Category: News

Attention members!

Obedience class registration will be open for ONE WEEK ONLY for you to early register as a member.

AFTER THE FIRST WEEK it will be open once again to the general public.

YOU MUST FOLLOW THIS LINK TO REGISTER!
Going to the general website will not work, as I have hidden the registration to give our members first choice.

Important note! If you are using a voucher to pay for the class, you MUST now send your voucher to the registrar to secure your place in the class. The honor system has been taken advantage of, our club needs the money. No longer turning in the voucher is grounds for dismissal from the class and a paying customer taking your place.

Beginning Next weekend the club is planning to continue our responsible restart.    And we could use a little help getting the building in shape for the events.  Would anyone be willing to help clean the bathrooms, empty trash and refill soap dispensers etc before any of these events? 
Cleaning the bathrooms is really not as bad as it sounds.  Most of us are pretty good about wiping down after we use the space.  Here is what it entails:     
             Clean sinks and mirrors & Wipe down partitions 
             Sweep and mop the floors
              Clean toilets using commercial cleaner & empty trash cans

The events are:
CCC Rental – CPE Agility 09/11/2020 (so bathroom cleaning could be done anytime this next week)
AKC Obedience 09/18-20 (bathroom cleaning sometime Wed or Thurday)
AKC Agility 10/2,3,4 (bathroom cleaning sometime during the week)

These jobs can be broken down into 3 tasks and done by a small group (not all at the same time).  So, what do you say?  We really need your help.  
While the Club waived member hours for membership and key holders, we still remain and VOLUNTEER club and we need folks to step up and volunteer. 

Please sign up on the website if you can help out. 

Each of these jobs will accrue double hours.

Pam Murn will be at Northcutt from about 11-1pm tomorrow (Saturday). If you’d like to get volunteer hours and accomplish something visible and lovely, please bring a pair of large loppers for trimming brush back!

Please contact Pam Murn with questions or to let her know you will be there!

Each year the Board appoints a member to form a nominating committee to develop a slate of GCDOC members who are willing and qualified to serve as the Club’s Board of Directors.  This year, Rick Roberts assumed the position and has formed a committee.  He has been talking with members privately about their interest in serving on the 2021 Board.  As of this writing, a willing and qualified candidate has been found for the positions on the board that are up for election this November, with one exception:  Club Secretary.  However, if you feel left out and would like to be considered for a position on the 2021 board, please contact Rick ([email protected]).  The nominating slate is not final at this time. 

The Club Secretary serves as an officer of the Club.  Below is the job description from the By-laws.

Here is a job description of the secretary position.

(C) SECRETARY The Secretary shall be required to keep a record of all correspondence of the club. He or she shall keep minutes of club and board meetings and after they are approved or corrected, such minutes shall be signed by the presiding officer and the Secretary. The minutes shall be published. The Secretary shall be responsible for mailing all club notices and other club correspondence, and carry out such other duties as are prescribed in these bylaws. He or she is, upon election, a voting member of the board of directors.

Also, if you are interested in serving on the Board at all, please contact Rick Roberts ([email protected]) and let him know of your interest. 

In addition, it is our understanding that Pam Murn will be stepping down as Obedience Director and Cathi Wright will be stepping aside as Conformation Director.  Both of these positions are appointed by the Board of Directors.  While Sheri Heizer has indicated she is willing to serve as Agility Director for 2021, please let us know if you would like to also submit your name for the position.
For Obedience and Conformation, if you are interested, please contact Pam ([email protected]) or Cathy ([email protected]).  They can help you with the application and to understand the job.

Second Notice From the Membership Chair:

Re: Your 2021 Dues. End of year for your Volunteer hours is 9/30/20. Dues are Payable as of 10/31/20.

How to know the hours you worked: After 9/30/20 the total hours you have worked this past year and the dues amount will be on your profile page after you log into the GCDOC.com website. It will probably take me a couple of days to enter them. To try to save GCDOC funds because of reduced class numbers and reduced number of events being held I am not going to do a mass invoice mailing for the dues. If you wish to have an itemized hours count please email me at [email protected].

To access your profile in the member’s area: Press the Profile/Password button the left side as you scroll down the page. This will bring up your profile page. Scroll down the screen and the hours and dues amount will appear in boxes below.

Near the end of September PayPal will be available in the member’s area to pay your dues. If you are not paying by PayPal please send your dues payable to GCDOC to Tami Woodrow, 4921 Pacemont Ave, Dayton, Oh 45415. If you need a copy of the waiver please email me and I will send one to you.

Please remember to sign your waiver on the Member’s site or mail a hard copy to me along with your dues. If you e-sign the waiver online DO NOT mail me the hard copy.

From the Membership Chair:

Re: Your 2021 Dues. End of year for your Volunteer hours is 9/30/20. Dues are Payable as of 10/31/20.

Due to the Covid19 Pandemic and approved by the Gem City Dog Obedience Club Board of Directors, the following changes have been implemented for the 2021 Dues ONLY.

1. The Requirement to work 50 hours to retain your key card has been waived from 10/1/19 until 9/30/20.
2. The requirement to work 20 hours to retain your membership in the club has been waived from 10/1/19 until 9/30/20.
3. All Applicant members will have until 9/30/21 to work their 10 volunteer hours in order to become a member.

Dues Schedule for your 2021 Dues:

1. 100+ hours worked: Dues fee $15
2. 50+ hours worked: Dues fee $30
3. 20+ hours worked: Dues fee $40 (member will receive a service voucher upon payment of dues as a thank you for meeting your service requirement).
4. 0-19 hours worked: $40.
5. Associate members: $15
6. Applicant members: Does not need to pay dues for 2021
7. Lifetime members: No dues payable

Any questions or concerns please contact me at [email protected]

Notice to the Members of Gem City Dog Obedience Club

Subject: Covid-19 Environment and Communication Protocol

Gem City Dog Obedience Club (Gem City) Board members are closely monitoring the ongoing
coronavirus (COVID-19) situation in Ohio and Montgomery county and taking prudent measures
regarding the safety and well-being of its members, students, contractors and exhibitors. As we
open for classes and events, our response and communication protocol will continue to be
updated in line with government advice and additional precautions where appropriate.
We cannot continue in this new world and maintain an environment that is as safe as can be
from potential Covid-19 infection without the cooperation of all of you.
This communication shares our expectations of our members, students and exhibitors who
volunteer for the Club and who choose to attend classes and events. And it explains the Gem
City Board’s planned communication when a member, exhibitor, volunteer, contractor or other
individual learns of a Covid-19 exposure, diagnosis or has symptoms and is believed to be
carrying the virus.
Our goal is to share actionable information for those who may have been in contact with the
individual while respecting all individuals’ privacy. Members of the board are volunteer
managers, and not Public Health professionals; we are doing our best to help our community
reduce the spread of infection and keep our facilities as safe as possible while respecting
individual privacy, in accordance with our understanding of Ohio law.

Suspected/Verified Covid-19 Infection Situations
1. If you, the GCDOC member, student or contractor –
a. Have been in close contact (see CDC guidance regarding close contact) to a person who has tested positive for the coronavirus
b. Test positive for coronavirus and have attended the club at all in the prior 2 weeks (see examples in the linked document)
1) Do not use Gem City facilities (including volunteering, teaching or practicing privately). Per the CDC (see linked document) you are required to self-quarantine. Timing varies based upon the situation.
2) If you were practicing with someone, or a group, please notify each individual, and let a board member know you have done so.
3) Notify a board member with the following information:
1 Dates/times you were on the Club property and
2 Events or classes attended or taught

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE DOCUMENT

ANY MEMBER OF GCDOC KNOWINGLY NOT REPORTING HAVING A POSITIVE CORONAVIRUS TEST SHALL BE SUSPENDED FOR 1 MONTH.

A SECOND REPORTING VIOLATION WILL BE DEALT WITH BY THE BOARD OF GCDOC, AT THEIR DISCRETION.

Self Reporting can be done via phone call to your favorite board member, or via a button on our website, or by clicking HERE!

BUILDING CLEANING MANAGER

DETAILS:

Due to the pandemic our volunteer cleaning crew who tirelessly kept our building clean have decided to step aside. So, we need a new plan for keeping the building clean and supplies re-stocked. Do you have a desire to keep our environment clean and ready for classes and events. Do you like to organize? Well, this could be the job for you.

There are a number of cleaning tasks that need to be done over the course of an evening, week or more frequently. Would you be able to help coordinate the jobs that need to be done a weekly, monthly basis including the purchase of supplies like toilet paper and other supplies? This is a fairly flexible undertaking that requires good management skills. This project does not require that you do all or any of the jobs. This position recruits and manages cleaning tasks and supply replenishment. The club will reimburse all supply costs and be open to reasonable equipment requests. Please contact Kathy Roberts [email protected] if you think this a leadership role you can undertake.

With huge regret, the Gem City Agility Club agility trial this weekend (August 8-9, 2020) has been cancelled. In addition to the recent positive cases reported earlier in July, another agility friend from another club has reported a positive test.  This information coupled with the state of the Covid-19 situation in Montgomery County Ohio (Level 3 Red Very High Exposure, Limit activities as much as possible), our committee felt it the responsible thing to do.  As a club and an agility community, we want to do our part to help reduce the current wave of infections transmitting in our community.  We value your well-being more than all the Qs in the world!

We will miss seeing you and your dogs. But, we will see one another again when this is all over.  No dog show in the world is worth your life or the life of one of your loved ones.

Your entries and checks will be shredded. Any worker vouchers will be retained for future trials.
At this time the future trials are still hopefully going to happen, but as you know this is subject to change at any time.  You’ll be notified closer to those trials.

If you have attended any trials and have become ill and/or test positive PLEASE let the trial secretary or chairperson know. Your sniffles may be the next person’s hospitalization.

Thank you for your understanding. Stay safe!

Sincerely,
Kathleen Roberts

We know a number of you have been asking about the club and how it would be possible to get your hours in when many events are cancelled and your health requires you to stay away from groups. As fellow members, the Gem City Board certainly understands these restrictions, and we are working on a plan for hours. But, in the meantime, our organization still has a building with a parking lot and 10 acres of land to maintain. The cancellations and scaling back of events and classes has taken its toll on the Club’s finances. While we are okay, the facilities need a bit of TLC to keep the organization moving forward.

Below is a list of jobs and other fun and interesting projects where help is needed. Some require brain power and research and others require muscle and sweat. If you are interested in helping, please sign up on the website or follow up with the board member/contact in the Help Wanted ad.

“Trash Brigade” – pick up litter at Northcutt
CGC Testing – Sign up to help do the testing, no experience needed
Work from home – Grammar and writing skills, or video and video editing skills.
Outdoor work at the Land – Sign up to mow, trim, weed, and other fun, satisfying projects
Small projects at Northcutt – painting, more painting, concrete work, and other fun projects!
Building Cleaning Manager – you don’t have to clean, but you have to manage others who do clean!
Cleaning Crew – pays double hours for making our building sparkle!

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP!

Please note: Priority will be given to those members who have not yet had an opportunity to earn volunteer hours at our club. If you already have 20, or are already signed up to do something that will earn your hours for 2020, please wait to volunteer!

As a club, we need the input and help from many of our members. Please join us in managing the resources we have and help us plan for the future.