WILLOW AREA COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION, INC.

Willow Area Community Organization

2 months ago

Chair Report
I'm so excited by the wonderful candidates that have stepped up to be considered for the WACO elections being held on 4/6/22 and announced that night at the WACO annual meeting!! Each and every candidate is a committed leader within our community in their various ways and bring backgrounds that will be so helpful to our decision making as a board. Many thanks to Steve Charles for his wonderful efforts to attract these fine people as the sole member of the Nominating Committee! Voting will again be drive thru so that you can speak your 'voice' at the ballot box easily and quickly and stay socially distant... 12-6:45p. Thanks again to those leaving the board after fine service: Debbie Cook, LeeAnn Reicks and to Maura Shea for stepping in so late in the term for covering the at large board seat!!

As such this is my last note to you in my chair role. I am pleased that we have a past chair seat on the board as one way that I can continue to be involved. There a couple of projects that I've wanted to do and should now have the time!! It has been such an honor to have served you and the whole of Willow as chair for these last 4 years. I have learned a lot, met so many of you... it's been just wonderful....

One upcoming meeting to note: April 28 in the afternoon the Borough will be bringing their annual budget hearing meeting to our WCC so that those of us in Willow and further north have a chance to participate. I will be asking the board to support some light refreshments as it will run thru the late afternoon and potentially into the evening. Do come watch, participate if you have opinions....

Once again I want to thank Bill Shary for his incredible help getting our internet up and going. We still need to figure out the use processes and what fee we might charge for rentals. It costs us about $105 per month but we will have secure and consistent internet thruout the auditorium!!! Stay tuned as we work out the rest of the story...

Also thanks again to Chris & Mike Stitt, Maura Shea, Tom Wise, Debbie Cook, Vic Fitzgaireld, Steve Charles and Al Felt for helping to set up the new office furniture. At last we have a place to work on your behalf and can finally get to the files and supplies that have been packed away since renovation started!!!

In addition to resuming much of our traditional Carnival this year (see below), we also saw the return of the 'real start' of the Iditarod. As we did with Carnival, the use of the inside of the building was very limited but so many people came to watch this historic and world class sporting event. We are excited for their continuing use of our facility... It is only one of those things that puts Willow on the map....

And last it is so exciting! The Willow Historical and Wildlife Foundation will be presenting a bylaws change at this April WACO meeting that would recognize them as a standing committee of WACO. They have done incredible work to bring the museum to life and to protect and enhance the Old Log Cabin including getting it recognized on the Registry of Historic Places. Their strength would be a wonderful addition to WACO and the work that we can do together towards knowing, protecting and communicating about the history of Willow.
Carnival Report
OMG what a fun time!! It was so great getting back together for fun, food, laughter.... There was a great turnout! The food vendors all ran out as the weekend progressed. Lots and lots of kids doing fun kid stuff! Awesome Fireworks!!! Did you know that this was the first time that the fireworks were started with a remote start? At our Carnival!! We were live broadcast by KHITZ 107.1 radio - many thanks for the great audio they provided thruout Saturday and Sunday. Bingo was extremely well attended!! I know that everyone had a blast, especially those winners!!! And I'd say that the ax throwing was the favorite adult game!! Followed by the Sven Erickson 25k tour!! We will hold our wrap up meeting April 11, from 6-8P. And there will start our early planning for 2023 Willow State Winter Carnival... There are so many volunteers who pulled this all together and I don't want to miss someone --- so just a huge THANK YOU to each and everyone one of you....
Youth Forum
Ok, spring is coming and we will look forward to another summer of tending and improving the Newman Memorial Park for teens, families, everyone... Stay tuned as we finish getting those projects organized. I want to thank Arctic Minimotor Sports Club. They once again brought several kiddee sno-cross events to the park this winter and did most of the plowing there all winter!! They will host 2 more events on these 2 upcoming Sunday's - April 3rd & 10th. Go out to the park to watch these incredible kids managing their snow machines!!!
On a sad note, between the end of a kiddee sno-cross event this past Sunday, March 27, and the next morning someone vandalized the 2 porta-potties that AMMC has paid for to be in the park this winter. If you know anything about this incident please call Rent-a-Can, 907-694-9202. And please continue to be part of the park's 'Neighborhood Watch' and report anything that seems wrong at the park..... And otherwise get out and enjoy the great outdoors at the park!!!

Respectfully,
LInda Oxley
PS be ready to nominate your favorite Willow animal, plant, bug, etc at the 4/6/22 meeting for next Carnival's theme!!!

CHRIS STITT – VICE CHAIR
Slow month so far. We have the office furniture set up and are back to using the office. Phone system is getting looked at and the possibility of internet for WCC.
Rental Agreement is updated and we will have forms available by April 5th in the entry way of building.
We have sent several emails to borough concerning the roof, North Wall, Stage, Curtains and tables. Hope to get answers soon as to who will be responsible for the work.

Sincerely,
Christine Stitt
V Chair WACO
Willow Trail Committee Report
Providing safe and enjoyable recreational trails for Willow residents and visitors.
Our winter trail grooming is wrapping up and this month we will be assessing our future equipment
needs and staging areas for better access to the trails. We have a wonderful group of volunteers and we
are encouraging them to get their hands on the equipment in regards to maintenance and operations.
A shout to the Willow Lions for the successful Willow Winter Trails Challenge.
At our April meeting we will be looking ahead to our work on summer trails and events such as the
Willow Summer Trails Challenge and a National Trails Day hike in June.
Thank you to this months donors: Carl Heir, Charles Michael, Snowhook Adventure Guides, James Barnett and Gregg Alexander for your generous contributions to the WTC!
To get good information on Willow’s winter and/or summer trails, , visit:
www.waco-ak.org/committees/trails/
The Willow Trail Committee meets the 3rd Wednesday of each month, 7pm at the Willow Community Center.
All are welcome.
Join us on Facebook: Willow Trail Committee

LIBRARY
Hours M, Tu and Th Noon – 8:00pm
W and F 10:00am – 6:00pm
Sat 10:00am – 3:30pm

Storytime Thursdays at 11:00am. Last one until Fall 4/21.
Leap into Science “Light and Dark” Saturday 4/23 1:00 pm – 3:00pm

Fiber Arts 4/20 – 10:30 – 1:30

Check out the Seed Library, Willow Reads List, Puzzle table and Art Display.

Summer Reading is coming! Thursday’s in June and July.


Willow CERT Consent Agenda for WACO April 2022
Willow Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) has been meeting monthly and for trainings by Microsoft Teams provided by the Mat Su Borough Dept. of Emergency Services. We plan to resume in person meetings soon.
3rd Su Valley Emergency Preparedness Fair in Willow
May 7, 2022 Willow CERT and Talkeetna CERT will be hosting this exciting event at the Willow Community Center. When last held in May 2018,, we had 20 exhibitors with inside and outside. This event has been a success in past because so many community members volunteered to support CERT in hosting it.
If you would like to volunteer with set up/take down, check-in of exhibitors, greeting attendees, etc contact: Brenda McCain 907-355-1418 [email protected]
Community Involvement
CERT volunteers again helped in many areas of the State Winter Carnival in Willow!
Willow CERT Volunteers Norm Wakeman and Jo Pendleton were voted King and Queen of the 60th State Winter Carnival in Willow.
They were elected for their long and continuing community service. They both are very active members of our CERT. Jo is also very committed to Willow Lions and she volunteers weekly at the Food Pantry. She was an EMT in the Susitna Valley for many years. Norm served on WACO for years. As a HAM radio operator he is part of our CERT communication team and is involved with MARA, the area wide HAM group ready to assist in disasters.
We really treasure Jo and Norm were so pleased to see them honored for their dedication to keeping our community safer!
More info on CERT
Because of COVID-19, it is not possible at this time to have an in-person CERT Basic Course, that is required to join CERT, but we will as soon as it is feasible.
Persons that are interested in CERT are welcome to join in our meetings, trainings and activities, however.
Interested in CERT? Contact Brenda McCain at: [email protected] or call 907-355-1418
For more info about Emergency Preparedness in the Mat Su Borough go to the Borough Preparedness site. ready.matsugov.us/pages/home
Brenda McCain Willow CERT Program Manager/Team Leader

MAURA SHEA– AT LARGE REPRESENTATIVE
Below is a copy of the email I received from Isaac Hadler, the person who wants to offer free pickleball clinics to members of the Willow Pickleball club. It’s part of the New Business agenda item I sent the other day. Should it be part of the consent agenda or should I just bring copies to the meeting?

Thank you,
Maura

Dear Board Members,
I am writing in coordination with the Willow Pickleball Club to express interest in hosting free pickleball clinics at the Community Center. As a lifelong tennis player turned pickleball player, I understand the obsession that has turned pickleball into the fasted growing sport in the United States. I have more than five years of experience teaching and leading tennis clinics for children and adults of all ages. I am seeking to work with members of the Willow Pickleball Club to help intermediate members learn new skills and to teach the basics of the game to new players.
With the current set up in the Community Center, each session can consist of up to eight players at a similar skill level. Ideally, each session would be three hours long, with two hours being for instruction and the other hour being for applying new skills. I am willing to conduct clinics as often as the club is able to find eight players from the community that are eager to learn and develop their games.
Thank you for your attention and consideration.
Sincerely,
Isaac Hadler

MAURA SHEA – AT LARGE REPRESENTATIVE
Planning and Facility Operations Committee Minutes

Meeting Date: March 23, 2022

Call to Order: 4:26 PM

Attendees: Chris Stitt, Barbara Ensley, Sabrina Chrisley, Maura Shea

The Planning and Facility Operations Committee (Committee) met to discuss the following;

1. At the request of Linda Oxley, include a WiFi fee on the Facility Use Agreement.
The Committee agreed a WiFi fee should be added to the agreement in the Fee Schedule section on Page 2. However, this addition should wait until WiFi equipment is purchased, installed and available.

2. Reconsider its recommendation of a $25/hr fee for instructor classes based on information provided by Steve Charles at the March 2, 2022 WACO meeting.
In the past, a variety of instructors have used the community center to teach classes. These include: music instructors, fitness instructors and groups offering educational classes (eg. soil & conservation). The Committee considered three options: a tiered fee based on the number of students, a percentage of instructor receipts fee, and a flat rate fee. It recognized each option had pluses and minuses.
A. The Committee determined the tiered based fee system, while taking into account the number of students, would include arbitrary breaks in the tiers. It would not equitably address the benefit to instructors of using the community center. Instructors teaching classes with a high student fee would incur the same as those charging a lower rate.
B. The percentage of instructor receipts has been used in the past and appeared to be the most fair and recognizes the benefit each instructor gets from teaching at the community center. It is easy to administer based on feedback from Sabrina. She gets copies of sign-in sheets and is made aware of the student fee so it is easy to calculate the amount due from each instructor. Historically, 15% of receipts has been collected.
C. A flat rate was considered and rejected as not taking into account differences in benefit received by instructors.

The Committee recommends option 2, a fee of 15% percent of instructor receipts be implemented.

3. While reviewing the Facility Use Agreement form, the Committee suggests the following changes be adopted:
A. On Page 2, Fee Schedule section, revise wording to indicate a 15% of revenue fee and include wording requiring submission of an attendance sheet.
B. On Page 2, bottom section change wording from “Additional checked forms” to “Additional checked policies” because the listed items are WACO policies.
C. On Page 3, Section 2, change the listed phone number from the office number to Sabrina’s cell phone number. Renting organizations must be able to reach Sabrina in a timely manner.
D. On Page 4, under important reminders, include a statement that Sabrina must be contacted at the end of each event for a walkthrough to determine whether deposits will be refunded.

Adjourn: 5:26 PM ... See MoreSee Less