CTCI Board Meeting Highlights
APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM JULY 14, 2023 VIDEO BOARD MEETING
There was one correction to the Board minutes on page 7, (Member Comments) Minutes
say letters were sent to the President, Vice President, and Treasurer but it should say President,
Vice President, and Secretary. Chuck Thompson made a motion to accept the 7/14/2023
minutes, as amended The motion was seconded by Charlie Hensley. Unanimous Approval
NOTE OF PASSING OF LARRY ELLISON
President Brian Carron brought up the passing of Larry Ellison (long Founder of Larry’s
Thunderbird and later Concours Parts. He will be missed by the Thunderbird community.
TREASURER’S REPORT
John Kledis reported on the some abbreviated results. He did give a few highlights. In
the past two month the club is down about $22,000. John will need to spend some time to
review where that cash has gone.
Also John explained that the investment account stayed pretty stable over the past two
months. There has been some activity and some sales but overall the account has been stable at
about 995,000. John has many business (Accounting) deadlines around the September
timeframe and will offer some additional information at the next meeting…
The Treasurer’s report for 6 months will be included in the next Early Bird.
Chuck Thompson made a motion to accept the Treasurers Report. The motion was
seconded by Darcy Knapp. Unanimous Approval
Director Chris Ames joined the meeting at this time. (10:12 AM)
WEBSITE UPDATE – DARCY KNAPP
Darcy Knapp reported that all of the Website was running smoothly. She had some
concerns with the size of the member uploads. She is working to try and get it to upload
without crashing the site. She is concerned that the Plug-in was not meant to carry 3,500
records without crashing. She will be looking at other options to upload those records
Mike McLucas made a motion to accept the Website Update. The motion was
seconded by Chuck Thompson. Unanimous Approval
OFFICE ACTIVITY REPORT – GARRETT SHROPSHIRE
Garrett Shropshire presented the office report highlights only since all Board Members
receive a full detailed report. Garrett presented membership renewals through (8/31/2023) we
have 3,950 active members. To date we have added 145 new members which includes 10 new
members who joined as “Test Drivers”. Garrett said he continued to believe that the club should
be able to make 4,000 before the end of the year, with the possibility to improve as the result of
the vote which includes the 2002 – 2005’s
Garrett pointed out a new feature of the CTCI Activity Report. In the bottom it now
shows the number of members who did not renew in a Year over Year basis. Currently we are
at 512 verses last year where we a had 604 members who did not renew. The “member dropped”
number is significant since it represents over 11% of the total membership. The number
represents the total drops without any specific reasons. Part is the age of our members and Part
is related to the fluid movement of the Thunderbirds (between owners).
Garrett also continued to stress that he continues to believe that 4,000 members is the
number to use for the rest of the year budget. He also reminded everyone that merchandise sales
continue to significantly lag from last year.
Darcy Knapp made a motion to accept the Office Activity Report. The motion was
seconded by Marsha Hash. Unanimous Approval
BY-LAW VOTE ELECTION SCHEDULE – GARRETT SHROPSHIRE
Garrett presented the election Schedule for the By-Law Election.
Date Item
7/14 COMPLETE Final Wording approved for July-August issue of Early Bird
8/1 COMPLETE Release Date of July-August issue of Early Bird
8/1 COMPLETE By-Law 60 day notice starts
9/11 Cut-off date for Election. “Paid and Active” Member lists pulled on this date
9/11 Paper Ballot Files sent to printer/mailer
9/21 Paper Ballots are released to members who do not have e-mail addresses
9/21 By-Law Election information is posted to the CTCI website
10/03 By-Law Election information is sent to all members via “Blast”
10/05 Electronic Ballots are distributed via “Opa-Vote” – Election Open
10/09 Suggested Date for Paper Ballots to be mailed back to CTCI Office
10/19 4:00 PM (Central) Election will be closed. Only Paper Ballots received will
be counted (without regard to postmark date)
10/20 Election will be verified and counts presented to CTCI Executives
11/10 Election results will be presented and documented at CTCI Board meeting for
certification
11/10 Election results Included in normal Blast – Highlights of Board Meeting
11/15-20 Nov – Dec Issue of The Early Bird released with Election Results
Garrett reminded the Board that the schedule includes sending out paper ballots (the most
expensive part of the election process (from a cost to collect individual votes). He said he was
hopeful that with this By-Law Election, that this would be the last CTCI election that included
paper ballots.
No changes were recommended to the Schedule.
Chris Ames made a motion to accept the Office Activity Report and Election Schedule.
The motion was seconded by Darcy Knapp. Unanimous Approval
REPORT TO BOARD VISIT TO GILMORE MUSEUM – RELATED TO BY-LAW
CHANGE ARTICLE X: DISSOLUTION – BRIAN CARRON & BOB BLY
President Brian Carron and Secretary Bob Bly outlined their visit to the Gilmore
Museum in July 2023 located on 96 acres in Hickory Corners, MI. They told the Board that the
Museum is one of the most impressive car museums. They met directly with the museum
Director of Commercial Operations about the possibility of a Thunderbird building or related
item to have a permanent base for Thunderbirds and Thunderbird related memorabilia. During
their discussions it came out the Director explained that the Museum DID NOT encourage
buildings related to models (like the Thunderbird) rather they liked to have their buildings
devoted to whole makes, (like Mercury, Ford, Cadillac, etc.). From their (Brian’s and Bob’s)
report, the cost for that type of commitment is significantly larger (10 to 50 times) than the
current investment. In addition the museum was interested in the number of cars that would be
placed in the building. It was clear during the meeting that it would need to be involve all four
Thunderbird Clubs and we as a group are not ready at this time for that inter-related cooperation.
As a result the proposal was made to withdrawal the By-Law Change (ARTICLE X:
DISSOLUTION) (SEE BELOW) since more study was required prior to revising the current By-
Law.
ARTICLE X: DISSOLUTION
Current ByLaws Statement
a) In the event that CTCI ceases to be a viable organization, action will be initiated by the
remaining Board of Directors to dissolve the organization, in accordance with applicable state
and federal regulations. Upon dissolution, the assets of the organization are to be used initially to
satisfy any outstanding legal debts and encumbrances. The remaining assets are then to be
transferred to the Benson Ford Research Center, THE HENRY FORD; Dearborn, Michigan. No
portion of the assets will inure to the private benefit of, or be distributed to, any member, trustee,
Director, Officer, or appointee of the organization, contributor, thereto, or private individual or
person.
Proposed ByLaws Statement
a) In the event that CTCI ceases to be a viable organization, action will be initiated by the
remaining Board of Directors to dissolve the organization, in accordance with applicable state
and federal regulations. Upon dissolution, the assets of the organization are to be used initially to
satisfy any outstanding legal debts and encumbrances. The remaining assets are then to be
transferred to the Gilmore Museum, Hickory Corners, MI, for the purposes of establishing and
maintaining a museum dedicated to the Thunderbird Marque, or to any non-profit automobile
museum and/or club as determined by the Board of Directors. No portion of the assets will inure
to the private benefit of, or be distributed to, any member, trustee, Director, Officer, or appointee
of the organization, contributor, thereto, or private individual or person.
Related to the same report, Charlie Hensley made a motion for an action item to move the
By-Law change proposal to the Executive-Finance Committee for further study. The motion was
seconded by Darcy Knapp. The Motion Passed
NEWSLETTER CONTEST – MARSHA HASH
Marsha reported that she had received 15 entries by the September 1 “cut-off” date.
Martha said that the contest for 2023 is now closed. The entries were as follows:
2 from Region 1
2 from Region 2
4 from Region 3
1 from Region 4
4 from Region 5
2 from Region 6
Marsha noted that it was nice that we had participation from all six regions. Martha is
expecting for the Judging to be completed in time to announce the winners at the CTCI Regional
Convention (The Villages Florida – October 24-29, 2023). The results will also be placed in
the November – December issue of The Early Bird.
.
2023 REGIONAL CONVENTION – CHARLIE HENSLEY AND BRIAN CARRON
Charlie Hensley and Brian Carron presented the 2023 Regional Convention (The
Villages, Florida) update. Brian reported that currently there are over 165 attendees; and he is
expecting 200+ Attendees by the time the Convention actually starts. We have members
coming in from 28 states including Hawaii and Alaska, as well as some international members,
including our member from Sweden.
Brian let the Board know that we were able to re-negotiate the number of Room nights
down significantly even though we are above the minimum required. This is important since we
continue to expect that there are some members who will give up their rooms at the last minute
and thus take our total nights under the minimums.
Brian talked about the room reservation nights is doing pretty good. The committee with
Brian’s assistance worked with the Hotel to reduce the hotel room allocation. We are getting
close to the minimum and Brian outlined that he felt we would exceed the hotel minimums.
That being said, Brian asked all of the Directors to encourage all CTCI members to participate
in the convention. And asked everybody to make hotel reservations and register for the
convention.
Brian discussed about the large Silent Auction which includes a tremendous amount of
donated New and Used Parts (more than 60).
Charlie again commending Ralph Cowell and the whole Convention Committee. Both he
and Larry Sheridan are doing great, and thus sees it as a great success.
Brian noted the problem of still having pre-registration and hotel reservations, but who
are not actually registered for the convention.
Brian brought up that we’re going to have the judging activities, judges training the
concourse activities, and some good driving events as well. So there’s still lots of opportunities
for Board Member participation. Related to that, Brian and Charlie have added to the schedule a
time to “Meet and Greet” with the Board on Friday of the Convention. A few of the comments
from San Antonio surrounded the idea that the members would appreciate some to directly
communicate with the Board of Directors. He encouraged all of the Board Members to come to
the Regional in Florida and participate in the Member “Meet and Greet.
NEW AWARD – RON McCLOUD AWARD – BRIAN CARRON
President Brian Carron proposed the establishment of a new award. This award will be
similar to the Ford Johnson award which is used to recognize the chapter that traveled the most
distance in their Classic Thunderbird (’55-’57). The new award named for Ron McCloud who
was an significant advocate for Modern Classic – Retros (’02 – ’05). The Ron McCloud Award
will recognize the chapter that traveled the most distance in their Modern Classic – Retros (’02-
’05). The first Ron McCloud Award will be presented at the Florida Regional Convention.
Therefore all Modern Classic – Retro owners are greatly encouraged to drive their car and
participate in this award challenge.
Charlie Hensley made a motion to establish a new award (Ron McCloud Award) to
recognize 02-05 Thunderbird (long distance award) and the chapters who support those efforts.
The motion was seconded by Darcy Knapp. Unanimous Approval
2024 BOARD ELECTION PROCESS – GARRETT SHROPSHIRE
Garrett Shropshire presented to the current Board his report regarding the 2024 Board
Election Process. He reported that there was only one candidate running for each of the 4 open
Director election spots. As a result the he recommended that the Current Board certify and
approve the following candidates be declared “Winner by Acclimation. It was noted that their
new Board position starting in January of 2024 and the newly elected Director Bio’s will be
printed in the Sept-Oct issue of the Early Bird:
John Knapp – Director Region 1
Brett Sargent – Director Region 3
Jim McLaughlin – Director Region 5
Bob Bly – Director At Large
Darcy Knapp made a motion to certify and declare the candidates as “Winning by
Acclimation”. The motion was seconded by Marsha Hash. Unanimous Approval
Garrett Shropshire reminded the current Board, that even though there is NO Director
election, the By-Law election (with two items) will still be held.
2024 CONVENTION – MARSHA HASH AND BRIAN CARRON
Marsha reported that Bob Young, had been in contact with the Sheridan in Des Moines to
discuss a possible International Convention to be held there. The discussion surrounded two
items: “age & energy” of club to take on the convention. The Board wants the possibility of a
2024 Convention in the Central part of the US. Brian said that, he was hopeful that the Hawkeye
chapter along with the other Mid-West Chapters could help make this a great International
Convention. Brian Carron presented the need for chapter sponsorship of the 2024 International
Convention.
Charlie Hensley made a motion to allocate $5,000.00 of funds (seed money) to the LLC
be used to assist chapter(s) to put on a Convention. The motion was seconded by Mike McLucas.
Unanimous Approval
2024 RENEWAL PROCESS – GARRETT SHROPSHIRE
Garrett Shropshire outlined the 2024 member renewal process to the Board. The
renewals will be ready to go in October with the 2024 renewal process starting on November 1,
2023. Garrett reminded the Board that there is now no discount in the November – December
time frame. Per the Board vote last year, Any new member in November or December will be
signed up for 2024 instead of 2023. The idea is that CTCI does not want to take membership
money for 1 month and then spend the next 5 months trying to collect for the next year. The
goal is to get a jump on 2024 renewals to reduce the crunch in early 2024. This new schedule
time frame should ensure that a significant amount of funds will be coming in prior to the end of
the year.
MEMBER COMMENTS – BRIAN CARRON
Brian noted and previously sent out all of the member comments since July. There were
no questions or comments to any of the member comments.
ADJOURNMENT:
Next Board Meeting has been set for November 10, 2023
John Smith moved to adjourn. Charlie Hensley seconded. Unanimous Approval
Adjourned 11:43 AM CDT.
Respectfully Submitted,
Bob Bly, Secretary
Items to be added to the Secretaries book along with these minutes:
*Office Activity Report