The meeting opened at 7:20 PM at Apple Valley Books in Winthrop.

Present were Eric, Harry, Thea, Arwen, Aree, Marilyn, and Melissa.

Secretary's Report. In response to the terms of office that were in the minutes from the last meeting, Aree said that she thought she was treasurer only through the end of 2001, and so she would like to have the position posted as available for someone new. Arwen offered to take charge of the mailing list that Aree has been maintaining, provided Aree can make it work in Microsoft Works 4.0.

Treasurer's Report. Our current balance is $1260, plus $11 for a recent renewal. When we subtract the costs for printing and mailing the Litha issue of the newsletter (expected to be $62), that will leave us with $1209. Our payments for both Common Ground Fair and the Maine Arts Festival have been made, and we'll have enough money to print the needed flyers for those fairs. Last year's June balance was $1100.59, so we're doing all right financially.

Membership Report. Melissa has been filing information as it is sent by others. Our next big membership influx (new and renewing) will be in September from the Common Ground Fair.

Interfaith Officer Report. Thea has been recovering from foot surgery, and so had nothing new to report.

Election of Officers. Arwen will post an announcement of the openings for President and Treasurer of EPN in the appropriate venues. A discussion of the location of the current text of the By-Laws was resolved when we realized that Jane, who is in charge of our Web page, has probably posted them on the page. Aree said she also had copies which she could send to Thea and to Arwen.

Newsletter. Starcat had written to board members in advance of the meeting, which she could not attend. She wrote in support of the paper newsletter, and suggested that we might seek someone to solicit ads. Marilyn mentioned that a friend of the folks at Enchantments had told her that Enchantments didn't have its ad in the "new" newsletter and didn't know who to contact (Marilyn told them "the usual P.O. box"). Thea suggested having ads for services by members; Eric responded that we could try that again, though it had been done and then died off. Thea felt that e-mail ads might receive more reaction. We're currently charging $35 for business card ads and a subscription. Arwen felt that since we've gone down to 58 subscriptions and no more drop copies, potential advertisers may feel we're no longer such a desirable venue. Eric suggested we might offer the ads on our Web site, with a link to the advertisers Web pages (if any). Thea wondered how much the drop copies had cost us; Aree said that we've cut more than half of our postage costs since we stopped the drop copies. Thea wondered if doing only a few drop issues a year might be feasible, and also wondered if e-mail ads might work; Eric said that reproducing ads electronically is quite challenging. We then thought of doing a text alternative for ads in an ASCI version of an e-mail newsletter, with active links to the visual ads on the Web page. Thea also suggested that we develop a blank form to give out to all the groups which regularly offer open rituals to have them fill out once a year so as to make the task of getting those notices in a timely fashion to the newsletter a bit smoother.

Maine Arts. Marilyn has the organizing in hand. We decided we did not want to be open on Thursday, so Eric will contact Andy at Maine Arts directly to figure out when he could set up the booth (since most booths will be set up on Wed or on Thurs morning).

Common Ground Fair. We are definitely in, and will probably have our usual spot in the Social Concerns booth. Fred was asked to attend the meeting of the Social Concerns booth holders on behalf of EPN. Eric and Arwen will be tenting in the Social Concerns tent throughout the fair.

New Business. Marilyn did some research on Ferry Beach as an alternative to the Hersey Retreat Center. Their fees are $600/night for 32 people, roughly three times what we've been paying for Hersey, so they're not really an option. Harry suggested that we look at camps with cabins in the "just prior to opening" season, as it's possible to get special deals. Thea will look into camps in the Saco area; Marilyn will investigate the Friends Camp in China.

The meeting adjorned at 8:35 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Marilyn
Volunteer Notetaker