Paul Schwehm, President, called to order the conference call meeting of the board at 11:04 EST. All members were present but Treasurer Walt Rabe and Mid-American representative, Bob Gadd.

     The Board proceeded to follow the outline of the meeting set by 2nd VP, John Hocker as follows:

      APPROVAL OF BOARD MINUTES FROM 21 JUNE 2012

     Paul Schwehm proposed to by-pass a formal approval of previous minutes of board meetings.  The minutes when written are circulated to the board for comment and approval, then published on the class web site. Schwehm noted that this is sufficient review of the minutes, thus eliminating the formal approval at the following meeting.

     ATTENDENCE AT THE ANNUAL AOG CONFERENCE IN AUGUST

     Paul Schwehm, 2nd VP, John Hocker and AOG class adviser Ted Voorhees attended the annual conference at West Point in August.  A review of the meeting was previously circulated to the board by Schwehm in an e-mail.   Our attendees stated that the meetings were very informative, especially the Superintendent's briefings, the socials were well attended by cadets and that our class issues were well heard by the AOG. John Hocker did re-state that the condition of our Honor Plaza seems quite poor. At the next board meeting this issue will be addressed with discussions about how to finance the maintenance of the plaza.

     REPORT ON CLASS FINANCES

     Bill Ray, 1st VP delivered a report submitted by Treasurer Walt Rabe in his absence as follows:

     Checking Account

     We have $2325.88 in this non-interest bearing account which is used to pay our ongoing incidental expenses.

      Administrative Fund

      This is our working account at the AOG. We currently have a balance of $24,430.18 in this account.  The AOG invests these funds in short term instruments from which we earn interest and are charged a fee for doing so.  In the last 2.5 years the net of interest less fees gave the class a positive $3009.90 gain. It is from this fund that we will plan for and conduct operations for the 60th reunion.

     Class Gift Fund

     This is class money specifically designated for gifting to the Academy. No funds can be allocated from this fund without approval of the class by vote and the Superintendent. These funds are also invested by the AOG. No management fee is charged for this investing service, but AOG does take 12% of newly acquired funds at the time of expenditure.  We currently have $199,930.66, less $60,000 committed for maintenance endowments, in this fund. In addition to this, $4895 is still committed to the Kiosk for class crests to be placed in the cafe in Jefferson Hall (Library) and another to be installed with the Kiosk. It is expected that we will get a return of the kiosk allotment in the amount of $2895 since the AOG will share its cost with us.

     Payments of a bonus to Joan Emmer ($2000) and a “penalty” charge to our 55th reunion hotel of $1199.95 have been made and the above figures reflect these payments. Walt Rabe, Treasurer, continues to audit all three accounts as administered by the previous board and will report his findings at the next meeting.  Schwehm finally stated that the class medals awarded by our previous President, Gerry Galloway have not been paid for. He will determine what the charges are and present them to the board for approval to be taken from the administrative fund.

     What the Class may expect and current '57 EB can do for the Class

     Max Kovel, our long standing Scribe, then presented to the board at Paul's request his thoughts on what the current board should/can do for the class over our current term as follows:

1.Provide a final report on the 55th reunion that includes a complete financial status of the Class and updated Rosters. Financial data is presented previously in this report. A discussion then took place as to how to re-establish and update our CQ lists that were used for the 50th reunion book and are currently being used for our Memorial Articles program.  John Ramsden suggested it would be ideal to have one CQ contact per company.  Don Sadler will go to Tom Kehoe, his previous Information Systems counterpart and acquire any documentation Tom has regarding CQ.s.  Paul Schwehm stated that Fred Smith will lead our Memorial Articles Program for the class.

2.Our classmates continue to pass on. Kovel suggested we establish a process for locating, assisting and including interested widows and descendents in Class activities. This might include expanding the concept of associate Class members to widows.

3.Kovel suggested we explore the establishment of a process for identifying and assisting ill classmates and their families. This does not imply any financial assistance. He also suggested we find a way to arrange for class representation at funeral or burial services for classmates. John Ramsden cautioned that we must respect family privacy issues in such activities. Max Kovel said several other classes do this well and Bill Ray mentioned that the class of 1956 has a Family Support Coordinator. Bill will forward, to the board only at this point, a document that is used by Class of 1956 that outlines supportive information helpful to families and next of Kin.  Again, our five Regional Representative can be helpful and the focal points for gathering information on ill classmates.

4.Max suggested again, that with the aging and health of some classmates attending reunions on five year intervals may be difficult. He then proposed investigating an interim reunion in 2014 at some central location of the country such as the mid-west.  We have had three such successful mini-reunions in Colorado, a cruise to Alaska and a River Boat trip to Europe in the past. Solicitation of class ideas and recommendations would be necessary.  Such a reunion would have to be run by a Region of the class and not by the current board who will be occupied with planning for the 60th reunion. Max suggested a Mississippi river boat trip between New Orleans and St. Louis might be of interest.  He will contact Sam Morthland (our alternate Mid-American Representative and a travel agent) concerning planning for such an event.

5.Plan for our 60th reunion. Early discussions on this reunion are under-way with the board with more to report later in these minutes. Max suggested we solicit from the class what changes should be made to our current constitution at the 60th and what should be done with funds in our accounts after that reunion.  Finally we should provide for the early start of the election of officers to take over after the 60th.

6.Max suggested the board develop and implement a succession plan that reaches out to our '57 descendents and/or the Class of 2007 as our 50 year class for the purpose of taking over '57 class wishes and the caring for our class gifts to the Academy. Currently Bob Stevens is functioning as our class contact with the class of 2007.  Ray Karsian again suggested we investigate what other classes do or have done regarding succession planning and to investigate if a sibling, of a classmate that attended West Point, might be helpful in leading the effort to carry on our class wishes primarily regarding our class gifts.

7.Finally, Max volunteered to lead an effort to develop and produce an addendum to our wonderful 50th reunion book. He will need the board's approval to proceed and an indication of a financial willingness to back the project. The book would cover the ten years from our 50th reunion to the 60th. It would emphasize what has happened to each classmate, current pictures, death notices and similar information.  Max will have to start within the next year and will need support from each company representative.  
             
     60th Reunion Pre-Planning

     Secretary, Ray Karsian then lead a discussion on the boards ideas of what should be included and what should be the emphasis of  our 60th reunion. He referred to the written suggestions already submitted by himself, John Ramsden and Max Kovel as a starting point.  The key thrust of the discussion centered around what should be emphasized; socialization and contact with classmates along with enjoying an update and re-familiarization with the Academy facilities and to what degree and how meeting both requirements can be met.  Strong emphasis was placed on providing quality time and events that facilitate classmate reunions and memory recall. Others feel the need to enjoy and experience the new facilities of the Academy as many of us only get back to West Point at reunions.  Max laid out his vision of the traditional three day reunion with a least a full day at West Point, a day of formal affairs at the reunion hotel and a day with emphasis on classmate interaction.  It was agreed that seeing a parade, or a football game or athletic event were not vital (but nice) to our equation but that more cadet interaction would be helpful and memorable in that we could see first hand how the Academy is developing new officers to join The Long Grey Line. Paul Schwehm identified Vince McDermont as the contact individual at West Point who makes arrangements for the use of West Point facilities and the meeting of cadets.

     PRESIDENTS PROPOSAL

     Paul Schwehm after listening to all the dialogue, made a specific proposal to the board. He asked to proceed with a preliminary plan to hold our 60th reunion at West Point, using the Hotel Thayer, on an “off schedule” date thus avoiding conflicts with other reunion classes and major functions such as a football game.  This quite likely would be in the fall or late April or early May of the year. This idea would allow us to potentially have  most of the Hotel Thayer for our use, get us closer to West Point in terms of travel time and closeness to the facilities and atmosphere of  our Academy. There are pros for and cons against such an idea. Paul would create a survey of some form to go out to the entire class asking for input from each member as to the interest and feasibility of this idea. We do not have to have all functions at the Hotel Thayer, in fact we would emphasize having dinners and receptions in various Academy facilities with outside catering being used similar to how AOG supports many of their functions.  Buses would still be needed, but perhaps a cheaper solution might be school buses available to the Academy. We still would need a bus to handle wheelchair bound classmates.

     A motion was made and seconded and the entire board approved Paul going forward with his idea.  Ray Karsian asked earlier in the meeting if we had an overall time line when major decisions had to be made for the 60th reunion such as contracting to a hotel facility. Paul stated he is in the process of obtaining such guide lines from our previous President, Gerry Galloway.

     Finally, a suggestion was made to make all class minutes more easily located on the Class web site. Don Sadler is working to improve their location. In addition, it was recommended that Regional representatives continue to direct the minutes to their groups as they see fit.  

     Max Kovel made another appeal for any classmate who desired the newly minted class pin to respond to him as soon as possible. He has already sent out a class memo to this regard. Ted Voorhees was thanked for leading the effort to develop this new and nicer pin that was first given to wives at our 45th reunion. This version has both gold and silver in it and is very nice.

      The conference call meeting was adjourned at 12:42 Eastern Standard time after one hour and thirty-eight minutes.  The next meeting will take place late October or early November after the Presidential election.

    Respectively Submitted

    Raymond T. Karsian
    Class Secretary 1957