The fiscal year of Andover Service Club (ASC) is from July 1 to June 30. The following is a month by month review of activities and fundraisers during the fiscal year just ended.

July 2014: The annual Slices for Scholarships pie sale on the Village Green was canceled due to inclement weather. This was a disappointment, as it was always a successful fundraiser for the ASC Merit Scholarship program.

September 2014: Newly-elected Executive Board (Mary Ofenloch, President; Diane Rice, first Vice President; Evelyn Davis, second Vice President; Teri Leclerc, Corresponding Secretary; Robin Boynton, Treasurer; Sandra Graves, Assistant Treasurer; Robin Boynton, Past President) met on September 3. The program for the regular meeting on September 10 was reviewed and reports from the Secretary, Treasurer, Corresponding Secretary, Fundraising Chair (Judy Evans), and Thrift Shop Chair (Gisela Darling) were presented to be delivered for approval at the regular meeting. Margo Coolidge will chair the Flower Committee.

Regular meeting, September 10, took place at the Highland Lake Grange Hall at 10 AM. (With the exception of luncheon meetings, all regular meetings take place at the Grange Hall and begin with opening words from a member, followed by committee reports, a special program for the day, and refreshments prepared by the Hostess Committee.)

The minutes were read and accepted, as well as the Treasurer’s report. Membership chairlady Evelyn Davis collected yearly dues and passed out new membership books.

ASC participated in the Special Olympic games at Carr Field on September 27 by selling homemade cookies. Half of the income from the sale benefited the ASC Merit Scholarship fund, and half was donated to Special Olympics. Betsy McDonald chaired this sale.

Nancy Tripp, co-chair of the Thrift Shop, reported on income from August and the payment in full of the new roof and interior painting of the shop. Edna Peters reported on Proctor birthday cake orders for September, and Margo Coolidge spoke of plans for the winterizing of the flowerbeds at Town Hall and the Thrift Shop flower boxes.

Plans for the Thanksgiving Pie Sale and Christmas Basket Raffle were discussed. The special program for September was a slideshow on wildflowers presented by Nancy Bodenstein. Refreshments followed.

October 2014: Executive Board Meeting was held on September 30. The agenda for the regular meeting on October 8 was discussed and approved. Minutes from September board meeting were read and approved. Treasurer’s report also approved.

October 8 regular meeting began with the introduction of new member, Bonnie Coombs. All committee reports were read, approved, and accepted by the members in attendance. Birthday cards are sent to members each month, and Teri Leclerc read the names of members who celebrated October birthdays. Birthdays are reported every month.

There are 44 paid, and 35 not paid, members so far.

Margo Coolidge and Mary Phinney volunteered to chair the Thanksgiving Pie Sale. Edna Peters and Marge Leber co-chair the sale of homemade birthday cakes for students at Proctor Academy. One of the Proctor students told member Betsy McDonald that “receiving his cake was the most wonderful event of his birthday.”

Member Pat Baker, a prolific knitter, had donated several pairs of her beautiful mittens to ASC. They sold for $40 per pair.

Mary Ofenloch presented info on local venues for the Christmas luncheon and reiterated the need for a nominee for the President’s position, as her term of office will end in June. An informative program on Energy Medicine was followed with delicious refreshments.

November 2014: Executive Board met on November 5. Plans for regular meeting on November 12 were discussed. Treasurer’s report showed income from the Bake Sale at the Special Olympics was $169, of which half was donated to Special Olympics. Mitten sale netted $240 so far, and Election Day Bake Sale earned $245.

Yearly fuel bill was between $1,560 and $1,600, which was paid in installments. The Thrift Shop had a good month and now has a container for unsold clothing to be picked up by Ecosmith. There were now 48 paid members, 22 who were unpaid, and two members in nursing homes.

November 12 regular meeting: all business reports were read and approved. “Gifts Galore” Christmas Raffle tickets were now for sale and doing well. Signups for the Thanksgiving Pie Sale had 99 pies promised, with all volunteers needed to sell the pies on the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

The flowerbeds were winterized. Members had baked 57 birthday cakes for Proctor students at $12 per cake for a total at this point of $684. Cookies will be baked and sold by members at the Bluewater Farm Christmas party.

The Christmas luncheon signup sheet was distributed for 74 Main Restaurant in New London as the venue. Later, Marcia Wyman led the ladies in Tai Chi/Chi Chong exercises.

December 2014: Executive Board met on December 2 to set up agenda for luncheon on December 10 at 74 Main in New London. Thrift Shop was set to close from December 24 to January 4 for Christmas vacation.

Pointsettias were ordered from Allioops Florist for 10 members who were ill or living in nursing homes. Members were reminded to bring non-perishable items or financial donations for Andover Food Pantry.

Christmas Luncheon, December 10: There was an abbreviated business meeting. Assistant Treasurer reported income from the Pie Sale was $1,017 and from the Basket Raffle was $608. Winners were Bob Leclerc of Danbury and Karen Niemeyer of Andover. The meal was excellent, and the afternoon ended with members singing Christmas carols.

January 2015: Due to inclement weather, the Executive Board met on January 13, one week after usual meeting date. Treasurer reported negative income for December due to payment of $4,000 to scholarship winners and expenses (which included this $4,000) were $5,464.74, while income was $2,699.03. This deficit should be removed by end of fiscal year.

The scholarship information was in the Beacon and online. Thrift Shop income was also down because shop was closed for two weeks vacation. Thrift Shop heater was due for a cleaning and should be fine.

Corresponding Secretary still calls members with no e-mail to inform them of meetings and events. Nominating Chair has begun making calls to members for nominees to run for President, Corresponding Secretary, and Assistant Treasurer.

January 14 regular meeting: All reports were read and accepted. More volunteers were requested to work at the Thrift Shop. There will be color-coded sales on clothing during the year.

Four members were still unpaid, 53 members have paid dues, nine are honorary members, and four are living in nursing homes. Fundraising last month raised $1,315.25; the sale of antique jewelry netted $43 and change.

It was suggested that ASC update the Our Town directory and form a Welcoming Committee for new residents, but the new Andover Community Association would take on these suggestions. After refreshments, Nancy Tripp showed slides and told us of her Broadway career.

February 2015: Executive Board met to discuss agenda for regular meeting on February 11. Thrift Shop income exceeded expenses for a net income of $267.24. All business reports were read and accepted.

Scholarship chair will be resigning in one year. Executive Board was to meet on May 5 to review the scholarship applications.

It was reported that snow and ice are again being plowed against the Thrift Shop, blocking entrances and creating a safety hazard. Selectmen have been notified of the problem.

Five members moved out of the area or were no longer able to participate and have resigned from ASC. New fundraisers need to be discussed.

February 11 regular meeting: Business reports read and accepted. Posters advertising the ASC merit scholarships placed around town. Applications were available at the Thrift Shop, MVHS, and Proctor Academy. Ads were also airing on Channel 8.

The problem of plowing snow against the Thrift Shop had been taken care of, and the call for more volunteers to price and sell the items was reiterated.

Corresponding Secretary will be leaving her position, so she explained her duties and said it has been very enjoyable to speak with members who do not have e-mail. Membership chair reported that four members still have not paid dues.

Co-chair of the Proctor cake baking project reported February was a very busy month, and she thanked those who baked and delivered cakes during very inclement weather. Fundraising chair spoke of the bake sale on Town Meeting Day, March 10. Signup sheets for volunteering to sell the items and serve coffee and tea were passed around.

There would be no basket raffle on July 4. People expect pie slices to be sold for the Slices for Scholarships. Basket raffle will remain for Christmas.

Members were told Executive Board decided not to update Our Town, as it is too expensive and labor intensive. Also, Andover Community Association (ACA) may want to take this on.

It was suggested that the position of Program Chair may not be necessary if members could find enjoyable programs that are affordable, as the budget for programs is minimal. After refreshments, members enjoyed Game Day with a lively game of Bingo.

March 2015: Executive Board met and set an agenda for regular meeting on March 11. Business reports were read and accepted. One scholarship application was received so far. Last year’s winners were all continuing education college students. Posters were placed in the town libraries.

Thrift Shop volunteers were still needed. Forty-four members are active, but only eight regularly volunteer at the shop, and eight sporadically volunteer. A member has volunteered to be nominated for Corresponding Secretary.

The ACA sent a letter to ASC requesting permission to update the Our Town book. This was necessary, as the book was copyrighted in 2009 by ASC and permission must be given by all members in order to reprint the book. ACA received this permission unanimously.

Treasurer reported February was another negative income month, as Executive Board insurance payment was due, and Thrift Shop heater was cleaned, as well as regular monthly expenses.

The Board received a preliminary draft of the 2015-2016 budget proposal. The President said the budget should not exceed the income from the previous year and suggested cutting all contributions in half, as well as deciding where the money does the most good. More fundraisers are needed. These ideas will be discussed in the following months.

March 11 regular meeting: After the usual reading and acceptance of business reports, Treasurer explained the profit and loss numbers and informed them of the work of the Budget Committee and the preliminary draft. She warned that we will have to decrease or eliminate some of our previous contributions; however, we must keep our scholarship program, as it is our main mission, and our 501(c)3 non-profit status is based upon it.

Membership chair spoke to members urging them to bring new members into the club. Membership is down because moving out of the area or illness causes inability to participate. Some have passed away.

The President spoke of the possibility of an Arts and Crafts show in the spring of 2016 and a mailing fundraiser in October for the 57th anniversary of ASC.

The Town Meeting Day Bake Sale income was $380. Members were informed of the ACA permission request to update Our Town, and all agreed to grant that permission.

Program chair reported that remainder of programs for the fiscal year are set, and members should contribute their ideas for the next year to the president.

Nominating chair reported that there were no nominees for President or Assistant Treasurer as yet. During refreshments, members gave reviews of books read in the past few months.

April 2015: Executive Board meeting was held on March 30. The usual business reports were read and accepted.

The Thrift Shop computer system had a major meltdown in March. The old computers could not handle new software that was needed to record sales at the shop. Two new computers were purchased from a special Walmart program for charitable organizations, and with the generous help of a friend of ASC and the co-chair of the Thrift Shop, they were able to get the systems up and running.

April 5 regular meeting: Business reports were read and accepted. The Thrift Shop had a fuel delivery, the meltdown of the computer system was explained, and the purchasing of two new computers was approved.

Insurance for the Thrift Shop was paid, but despite these setbacks and the usual monthly expenses, treasurer reported ASC will end the fiscal year in good shape. The new budget was being prepared and will be presented for discussion in May.

A donation of $1,000 had been made to the scholarship fund, and six applications were received at that time with more to come. Thrift Shop had another problem when the vacuum cleaner was broken and not repairable; however, two new vacuums were donated by friends of ASC which enabled the ladies to keep one upstairs and one in the basement area.

Thrift Shop earned $700 in April, but customer participation is down and more volunteers are needed if hours are to be extended.

There were many cakes baked for Proctor students in April and May. The gardens were awake and blooming.

Fundraising chair reported all was ready for the Slices for Scholarships pie sale on July 4. The October mailing and Spring Crafts Dale will be going forward.

Members agreed to have the June luncheon at 74 Main in New London. Refreshments were served, and the in-house auction took place.

May 2015: The scholarship committee met before the Executive Board meeting to review the applications and choose winners of four $1,000 awards.

At the Executive Board meeting, reports were read and accepted. An anti-virus program was donated to the Thrift Shop for two years, but income for the year was down due to more competition in the area.

Flowerbeds and boxes were completed for the summer months. Programs for next fiscal year were set up, and slate of officers for 2015-2016 was to be presented to members at regular meeting.

May 13 regular meeting: Business reports were read and accepted. Treasurer presented new budget proposal for discussion, noting the changes. There was no negative feedback from the members, and cutbacks had to be made. Income from investments was also down due to extremely low interest rates. There were no changes from the floor.

The scholarship award winners were announced. There were four $1,000 winners. Thank-you notes sent to donors who helped with the computer meltdown and vacuum problems.

The co-chair of Proctor cake sales reported all had been going smoothly and asked new members to volunteer to bake birthday cakes. The Flower Committee was set to plant annuals and fix the Thrift Shop flower boxes. More volunteers are needed to help.

June luncheon was all set, and signup sheets were distributed. Nominees for new slate of officers was presented, with no new nominees from the floor. Both the budget and slate of officers will be up for vote at the luncheon. After refreshments, some members participated in the Mystery House Tour.

June 2015: The Executive Board met on June 2. After reading and accepting the business reports, finalizing the budget took place. The total budget proposal for FY 2015-2016 is $3,889.17 lower than the previous year’s budget. Eleven community organizations will continue to be funded at a reduced rate, and scholarships will continue.

The Thrift Shop would be closed on Saturdays in July. Twenty-nine reservations were made for the luncheon, and two members were chosen to receive honorary membership for being longtime active members of ASC. A meeting will be held in August to update the membership book.

June 10 luncheon: Business reports were abbreviated, read, and accepted. Scholarship chair announced four $1,000 awards were given to Kayla Hartwell, Nicholas Terwilliger, Karen Niemeyer, and Kristi Perrault.

Slate of officers were presented and unanimously approved. They are: President, Sandra Graves; 1st Vice President, Diane Rice; 2nd Vice President, Evelyn Davis; Secretary, Eileen Mackey; Corresponding Secretary, Judy Evans; Treasurer, Robin Boynton; Assistant Treasurer, Sandy Miller; and Past President, Mary Ofenloch. The 2015-2016 budget was also unanimously approved.

Edna Peters and Pat Baker received Honorary Member awards. The Executive Board presented Mary Ofenloch with a special “Thank You” gift for four years as President.

The luncheon was excellent. Members were wished a peaceful summer vacation and “Thank You” to everyone from the outgoing president.

ASC welcomes ladies of all ages to join them as new members by e-mailing MaryO.ASClub@nulllive.com for more information.