Covenant Men Board Meeting
May 8, 2004 Cascades Camp and Conference Center

• Bunk beds for 2004 Cabins- Bunk installations are on hold since the first log cabin is not done and the second will not be completed until fall. The beds for the first cabin are scheduled to be assembled June 12. The (5) beds for the second cabin will be assembled after its ready later this fall. There are currently parts stored in the shop for (11) beds.

• Bunk beds for Red Cabins- Tom verified that (6) Bunk beds are desired for the Red Cabin located adjacent to Tahoma Lodge. This would allow it to be used as an overflow for adult groups using the lodge. He noted that due to large amount of capital projects under construction, the camp needs financial assistance to cover at least ½ of the approximately $1,000 cost to purchase the (12) mattresses. The issue of funding a portion of the mattress purchase will be presented at the next meeting.

• 1917 Steam engine locomotive restoration project: Project is on hold. The project planning and volunteer recruitment needs to be completed by August. The restoration work needs to start in September to ensure that project will be completed for the Train Camp to open in approximately late May of 2005. Tom noted that Ken Thomson at Graham Covenant knows two men that might be interested in the project.

• Portable Barbeque Pit- The project is still on hold with a completion date in May 2005 in time for the 4^th of July camp salmon barbeque.

• Camp Board Report: Tom noted that first cabin will be ready for beds on June 12 and work on the 2^nd cabin has been started. The Train camp waterline installation has been completed. He noted that a total of $900,000 plus in pledges have been received towards the capital campaign out of the $1.6M minimum goal so the kitchen expansion and Train Camp are now funded. The State Parks Department has recommended the surplus of the Elbow Lake state park and the park sale approval process has been initiated. The Nisqually Conservatory organization plans to purchase the camp’s river front parcel which would fund the purchase of the Elbow Lake park parcel by the camp. In addition; the Weyerhauser company plans to sell 80 acres on the east side of the lake which the camp wants to purchase to eliminate public access to the lake.

• Growing CovMen- Jeff noted that we need to develop a Plan of Action to grow the ranks of the CovMen group. He suggested that each member invite and encourage someone to join. Dick clarified that in the past we had active church representatives and a multi-point program to promote the purposes of CovMen. He noted that we need to present regular articles in the conference newsletter and better use and update the website. He suggested the use of a leadership retreat to allow time for planning. Bud noted that we need to send a postcard reminder to attendees of the past two retreats to remind them to invite others. He also noted that we need to obtain a more consistent method of replenishing the general fund. The issue of preparing a growth plan will be brought up for further discussion at a future meeting.

• Bunk beds for Train Camp- Tom verified that (65) Bunk beds are needed by June 2005 for the (13) "Train Car" cabins. Work parties need to be scheduled for spring 2005 to complete the beds.

• Bunk beds for 2005 Cabins- Tom verified that (10) Bunk beds are needed by May/June 2005 for the final (2) log cabins. Work parties need to be scheduled for spring 2005 to complete the beds.

• The camp needs volunteers to help lay the train camp railroad tracks in the July/August timeframe and to install trim work in the fall. We need to discuss the extent of CovMen involvement at the next meeting.

• Circle C/Covenant Beach Historical Websites- Dick noted that we need to setup a link to the sites from the CovMen website.

Next Meeting: At Cascades Camp and Conference Center, Yelm, WA on June 12, 2004 at 10am.