BCHI State Board Meeting and Convention, hosted by the Selkirk Valley BCH on March 21 and 22nd was a great success and tons of fun, says SBBCH Roving Reporter, Marybeth Conger

The Weather God was looking out for those that made the trip too, as roads were clear and dry. The views of the northern Idaho landscape to include some Moose and Elk sightings were awesome. Due to the distance (appx 1,000 round trip) there was some major carpooling going on. A big thanks to Phil and Kay Ryan, Robbin Schindele, Bill and Marybeth Conger and Roger Segers who represented the Squaw Butte Chapter well at the State Board and State Foundation Meetings.

It is apparent that the Squaw Butte Chapter is active, both locally and statewide, as 4 of the 4 resolutions discussions items came from us. So let’s recap these Proposals. The State Insurance Proposal, presented by Bill Conger, BCHI Insurance Chairman passed. This mean the State established a policy that at PUBLIC EVENTS dogs must remain contained in camp, and no alcohol shall be sold unless by a licensed caterer.

Then our State and BCHI National Director Robbin Schindele, presented another Proposal dealing with Crowdsourcing and this too passed. So BCHI will be donating$ 2500.00 BCHA to show support of our National organization. In fact, the BCHA chairman called to thank us that day!

Next Marybeth Conger, Alternate State Director presented the proposal on the Calendars and this failed. The Consensus felt it was better to print 2,000 calendar with the intent to sell them all. Of interest though, when the call was made for each individual calendar to commit, the State was about 200 short of the 2,000 mark. This roving reporter found this very interesting.

The last proposal dealing with the importance of growing our organization with increased chapters and increased members within our chapters was presented by Marybeth and became more of a discussion item. It was interesting hearing what other chapters are doing to grow. There continues to be more emphasis on youth projects and the scholarship idea from Panhandle was just one of these. Also, the State Board approved CONDITIONALLY the Palouse Chapter of BCHI, which is up north. Plus there is some interest to start a chapter is the South East area of our state. So it looks like BCHI is looking at ways to grow.
Roger Segers, our Foundation Director attended the Foundation meeting and reminded us to use the Foundation. There is still monies available for Education and Trail work.

Now that we have covered the business part of things, the Convention was just plain FUN. The Food of delicious, and the Speakers were informative and had great presence. Although I could have missed a few of the Trappers graphic photos right before dinner, his message was excellent. The Mayor was a kick and we learned that the Selkirk Valley has more law enforcement due to the proximity of the Canadian border. There was a lively auction and some folks brought home a few special treasures, so you never know when one of them might show up. It was great spending time with BCHI friends from all over the state. All for now!

Photo Contest Results

Devon Mills
1st Place
People Choice

Rob Adams
2nd Place

Laurie Bryan
2nd Place

 

Laurie Bryan
2nd Place