Voting Members Present: Jerry McDaniel, Allen Blay, Jeanne O’Kon, Peg Griffin, Hawthorne Hay, Mary Jean Yon, David Yon, Tom Perkins, Jennifer Hay, Emily Webster, Herb Wills.Voting Members Absent: Mark Priddy, Matt Vermeer, Debbie Peters, Tina Bahmer. Non- Voting Members Present: Bill Lott, Lauren Stanley, Jackie McDaniel, Amanda Heidecker.

I. Opening and Introduction:

Jerry McDaniel opened the meeting at 6:59 p.m. A motion was made to approve the minutes of the April 9, 2025 meeting. Motion was seconded and passed.

II. Announcements from Officers:

Jerry announced that three officers will not be here for the second Wednesday in June. Members voted not to hold a June Board meeting.  Jeanne announced the Summer Track will start on June 5th for eight weeks. She asked race directors who have leftover t-shirts to donate them for a t-shirt giveaway at the Summer Track series.

III. Old Business/Race Closeouts:

a. ARP Bridge Construction and Donation: Amanda Heidecker spoke about the World Cross Country Championship on January 5, 2026 which will be hosted at the ARP. The runners and the spectators will experience the “real Florida.” The featured elements will include: a replica of the State Capitol, images of the theme parks in central Florida, the coast line, the wildlife, and other aspects. The long-term vision is to establish a permanent bridge that runners and spectators can go over or under. One of the purposes of Amanda’s presentation was in seeking a donation from the GWTC for a portion of the construction of the bridge. Should this occur in sufficient volume (the Board later approved this via email vote), permanent signage would occur acknowledging GWTC as sponsor. The total cost is over $120,000.00. The bridge would be made of wood with steps going up. Board members asked for additional time to process the request for a donation toward the bridge. Jerry reminded Board members that the money in the GWTC Treasury continues to grow. Board members were encouraged to send Jerry any additional questions by e-mail.

b. Springtime 10K/5K/1m Budget Closeout: Jackie and Jerry McDaniel presented the budget closeout. This was a good year and the number of registrants has continued an upward trajectory since Covid. There were 1835 finishers. Fundraising for this race likely hit an all-time high through the efforts of several parties and likely contributed to increased number of registrations. An additional beneficiary was added over the course of the year, the Black Men’s Health Foundation. From the race proceeds, GWTC will receive $18,000, NAMI will receive $5805 (including direct donations) and HCES will receive $14,365. Motion was made and seconded to approve the budget closeout. Motion passed.

c. Palace Saloon 5K Budget Closeout: Bill Lott reviewed the budget closeout. Revenue was $61,036.43, and expenditures were $24,859.88, yielding a net profit of $36,176.55. Direct donations of $1,410 were received for the Oasis Center for Women and Girls, and $803 for the Tom McHaffie Memorial Scholarship at the FSU Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship. The race directors asked that $10,500 of net proceeds be donated to the Oasis Center (approx. 25%), and $9,900 to the McHaffie Scholarship (approximately 25%), with the remaining $18,088.28 to be retained by GWTC. A motion to approve the split was approved.

IV. New Business:

a. Breakfast on the Track 1m Budget Proposal: Lauren Stanley explained the increases in the proposed budget compared to last year’s budget. The projected revenue is $2713.58, with expenses totaling $2,365.38, for a net revenue of $348.20. Motion was made and seconded to approve the budget proposal. Motion passed.

b. Great Pot Luck Bash 4-Miler 2025 Budget Proposal: David indicated that the budget proposal was approved by e-mail. The anticipated revenue is $747.00 which will go to the Chenoweth Fund. He indicated that volunteers are needed to help mark the trails. Hawthorne, Jerry, and others will help. Motion was made and seconded to approve the budget proposal. Motion passed.

c. Annual Townhall or Summer Meeting: Jerry would like to have a Townhall Meeting to describe what the club is doing. Judy Alexander would like to have a GWTC 50th anniversary party on August 3rd. Club members are often not aware of the long-term philanthropic nature of the club, and this is one thing that could be presented. Motion was made and seconded to hold the Townhall meeting. Motion passed.

d. HCES Track: GWTC has been giving money to Holy Comforter School for two years to support the development of the track. Jerry and Jackie will meet with people at the school tomorrow to discuss how club members can use the track. This includes speedwork, Summer Track, Breakfast on the Track, and possible community use on weekends.

e. SMIRFS and GWTC Responsibility: Allen Blay discussed the youth running community. It has grown tremendously over time, but the funding model has stayed the same. The county has not increased the spending for the program. The program is on RunSignUp. He feels that the club should put more funding into it. Brandi Campbell provided Allen with some good suggestions to improve the program. He suggested hiring a few high school or college students who would mark the course each morning, starting June 2nd. David needs help in doing the work needed to set up everything. Board members suggested that a notice is sent out through RunSignUp recruiting volunteers.

f. Women’s Distance Festival 5K Request: Jeanne reported for Lisa Unger that Lisa was approached by Girls on the Run to see if they could become a beneficiary of the Women’s Distance Festival race.

V. Reports:

a. Treasurer’s Report: Peg reported net assets of $320,760.84 as of April 30, 2025. The operations account balance is $216,160.95, with $14,415.86 reserved for the “A Community Thrives” grant program. Net revenue as of April 30 is $61,252.14.

b. Triathlete Club: No report.

c. Director of Race Directors: Mary Jean reported that the Race Directors Handbook is going to be updated. She will ask for feedback from several race directors. She was approached by the United Way about putting on a race, which reminded her that the Handbook needed to be updated. She mentioned that Bobby York will retire in a year and will be looking for a race director for the Swamp Forest and Summer Trail Series.

d. Director of Communications: Jennifer reported that she is trying to reach Matt Hohmeister about RunSignUp. She would like to do tabling events at the summer runs. The May club membership numbers are: 1315 individual members (1278 last year at this time), and 753 family memberships (710 last year at this time).

e. Director of Education and Socials: No report.

f. RACER Committee: Chika Okoro is taking over as the chair of the committee. Dan Manausa is working with her.

g Chenoweth Fund: David has one request for funds from the Chenoweth Fund.He will provide more details at the next meeting.

h. Merchandise: No report.

i. Equipment: Bill Lott reported that he tested the clock that stopped working at Springtime and it appears that the batteries will not hold a full charge. He will replace the two batteries and they will cost approximately $50.00 each. Another clock appears to be having the same problem so he will replace those two batteries as well. All of the batteries were installed at least four years ago and that is their normal life expectancy. Also, the tag registration for the GWTC trailer has been renewed for a two-year period at a cost of $46.15.

j. Chip Timing: During April, one non-Club race (Cornerstone Learning Community Hawk Run Jubilee 5K/1M) and one Club race (Palace Saloon 5K) were chip timed. In May, two non-Club races (Tails and Trails Half Marathon/10K/5K/1M; and NeSmith Way 5K) and one Club race (Summer Trail Series Race #1 – Oak Hammock) will be chip timed. Scheduled to be chip timed in June are one non-Club race (Monticello Kiwanis Club 5K Watermelon Run) and two Club races (Great Potluck Bash 4-Mile Prediction Run; and Summer Trail Series Race #2 – Redbug Trail). The chip timing revenue from non-Club races held since July 1, 2024 totals $4,281.00.

k. Grand Prix: Jeanne reported for Lisa that the Grand Prix scoring is updated including the results from the Palace Saloon 5K.

l. School Grants Coordinator: No report.

m. Training Groups Coordinator: The Thursday intervals are being held at Maclay for the one mile training at 6:30.

Meeting adjourned 8:42 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Jeanne O’Kon
GWTC Secretary