On the Web
Schell ’ s Border Batch www . borderbatch . com
P A G E 2 B O R D E R B A T C H B R E W I N G S
As the incoming Secretary / Treasurer of the Schell ’ s Border Batch I ’ d like to take a few moments to ponder some important points about our club from the point of view of my new office , meaning a financial perspective . Now I know nobody wants to have to think about money topics in relationship to their hobby . After all hobbies are supposed to be fun right ? But in order to have that fun under the umbrella of the Schell ’ s Border Batch we need to take good care of our organization so we can continue to have that fun in a thriving environment . Now you might be thinking , “ Hey - I pay my dues & buy raffle tickets for fundraisers .” That ’ s all well & good , and the club appreciates this , however , the bottom line is that we need to build up our coffers in order to continue to do the things we do so well as an organization ( Day at August Schell , Stubie Fest , a first rate award winning website , appealing merchandise with great logos , etc .) in a more financially responsible way . What I ’ m driving at here is that I was a bit surprised to learn that a few of our members are basically bank rolling things like events & merchandise ordering and getting paid back at a later date . Talk about dedication to the hobby ! In the hindsight of Stubie Fest its even more evident than ever how a few people are shouldering the financial burden of promoting this club ’ s events . I ’ m not exaggerating when I tell you we knocked the socks off of BCCA President Joe Germino with Stubie Fest . We should be proud of that fact that as a small club we are putting on a really first rate weekend long breweriana experience . On the flip side , I think as a group we need to extend a little effort into changing the way we operate financially . One of the first steps we are going to take towards a sound financial footing is increasing membership dues . their current rate for quite some time , while at the same time we ’ ve made a number of significant improvements to the club with out a commensurate increase it dues . So , we are long over due in having an increase . Secondly , the cold reality is that the price of everything is going up and unfortunately we must act in accordance . And finally , there are so many wonderful benefits to being part of this organization , that we as officers know that the minor inconvenience of a moderate dues increase will be gladly absorbed by our loyal membership . Another change is that items such as t-shirts & etc . are going to see a little bump in price too . This is not intended in order to increase the club ’ s margin but rather to reflect the increasing costs of the items themselves . As always we appreciate any input you might have for other ways to stimulate financial growth for the Border Batch . With that said , I ’ d like to take a moment to thank those members who have taken a financial burden upon themselves in order to promote our club & hobby . A great big PROSIT to you all ! So please get those dues paid in a timely manner , buy some raffle tickets for that super clean crown we have as a prize , & if you can , donate a few extra bucks to the chapter . We think we have a top notch organization ( and the recognition we receive from the BCCA substantiates this ) & will try to spend that money to continue the effort of progress .
On the Web
Schell ’ s Border Batch www . borderbatch . com
For the Membership year 2008 the dues are as follows : Single non-BCCA $ 12 Single BCCA $ 10 Couples $ 17 Take $ 2 off if paid before Jan 31 , 2008 . I ’ m a big proponent of this rate hike . First of all , my understanding is that dues have been fixed at