DOT Update

Capital Campaign

As you know, due to the freeway expansion, MDTC had to find a new home. Having to find a new location was difficult, but we did it! We purchased a new building at 2116 W. Cornell St. There are many advantages to the new site, including the fact that it is much larger. However, the building needs a lot of work, including a new roof, electrical work, and other items. The entire facility needs to be painted. Some funding for the move was provided by the Department of Transportation, but it is not enough.

A big thank you is due to our great members who are volunteering and doing the painting in the offices, basement and outside. However, there is still the expense of the paint and supplies. Additionally, there are three cement block training rooms which will look cleaner, lighter and more inviting after being painted. Club members are also doing all the prep for these rooms - cleaning, prepping, taping, etc., but they don’t have the expertise to paint the large training rooms, so we have hired “2 Day Painting” to do the actual painting.

MDTC has been an all-volunteer organization since 1929, and with your help we can move to the next era of successful dog training and fellowship.

The purpose of 2024’s Capital Campaign is to cover the cost of painting and preparing our new building for training – about $8,000. This campaign will run through December 2024.

Please consider donating to our very worthwhile cause. We are a 501(c) Non-profit organization, so your donation is tax deductible. You can drop it off at the Membership Desk or mail it to MDTC, at PO Box 763, Milwaukee, WI 53201.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT ON THIS IMPORTANT AND WORTHWHIILE PROJECT!

General Membership Meeting Wednesday October 30, 2024

Meeting called to order by President Erin Ruppel at 8:10pm.
Minutes were approved as distributed by automatic consent.

OFFICER AND COMMITTEE REPORTS

Secretary
Nothing to report.

President
Thank you to everyone who helped with Ghost Night. We had about 50 people attend.
Sign up for the Christmas parades.
Please come to help work on the new building. We have a lot of work to do to get prepped for the painting.
Thank you to everyone who has been helping with the new building. 

Treasurer
Reported September account balances and profit/loss. Elizabeth Casey donated $500. 
The biggest question mark for new building expenses is leveling the flooring between rooms 2 & 3. We are still waiting on $130,000 from the Wisconsin DOT and the additional $25,000 from the state. We are keeping enough money in our accounts for operating costs for the next 2-3 years. 

Director of Training/Obedience
Canine Good Citizen testing will be Sunday, January 12, 2025. We will need people to volunteer to help with this. Having CGC helps with therapy dog training. 
Indoor training starts Sunday, November 3rd. Please pay attention to the time changes on Sunday and if you are on Wednesday or Thursday during the week. The updated indoor class times will be updated on Facebook.
We will start collecting information for this year's awards soon.

Agility
Open house went well. The new basic class starts Saturday, November 2. The other class times will be changing starting November 2nd. 

Flyball
No open house this year due to the new building. We have one new person joining. 

Puppy Class
The last puppy class was canceled due to low signups. The next class will start in January. 

AKC Show
Daryl Stuppan still needs to apply to AKC for the 2025 trial but we have our judges and Western Waukesha confirmed already. Daryl has received the contract from the trial secretary. 

Membership and Sales
New software is taking a little longer than expected but should be up and running by the end of November. Our last free consultation with Neon One is 11/8. 

Building and Grounds
The grass looks great!

Social
Social Sunday was last weekend. 
Ghost night was October 19. We had about 50 people attend, 
The holiday party is January 18th at Pulaski Inn in Cudahy. 

Good and Welfare

Nothing to report.

Exhibitions
We participated in Pawtoberfest at the end of September. Thank you to everyone who participated. 
We are signed up for the South shore Christmas parade on Saturday, Nov 23.
We are doing the West Allis Christmas parade on Saturday, Dec 7.
Mari Pavleje will post sign up sheets for both parades at the indoor club-please sign up! Dogs should be in Beginning Novice and above. If you don’t feel that your dog could do the parade or are in a class below Beginner Novice,, we do need people to carry our banners. Take the corresponding information sheet for the parade you sign up for. Talk to Mari if you have questions. 
We will have a double corner booth at the Pet Expo on Saturday, February 1st. Daryl Stuppan needs someone to help with collecting donations for AKC trial raffles. You would get in for free if you go with Daryl to help. 

Fundraising
Laura Lown works for Anodyne Coffee. She is working on putting together a coffee fundraiser for the club. We would be selling coffee, tea, and hot cocoa. The club would make about $7 per bag of coffee sold. Laura is working on logistics and will send out more information when she has it.
Flower Power Fundraiser ended October 15. We raised $398. 

Nominating
Nothing to report

UNFINISHED BUSINESS
New Building: We have work dates this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and Sunday. See the Facebook page for times. We have major work scheduled and need to get things prepped before the work can be done. Thank you to everyone who has helped so far. 
We need to do pressure washing to get ready for painting. If anyone has a pressure washer for the club to borrow, please bring. 
Our dues are lower than other clubs in the area. We rely on members volunteering to do a lot of our work. If we don’t have enough volunteers, we would have to pay for work to be done which could increase membership dues. 
Some employers have incentives for volunteering. 
Let Daryl Stuppan know if there is a day you can help but there aren’t volunteer hours listed. She might be able to come to the building. Check the Facebook page and comments for updates to work times. 

NEW BUSINESS
We decided to have a capital campaign again this year. Information will be in the newsletter. The money will be allocated towards painting. Two Day Painting gave us a $10,500 discount on painting the three training rooms. They have been great to work with so far. 
Mari Pavleje read the names of the new class. 

Show wins: Lots of great wins, titles, and qualifying scores! Be sure to submit your wins to the newsletter by emailing your information to Newsletter Editor Ellen Mack: emkk@sbcglobal.net 
Raffle for Halloween gift bags. The winners were Hannah Herman, Kim Rinzel, and Joy Peot. 

Motion to adjourn by Kayden Rinzel. Seconded by Sue Bronson. No discussion. Motion carried.
Meeting adjourned at 8:44pm
Submitted by Katie Schmidt, Club Secretary