 allows for everything (master maps, controls on
master maps) to be kept very well organized. For example, a setter sets up a master map and then needs to move one control;
OCAD 8 then moves this control on all other maps, too, thus reducing the chance for errors usually present with the
traditional designing of routes. The setters would have to have OCAD 8 on their computers. Master maps, though, should
not be updated or modified by the setters/vetters. Printing jobs are currently done at Kinko's, though quality may vary
from location to location. Considering the cost involved in printing hundreds of maps, proofing the maps before printing
remains an important concern.
REI Roseville March 22 - Ian still needed volunteers to help with this event.
Hyland Skill Development Clinic Mar. 25 - volunteers are needed at 11 a.m. With Julia and Mike not present at the
event, there is an extra need for very knowledgeable volunteers to head off the stations. Molly (Johnston) may be one of the
possible lead volunteers. Pete will again run the advanced section in more of a "self-service" fashion, with instruction sheets.
In terms of calling for volunteers via e-mail there was a brief discussion about the settings on the Yahoo-based list, which is
not just members, and may not include all members, and also about the percentage of members who are on this list. Jerritt further
initiated the discussion on the need for some baby-sitting options that could be available for orienteers with young children.
This becomes especially necessary because of the narrowed start window for events. Early starts are possible only if the courses
are all ready, and registration is already set-up. Jerritt will look into the coordination of the baby-sitting efforts, and e-mail
will be a useful tool in creating the pool of baby-sitters, with some teenagers of orienteering families being interested as sitters.
Lebanon Hills Apr. 8 - Ian will be setter. Chuck Regenold will be vetter. The park is in some form of transition, with
some trails opening, some closing, and some not being allowed to be used. Julia will be taking care of the final insurance details.
It is a nice park, some buckthorn removal has been done, there is, though, a maze of trails. Ian is considering having distracter
controls at this event.
A setter/vetter class (Darryn Kozak) is scheduled for Apr. 11.
Adventure runs at Terrace Oaks are scheduled for 4/14, 4/21, 4/28 - Stephen Bullard wanted some feedback on suggested fees.
After extensive discussion, the consensus was to use the same fee structure as used for all other regular MNOC events. There was
additional discussion on the pricing for a group (max. 3 per group, unless specified differently, e.g., AR teams), and the price
for additional maps for the group. Additional clarification may be needed, especially for advertising reasons on the web-site.
Sand Dunes 4/23 - Setter/vetter Owen, Heather and Graham Baird. with the start/finish somewhere on the middle road. Turkey
hunting season will be in progress during the event, with the need for alerting orienteers not to wear white, red and blue, and
possibly wear something bright and orange.
Afton 4/29 (E-punch) - setter: Carl and Leif Nordgren; vetter Gerry Bauer.
Lake Elmo 4/14 - setter: Erling Hansen
Summer sprints - no dates set.
While looking for land, Mike found a Christian Camp in the Cable Area, describing it as absolutely spectacular and possibly a
fabulous orienteering area. The owner of the resort may be interested in co-sponsoring events up there. Mike is suggesting an
invitation-only like event, Rogaine, AR or Nordic-O events, possibly on USGS maps. There is a lot of national land around it.
- Equipment update
- new e-punch board units have arrived and need to be assembled (done 3-28)
- new control flags need to be assembled, possibly during a future meet, like at Afton.
- REI tool kits - one of them is currently rented out, and more activity is expected
- 2006 Adventure Race Jul. 8
Preparations with regard to permits are progressing well. Mike will be taking care of the design and printing of the T-shirts.
Really good pricing for printing is available at this time, prior to the start of summer and fall sport seasons. Number of
participants is limited to 100, the optimal number of volunteers is around 25, especially also considering some of the costs
for material transportation, as well as preserving overall good event quality.
- 2006 Schedule update
Owen, Graham and Heather Baird will be handling the Rogaine at Pillsbury State Forest.
- Newsletter
The environmental event "Plant and Pant" at the Arboretum, April 22, involving the planting of trees with the opportunity of
doing orienteering afterwards at the new permanent course of the Arboretum, made it into the March Newsletter, and additional
notices will go out by e-mail.
- Park liaisons
Wirth POC extension - Ian is waiting for the park's master plan in order to proceed, possibly this coming fall.
Lebanon Hills - the trail network is being sorted out this spring and fall, and Dakota County Parks will then be ready
for discussions about a POC.
Standing Cedars - waiting for further follow up contacts.
Camp Stearns - MNOC is redoing their map, with Plamen putting it into OCAD.
Lake Elmo Washington County - MNOC has received a check for the MNOC maps Washington County parks sold for the POC courses.
- Website
The new web-site is running smoothly. Pete will be adding the pre-registration for the members-only Night-O at Lebanon Hills.
- Attackpoint
6 MNOC members are currently registered on Attackpoint.
- Mapping
The Lebanon Hills map is being redone by Ian. Plamen is working of William O'Brien and will be setting the courses this
coming fall. Work on the 2006 AR map is in progress. The Telemark resort would like to have a POC and a resort map. Jerritt is
going to be the setter or vetter at Telemark, and there was some brief discussion on the plans for the event, as Ian and Mike
will not be present at the event. Jerritt will be looking into publicizing the event up there, locally. The Tamarack Nature Center
will have a POC put in, Harding Cartographics has created a map for the area. The area promises to be a lot of fun for a Night-O.
Harding Cartographics is also creating a map for the St. Croix YMCA in Wisconsin. There are some buckthorn and erosion problems,
but one could still have a map for some decent meets. The bluffs are very steep and the ravines have many details. Ian mentioned
the benefits of teaching instructors, teachers and guides of places like the Tamarack Nature Center or the YMCA, which in turn
can then teach hundreds of children and youth the skill of orienteering.
For the World 2007 Ski-O Championships in Moscow it appears to be the possibility for self-nominating for the USA Team, and
Julia is considering how to disseminate the information. There is no sponsorship from USOF or any other place. Julia is of
the opinion that the MNOC has members with good chances for doing very well, good cross-country skiers that also orienteer
very well and have to be to a number of A-meets. Leif Nordgren's name definitely came up as worthwhile nominating.
Jerritt and Molly, as well as Andrea with family are considering going to the A-meet in St. Louis, May 19-21.
Julia made the motion to adjourn, seconded by Pete.
The next meeting will be in May 2006, date and location for the meeting still to be determined.
The meeting adjourned at 9:25 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Andrea Schneider
April 24, 2006
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