Ravens Roost 115 Westminster, MD

Message from the Secretary, Lori Blake

Westminster Raven’s Roost #115 Meeting September 15, 2010 – 6:30 p.m. @ Rafaels

Well, if you haven’t heard the good news yet, we are official!  We were voted in unanimously on Friday night at the annual Ravens Council meeting as Ravens Roost #115. Great job Chris and thanks to all that came out for support.

Below are the notes from our monthly meeting on September 15th:

Scott Albright, Sergeant At Arms started us off with the Pledge of Allegiance followed by a “Go Ravens.”

Chris discussed the creation of our official logo. It was decided that we want the following criteria for our logo:

-An authentic looking Raven’s bird perhaps on a helmet or football with our Roost number #115

-Nothing cartoonish

-Needs to be at least 50% different than anything copyrighted by the NFL

-Perhaps the use of a Raven on a barn to represent Carroll County

Anyone interested in submitting a logo design should bring their digital, printed or drawing to our next meeting. We will number each one and a vote will be taken from the members to choose our logo. The logo will be used on our shirts, webpage, letterhead and our flag. We really want something unique and different.

We will be ordering shirts for members. We are looking at a collared shirt with our logo and Roost name and number. We will designate a committee to look into options for our shirts.

Chris invited everyone to tailgate with other members of the Roost. The tailgating spot is on W. Osten Street on the Federal Hill side. Chris, Raul and Chad do the cooking and put out a nice spread of food and beer. All are welcome, but you need to let Chris know if you are planning to attend so that they can plan to have enough food and beer. They begin around 8:30 a.m. on game day. A small fee will be charged for each person to cover the cost and any left over monies will be donated to the Roost.

We heard from our two charities. Shelly McLaughlin presented information on Pathfinders for Autism. She explained what autism was and the services provided by Pathfinders. They are a resource center for Families who connect those in need with resources and services.

Kathy Sanner talked about our second charity, Therapeutic Riding Programs of Carroll County (TRP). She noted that TRP would like to have a Raven’s week in October where our members could visit, volunteer and learn about the program. Everyone would be encouraged to wear their purple and perhaps have some football activities during the rides. It was suggested that we shoot for the week of October 18th since our next meeting will be held on October 20th.  Peggy Roland who runs the TRP program will pass this idea on to the instructors for their approval.

It was suggested that the charities let us know if they have certain projects or events so members know where they can help.

An event called “Walk A Mile in Her Shoes” was discussed and the group agreed that it is something that the Roost would like to be part of. The event benefits Rape Crisis and the prevention of violence against women. We will look to get a group from the Roost to participate.

Chris reminded the group that we can support any charity or charitable event at anytime that the membership feels is worthy of our time. We will look to form a charity committee to help with the administration of charitable activities.

We set a deadline for charter membership. It was decided that anyone who joins the Roost and pays dues before the next meeting on October 20th will be considered a charter member. Thirty Nine people paid dues at the meeting. We have set up a PO Box for those who would like to mail in dues. The address is PO BOX 2011, Westminster, MD 21158. Dues are $40 per year. Now that we are an official Roost we will be setting up a bank account. Two signatures will be required on all checks and our Treasurer, Tina will be reporting the account balance at each meeting.

We will hold off on ordering our flag until a logo is selected.

Other items such as a poker tournament after our monthly meeting and a Superbowl party at Raf’s where a big screen TV would be raffled off were discussed.

Be sure to check out our Facebook page and web page (http://ravensroost.yolasite.com/). Thanks to Board member, Dawn Geigan for updating our website with all of our information. It looks great. We are looking for member photos to add to our website photo gallery. This will help us know who is who and get to know each other better. Send your photos to Dawn at maplebaskt@aol.com.

Next meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 20th at 6:30 p.m. at Rafael’s. See you there!

Go Ravens!!