Present: Eric, Marilyn, Melissa, Fred, Noreen, Don, Arwen, Alex, Cynthea, Leigh

President Eric opened the meeting at 10 am. The minutes from the Annual meeting were printed in the Imbolc issue of the newsletter, and received no corrections, so they will stand as printed.

Officers. With EPN dropping its officers and directors insurance, Marilyn had resigned as Recording Secretary at the beginning of the month, with the offer to take notes at this meeting during which time a discussion would be held concerning the office. We had been paying $600+ per year for insurance, and they had raised it to $712; two more years of such bills would do away with EPN's bank balance. We discussed various options: Eric could appoint a replacement; we could run with volunteer note takers until the next year; we could hold a special election; we could change the By-Laws so the Recording Secretary is no longer a Board member; we could make the two Secretary positions into one, and have the Secretary appoint someone to take minutes at each meeting. In the end, it was decided to have Eric appoint Arwen to both Secretary positions, and she could exercise the option open to any Officer of having an EPN member assist in her duties. She then asked Marilyn to assist her by taking minutes for meetings, and Marilyn agreed.

With a vacancy in the Outreach/Interfaith post, Cynthea agreed to accept appointment to take it on, provided she could have support. Eric pointed out that she could form a committee to assist her, and in response to her question, said that minors cannot serve on EPN committees because they cannot be members of EPN.

The Officers slate now reads: President: Eric (term ends 12/31/2001); V.P.: Jane (12/21/03); Secretary: Arwen (12/31/02); Treasurer: Aree (12/31/02); Membership: Melissa (12/31/02); Newsletter: StarCat (12/31/03); Outreach/Interfaith: Cynthea (12/31/03).

Outreach. PJane has a pamphlet for educators in process. Eric is hoping to use it at Coney H.S. when he will be part of a panel for their Diversity Day. Arwen mentioned that there will be a statewide conference of high school civil rights teams, and asked if EPN could have a statewide presence by attending that meeting. Eric said he would attend it, and that he welcomed other participants, and would post that on the EPN list.

Newsletter Subscriptions. As part of the discussion about insurance, Melissa asked how long we have been charging $11 for the newsletter; when told that it's been 6 years, she wondered if we might consider raising the rates. Eric said he'd refer the matter to StarCat (via mail). He also said it might be possible to do an e-newsletter for $11 and to charge more for a paper subscription. Arwen pointed out that we no longer do drop copies, so that cost has been eliminated. Leigh mentioned that ArtsGroup of Maine had done an e-option for their newsletter and reduced their costs. Marilyn pointed out that this would also save trees. Melissa wondered if we ought to consider raising the subscription rate anyway, and Arwen said that our subscription base has shrunk in recent years. She also said that our content has diminished (with no one sending in material), and that the calendar was one of the key reasons for subscribing, and that information is now available online. Eric felt that if we raise subscription fees, we may lose subscribers; if we maintain the current cost and make the newsletter electronic (and therefore less costly), it could free us up to put more energy into our other works: fairs, diversity days, and retreats.

Fairs. Maine Arts will run from August 2 through 5; Marilyn is still waiting to hear from them.

Common Ground Fair will run from September 21 through 23; Arwen has submitted EPN's application. Immanent Grove will also be doing a Solstice celebration for the MOFGA Stonecutters Fair on Saturday 6/23 at 7 pm, with all EPN folks welcome.

Fund Raising. Don urged us to consider the fairs as opportunities for fund raising, and wondered if we might encourage folks to bake things to sell at our booths. Eric pointed out that the CGF has stringent food restrictions, and said that any time anyone wanted to hold an EPN bake sale or other event to raise money, Apple Valley Books would be more than happy to provide bumper stickers and buttons. Cynthea suggested painted tiles as an option. Eric also mentioned that holding a bake sale could be a problem for those who are not out of the broom closet, and that a Pagan bake sale could attract unnecessary negative attention. Fred suggested that we sell God loaves, and Marilyn said we could do it under the banner of "God Loaves You". It was also suggested that we could join in with any town yard sales, Rotary, etc. and take advantage of someone else's crowd, provided we were welcome. We might even have the distinction of running the first-ever Pagan bake sale in Maine!

Electronic Options. Eric said that the EPN Web page is now registered at earthtides.org. Anyone who is Web wise would be welcome to help maintain the page; Eric said he could help, but he's not really up on html. Noreen said that the Maine Home School page has a password protected section, and that EPN might consider that as an option for the varying forms of the newsletter. Melissa also said we could create a bulletin board that would be available to members only, on which we could upload files, graphics, and so forth in the same way that the EPN E-Groups list operates.

The meeting was adjourned at 11 am.

Blessed be!

Marilyn
Volunteer Note Taker