The meeting was called to order at 8:19 PM on January 6th, 2026 by President Elizabeth Lachowicz.  This meeting was held via Zoom.

ROLL CALL

Present: Loretta Brooks, Jeff Canter, Marshal Chaifetz, Todd Dennison, Andrew Dunn, Sam Edelston, Paul Fisher, Doug Heacock, Steve Humphreys, Jeff Jonas, Elizabeth Lachowicz, John Mahon, Bob McNally, George Otto, Sandie Reilly, Tina Ross, Mark Schaffer, Robin Schaffer, Jean Scully, Pamela Zave 

Absent: None

Guests:  Sena Stein

MOTIONS MADE

• The minutes of the December 2025 monthly meeting and the 2025 Annual meeting were approved with one abstention each. 

• A motion to adjourn was made at 9:28 PM and approved unanimously.

ADMINISTRATIVE OVERVIEW 

Secretary

Motions were entered to accept the minutes of the 2025 Annual meeting and the December 2025 monthly meeting.  Both were accepted with one abstention each.

Treasurer

Jeff told us he is consolidating known expenses from 2025 and needs people to turn in receipts as soon as possible.  He also spent about 2 hours with Peggy at Wells Fargo trying to update our accounts.  Our financial success in 2025 has pushed us out of the tax bracket where we could file the 990-EZ form and will now have to start using the long form, which must be filled out by a professional.  It will probably cost about $2K to file it.  He will also have to make a trip to Vanguard to replace one of the funds in the endowment account.

OLD BUSINESS

Annual MUUF Benefit

The annual MUUF Benefit, which was postponed due to bad weather, has been moved to Sunday, January 25 at 2 PM.

NEW BUSINESS

Swingin' Tern Fund

Doug presented a motion to continue the supplemental fund for Swingin’ Tern, which was not fully utilized last year and expired in December.  There was some discussion during which Sam proposed that we set a low balance limit of $500 to trigger re-evaluation.  The motion read, “Motion to maintain the original Swingin’ Tern fund in an open status for the purpose of securing higher level performers and enhancement of the quality of the dance. The fund shall be subject to reevaluation when the fund drops below $500.”.  Approval was unanimous with no abstentions.

COMMITTEE REPORT HIGHLIGHTS

Swingin’ Tern

Doug added to his written report that younger people have been coming to dances.  Also some New  Yorkers.  They have been using the new Square Terminal a lot for payment processing.  They have one new regular who also brings friends.

Publicity/Web

Sam reiterated his praise for the work Sena Stein has been doing.  Elizabeth said there was a $1K donation given by someone through Patch.  Mark noted that he and Robin are looking for more people who would be willing to post on their town’s Patch site.  Marshal noted that the Steven Kellogg show got some press in local media in Bernardsville.  Doug mentioned that he posts in the Chatham Patch for Tern.

Special Events and Troubadour

Mark said that a description of the new Songwriting for Veterans program is in his report.  TicketsCandy is the new ticketing system for Troubadour and it has brought in some new people and some reviews.

Troubadour Staffing

Jean reported that the newest volunteers have been great.  Bad weather caused low turnout for the Steven Kellogg show and there was a lot of leftover food.  The new cabinet has meant that things are no longer going missing but that we also need a second cabinet.  Mark is going to buy a table trolley to keep our new tables on.  Jean does not expect a big turnout for the re-scheduled MUUF benefit as it is on a Sunday afternoon. 

END OF MEETING

Elizabeth wound down the meeting answering questions from new Board members and reminding people to get their receipts in.  

A motion to adjourn was approved at 9:28 PM.

The next meeting will be on Zoom on February 3rd, 2026 at 8:15 PM on Zoom.

Paul Fisher, Secretary

FUTURE PLANNING

HORSES SING NONE OF IT

MEMBERSHIP

NEWSLETTER

OPEN STAGE

PUBLICITY

SOUND REINFORCEMENT

SWINGIN' TERN

TROUBADOUR AND SPECIAL EVENTS

TROUBADOUR VOLUNTEERS