Pagoda Pacers News

General Meeting Minutes

Date: May 13, 2021

Time: 7 p.m.

Location: Victor Emmanuel II pavilion

Treasury Report – Shaun Luther—we are at 122% of target. Income received from Blues Cruise and Charley Horse. No expenses at this time, but will be having some soon.

Races:

• Charlie Horse Half Marathon (Saturday, May 29^th)—Shaun Luther—registration is still under 100. Will likely reach 100 for the race at the end of the month. Expenses have been kept down, due to not knowing what the COVID restrictions situation would be. The course is now approved. There is a large race at Maple Grove that day. Dan Govern will be the aid station captain at miles 3 & 6, and there will be the third aid station at mile 9 by Bill Buchanan. Charlie needs help with the trail on his land (for people who don’t mind getting wet and dirty). 
• Run for the Ages 10K Trail Run (Sunday, June 27th)—Polly Corvaia—passing along information from Donna. The donated Southwest Airlines tickets were not used last year (due the race cancelation), and they expire in mid-June. Southwest will not allow these tickets to be extended for this year’s event. Donna wants to sell the tickets for $150 each. The money would go 50/50 to Nolde Friends and the Pacers. Some offers were made by members at the meeting, and they will contact Donna directly.
• Grings Mill 5K and 10K (Sunday, August 1^st)—Jane Setley—The directors confirmed the date of the race as August 1. Registrations will be on-line only, and in keeping with this year’s events, it is planned as a low-frills race without the usual entertainment. 
• Blues Cruise 50K (Sunday, October 3^rd)—Dan Govern—registration is up about 60% from 2019., so will likely sell out the registration cap of 450 by the summer. Dan is planning a back-to-normal event with all the aid stations, etc. There have been trail changes at Blue Marsh which may be incorporated into course changes. The running direction around Blue Marsh (clockwise vs. counter clockwise) will be the same as odd years in previous times. Dan will recheck the distances, since there has been some questions about it. Swag is being worked on with Amy from RUSeen (strongly considering a short sleeve shirt and a beanie cap). Regarding monetary donations from previous years, Dan would like to put this into trail-improvement projects. Steve Maguire added to let them know about any trail issues. Blue Marsh appreciates the help we give them.
• Oley Valley Country Classic (Saturday, Oct 9^th)—Lenny Burton—The Saturday, Oct 9 date will be in conjunction with the Oley Apple Festival. Runners will get a food certificate. Lenny says the course is kind of tough, and will start and end at the Festival. It goes on Main Street for a short distance and has some additional elevations.
• Kris Kringle 5 Miler—Polly—no report at this time
• Shiver by the River 5K and 10K—Sue Jackson—done for this year!! Still has a few invoices to pay, but they aren’t major. Sue expects a small profit for the club.
• Jr. High Cross Country Fall Invitational—no report

Committee Reports

Social Committee: The movie event at Googleworks went well. Lancaster RR club is showing something mid-June (running related).

Wine and Cheese—still monitoring for the Pagoda opening or having at another location.

Communications Committee—no report

Community Service

• Wednesday night runs—The post WNR events are open for hosting at people’s homes. If interested, get in touch with Phil Lechner. Matt Brophy is hosting a “practice-hosting” event at his home on Oak Lane in Reading. Phil will announce the line-up for the locations when he has that organized.

Charity Committee

• Scholarship committee—Beth Kohl announced the winners of the Pacer scholarships, each for $750. The committee will send letters to notify all applicants and put an announcement on social media. The committee may look for new members for the next year.

Membership committee: no report

Old business

• Mike Whalen, IM Able race mates—2 anonymous donations of chairs were made in the name of the Pagoda Pacers. The team just did the Birdsboro race, and the next event is Grings Mill. Two to three people per “chariot,” and the experience is very uplifting. How it’s decided what races to do: Dale Weiss talks to the race director and then runs the course to ensure suitability. Currently the race mates/chariot drivers don’t pay to run the race. But in the future, they will likely register no-fee, no-swag to be covered by insurance. The team is working on some introductory exposures to the adaptive athletes at a suitable WNR. IM Able is making finisher medals for the adaptive athletes.

New business

• Pacer retro t-shirts—Polly ordered some, and they can be used for volunteers, etc. Mike Whalen suggested having a few for the IM Able runners.
• Beth Kohl said there may be a Reading Hospital race on October 17, but that is still TBD.
• Worlds End, 1^st weekend in June—per Brandon Beene, Mike Yoder is not doing the aid station this year. There is some possibility if others are interested to organize some involvement.
• The Constant Contact email reminder was successful to get some new faces at the WNR. 
• Mike Whalen said the PA DOH has noted an aggressive tick season this year, so please take appropriate precautions.
• Dave and Shaun’s Excellent Adventure is coming up on May 22. Not a Pacer event, and doesn’t cost anything (except your self respect).

General Meeting Minutes

Date: April 8, 2021

Time: 7 p.m.

Location: Virtual meeting via Zoom

Treasury Report – Shaun Luther—account is 119% of target. No large expenses the month. Income coming in from Blues Cruise and Charlie Horse races. Taxes are due 5/15, and they will be ready on time.

Races:

• Charlie Horse Half Marathon (May 29, 2021)—Shaun Luther—registration less than expected only about 30 people signed up so far. Shaun would like to have 100 people signed up. Prospective runners may still be cautious about signing up for a race. Aid stations are being developed. A training run will be announced: out and back from Sleepy Hallow, about 9 miles. Stephan Weiss will assist Shaun with ‘getting the word out there,’ by sending some advertising emails thru his network.
• Run for the Ages 10K Trail Run (Sunday, June 27, 2021)—Donna Hey—9 people registered so far. At the Friends of Nolde meeting, the group was more positive about holding the race. She got the paper applications to Ron Horn, and they will be put out this weekend at his races. Blair and Donna are likely to change the ending to expand the distance that people will have between each other, probably for this year going back up the long driveway. This would eliminate the scrambled hill climb which is fun, but tends to crowd runners and spectators together at the finish line.
• Grings Mill 5K and 10K—no report
• Blues Cruise 50K (October 3, 2021)—Dan Govern—about 100 people signed up so far, and still several weeks/months out. Asked Shaun for the total amount of the money that is set aside from the registration donations, so that money can be allocated to a project. Dan will be looking into the swag, which will be decreased from previous years. He will organize some training runs. April 17 is a clean-up day at the day use area, posting will follow.
• Oley Valley Country Classic—Lenny Burton—trying to coincide this race with the Apple Fest on Saturday, Oct 9, (a non-church day, so can likely use the main road for a time), start/finish at the fairgrounds. Considering strongly to have the finish going up the hill. He is meeting with the township to confirm the plan.
• Kris Kringle 5 Miler—no report, will start again in mid-summer.
• Shiver by the River 5K and 10K—Sue Jackson—last Shiver is Sunday. Steve will bring the trailer. Some adaptive-athletes are running assisted by Pacers. Mike Whalen is running with one of the athletes. Dale Weiss is running with the other runner. Dale spoke about this assistance to adaptive athletes at a pre-COVID meeting. This is the first race where the club members will be supporting this. Sue needs volunteers on the intersections. Show up at 9:30, and relinquish the intersection at 11:20

Committee Reports

Social Committee:

• Movie night at Goggleworks, April 17, showing “Chariots of Fire.”
• Mike Whalen asked if the Wine and Cheese Social could be done in the fall—doesn’t want to wait until the Spring of 2022.

Communications Committee

• Newsletter—Polly Corvaia asked if there was any feedback on stopping the hardcopy minutes. No one has really pinpointed whether this had an effect on membership.

Community Service

• Weekly runs—going well.
• Trail Maintenance—Mike Whalen did some of this at Blue Marsh. Thanks, Mike.

Charity Committee

• Scholarship committee—Ken Seale—Committee is meeting this month and winners will be announced by next month.

Membership committee: Steve Maguire—The annual fee for membership will be discussed in the fall for the 2022 year.

Old business

• Dale Weiss has been able to finally get his plan in motion to assist with adaptive athletes, with the first group running at the April Shiver by the River.
• Still trying to find a venue for an outdoor meeting—So far, Steve has not been able to find a suitable outdoor area with lighting.

New business

• Nolde Forest is doing a clean up of the area in preparation for an official visit on 5/18. Donna will select a day and post online.
• Ken Seale has accepted a position at customer service at Infiltrator Water Technologies in Connecticut (unfortunately, keeping the Seales at a distance). Congratulations, Ken, and all the best in your new job.