Minutes of June 11 meeting and announcement of July 9 meeting of Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation

REGIONAL NATIONAL CEMETERY IMPROVEMENT CORPORATION

P.O. BOX 4221

FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS 72702

Minutes from the JUNE 11, 2011 Meeting

The meeting was called to order at 10:30 a.m. by President Ron Butler. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. Harold Crivello offered the prayer. Minutes of the May meeting were approved. The May 31 treasurer’s report was approved with an ending balance of $64,547.33. There were 11 members present.

WEB SITE

Jake Lamkins reported that there were 46 hits to the web site since last month with a total of 273 page visits.

5K RACE

Wes Stites reported that the final draft of the 5K Race brochure is being prepared. Wes will be able to get the brochure printed at no charge.

OLD BUSINESS

Ron read a letter from Mr. Bartholomew’s attorney stating that there will be an application to rezone the sale barn property from light industrial/heavy commercial to Community Services on June 27, 2011, at 5:30. Ron will check this out further.

Ron also read a letter stating that the “National Medal of Honor Day” will be held annually on March 25. Clarence Craft is the only Medal of Honor recipient currently buried at the Fayetteville National Cemetery.

A newspaper article, “Taking the Beach” by Budd Saunders was acknowledged.

Information on a Great American Hero’s of Arkansas parade scheduled for Saturday, July 2, 2011, in Fayetteville was given with written details to be emailed by the secretary.

PROPERTY STATUS

The contract for the purchase of Lot #15 (Wilson) was signed on June 3, 2011, for a cash purchase price of $59,500 plus a $5,000 in-kind donation. The current renters have been given 60 days to vacate from the June 3 signing date.

Lot #17 (Mahler) has been cleared and is looking good.

Lots #20 and #20A will be our next target purchases. Ron will call the family representative approximately once a month to keep them posted on our status for purchase.

FUND RAISING

A chairperson is needed to take responsibility for Fund Raising Projects. This will be tabled for the July meeting. It was discussed that Fund Raising would need to work closely with Publicity.

PUBLICITY

Merle Williams, Chairman of Publicity, presented his three principles for publicity. They are: (1) To inform the public that the FNC is a historical landmark. (2) Without the work of the RNCIC with its land donations since 1986, the FNC would be closed today. (3) Request donations by reinforcing that the contributions are fully tax deductible, and that 100% of the money goes for purchasing land. Merle suggested developing a 20/25 minute power point presentation that could be used when addressing groups. Establishing annual donors, whether groups or individuals, would be most desirable.

FACEBOOK

Jeremy Johns gave a detailed presentation on how to sign up for Facebook for those not currently using the computer feature. The RNCIC Facebook is referenced to the RNCIC web site.

BY-LAWS

Jake reviewed the suggested changes to the RNCIC By-Laws and will email copies to the members present at this meeting for their final review. If there are no other changes the General Membership will be notified in writing by email of a special meeting called for July 9, 2011, to vote on the amended By-Laws. A new member letter will follow after this process.

IRS FORM 990-N AND FISCAL AUDIT

Harold will work on the IRS form 990-N. The audit was completed by Bruce Richardson, Treasurer of United Lutheran Church, Bella Vista, and by Wes Stites.

RNCIC HISTORY

Ron reported that with his visit to the Washington Co. Assessor’s Office he was able to obtain the lots, sellers, and prices paid on the 21 and soon to be 22 properties that the RNCIC has secured for the FNC. It was agreed that the number of properties acquired should be included on the updated brochure.

ACTION ITEMS

“Action Items” introduced by Ron Butler will be further discussed and implemented at the July meeting.

NEW BUSINESS

No new business was brought forth at this time.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:40 a.m. If members have any items to be discussed at the July meeting, please notify Ron Butler so they may be placed on the next meeting’s agenda.

THE NEXT MEETING WILL BE JULY 9, 2011, 10:30 A.M. AT THE AMERICAN LEGION POST 27, 1195 SO. CURTIS AVE., FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS.

Respectfully submitted,

Lorna Sterrett, Secretary