Ginny Greene called the meeting to order. Thanks to Russell Ellison, artist in residence at the CCC, the doors were unlocked for our meeting. Ginny presented tonight's words: "Opportunity to Serve."

GUESTS:

Ken Murray, a former member, was a welcomed back; April Wilmore came with her mother, Mrs. Johnson, who was celebrating her 8___ birthday. Special guest, Bridget Macnamara, a B1B pilot and pilot instructor, was introduced as a surprise speaker during our program.

Brags and Sags.

• Karen Witemeyer reported that Bethany House Publishing is will not be publishing her manuscript as the story was too similar to something they already published. However, the Editor encouragingly asked her for a new proposal!
• Gordon ______ reports that his book, "Battles East," has been selling well since its release in December. His second manuscript is complete and he will be shopping around for a different publisher.
• Nancy Masters began bragging on Stewart and asked him to finish the brag. Stewart attends First Methodist Church. The church will celebrate its 125th anniversary on 4/27/08. He has been asked to write blurbs in the church bulletin providing tiny bites of history each Sunday until April. He will then compile them into the church's Newsletter.
• Richard Pickett reports he finished two musicals and a contatusical—a term he coined (which is part cantata and part musical. His church will present one for Christmas. He will also be sending his musicals to various places in hopes someone will produce one Broadway style.
• Ken Murray reports that he writes non-fiction which is 98% G-rated and 2% PG rated.
• Barbara Rollins reported on the Silver Boomers project. She, Ginny Greene and Karen Greene have become a publishing company in the do-it-ourselves style. A thousand copies should be here in a week. The deadline for submissions to the sequal is April 15, 2008. Contact Barbara, Ginny or Karen for specifics.
• Jim Johnson has a new full-time job at the Monogrammer. Congratulations, Jim!

Ginny indicated that a copy of the previous meeting Minutes is posted on our website. All Board members have read them and made necessary corrections; however if members find any errors or omission, please notify Sharon Ellison, Secretary, or Barbara Rollins, Webmaster.

There was no financial report available. We have about 87 paid members at this time.

Old Business:

Nancy reports over 500 books have been shipped in our "Paperbacks for Patriots" emphasis. They are reportedly grabbed up within seconds after the box is opened! Please bring good books to any Board member or to Nancy at any meeting. No pornography or anything political, please.

New Business:

A nominating committee was chosen, consisting of Sue Davis, Chairperson, along with Carolyn Dycus and David Dodge. They will recommend additions and/or replacements to the Board, to be voted on by May. New officers will be seated beginning June 1.

April 26 Workshop News! Nancy reports that Pat Parker will teach us how to use our brains, become more creative and make our writing work. Also on the Program will be Linda Kirkpatrick, a National Cowboy Award-winning poet, who will teach us how to write better stories….not just poems, but Linda says all poems tell a story. This is a free workshop from 10 am to noon, perhaps 1 pm. We are all encouraged to invite friends to this free workshop.

ByLaws:

There were no suggestions from the membership at large for changes or additions to our current ByLaws. However, the Board will work on describing our members more accurately as far as full membership, family membership, associate, etc., for clarification purposes.

Refreshments:

Sue Davis has done an outstanding job in charge of this task. She will have a new list at next month's meeting. She needs 1 or 2 more to help with refreshments in March.

Member-Only Contest winners for "Flights of Fancy -- Love" for February were announced by Karen Witemeyer. Again this month 11 members submitted entries. This month there were 15 entries, up by two from January. Winners were as follows:

Memoir/Nostalgia: Honorable Mention -- Sue Davis 3rd Place -- Martha Narotky 2nd Place -- Ginny Greene 1st Place -- Judy Kellerman

Unrhymed Poetry: Honorable Mention and 3rd place -- Jim Wilson 2nd Place -- Carolyn Dycus 1st Place -- Ginny Greene

Adult Fiction: 1st Place -- Sharon Ellison
Since there were only three entries in this category, there is only one winner.

March's contest deadline is the 10th. Theme is "In Like a Lion." You must enter for a chance to win!

Barbara Rollins then discussed some issues brought to the attention of the Board. Some members may not want their email address and home address published on our website. If you want it there, it is possible. The question the Board is asking the membership is this: Should we have that page on the website at all? Privacy issues do exist and the Board wants input about member concerns.

Nancy Masters then introduced Bridget Macnamara, a pilot and instructor pilot for the B1B's stationed at Dyess Air Force Base. Bridget amazed us all with a story about needing to refuel in-flight after dropping bombs on a designated target, only to find out her plane was experiencing problems and could not refuel. Lots of information had to be compressed into a short amount of time. Decisions had to be made about where they might be able to land and what they would need to do if landing wasn't a possibility! This story led into Sharon Ellison's segment of the program where she discussed her experience sucking in lots of information, squeezing it into short, concise writing and shoving it out…the "Jet Engine Principal" of writing: Suck, Squeeze and Shove.

Refreshments were provided by Karen and Ginny Greene after the program

Respectfully submitted,



Sharon Ellison, Secretary