Meeting Minutes

The Business Meeting was held on March 3, 2019, at 12:30 PM in Gettysburg.

Kurt and Michael Schneider donated $3,500 for scholastic purposes. They will make another donation next year.

The Pennsylvania State Championship will be held in Pittsburgh next year unless someone else volunteers to run it.

Joshua Anderson is still listed as the PSCF Scholastic Coordinator on some website pages, which need to be updated.

By Joseph J. Mucerino, Jr.
PSCF Secretary

The Business Meeting was held on October 14, 2018, at 9:30 AM.

Elections

Everyone has been re-elected with the following exceptions:

Vice President East: Peter Minear

Central Scholastic Coordinator (new position): Leteef Street

Vice President Central: We are looking for a candidate. It appears that George Daubert will accept.

Senior representative to Nationals

The State Championship the previous year will determine the representative from Pennsylvania to the national championship, held at the U.S. Open. The top finisher in the open section will be the representative. If he/she refuses, the next highest finisher will qualify. Should the top five finishers all refuse, then the January rating list of the top age 50+ Pennsylvania players will be used.

Financial support for the top scholastic finishers at the State Scholastic Championship

The profits from the last ten years of the tournament will be used to determine how much money will be awarded to the top students and teams at the State Scholastic Championship. These scholarships will be awarded at the prize ceremony of the tournament.

By Joseph J. Mucerino, Jr.
PSCF Secretary

The Business Meeting was held on March 12, 2017, at 12:30 PM.

Joe Mucerino will ask the State College club if they are interested in hosting the 2018 State Championship. He will advise Tom Martinak if anyone in eastern or central PA is interested in hosting it as well.

Tom Martinak will try to find a site for the 2017 PA Amateur Championship.

The 2017 State Scholastic Championship was much better run than 2016.

By Joseph J. Mucerino, Jr.
PSCF Secretary

The Business Meeting was held on October 30, 2016, at 2:15 PM.

This was an election year:

• President: Tom Martinak

• Vice-President West: Boyd Reed

• Vice-President Central: Ronald Floess

• Vice-President East: Leteef Street

• Secretary: Joseph Mucerino

• Treasurer: Stan Booz

• Scholastic Coordinator: Brad Crable

It was discussed that the PSCF President should sign off on a National TD to run the state scholastic championship.

Only one person should make contracts for the PSCF (with the President’s approval).

For the State Scholastic Championship, the goal is for Tom Martinak and Boyd Reed to run it next year while training others. Then, in 2018, the trainees will run the tournament, with Tom and Boyd on site in an advisory capacity. In 2019, the trainees will hopefully take over.

We are looking for sites for both the state championship (although it will be held in Lancaster in 2017) and the Pennsylvania State Amateur Championship.

The accounting is messed up. Hopefully, the PSCF will start fresh in 2017.

By Joseph J. Mucerino, Jr.
PSCF Secretary

No meeting minutes.

The 2014 PSCF Business Meeting took place on March 9, 2014, from about 12:15-1:15 pm in Carlisle, PA. Five people were in attendance at one point or another.

Elections. All officers were re-elected unanimously.

The Pennsylvania State Champion is due to be in Western PA in 2015. After that, it will rotate only East and West, only stopping in Central PA if someone is willing to organize it there.

The Pennsylvania State Scholastic Championship is moving to Lancaster next year for at least two years.

In late 2013, the PSCF website was hacked. Some files had been backed up, but others were not. Efforts will be made to backup everything in the future.

There was talk about continuing a printed Pennswoodpusher, or delivering it online. In order to keep the printed version, money will need to be spent to pay for a costly new printer. Or, money will be needed to be spent to update the website. No formal decision was made, although updating the website seemed to be the more popular option.

The PSCF is doing well financially. The three types of money the PSCF has are:

• 1. Scholarships. The PSCF has $3,200 that it must keep in order to pay scholarship obligations.

• 2. General PSCF Fund. The PSCF has $20,000 here. This is where the dues money has been going since the Pennswoodpusher has been published sporadically over the last few years.

• 3. Scholastic Money. It is unknown how much money has been set aside here.

State Scholastic Coordinator Joshua Anderson will contact Treasurer Stan Booz to try to be able to make checks from the PSCF account, and to find out how much money is in Scholastic Money.

Some money will also be set aside in case a blizzard causes a poor turnout at the State Scholastic Championship, and the PSCF is still required to pay hotel costs, etc.

In case a group requests to use some of the money, procedures will be needed to be added to determine how to grant money.

By Joseph J. Mucerino, Jr.
PSCF Secretary

Only about 30 players attended the state championship this weekend in Frazer. Peter Minear won the open section (again) ahead of Igor Khmelnitsky, who drew Minear and NM Stanislav Busygin in the final round. Kiran Rebholz won the U1800 section.

Boyd Reed, Josh Anderson, and myself attended the business meeting today, July 21.

The 2014 state championship will be in Carlisle. The Carlisle Open will double as the state championship. The 2015 state championship will be in western Pennsylvania. After that, due to low turnout, central PA will be removed from the rotation, and the rotation will simply become east-west. Naturally, this decision can be reversed if events change.

Beginning in 2015, for at least two years, the state scholastic championship will move to Lancaster (the Lancaster Host, across the street from Dutch Wonderland). Next month, Josh will get a contract signed. The Lancaster site is much bigger than Carlisle, so we have room to grow, which we could not do at Carlisle.

Boyd went into great detail about the kind of things that should be put into the contract.

The meeting lasted about 40 minutes.

By Joseph J. Mucerino, Jr.
PSCF Secretary

The meeting was held on November 3, 2012, from approximately 6:30-6:40 pm.

1. Elections were held, with two new officers: Boyd Reed as Vice President West, and Joshua Anderson as the State Scholastic Coordinator. All other officers were re-elected. The vote was a unanimous 4-0 in favor of electing those on the ballot. Joseph Mucerino may become the new Eastern PA Clearinghouse coordinator.

2. Finances are fine.

3. Joshua Anderson and Boyd Reed are going to talk about website changes.

4. A list of USCF delegates is needed.

By Joseph J. Mucerino, Jr.
PSCF Secretary

1. The Carlisle Open (or wherever its held) will become the state championship once every three years beginning in 2014, when the tournament is held in central PA.

2. Joshua Anderson is the new editor of the PENNSWOODPUSHER.

3. Finances are good. Profits from the 2008 state championship will help cover losses from the 2011 state championship.

4. Everyone is encouraged to run for PSCF president next year.

By Joseph J. Mucerino, Jr.
PSCF Secretary

No meeting minutes.

The 2009 Pennsylvania State Championship was held at Pittsburgh this year, and the business meeting took place on November 1, from 2:25pm to 2:35pm between rounds four and five.

• Leteef Street won a special election to become Vice President East, succeeding Dr. Ira Lee Riddle, who passed away earlier this year.

• The state championship will be named in the memory of Dr. Riddle.

• The Greater Hazleton Area Chess Club will host the 2010 Pennsylvania State Championship, probably in West Hazleton.

• The Pennswoodpusher is looking for a new editor.

By Joseph J. Mucerino, Jr.
PSCF Secretary

The business meeting opened at 9:15 am November 9, 2008, at the Plumbers and Pipefitters Union Hall, Local 520, Harrisburg PA. About eight people were in attendance.

Finances are good. The PSCF has about 1,000 members paying $5 per year in dues, so income is $5,000 per year. THE PENNSWOODPUSHER is the only real expense, and that costs $4,000 per year. Tournaments basically break even cost wise.

The contract with the hotel in Carlisle that hosts the state scholastic championship runs out after 2009. We believe that we can find a better rate and will try to do so while remaining in central Pennsylvania. We would also like to try to get a few more tournament directors involved with that tournament.

Next year's state championship will be in western Pennsylvania, most likely the University of Pittsburgh.

A clearing house for central and eastern Pennsylvania should be set up.

Elections: All officers are re-elected except for Sam Lamonto, who is being replaced by Ron Gross as the central Pennsylvania Vice President.

The meeting ended at 9:51 am.

Joseph J. Mucerino, Jr.
PSCF Secretary

The 2006 Pennsylvania State Championship was held at Pittsburgh this year, and the business meeting took place on July 23, between rounds four and five.

The meeting was very brief. The following was noted:

• The PSCF made $500 in the last fiscal year.

• The PSCF has no financial problems.

This was an election year, and the following people were elected to office:

• President: Tom Martinak

• Vice President East: Ira Riddle

• Vice President Central: Sam Lamonto (new officer)

• Vice President West: Bruce Leverett (new officer)

• Treasurer: Stan Booz

• Secretary: Joseph Mucerino

• Scholastic Coordinator: Steve McLaughlin, Sr.

by Joseph J. Mucerino, Jr.
PSCF Secretary

The meeting opened at 9:56 a.m., August 22, 2004.

Four items were discussed.

• The PSCF is doing well financially. Membership dues cover PennsWoodPusher and other expenses with an excess of @$2000. The profit from all of the various tournaments in Carlisle (excepting $250 left to grow the scholastic fund) is used to help fund the winning teams and individuals at the Nationals. The events that Dr. Riddle runs are largely break-even or moderately profitable, while any profit from the tournaments that President Martinak runs in Pittsburgh is to be used to cover any other tournament losses occurring there and to fund the Western PA Junior Invitational.

• The PSCF will be producing another publication called the Pennswoodpusher Annual. This will be circulated to members, clubs, and tournament directors around the state as an outreach venture to try to inform everyone what the PSCF is all about, have a summary about what occured in the prior year, and include some items that did not fit in the Pennswoodpusher. The cost will be about $500 annually, which will come out of the $2,184.50 net income. There will be no raise in dues; they will remain $5 a year.

• Next year, Central Pennsylvania is due to host the State Championship. Originally, the Tullah Hanlley Grand Prix, ran by Dr. Robert Ferguson in Bradford, was going to be the event that decided the championship next year. However, the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford informed Dr. Ferguson that they would not allow him to use the campus to hold the Castle Chess Camp and the Tullah Hanley Grand Prix next year. He is currently looking for another site to hold the chess camp. If the site is in Central Pennsylvania, then that tournament will crown the state champion. But since Bradford is so close to New York, Dr. Ferguson may move the camp across the border, and we will be unable to use a New York event as the Pennsylvania State Championship.
  Other sites were discussed both in the meeting, and informally prior to the meeting. All were negated:

  • CARLISLE - Some players (as well as myself) were wondering if the Clarion Hotel, where the state scholastic championships were held this year, could be used to hold the State Championship next year. It would cost the PSCF $1,500 to rent a room that holds about 200 people on Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday, which is about ten times more than the PSCF paid St. Luke's Church in Allentown for this year's event. While the site is fine, it is too expensive.

  • CAMP HILL - The venue of the 2002 championship was turned down because a PSCF quad a few months later had to be cancelled because the library double booked the room and kicked us out. We cannot risk that again. Also, while the event was well attended, the players did not like the site because it was too crowded.

  • SEVEN VALLEYS - The Light of Life Performing Arts Studio is too small, and we cannot get it on Sunday.

  • STATE COLLEGE - While we can get the right venue at the right price, there was very poor attendance in the years that State College hosted the State Championship.

• The State Championship is currently open to bids. Do not be scared off by the word "bids". All you or your club has to do is collect PSCF dues from non-members, and write a check to the PSCF for $5 times the number of new and renewing members. You or your club will have to find a site, do the advertising, and run the tournament, and also incurr any profit or loss the event makes. If you do not want to run the event, but think you know of a good site that can hold about 150 people, please contact Tom Martinak no later than December 1.

• Every two years, there are elections at the Annual Meeting. This was one such year, and the following people were elected to the following positions unanomously:

  • President: Tom Martinak

  • Vice President East: Ira Riddle

  • Vice President Central: Greg Vaserstein

  • Vice President West: Boyd Reed (new officer)

  • Treasurer: Stanley Booz

  • Secretary: Joseph Mucerino, Jr. (new officer)

  • Scholastic Coordinator: Steve McLaughlin, Sr.

The meeting adjourned at 10:37 a.m.

by Joseph J. Mucerino, Jr.
PSCF Secretary

The 2002 PSCF Annual Membership Meeting was held between rounds one and two of the PSCF Pennsylvania State Chess Championship in Camp Hill, PA, on September 28, 2002.

The Meeting was called to order by PSCF President Dr. Ira Lee Riddle at 1:46 PM.

Officers present:

• Ira Lee Riddle, President

• Neil Brennen, Historian and Publications Editor

There were 35 PSCF members present.

It was noted that the Secretary was not present and minutes were to be taken by Neil Brennen.

The old minutes, as published, were approved.

In the absence of the Treasurer, Ira Lee Riddle delivered the PSCF Treasurer's report. PSCF Account Balances as of 9/28/02:

• Regular savings account: $4174.43

• Postal savings account: $948.93

• Checking account: $1346.78

• Life Member Certificate: $3394.66

The certificate is maturing shortly. The PSCF continues to be in good financial circumstances.

The bi-annual election of officers was held. There was only one nominee for each elected officer position, and thus no vote was taken.

The new officers of the PSCF are:

• President - Thomas Martinak

• Vice-President (East) - Ira Lee Riddle

• Vice President (Central) - Gregory Vaserstein

• Vice-President (West) - Bobby Dudley

• Treasurer - Stanley Booz

• Secretary- Samuel Lamonto (note: because of an increasing workload, he was forced to decline his election and Brian Sheinfeld was chosen as a replacement. -TMM)

• Scholastic Coordinator - Steven McLaughlin

Tom Martinak applied for Pittsburgh to host the the 2003 PSCF Pennsylvania State Chess Championship. In the absence of a rival bid, Pittsburgh was awarded the right to host the tournament for 2003.

Neil Brennen reminded the membership attending the meeting that the Pennwoodpusher was the PSCF's magazine, and that contributions of publishable material were welcome.

There was no new business.

Ira Lee Riddle closed the meeting at 1:53 PM.

Meeting was called to order at 9:31 a.m. by President Ira Lee Riddle.

Currently, we have about $3500 in savings, a little over $1000 in checking, and a certificate of deposit for $2500. The CD is to ensure that the Life Membership responsibility is fully funded. Currently, we have 31 Life members. The checking account does not earn interest, while the savings account does. When the CD matures in October, it will be increased to $3100 to cover all the Life members.

Dan Heisman presented copies of his proposed by-laws to the PSCF constitution dealing with scholastic committee set-up and composition. The proposals were accepted unanimously.

The membership reluctantly accepted the resignation/retirement of PSCF treasurer Al Breaux, Jr., who has served the PSCF for 21 years or so. Al feels that he is getting away from chess and has no hard feelings at all towards the PSCF. Stan Booz of Warrington was nominated and elected to the now-vacant post of treasurer. Stan is a CPA and also a member of the USCF Finance Committee. (In fact, the finance committee was expanded last year in order to put him on it!)

Dues were discussed. It is probable that the PennsWoodPusher will have a new editor sometime early next year. The size may also be increased, either in pages or physical size of the magazine. In order to plan for that, adult dues may be raised from $5 to $10, effective March 1st, 2002. However, this is not definite until we see how much an increased size of magazine would cost. Dues could go up to an amount less than $10, or maybe not go up at all.

Two bids were talked about for next year's state tournament. Both State College and Lancaster are interested in hosting the event. They were both asked to submit bids to PSCF President Riddle by October 1st, with the final decision to be made by November 1st.

Overall, the tournament made a small profit, which was shared three ways: Allentown Chess Club, St. Luke's Church, and the PSCF.

Notes provided by PSCF President Ira Lee Riddle.