Meeting Location: Mark’s Apartment
June 11, 2008

Members Present: Natalie, Nathalie, Mark, Cathy, Mike, Bob, Eric, Daria, Lorin

Meeting Times - Start: 7:15 pm - End: 8:45 pm

1. Welcome
   
   The group welcomed its newest member, Natalie Van Rossum. Everybody present at the meeting did introductions.



2. July 5th, 2008
   
   The group decided that they would like to go see the 175th anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg. The only members present at the meeting that were able to make this event were Nathalie, Daria, and Eric. More details to follow.



3. July 12th, 2008
   
   Due to the cost of the newseum, ($20) the group decided to not go to the newseum as had been previously planned. So this event is now off.



4. Pool Party
   
   The group decided to go ahead and have a pool party on July 12th. The location at this moment is up in the air. Nina had wanted to try and have a pool party at her condo, but Nina will not be sure of her work schedule for July 12th until July 4th, or July 5th. The group still wants to have a pool party on July 12th SO for location the pool party will either take place at Nina’s condo in Ashburn, Virginia OR at a public pool in Montgomery County. More details to follow.



5. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Trip
   
   The group decided that we want to take another October trip to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to see both the battlefield and to also do another ghost walk. It was mentioned that this year, we would like to try the Jenny Wade ghost walk. More details to follow.



6. Washington Redskins Training Camp
   
   This event will take place in August. The group prefers to attend the fan appreciation day, but that date has yet to be set. The following members are interested in attending: Eric, Natalie, Mark, Cathy, Mike, Bob, Nathalie, Lorin, and Nina. The Washington Redskins usually do not announce the date and time for the fan appreciation day until about one or two weeks in advance. More details to follow.



7. Fun Bunch 9th Anniversary
   
   At last month’s meeting the group decided that we would like to go to Medieval Times to commemorate the group’s anniversary. Date and time to be determined. More details to follow.



8. Future Topics
   
   At last months meeting the following list of topics was compiled:
   • Career Building
   • Budgeting
   • Ways to meet new people (Role Playing)
   • Self-esteem
   • Conflict Resolution
   • Anger Management
   • Work Issues (How to deal with touchy issues)
   • Retirement Planning
   • Going back to school
   • Making small talk
   • Ice breakers
   • Accommodations in the workplace and what to do if your employer does not give the accommodations
   
   After going through the list, there were no more topics that were mentioned



9. LDAMC-Board Meeting
   
   Daria and Mark, attended the June 4th LDAMC board meeting. At the meeting, we viewed a self-made documentary by Matthew Nickens, about living with dyslexia and learning disabilities. Then at the last part of the LDAMC board meeting we voted on what 3 topics would become the LDAMC’s 3 programs for the coming school year. There were a total of 8 different topics. I am proud to report that the topic that the Fun Bunch more or less decided upon came in first place. The topic was:
   
   PROGRAM FOR ADULTS WITH LD
   Accommodation and disclosure
   1) How does a person who struggles to meet their job requirements ask for accommodations?
   2) What accommodations are allowable in the workplace?
   
   This program will take place either on January 14th, 2009 OR on March 11th, 2009. The program will take place at the Davis Library in Bethesda, Maryland.



10. Fun Bunch Officers Meeting
    
    Took place on Saturday night June 7th at Walter’s condo. The meeting lasted for 40 minutes. The following is a list of what was discussed at the officers meeting:
    
    • Acquire a sign language interpreter for the Fun Bunch; so Cathy, Mike, and Bob will all be able to focus on the meeting. Presently Cathy signs bits and parts of the meetings for both Mike and Bob. It was decided by both Mike and Bob, that until a sign language interpreter is acquired, the best way for allowing Mike and Bob to know what is taking place during the meetings is to use a dry-erase board to write notes.
    
    • Attempt to contact Tracy to see if she intends to come back to Fun Bunch. It seems as though there is a transportation issue with Tracy. Mainly the time frame after the meetings or events. Apparently it seems that she feels that she is being a burden by having people bring her home. Mark proposed that in the event that she is serious about coming back to Fun Bunch, then perhaps we could start having meetings at Bethesda-Chevy Chase high school. That is only if she is serious about coming to Fun Bunch. Tracy also works across the street from B-CC high school.
    
    • Daria expressed a need for enforcement of staying on topic AND a need for an enthusiastic topic leader. That is one person or member to take control of a topic and get members excited/into the topic.
    
    • Daria suggested that perhaps Dr. Jessie can observe us discussing topics and after observing us discussing topics report back to us on ways that we can better and more efficiently discuss topics.
    
    • Work on a new brochure and have Daria print up business cards for the Fun Bunch. Contact Montgomery College, George Mason, George Washington, Maryland, and NOVA about the Fun Bunch.
    
    • More exercise
    
    • Theme Meetings- It was proposed that we have theme meetings such as ice cream sundae meetings, Mexican theme meeting, etc. It was proposed that we have fresh fruit and veggies at all Fun Bunch meetings. It was also proposed that we change the format of the meetings to factor in some social time before the start of the meeting as well as a short break in between the first and second hour of the meetings. If I remember correctly, after the Fun Bunch meeting, I believe the final proposed model was the following:
    6:45 –7:00 Social Time
    7:00 – 8:00 First Hour Of Meeting
    8:00 – 8:15 Break & Social Time
    8:15 – 9:15 Second Hour Of Meeting



11. Dr. Jessie
    
    Dr. Jessie was confused and thought that tonight’s meeting was scheduled for Wednesday June 18th. She sent me, Mark, and email apologizing and also stated that she will be at both the July and August meetings.



12. Next Meeting
    Will take place at the Davis Library on July 9th at 7:00 p.m.