>Everyone should know that there is a fund that is carried over from >year to year and passed on to each host. The purpose of that fund >is to re-imburse the host for expenses occurred during, before, and >after that are related to putting on the event. >Larry F. can discuss the details of this with the group and I hope >he will, because everyone needs to understand where the funds come >from and how they are replenished from year to year >Dan Heath +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
How to make a long story short? I received the Gathering funds from Linda Bennett after the 2003 Gathering in the amount of $1865. With good luck and the generosity of the attendees, the fund grew to $5008 over the 9 out of 10 years I hosted the Gathering at Mt.Vernon. That made it possible to host the Gathering without any out of pocket expenses other than purchasing my hat, shirt, banquet ticket, and the 100 mile round trips to Mt.Vernon for planning and setup. In July I advanced $4000 to Steve, the amount he thought sufficient to cover expenses. I still hold $1008 in reserve. If Steve has uncovered personal expenses he could be reimbursed with the reserve. As we have no formal management of the funds I accepted responsibility for holding them from 2004, the first year I hosted the Gathering, with the exception of 2010 when I forwarded them to Dana Overall when he hosted at Richmond, Kentucky. The complete financial accounting for all years since 2004 (except 2010 when Dana hosted) were available at the Gathering web site until Bob Lee was no longer able to manage the site. I'm guessing they are available somewhere and I still have the statement for 2013 that was never posted with the $5008 balance. The Gathering site has been pared down considerably but I can e-mail Steve the file for posting if desired. That leads us to the question of "who handles the funds"? I'm inclined at this point to forward the remaining funds to Steve. He can combine them with the funds from this years Gathernig and forward them on to Dan for the 2015 Gathering. I had felt rather protective of handling the funds after 10 years of having it grow to a comfortable working amount but the Gathering has moved on so I feel it's time for other host to accept that responsibility. I'm not comfortable being responsible for something I have no control over. That's my story and I'm sticking to it............:-) Larry Flesner
