NorthWest Stone Sculptors Association
Established 05/27/1988
Board Meeting Minutes
ORGANIZATION NAME: NWSSA
Date: 01/14/2026
Time: 6:30 P.M. PST
Location: In Person, Camp Pilgrim Firs, Port Orchard, WA
ATTENDANCE
Board Members Present: amara Buchanan, Carmen Chacon, Karen Roe, Ken Barnes, Michael Yeaman, Markos Weiss, Aerin Sizelove
Absent Board Members: Oliver Harwood
Quorum: Yes
Guests: Cyra Jane Hobson, Leah Davidson
Staff: Renee Roberts
CALL TO ORDER
A meeting of the Board of Directors of NWSSA was duly called to order on 7/16/2025 at 8:10 P.M. PST. Tamara Buchanan (President) called the meeting to order.
Consent Agenda/Minutes Approval: Motion: A motion was made to approve the consent agenda and minutes from the 11/08/2025 board meeting (Markos), seconded (Ken). Approved unanimously.
Events Reports:
Pilgrim Firs – Cyra reported Ben will join again as Co-Director. She reported that it has been difficult to locate guest artists for the symposium. Suggestions were made for guest artist candidates and the possibility of bringing back prior guest artists. The timeframe for getting the Pilgrim Firs brochures completed will be mid-February.
Winter Party Update – Aerin reported everything is on schedule for the January 24th event. Permits and Insurance are in place. The Art Exchange protocol and rules were clarified.
Kubota Gardens – Markos confirmed NWSSA has been scheduled to have a show at Kubota Gardens. This year it will be a 1-day event and is scheduled for Sunday, August 23rd. In the future it will be a 2-day event.
Everett Arboretum – Tamara reported that she has talked with Constance and confirmed that NWSSA will not be participating at the Everett Arboretum this year.
Old Business:
- Website report– Aerin reports the registration for the Women’s Hand Carving event had some issues, and those have been resolved by Cornershop. Aerin requested that BOD members dedicate time to look at the website to see if there’s anything that needs fixing, and if so to report the issue to Aerin and Renee.
Action Item: BOD members are requested to spend at least ½ hour before the next BOD meeting trying to “break the site” (ie: find problems) and if issues are found, report them to Aerin. It was unanimously agreed by all members to complete this as well as report positive feedback.
- Nomination Committee – Markos reported he has 14 candidates on his list. He is currently trying to evaluate the needs of the board and is looking at what skills each candidate may have. He is also trying to be inclusive of candidates from Canada, Washington and Oregon. BOD members are requested to let Markos know of any persons that may be interested.
- The Journal – Leah gave a presentation focused on adding 4 additional pages to The Journal. The topics on these pages would include Mentorship, Shop Set-Up, Tool Tent, an Unsung Hero section and a classified section for stone sales and equipment. She outlined associated costs for the additional pages. Discussions will be ongoing.
- Donation Manager Description to be used in the Bylaws – (Markos and Aerin) Moved to February BOD Meeting
- Bylaw Update – Events Committee – (Markos and Aerin) Moved to February BOD Meeting
- Donation Manager Candidates – Moved to February BOD Meeting
- Onboarding Packet for new BOD members – Renee is working on the onboarding packet with Markos. She is currently updating contact information in the packet.
- Google Drive/Docs Questions – Aerin is the “go-to” person for Google Drive help. Renee will create a “Scribe” section that outlines step-by-step guidance for tasks such as creating short cuts. The Scribe section will be located in the Onboarding Folder.
New Business:
- Financial Committee -Ken reported new finance committee members include: Steve Rabago, Mark Secord, and Cherie Perry. Micheal will continue to serve on the committee. The committee will discuss the budget for 2026, including the budgets for PF and SL. They will also review the profit and loss sheet for 2025 and discuss various policy issues.
- Michael gave a brief review of his report on the Operating Budget Concepts and Approach that was developed over the past 2-3 years. This included the use of the Master Statement of Activity form. All event planners are expected to use this form which estimates planning, tracking and reporting of income and expenses. The event planners would then report back to the BOD in December with their estimates of expenses and the reporting of this information would assist in creating the draft budget for the upcoming year. In mid-June there will be an evaluation/assessment completed to show how we are doing with the budget midway through the year. This process is ongoing and continues to be fine tuned and developed.
- Action Item: Tamara and Ken will meet to discuss budget line items and determine who should be responsible for each line item. The goal is to put a name behind each item.
- Discussion of Goals and Issues to Resolve in 2026 – Items to be resolved include: Who are we serving? What educational events are we going to come up with for the year? How many events can NWSSA effectively schedule in a year? Currently there are 6 NWSSA events scheduled. Who is going to take over Pat’s workshops and safety talks? Renee will be gone for 1 month late Sept to late October, who will cover? Carmen added we need to schedule workshops for the months without other activities. Discussion will be ongoing. The items in this conversation will be moved to the February BOD meeting.
Tabled items to be revisited in the future:
- Donation Manager Description to be used in the Bylaws – Markos and Aerin
- Bylaw Update – Events Committee – Markos and Aerin
- Donation Manager Candidates – All BOD members
- Discussion of Goals and Issues to Resolve in 2026 – All BOD members
Next Board meeting February 11, 2026 at 6:30 PM
Adjournment: Time: 8:02 PM, Minutes respectfully submitted by Karen Roe, Secretary
