Draft Minutes
Western Pennsylvania Orienteering Club
2 November 2025

* Nathanial Hazelton was interested in continuing to serve another term but was not present, so was self-nominated ahead of time.  Kimberly Stewart was nominated by Ryan Knecht .  A vote was conducted by ballots and Kimberly Stewart was elected to a two-year term.
* Sherry Shank was interested in continuing to serve so was self-nominated.  She was elected by acclamation to a two-year term.

* Five regular orienteering events were held along with one night event, one training day, two mini-rogaines.  This is one fewer than in recent years.
* Another additional 500 acres were mapped for the 2026 Babcock Bog & Boulder Challenge.  The map of Settlers Ridge was updated so it can be used for an event in 2026.
* Sixteen workshops or demonstrations were held, four of these were open to the public.
* Minor updates were made to the maps of the areas used for events during 2025.
* Two new meet directors made their debut in 2025:  Ryan Repp and Kim Stewart

* WPOC thanked the 7 Meet Directors (Rzewski, Wolfe, Repp, Battista, Logan, Shank, and Stewart), 6 Vetters (Battista, Jarvis, Logan, Rzewski, Wolfe, and Knecht), 5 Workshop Presenters (Livingston, Shank, Steinbring, Logan and Wolfe), and the 19 Event Volunteers for their many hours of service to the club. 
* Special Thanks also go to Volunteer Co-Coordinator Ryan Repp and John Pane, Membership Coordinator Sherry Shank, Event Coordinator Giuseppina Mecchia, Social Media/Photographer Alexis Rzewski, Facebook/Instagram Connection, Naomi Jarvis, Equipment Repairman Ryan Knecht, and Livelox Coordinators John Pane, Lee Bash, and Nathaniel Hazelton for their time and efforts. 

* The board approved the purchase of patches as swag items for the 2025 Raccoongaine and the Babcock Bog & Boulder Challenge. 

* A financial report was made for WPOC through November 2025.  A complete report for 2025 will be sent to the membership in January 2026 after the fiscal year is completed.    The report shows the club to be financially stable.
* Discussion was had regarding how the membership feels the club should spend its money.  See New Business for details.

* WPOC discussed the goals for next year to include holding as many local events as possible  as well as Raccoongaine, Babcock Bog and Boulder Challenge, and a training day.
* WPOC will continue to provide workshops and promotional events for orienteering.
* WPOC wants to increase volunteerism at meets.

* Discussions will be held individually to choose dates and locations for the 2026 schedule.

* A discussion was had regarding expenses that the club will incur or might incur during 2026 such as renewing the OCAD subscription, increased park usage fees and permit fees for state parks.  Some of these expenses will depend upon what DCNR or other organizations decide in the coming months.
* A discussion was had on items that the club may want to spend money on such as t-shirts, hats, donations to Orienteering USA or friends of the parks groups.  Hats and t-shirts were items that the membership seemed most interested in, so the board will discuss these items and others in the coming months.  Note:  it is not possible to order club jerseys or pants at this time since they are shipped from Bulgaria and most companies are not shipping to the USA at this current time.
* In conjunction with the discussion about items to spend money on, there was discussion regarding a possible reduction in fees for membership, regular event fees, and special event fees.  The membership had some general comments on these items, but it was decided to allow the board to consider the ramifications of each possibility and make a decision regarding fees for 2026 and beyond.
* It was suggested to incorporate some sort of training for potential new event directors.  Discussion was had regarding setting up a "class" vs. pairing a new event director with someone with experience to guide them as a mentor.  The membership was reminded about the guidelines for event directors which is on our club website.  WPOC would like to encourage a few new event directors in each of the coming years and it was noted that there will be a lot of support as they go through the steps to directing a meet themselves for the first time.
* Jim Wolfe discussed "offloading" some tasks to event directors such as producing the results and uploading to the website for participants to see.  Another task being "offloaded" is the uploading of workshops to the website.  WPOC will be stronger with more people being able to manage each of the tasks the club needs to handle on a regular basis.