In Attendance: Vice President Garrick Moritz, Board Member Anna Uhl, Board Member Guy Johnson, Carrie Moritz, Tim, Steve Carlson, Mary Ann Carlson, Ron Luke, Jessica Fueston.
The Garretson Commercial Club met in regular session at the Sports Cabin in Garretson, South Dakota on Wednesday, May 12th, 2021.
The board voted on Jessica Fueston taking the secretary position. Garrick Moritz, Anna Uhl, Guy Johnson, Laurie Bennett (via phone), and John Brinkman (via phone) voted: all ayes.
Other than voting on the secretary position, this meeting was not a quorum as only 3 board members were in attendance. Because of this, it was an informational meeting, and the time was used for discussion.
The Commercial Club began by discussing Jesse James Days and reviewing the schedule of events. Garrick received permission from Ron Luke to use the grass area behind Garretson Food Center for the Silver Creek Mavericks, who will hopefully perform a reenactment right after the parade Saturday morning. Guy Johnson noted that the school board has voted to allow people inside the school during the summer, which was previously not an option due to COVID. The conversation then went to the food trucks for Jesse James Days. Ron Luke added that the SDSU Ice Cream Truck is booked for Saturday but will inquire whether they can come to Split Rock Park on Sunday during the events planned there. He did book the Ice Cream Treats Truck for the ballfield area on Saturday in place of the SDSU Ice Cream Truck. The Carlson’s then discussed maintenance that needs to be done on the toddler train, with Garrick offering a hand. The conversation then moved to how large the car show is getting, and Guy approved of it moving to the bigger school parking lot if needed. The final steps included Anna Uhl inquiring about what license will be needed for the bean bag tournament on Friday, as well as letting the Historical Society know that Friday night would work best for their walking tacos stand.
Next, the Commercial Club discussed the sound system. Garrick added that with a small project happening on the street in the next month, this is the perfect time to get the boring done around the Legion. They are planning to have the boring done within the next 30 days.
The conversation then moved to the City and State Park map update, which Steve Carlson stated is finished and would be delivered to John Brinkman that afternoon.
Subsequently, the Commercial Club moved to discussion about the electronic sign on Highway 11. The Commercial Club decided in previous meetings to start posting events for people in the community in order to raise money for a new sign. Mary Ann said that no one had reached out regarding birthdays or anniversaries being posted on the sign and said advertising could be a factor. The members then discussed ways to get the word out, including a bigger newspaper advertisement, a post on the commercial club website, and perhaps a social media post. Mary Ann added that anyone interested can contact her cell, and payments can be mailed to the Commercial Club at PO Box 445.
Finally, Carrie Moritz gave an update on the Commercial Club website. She is nearly ready to go live with it and gave a brief overview of some features. Features included a contact form to become a Commercial Club member (with approval), Commercial Club member’s businesses being more prominent than non-members on the site, and the possibility of an online payment portal. This portal would be used by members to pay dues, and a way to keep sign-ups for events such as the road race in one place. Mary Ann noted that she had looked at the website and believes everyone will be blown away by how well Carrie put it together.
Garrick announced that there will be another meeting on May 26th at O So Good to finalize Jesse James Days details. Because this was not a quorum, it did not require a motion to adjourn.
