After being called to
order by the President, Becky Hodges, the
minutes of the July meeting and the
treasurer’s report were voted upon and
accepted. The current balance of $1,550.40
is unchanged from the previous month due to
no activity.
The presence of two
visitors was acknowledged by the President.
They were Kelly Jahns
of Rosebud and Sue Ryan of Lott. We were
delighted to have them!
This month’s meeting
was held at Susan Mazanec’s B&B, “Rope the
Wind”. Susan introduced Melodye Blanek and
her daughter of Blanek's Custom Catering by
Big Daddy's--custom
catering and restaurant owners. Their
presentation included suggestions regarding
the hiring of caterers. Having buckets, ice
chests, and clear trash receptacles were but
a few of their suggestions. Melodye
communicated that she would need to be able
to generate at least
$200.00 for her firm to accept a catering
job. She continued by identifying some
elements affecting their charge which
include, but are not limited to, determining
if the event is a sit-down or buffet, if
china and linens are required, and if the
caterers are required to clean. Melodye
stressed that she really needs for a
prospective client to call for a quote.
Blanek's Custom Catering by Big Daddy's
direct line is : 254-753-5444. You can
sample their meals at the Clarion in Waco.
Their address and phone number inside the
Clarion is: 254-757-2000/ 801 S 4th
Street, Waco, TX 76706. The meeting took a
break at this point to sample some of the
caterer’s food. (Yummy!!!)
Upon resuming the
meeting, there was discussion about the
feasibility of B&B’s to host weddings and
special occasions. Bottom line: Time is
money. If someone calls requesting to use
your establishment for a special occasion or
for room reservation it would be prudent to
get a credit card number. This will take
care of your time should the person/persons
no-show and would encourage compliance with
attendance or a cancellation.
Old Business: Vision
Committee suggested that business meetings
for the Association be limited to one per
quarter with the rest of the meetings being
classified as social gatherings. Larry
Price stated that we do not need to change
the by-laws (requiring five meetings per
year), just the structure of the meetings.
This motion was made, seconded and passed.
Becky proposed an amendment to that proposal
that would schedule definite dates for the
business meetings, but leave the dates and
times of the social meetings to be
determined by the host for that month. This
motion was passed.
New Business:
Sue Ryan, of the Crepe Myrtle Inn in
Lott, was accepted
into the Association.
Linda Williams brought
up that Baylor University circulated a list
of hotels in the area during Orientation
that did not list all of the B&Bs in the
area. Larry suggested that a laminated copy
of B&Bs in the HOTBBOA and their telephone
numbers be made and given to all of the
secretaries at BU that book reservations.
Linda also requested that if any of the
Association’s members are contacted by
potential customers like Baylor, then we
should communicate the opportunity with the
other members.
Becky noted that the
City of Waco has a tourism book “Wild about
Waco” and will be conducting classes
educating individuals about the history and
information about Waco. She asked if anyone
would be interested in having the class for
the Association members, and offered to get
more information for our next meeting.
Discussion for future
meeting topics was suggested. They are the
“Adopt a Soldier” program, and expanding the
Association’s website to include more “areas
of interest”.
The meeting was
adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
