Early Birds: Brilliant blue sky, manicured ball field, and a hot cup of coffee awaited those who gathered at CHS Field. We had 18 participants at the ballpark and 4 online today.
Guests: Bob Alexander brought his wife to the ballpark.
Honorary Members: Karen Holtmeier and Mark Simon were in person.
President Jim Erickson brought the meeting to order with a ring of the bell and a moment of silence
Announcements
- Show and Tell was provided by Chuck Shreffler who showed off a delicate bowl he had made by turning a piece of Minnesotan grown timber.
- We also had an informal contest for the wildest shirt of the day and Tom Whaley was the winner.
- President Jim Erickson’s straw poll for President was being circulated again today. We as a club prefer Trump over others in a close vote.
- Club VP- We are in need of a VP that will also serve as president next year from January thru June of 2021. Please contact Jim Erickson if interested.
- We have craft talk openings available in October. Please contact Craig Blixrud to get on the calendar.
Business Updates
None today
Business Exchange
Doing business with each other is a hallmark of this club. Jim Christianson, Karen Holtmeier, and Dave Mitchell all shared today.
Craft Talk
Tom Whaley was the speaker today. Tom has been a part owner of the St. Paul Saints and has 2 championship rings to prove it. We were dazzled by the bling today.
This year has been kind of crazy as the league has only 6 0f 12 teams playing and to date the Saints have played all their home games in South Dakota. They are hoping Governor Walsh will open up the larger venues next week and if so, they might be able to have 1500 fans attend home games at CHS Field.
Generating revenue has been a challenge for the Saints and they have hosted Fireworks and movies on Friday nights. They have hosted High school senior baseball games. They are the home for the Twins practice squad, They are working on an outside opera event as well.
The Saints expect to have discussions with Major League BB and the Twins about minor league affiliation in the future. MLB plans on significantly reducing the number of minor league teams around the US and have identified St. Paul market as one they want to have an affiliated team in.
As always, the Saints are focused on having fun at the ballpark for their fans.
Please register with Tom Whaley and thank him for hosting us. He can be reached at twhaley@saintsbasell.com or 651-233-0174.
Please contact Jim Erickson with comments or suggestions for future meetings at jim@solomonssg.com or 612-325-3009.
Looking ahead
August 5 – New American Funding @ ECC and Virtual
August 12- TBD @ ECC and Virtual
August 19- Guest Speaker @ECC and Virtual