The organizational meeting of the Metro Detroit USBC Association (MDUSBC) was called to order by MDUSBC Transition Board Chairperson Libbi Fletcher at 4:08 p.m. at the Shriner’s Auditorium & Conference Center in Southfield, Michigan.

In attendance were 171 registered adult members, 11 youth representatives and 5 guests for a total of 187. Ten of the 11 youth representatives were also adult members. Each attendee received a digest of information which complemented the meeting.

The pledge of allegiance to the flag was recited.

Chairperson Fletcher thanked those in attendance for coming to the meeting. She introduced members of the transition board, boards of the merging partners and the nominating committee.

Tom McKay, chairman of the Nominating Committee, made the announcement and procedure for floor nominations. Nominees applying by December 1 were reviewed by the nominating committee and were included in the information package that each attendee received. He then took nominations from the floor. There were no nominations from the floor for president, vice-president or adult board member. He identified the requirements for being considered for Youth Committee. Edward DeGraaf and Randy Smith were nominated from the floor for Youth Committee.

Chairperson Fletcher reported that the ABC, WIBC and YABA had merged effective January 1, 2005. Membership of the Detroit Women’s Bowling Association (DWBA) and Pontiac Women’s Bowling Association (PWBA), delegates of the Greater Detroit Bowling Association (GDBA) and the board of directors of the Greater Detroit Youth Association have all approved the merger. The Transition Board was formed with representatives of all of the merging associations in May 2005.

Jurisdictional boundary issues were resolved through mediation with Oak Lanes, Romulus Recreation and Garden Lanes to become part of the Western Wayne USBC. Salt River Lanes and Summit Lanes will become part of Metro Detroit USBC. There is still an open jurisdictional boundary issue with 700 Bowl in South Lyon with the Arbor Valley USBC Association.

The Transition Board established bylaws and structure of the organization, which were submitted to USBC for approval. These have been approved.

Each of the merging partners have identified funds for the Metro Detroit USBC.

Douglas Moye, member of the MDUSBC Transition Board, reviewed the rules of the meeting which were published in the digest.

Gerald DeRuiter, 4^th Vice-President of the GDBA, reported that each of the merging partners had conducted financial audits as of July 31, 2005 and all were in order. A copy of the cover letter for each of the financial audits was published in the digest.

Mark Martin, Recording Secretary of the MDUSBC Transition Board, reviewed the operating budget of the MDUSBC.

Jerry Owczarski, member of the MDUSBC Transition Board, reported on the proposed bylaws for the MDUSBC. Each member had a summary copy of the bylaws in the digest. The bylaws included the official name of Metro Detroit USBC Association; local adult dues of $8 and local youth dues of $3.25; board size of 17 including a president, one vice-president, 10 adult board members and five members to be elected by the Youth Committee; terms for officers and board members of two years; term limits for officers and board members; 50 members required for a quorum at the annual meeting; 8 youth representatives to constitute a quorum for youth related elections and activities; 10 board members to constitute a quorum for board meetings and amendments must be submitted at least 60 days prior to the membership meeting when the association is considering the proposal. The bylaws were approved on a 159 in favor, 6 opposed and 1 abstention.

Since there were only nine candidates for the 20 available spots on the Youth Committee, Tom McKay, chairman of the Nominating Committee, accepted a motion to elect the Youth Committee by acclimation from Tom Schmansky, supported by Randy Tambourine. Motion carried on a voice vote from the youth representatives. Elected to the Youth Committee were Matthew Black, Robert Black, Ann Block, Edward DeGraaf, Laura Dembek, Aileen Hnidy, Thomas Schmansky, Randy Smith and Randy Tambourine.

There were five nominees for delegates to the State Youth meeting. The nominees were Matthew Black, Robert Black, Laura Dembek, Edward DeGraaf and Randy Tambourine. The MDUSBC is allowed eight delegates. Since there were less candidates than available spots as delegate to the State Youth meeting a motion was accepted from Thomas Schmansky to elect the delegates to the State Youth meeting by acclimation, supported by Dorothy Thompson. Motion carried on a voice vote from the youth representatives.

McKay conducted the elections. Election of officers and adult board members is by majority vote. If majority vote is not attained by the number of open positions, then those that received majority vote would be elected and the one with the lowest vote would be dropped from the ballot for future ballots for that position. Delegates to state meetings are by plurality vote.

Election of president for a two-year term: The nominees were Gerald DeRuiter, Libbi Fletcher, Douglas Moye and Jerry Owczarski. The voting was conducted by ballot.

McKay took nominations from the floor for eight delegates to the State WBA meeting. The nominees were Myrtha Cooper, Anita Maiorana, Jan Willson (declined), Ann Block, Libbi Fletcher, Aileen Hnidy, Liz Ketterman, Linda Landrum, Laura Dembek and Abbie Hill.

McKay took nominations from the floor for five delegates to the State BA meeting. The nominees were Scott McLeod, Gerald DeRuiter, Ed Malinowski, Jack Dahlstrom and Doug Moye. Nominations were suspended until after the results of the election for officers and adult board members.

First ballot results for president was Fletcher 92, DeRuiter 32, Owczarski 32 and Moye 9. There were 165 votes cast, must receive 83 to be elected. Fletcher was elected president on the first ballot.

Election of vice-president for a one-year term: The nominees were Roy Biggs, Gerald DeRuiter, Ed Malinowski, Douglas Moye, Jerry Owczarski and Dorothy Thompson.

First ballot results were Owczarski 50, Thompson 37, DeRuiter 36, Biggs 20, Malinowski 18 and Moye 10. There were 171 votes cast, must receive 86 to be elected. Moye was eliminated from the next ballot.

Second ballot results were Owczarski 79, Thompson 39, DeRuiter 26, Biggs 11 and Malinowski 8. There were 163 votes cast, must receive 82 to be elected. Malinowski was eliminated from the next ballot. Biggs removed his name from nomination.

Third ballot results were Owczarski 109, Thompson 36 and DeRuiter 19. There were 164 votes cast, must receive 83 to be elected. Owczarski was elected vice-president on the third ballot.

Election of adult board members (first five elected to a two-year term, the next five elected to a one-year term): The nominees were Roy Biggs, David Bowman, Jack Dahlstrom, John Davis Jr., Michael DeRousie, Gerald DeRuiter, Debra Dickerson, Michael Felcyn, Dorothy Fuson, Michele Gerdes, Louis Ivancik, Kathy Sue Kiefiuk, Patricia Lareine Klix, Anita Maiorana, Ed Malinowski, Richard Marks, Scott McLeod, Kenneth Miller, Douglas Moye, Richard Picklo, John Rossetto Jr., Dorothy Thompson and Anthony Zainea.

First ballot results were Dickerson 94, Davis 87, Maiorana 84, Biggs 81, Thompson 80, DeRuiter 71, Zainea 69, Klix 65, Bowman 63, McLeod 52, Moye 45, Malinowski 44, Miller 42, Dahlstrom 41, Ivancik 40, DeRousie 36, Rossetto 34, Gerdes 29, Marks 27, Kiefiuk 27, Fuson 24, Felcyn 23 and Picklo 16. There were 167 ballots cast, must receive 84 votes to be elected. Dickerson, Davis and Maiorana were elected to two-year terms. Picklo was eliminated from the next ballot.

Second ballot results were Biggs 66, Klix 65, Bowman 62, DeRuiter 59, Thompson 56, McLeod 47, Zainea 44, DeRousie 29, Dahlstrom 28, Miller 26, Moye 26, Ivancik 25, Malinowski 24, Gerdes 21, Kiefiuk 21, Rossetto 19, Fuson 17, Felcyn 14 and Marks 9. There were 127 ballots cast, must receive 64 to be elected. Biggs and Klix were elected to two-year terms. Marks was eliminated from the next ballot.

Third ballot results were DeRuiter 60, Bowman 56, Zainea 45, Thompson 43, McLeod 40, Ivancik 26, Miller 26, DeRousie 25, Dahlstrom 24, Moye 18, Malinowski 15, Kiefiuk 12, Rossetto 12, Fuson 10, Gerdes 10 and Felcyn 8. There were 90 ballots cast, must receive 46 to be elected. DeRuiter and Bowman were elected to one-year terms. Felcyn was eliminated from the next ballot.

Fourth ballot results were Zainea 43, McLeod 39, Thompson 34, DeRousie 22, Miller 20, Ivancik 18, Dahlstrom 15, Moye 9, Kiefiuk 8, Rossetto 5, Fuson 4, Gerdes 4 and Malinowski 4. There were 79 ballots cast, must receive 40 to be elected. Zainea was elected to a one-year term. No one was eliminated from the next ballot.

Fifth ballot results were McLeod 43, Thompson 37, DeRousie 18, Ivancik 18, Miller 16, Dahlstrom 7, Moye 4, Kiefiuk 3, Rossetto 2, Gerdes 1, Malinowski 1 and Fuson 0. There were 76 ballots cast, must receive 39 to be elected. McLeod was elected to a one-year term. Fuson was eliminated from the next ballot.

Sixth ballot results were Thompson 35, DeRousie 14, Miller 10, Ivancik 8, Malinowski 2, Moye 2, Dahlstrom 1, Gerdes 1, Kiefiuk 0 and Rossetto 0. There were 73 ballots cast, must receive 37 to be elected. No one received enough votes to be elected. Moye removed his name from nomination.

Seventh ballot results were Thompson 43, DeRousie 18, Miller 6, Ivancik 3, Dahlstrom 1, Gerdes 1, Malinowski 1, Kiefiuk 0 and Rossetto 0. There were 73 ballots cast, must receive 37 to be elected. Thompson was elected to the one-year term.

McKay again opened nominations from the floor for delegates to the State WBA meeting. There were no further nominations. Laura Dembek removed her name from nomination as a delegate to the State WBA meeting. With eight candidates for eight delegate positions, a motion was accepted from Terrell Smith to elect the delegate to the State WBA meeting by acclimation, supported by Debra Dickerson. Motion carried on a voice vote.

McKay again opened nominations from the floor for delegates to the State BA meeting. Additional nominations were received for Jerry Owczarski, Libbi Fletcher, Anthony Zainea, David Bowman and Roy Biggs. Doug Moye removed his name from nomination.

There were nine candidates for delegate to the State BA meeting. They were David Bowman, Roy Biggs, Jack Dahlstrom, Gerald DeRuiter, Libbi Fletcher, Ed Malinowski, Scott McLeod, Jerry Owczarski and Anthony Zainea.

Delegates are elected by plurality. The ballot results were Biggs 46, Bowman 45, Owczarski 43, McLeod, 37, DeRuiter 33, Fletcher 28, Zainea 26, Dahlstrom 17 and Malinowski 10. Biggs, Bowman, Owczarski, McLeod and DeRuiter were elected delegates to the State BA meeting.

McKay ordered the ballots to be destroyed from all elections.

President Fletcher thanked everyone for attending and participating in the meeting and closed the meeting with a quote by Pauline Keger, "Continuity gives us roots. Change gives us branches, letting us stretch and grow and reach new heights."

The meeting was adjourned at 8:56 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Mark A. Martin

MDUSBC Transition Board Recording Secretary