The meeting began at 8:00 p.m.  The first item on the agenda was pushed back to allow for a few late arrivals.

The next item discussed was a Bonfire Coalition logo.  We decided it is a top priority to decide on a logo and will hopefully have this decision made by our next meeting.  We will post the proposals online for board members to view and vote on.  Some ideas were submitted to Jacob Wilson, webmaster, at the meeting for him to work with.  Once a logo is picked, we will then get business cards, letterhead and possibly a banner.

The next item discussed was the website.  It was agreed upon by all that the new website looks great and is easy to navigate.  It was mentioned that the website could use some graphics.  Jacob explained that the site is still under construction and once we get a logo, the work on graphics can progress at a quicker pace.

Committee Reports

Chair—Marc Barringer announced and David Rushing explained the Coalitions Tax ID number and nonprofit status.  We are now operating as a 501C3 for IRS purposes and any donations to the Coalition are tax deductible.  The tax ID number was given to Robin Brown, Treasurer.  David Rushing is working on getting the Campus Outreach Committee to be an officially recognized student organization.  The Campus Outreach will still be a committee of the whole Bonfire Coalition.  It was decided it would be better to operate under both organizations so former students could still play an active role with the Board of Directors.

Treasurer/Fundraising Committee—Robin Brown announced the appointment of a Co-Chair, Ian MacDiarmid.

Planning Committee—Still trying to get in contact with Frank Cox to finalize a date and time for him to speak to students and the community about Bonfire’s history and tradition.  Discussed having a “Meet the Board BBQ” at Spence Park in the very near future.

Campus Outreach—Will be working with David Rushing to gain recognition on campus.  Will work to get a table for Open House in the fall.

Former Student Outreach—Has been contacted by former students across the country wanting to help out and get involved.  A press release was sent out to the Farm Bureau for a possible article on the Bonfire Coalition in their newsletter.

Political Committee—Has been contacted by several students wanting to get involved and is working on setting up an initial meeting.

Next, Dave Nelson volunteered to contact the MSC Post Office and donate 3 months rental of a Post Office Box.  Also volunteered to go to Channel 34 and pick up a copy of their news broadcast on the formation of the Bonfire Coalition.

At this point in the meeting, the issue of meeting times was re-addressed.  It was decided that meeting every other week at 7:30 p.m., starting April 1, 2002, worked nicely into everyone’s schedule.  Until further notice, meetings will be held at the Melrose Apartment Clubhouse.

Marc Barringer led a discussion about the new listserv on Yahoo! Groups.  Marc will email instructions to the board on how to register with Yahoo! Groups.  Also, Marc cautioned about sending too much email to the listserv.  It was then suggested and approved by all that the Coalition would send one email per week to the listserv detailing all the committee reports and upcoming events.  The chair will send the email.  All submissions for the weekly newsletter need to be sent to the chair no later than noon on Sunday.

Parents Weekend—Kristin West investigated the possibility of getting a booth at Parents Weekend, however, all booths are full.  David Rushing will look into the availability of booths in or around the MSC.  It was suggested that we gather prior to Yell Practice on Parent's Weekend to hand out information leaflets, or business cards to those attending to raise awareness to the Coalition and our Mission.

A brief discussion of the short list of presidential candidates for Texas A&M occurred.  The board agreed more information was needed on the three candidates.

Meeting was adjourned at 9:03 p.m.