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The 2024 LWV UMRR Board Retreat was held in the Quad Cities, with events on and about the river in addition to our Board work. We have our Chair, Mary Ellen Miller, to thank for an excellently organized and productive meeting!
Notes from the meeting, links to the recording, some pictures and more are here. The first thing is key - the dates and times of our upcoming meetings, thanks to Catherine Franczyk for putting this list together. |
INSPIRATION CORNER
Back in 2016, Bonnie Cox (one of our founding mothers) left LWV UMRR's Board as she stepped up to be President of LWV Illinois. She left behind these words that showcase the vision and mission of LWV UMRR. 
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Friday night's planned reception for the Pure Mississippi Water display at Nahant Marsh was cancelled due to flooding. Christine Curry was on hand, however, and she gave us a talk on the project on Saturday. You can view it in the Saturday video to the right.
We had plans for exploring the waterfront on the WaterCat water taxi but the river had other ideas. We did have a wonderful tour, however, of the Moline Water Works. Thanks to Paula Ekstrom for organizing both. A big old house in old town Davenport was our base of operations when we weren't meeting. Mickey Croyle organized food and made sure that we were well fed. We enjoyed a wonderful camaraderie at the house and look forward to finding a large venue for next year in Alton. All in all, it was a fantastic weekend - a great time to meet each other and get acquainted. We missed those who were not able to attend. On this page, we've attempted to capture both the flavor of the event and the outcome of our discussions. Tam Prenosil's notes (to the right>>) provide a great summary of things. And there's a lot of photos on the page at this link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/XuWgs1kWzxwRCicK6 |
Board Roster as of August 15, 2024 is posted below. Please use this to get in touch with your fellow Board members.
Here are links to the recordings of our meetings as they occured at the Summit, a great venue that Mary Ellen Miller secured for our meetings. These videos are posted privately on YouTube, meaning that they aren't searchable on YouTube. Please don't share these. And be warned, they are a bit rough ... poor production values. But, like Linus's pumpkin patch, they are quite sincere.
Saturday, July 13, 2024: https://youtu.be/SZsvHsDDiQ0 Sunday, July 14, 2024: https://youtu.be/9sIRXOLLZ0k Following are meeting minutes:
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NEXT YEAR:
Our retreat will be in June, in Alton, Illinois. Alton is across the river from St. Louis.
A couple of things we said we'd do for sure was to find a place where we can gather informally (like the big old house we shared in Davenport), to have lots of activities that we can do to get to know the river better in this stretch, and to have shorter meeting sessions interspersed with time to chat and grow our friendships.
Our retreat will be in June, in Alton, Illinois. Alton is across the river from St. Louis.
A couple of things we said we'd do for sure was to find a place where we can gather informally (like the big old house we shared in Davenport), to have lots of activities that we can do to get to know the river better in this stretch, and to have shorter meeting sessions interspersed with time to chat and grow our friendships.
Meeting agenda and materials (posted before the meeting):
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Draft Agenda as of June 5
NOTE THE LOCATIONS FOR THE MANY EVENTS THIS WEEKEND - THE LINKS FOR EACH ADDRESS ARE GOOGLE MAP LINKS YOU CAN USE TO FIND THE VENUES. CARPOOLING CAN BE DECIDED AD HOC. Friday, July 12, 2024 Afternoon: individual check-in to overnight lodgings 4:00 – 5:30 pm Clean Water Pop Art Exhibit Opening/Artist Reception Nahant Marsh, - EVENT CANCELLED DUE TO FLOODING! The access road to Nahant Marsh is flooded, so the reception there Friday afternoon has been cancelled. 5:30 – 9:00 pm BYOB Social/Potluck dinner with guests (Clean Water exhibit artist Christine Curry will join us) Historic Adler House, 2104 N Main St, Davenport, IA 52803 |
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UPDATES!
Paula Ekstrom provided this update on the Moline water treatment plant tour Saturday morning:
I just talked to the Moline Water treatment plant. This facility is not flooded so our planned tour on Saturday morning will go on. We will not be able to walk outside the facility because of the water but the parking and building are still OK. The correct address for the facility is 30 18th Street, Moline, IL. We are meeting in the parking lot at 9:30AM and will enter together. Our tour guide Nick will meet us at the door because the facility is locked to the public.
Paula also noted that the John Deere exhibit and store is open until 5:00 on Friday afternoon if you are looking for an alternative activity to fill in for the Nahant Marsh reception before dinner at the Adler House.
Paula Ekstrom provided this update on the Moline water treatment plant tour Saturday morning:
I just talked to the Moline Water treatment plant. This facility is not flooded so our planned tour on Saturday morning will go on. We will not be able to walk outside the facility because of the water but the parking and building are still OK. The correct address for the facility is 30 18th Street, Moline, IL. We are meeting in the parking lot at 9:30AM and will enter together. Our tour guide Nick will meet us at the door because the facility is locked to the public.
Paula also noted that the John Deere exhibit and store is open until 5:00 on Friday afternoon if you are looking for an alternative activity to fill in for the Nahant Marsh reception before dinner at the Adler House.
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Saturday, July 13, 2024
9:30 – 11:30 am Tour Moline Drinking Water Plant (Paula Ekstrom) 30 18th Street, Moline IL (wear comfy shoes, lots of walking) AND BE PROMPT! WE ALL MUST STAY IN A GROUP AND THE TOUR STARTS AT 9:30. Noon- 1:00 pm Buffet Lunch (UMRR pays) and Ice Breaker at The Summit, 4699 53rd Avenue, Bettendorf, IA 1:00 -2:15 pm Welcome/Introductions (meeting folders, name tags) (name, local League, UMRR role, when joined, bio brief: two minutes) State Reports (IL, IA, MN, MO, WI): primary environmental issues BREAK & STRETCH 2:30 – 3:30 pm UMRR ILO Foundation Our Origin Story & Founding: Tamera Prenosil UMRR Power Point presentation: Gretchen Sabel LWV Structure: US, state, local, ILO membership: Board Structure/Officers/Appointment Process/Length of Terms BREAK & STRETCH 3:45 – 5:30 pm General Board Orientation By-Laws Review (screen share): Nancy Porter Committees: Action/Nominating/By Laws/Audit/Budget Prep Financial Reporting/2024-25 Budget: Catherine Franczyk Honoria for our program presenters? Board expenses reimbursement policy/mileage stipend Communications & Website (put up on screen): Gretchen Sabel Board bios and photos for website Action Committee Focus: Kay Slama LWV US endorsement form & process: Carolyn 6:00 pm Cocktails/Dinner need suggestions /pizza/grill outdoors? (UMRR pays) |
Sunday, July 14, 2024
9:00 – 10:00 am MS River Tour, Channel Cat Water Taxi 2100 E. River Drive, Davenport (this will likely be unavailable due to flooding) 10:30 am – NOON Brunch Buffet (UMRR pays), The Summit Ice Breaker: draw a name and introduce that person Noon – 1:00 pm Board Operations/Calendar UMRR Schedule: bimonthly Board Meetings (via ZOOM) August/October/December/February/April May Annual Meeting June/July (in-person) Retreat location: Alton with exhibit? State League Convention dates 2025: LWV US Council 2025 (virtual?) Committee Chairs & Schedule: Action: Slama - Vote on sign-on letter request Audit: Franczyk plus … By Laws: Porter plus … Budget: Franczyk plus … Nominating: John Howard plus two Board and two non-Board 1:00 – 2:00 pm 2024-25 Program Planning/Outreach 2024-25 Program topics: MS River Compact/MRRRI/UMBRA/ Farm Bill/what else???? Possible program speakers 2025 Annual meeting speaker 2025 Clean Water Exhibit opportunities: Alton, IL, Ft. Madison, IA, St. Joe, MO, ? WI, ? MN 2:00 – 3:00 pm Retreat Wrap Up Succession Planning: Chair & Co-Communications Chair Take Aways: |
Accommodations and Meeting Materials and Equipment
Materials for the meeting: laptop/projector/cords (Sabel)
Meeting folders/flip chart/easel & tape/markers/name tags (Miller)
Hotels: make your own reservations;
Adler House: reach out to Gretchen Sabel about availability - [email protected]
Currenly signed up for staying at the Adler House and associated Carriage House:
Retreat Page 2024 Bunny
Materials for the meeting: laptop/projector/cords (Sabel)
Meeting folders/flip chart/easel & tape/markers/name tags (Miller)
Hotels: make your own reservations;
Adler House: reach out to Gretchen Sabel about availability - [email protected]
Currenly signed up for staying at the Adler House and associated Carriage House:
- Catherine Franczyk
- Mickey Croyle and her hubby Chris Erwin
- Tam Prenosil
- Nancy Porter
- Gretchen Sabel and her 13-year old grandson
- Kay Slama
- Christine Curry
Retreat Page 2024 Bunny