Nautical Festival Committee
by Peter Jakey Managing Editor
The first major step in the reorganization of the Nautical Festival Committee (NFC) took place behind closed doors last Wednesday at the Presque Isle District Library.
The presidents of the six member organizations sent out a notice of a special meeting that was to be conducted October 29. Under the bylaws of the NFC, the presidents had the right to schedule the meeting. Certified letters were sent to NFC executive director Kammie Dennis and Eric Muller, who served as president this year but resigned earlier in the month. Dennis was a ?no show? at the meeting.
The meeting was scheduled by the presidents of the six service organizations to introduce new representatives, elect new officers and talk about the future direction of the organization.
SINCE THE NFC was formed in the mid 1970s each of the six organizations have sent two people to serve on the festival committee. Those founding groups are the Rogers City Lions Club, Rogers City Kiwanis, Optimist Club, Rogers City Servicemen?s Club the Knights of Columbus, and the Rogers City Area Chamber of Commerce. The NFC puts on the annual Nautical City Festival, a week-long celebration in Rogers City, with the help of an army of volunteers and great cooperation from the city government.
In the weeks following the end of the 2008 festival, most of the groups selected new representatives. In some cases, organizations had no representation at NFC meetings.
AFTER SEVERAL meetings of the presidents, some of which were conducted in the days following the August festival, concerns were raised about the transparency of the organization regarding financial records.
It became a public issue earlier this year when members of the Rogers City Council, the NFC?s biggest partner, requested financial statements as well. One service organization president said his group has not received a statement from the festival committee in three years. Fifteen minutes into the October 29 meeting, when the discussion started regarding the latest information on getting past records, a motion was made to dismiss the public and the media.
ELECTED AS president was Dennis Downie. The vice-president will be Gary Nowak, an outspoken critic of the NFC leadership in not presenting financial records to the city. Dick Bennett was appointed treasurer and Becky Hanson was voted in as secretary. Follow-up certified letters were to be sent to Dennis and Muller seeking
In other action, the names on four bank accounts were to be changed to reflect the new members of the committee. The locks also have been changed on the office building on the Wenonah Drive side of the chamber building. The new members of the NFC are:
? Kiwanis: Mike Myers and Tab Coseo.
? Knights of Columbus: Bennett and one open seat.
? Lions Club: Downie and Eric Brege.
? Optimist Club: Scott Bannasch and Robert Starnes III.
? Rogers City Servicemen?s Club: Dennis Bannon and Nowak.
? Rogers City Area Chamber of Commerce: Jim Fleis and Becky Hanson.