SFC Board Mtg Minutes – May 18 2021

Final Board Meeting Minutes May 18, 2021 – 4:30 p.m.
Zoom Meeting

Attending:

Skip Dalrymple
Keenan Hale
Barb Nesci
Jim Jerome
Chris Williamson
Jim DaRin
Karl Lombell
Todd Kasmar

Rusty Mills
Chris Williamson
Keenan Hale
Blake Bednarz
Rusty Mills
Kevin McLoughlin
Rich Rosen 
Richard Murphy


The Final Board Meeting Minutes are as follows:

1. Prayers/Moment of Silence

SFC President Jim DaRin brought the Zoom meeting to order at about 4:35pm with a moment of silence for former players who have recently passed away or are in need due poor health.

2. Approval of Previous SFC Board Meeting Minutes

The draft Board Meeting minutes of March 16, 2021 were accepted and approved at the April SFC Board meeting by the attending Board Members. These minutes will now be distributed in their final version with any attachments in a PDF format to not only to all the Board members but also to the entire SFC membership as a means to continuously inform all the SFC members as to the scope of activities conducted by our organization. These minutes will also be posted on the SFC website. There were no minutes prepared from the March Board meeting due to the absence of the Secretary. An attempt will be made to reconstruct the Board meeting minutes by viewing the Zoom recording of the April SFC Board meeting. Also, with the advent of Zoom meetings becoming the normal routine and with a better comprehension of how this new technology works, the zoom meeting will be posted on the SFC website along with the minutes.

3. Financial Information-Money in Savings and Checking Accounts – Jim Jerome

Jim Jerome and Barb Nesci provided the Board with the following SFC financial balances; A combined checking account and saving account balance of $ 86,112.58 for cash on hand with $63,547.12 in a checking account and $22,565.46 in a savings account. However, of the $63, 547.12 in the checking account nearly $33,000 has been collected for and will soon be donated to “Wall of Service” (formerly referred to as the “Wall of Honor) inside the new National Veteran Resource Center.

4. June 21 Coaches Golf Tournament

This annual affair, cancelled last year due to the Covid Pandemic, is now set to occur at the Tuscarora Golf Club in Marcellus, NY on June 21, 2021. The holding of this event now seems assured as determined by the success of the vaccinations and the willingness of the SU Football Coaching staff (22 Coaches) to attend this affair. According to Nick Marcella the Chairman of this affair, everything is in place to hold this event; however Items are still needed for the auctions, particularly any Syracuse Orange memorabilia. Please submit any auction items or ideas to Nick Marcella soon as possible. Barb Nesci will be sending out the registration forms for signup. The costs are for golf lunch and dinner $150 and just lunch and dinner $100. Various sponsorships, both individual and corporate, will be also available.

5. 1st Annual Marcus Paul Foundation Golf Tournament

Another golf affair associated with SU Football is this new Golf Tournament in memory of the recently deceased former SU gridiron star Marcus Paul. Paul played at Syracuse from 1984-1988 and set a school record with 19 interceptions. He was named an All-American as a senior and was selected in the fourth round of the 1989 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears. He spent five seasons in the NFL mostly with the Bears. Markus played in 71 NFL games and recorded 7 interceptions. In 1998 Markus transitioned from player to coach when he accepted the assistant strength and conditioning position with the New Orleans Saints. Over the next 22 years he would go on to hold strength and conditioning positions with the New England Patriots (3 Super Bowl Rings), New York Jets, New York Giants (2 Super Bowl Rings), and finally the Dallas Cowboys

This new golf tournament will be held on Monday June 7 at the Tuscarora Golf Club in Marcellus, NY. SFC Board members voted to contribute to this affair by sponsoring a hole and subsequently a sponsorship at a hole has been bought. SFC members are encouraged to attend. This Marcus Paul Golf Tournament will benefit the Marcus Paul Foundation. The Markus Paul Foundation (“the MP Foundation”) is a productive resource that improves the lives of hardworking young adults in Osceola County, Florida who may be underrepresented in colleges and universities. The MP Foundation has deep roots in the community and is focused on giving back. Some of the support to students will include financial assistance scholarships to Osceola High School students and donations to the local Boys & Girls Club. To support students beyond high school, the MP Foundation will donate resources to Syracuse University. These resources will focus on the Syracuse University Football Program, its strength and conditioning program, and students majoring in exercise science.

6. Black Lives Matter Video

Chris Williamson described the video as almost complete. The final editing of the video to get it down to a 30 second long format which would then enable it to be shown commercially during SU football games, is still ongoing. Jim DaRin, who has viewed the latest version of the video, expressed his full endorsement of the contents. When the BLM video is completed a review and approval from SU will be sought before the video is displayed at the Dome or shown on the ACC Network, ESPN, etc.

7. Planning for Annual SFC Weekend- Golf, Zunic & Tailgate Tent Fall 2021

It is now being planned that the traditional SFC weekend would once again to be held with the Golf Tournament, Zunic Awards Dinner, Tailgate Tent and other ancillary activities. Our annual SFC Weekend is now set for the weekend of the Clemson game which is scheduled to occur on a Friday evening October 15, 2021. The choice of selecting a weekend with a Friday night game would require us to push back the reception to a Wednesday evening, the Golf Tournament to a Thursday, the Zunic Award to Thursday evening and the Tailgate Tent to Friday afternoon and evening. Recent conversations with Drumlins personnel concerning SFC events anticipated to occur this fall at Drumlins found that Drumlins will still be instituting a number of constraints as to number of participants and potential need for Covid testing and/or proof of vaccination. Hence Blake Bednarz has looked at Turning Stone but the costs are much higher. He is now recommending that the SFC Golf Tournament take a hard look at Timber Banks Golf Club located in nearby Baldwinsville, NY. The SFC successfully held a Golf Tournament at Timber Banks a number of years ago but since that time we have been using Drumlins. Also, discussions with SU to assist in a football weekend honoring both former SU football coach Paul Pasqualoni (SU’s head football coach from 1991-2004) as well as all the teams he coached over that 15-season span of time are still in an indeterminate state due to the Pandemic. As mentioned at a previous Board meeting that our long-standing partner for cohosting the SFC annual Tailgate Tent, O’Brien & Gere Engineers (OBG), may not be able to participate this year and the Forestry School location is not a given as we must now apply for a permit. ESF (as well as Syracuse University) is scheduled to hold their Homecoming Weekend the end of October so it should not interfere with our plans. At this juncture a “save the date message” should be broadcast throughout the SFC membership for the mid October Clemson game. Another item to be resolved is the securing of a block of tickets for incoming football alumni.

8. New Revised SFC By-Laws

A finalized version of the new By-Laws will be forthcoming as soon as we have a lawyer review the new document. Both, Pete Pietryka and Richard Murphy have completed their final review and approval. Once reviewed and approved by an Attorney for release the By-Laws will be distributed and formally voted upon by the SFC Board.

9. Mentoring Efforts

Rusty Mills mentioned that his mentoring subcommittee will be meeting again soon. Also, some of the proposals in the “One Orange” initiative also call for athletic alumni to support the career development efforts of recent grads. Hence the SU Athletic Department will also be formulating an alumni mentoring and career development program for student-athletes with an announcement in the near future.

10. Huddle of Hope

Jim DaRin mentioned that the “Huddle of Hope” a program to support and assist those SFC members suffering from depression, substance abuse, grief and other related life inflicted difficulties and hardships is still an ongoing affair. More will be reported at a later date.

11. Quiet Giant Award (Unsung Hero’s)

This award would be bestowed upon various SFC members that have significantly contributed to the welfare of our organization. Individuals can be nominated for this prospective Award at any time. Pete Pytrika has been selected to be the first recipient of this new Award for his decades of assistance to the financial infrastructure of the SFC as the Club Treasurer.

12. Next SFC Board Zoom Meeting

The next SFC Board meeting will occur on June 20, 2021 (the third Thursday of each month). The meeting agenda and the Zoom information will be sent out in the days prior to the meeting.

Prepared by Kevin McLoughlin

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