MINUTES – March 19, 2011 – Bangor Train Station – Bangor, Michigan – 15 attendees

Meeting was opened at 10:00 for the Executive Committee.  Since there were only three members in attendance the session was halted for lack of a quorum.  Four members had been excused due to schedule conflicts.

The General Membership meeting was convened with a discussion by John Langdon on priorities and the setting of goals for same. No decisions were made due to the limited number of members present.

Ken Ratzlaff, was introduced as the featured speaker.  Ken is the owner of the train station and he introduced two members of the South Haven Historical Association.  Ken’s presentation centered around the station (built in 1929) history and railroad development in western Michigan.  He presented maps and pictures of railroad activity throughout the period.  It was most interesting.  As a thank you, it was decided to make a $100 donation to the Historical Association.  Dave Randall will take care of this.

Next, was a discussion of the status of the Michigan Passenger newsletter and the delay that is occurring in the issuance and timeliness.   J.R. Valderas advised that his workload had increased greatly and his time was at a premium.  He said it was almost finished and he expected to publish it before  the end of the month . It was suggested that Vice Chair Whittier and Communications Chair Kay Chase review the issue along with J.R.to see  if a more regular and/timely method of communicating can be developed.

NATIONAL TRAIN DAY- J.R. advised that three towns are signed up – Niles, Bangor, and Jackson.

NEXT MEETING Is planned for April 16 in Lyon

Respectfully submitted – Barney Whittier – Vice Chairman