Apr 29, 2007 | June 10, 2007 | July 1, 2007 | July 21, 2007 | Sep 22, 2007 | Oct 20, 2007 | Feb 23, 2008 | Apr 19, 2008 | Apr 27, 2008 | Aug 27, 2008 | Sep 14, 2008 | Dec 6, 2008 | Feb 14, 2009 | Apr 4, 2009

Meeting Date: Apr 29, 2007
Time: 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Place: Shuddodan dai's Taekwondo place, Beaverton

Present at the Meeting:
Executive Committee: Dillu Thapa, President
Shuddodhan Ranjit, Vice President
Sanjeev Pradhan, General Secretary
Jagat Shakya, Treasurer
Suraj Aryal, Member
Pradeep Baniya, Member
Ganga Bhattarai, Member
Mingma Sherpa, Member
Prachin Shrestha, Member

Immediate Past President: Kush Shrestha

The topics and the details that were discussed in the meeting are outlined below:

1. RSVP and Payment for events
Currently, we have a problem with the way RSVP and payment is being done. One of two things is happening - either people say they're going to come to an event and don’t shows up or they show their desire in attending the event after the payment deadline. This causes a problem with the supply of food. After some discussion, a solution was determined for the next event. Executive committee members will encourage people to RSVP and pay in advance. We will set the RSVP deadline to 10 days before the event and the payment deadline to 7 days before the event. If people have RSVP but haven't paid, we will start calling them and letting them know that if they don't make the payment 7 days before the event, their name(s) will be cancelled. This way, we will have an exact number 7 days before the event and can plan for the event and food in a much better way.

2. Handover of documents from old to new Executive Committee
- Files have been officially handed over to the new Executive Committee.
- Bank transfer will be done soon.
- A letter stating that a new executive committee has been formed and signed by the old and the new treasurer will be taken to the bank for the signature change.

3. Advisory Committee
- Kush dai explained how the advisory committee was formed and what kind of role they play in NAO
- We will ask the current members of the advisory committee if they want to continue as committee members. If someone intends not to continue, we will find a replacement for them.
- We will also ask Yam Pun to be a member of the advisory committee.

4. Sanjaya Shrestha program in June
- There has been 70% confirmation from Sanjaya Shrestha so far to perform here in Portland in June.
- Touring along with Sanjaya will be other members such as Saroj Dutta and Sugam Pokharel.
- If we host the program, we should expect around 100-125 people to attend.
- Dillu dai will contact Sanjaya ji to see if he can confirm within a certain date so we have enough time to prepare on our end.
- There have also been some talks about the possibility of Sambhujit Banskota coming here. However, that mostly depends on him coming to the ANA convention in LA or not. We will find out more detail later.

5. Table Tennis Tournament
- We will host the annual Table Tennis tournament on July 21st of this year.
- Shuddodhan dai and Prachin will co-ordinate the event.
- One table is with Dillu dai and the second will be sought by Prachin.

6. Paleti Program
- We will continue the 'Paleti' program that we started last year.
- We will host it on June 16th. The venue is yet to be decided.
- Pukar and Jagat dai will co-ordinate the event. Pukar is expected to be back from Nepal in the first part of June.

7. Nepali Language Class
- Sometime starting in August or September, we will host Nepali language classes for kids.
- We will run a pilot program for the first month which will include an hour every week.
- If the pilot program goes well, we will continue it after the first month.

8. Magical Night of Giving
- The Lloyd Center sponsored 'Magical Night of Giving' for non-profit organization like ours is an excellent opportunity to raise funds. Lloyd Center gives us tickets which we can sell.
- This year, we need to make it a point to sell more tickets so we can raise more money for our organization.
- We need to promote this within our workplace.
- We should set a target of a total of 300 tickets.

9. Grant Application
- We should also look into getting grants.
-It was decided that everyone would research and find out the available grants out there for an organization like ours.
- We also intend to find out which county offers more grants and then register our official address in that county.

10. Momo Party Fundraiser
- A lot of talks have happened in the past to have a momo party to raise funds for NAO but hasn't taken place yet.
- This idea seems feasible but requires efforts from a lot of people.
- After some discussion, it was decided that it would be better for multiple people to wrap the momos at home, freeze them and bring them on the day of the party than everyone trying to wrap them at the party itself. This way, people can enjoy the party rather than wrap momos throughout.
- We plan to have this party sometime in November.
- A venue hasn't been decided yet.
- The idea of a documentary to show during the party sounded promising.
- We will have more talks about this in the future before we start planning for it.

11. Dashain venue
- Dillu dai suggested that we look into finding a new venue for the Dashain event.
- While Multnomah Arts Center is a good location; they are starting to be expensive to host events.

Key Dates in 2007:
June 16th - Paleti Program
June 23rd - Sanjaya Shrestha concert (Tentative)
July 21st- Table Tennis Tournament
Aug/Sep - Start Nepali Language Classes
Sep 1st - 6th Nepali NW Picnic
Oct - Dashain Party
Fall - Magical Night of Giving
Nov - Momo Fundraiser Party

Meeting Date: June 10, 2007
Time: 10:00 AM - 11:30 PM
Place: US West Taekwondo School at Beaverton

Present at the Meeting: Dillu Thapa, Shuddodhan Ranjit, Sanjeev Pradhan, Suraj Aryal, Pradeep Baniya, Ganga Bhattarai, Prachin Shrestha

Also Present: Bikram Vaidya

The meeting was held to prepare for the upcoming Pop Concert on June 23rd, 2007. The following topics were discussed regarding the concerts and the visiting artists.

1. Full schedule of the artists
Here is the full schedule of the artists beginning from their arrival to their departure from Portland:

Wednesday, June 20th, 2007
PM - Bikram dai will pick them up from the airport. If needed, Pradeep dai or someone else will help. The arrival time is not known yet.
PM - Dinner at Bikram dai's place
PM - 3 of the artists will sleep at Bikram dai's place while the other 3 will sleep at Sanjeev's place

Thursday, June 21st, 2007
AM - Rest
PM - Lunch with Mingma (sponsored by NAO)
PM - Tour of Multnomah Falls by Mingma
5:00 PM - Sound system test at Sanjeev's place
7:00 PM - Dinner at Sunil (Tamrakar) dai's place
PM - Sleep at Bikram dai's and Sanjeev's place

Friday, June 22nd, 2007
AM - Request Diwakar dai to pick them up from Bikram dai's and Sanjeev's place
AM - Seaside tour by Diwakar dai
PM - Dinner at someone's place (not known yet) in Hillsboro.
PM - Everyone will sleep at Diwakar dai's place

Saturday, June 23rd, 2007
AM - Belt test function by Diwakar dai
4:30 PM - Artists will arrive at Multnomah Arts Center (MAC). We will check with Diwakar dai to see if he can bring them to MAC by this time, if not, Sanjeev and/or Bikram dai will pick them up.
5:15 PM - Start of the concert
7:30 PM - Wrap up concert and start cleaning
8:30 PM - Leave MAC and dinner at Diwakar dai's place

Sunday, June 23rd, 2007
AM - Drop off at the airport.

2. Sound System
We will use our current sound system and the rented system at MAC. We are still deciding on the drumset. Bikram dai will talk to Diwakar dai to see if we can get/rent Frennel's drumset which was used for the artists a couple of years back. If that is not possible, we will rent it from somewhere else. Sanjeev will coordinate the renting.

3. Ticket Sales
We will push to sell tickets. We will break down the list of NAO members into 6 pages and provide them to Dillu dai, Shuddodan dai, Ganga didi, Pradeep dai, Prachin and Sanjeev. Each person will then call the members listed on their page to see if they would like to attend the concert.

4. Snacks
- Mingma has volunteered to provide tea for the audience. Pradeep dai will get cups.
- We are planning to have samosas to go along with tea during the 10-15 min break in the concert. We haven't decided on the price yet. Ganga did and Prachin will call around to get quotes for 150 samosas. If we sell a good number of tickets, we may even provide this for free. The goal of this is to provide service and not to make money.

5. Concert Evening
- All EC members should arrive to MAC at 4:30 PM
- Bikram dai will coordinate setting up the sound system
- Ganga didi and Prachin will be at the entrance door. We will use wrist bands to identify the paid guests.
- We will request each individual in the audience to put the chairs back after the concert. If this is done, it will save us at least half hour. We will still be ready to put them all back.

Meeting Date: July 1, 2007
Time: 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Place: US West Taekwondo School at Beaverton

Present at the Meeting: Dillu Thapa, Shuddodhan Ranjit, Sanjeev Pradhan, Jagat Shakya, Ganga Bhattarai, Mingma Sherpa

The following topics were discussed during the meeting:

1. Feedback on the Concert held on June 23rd
- This was a very positive experience for the whole Nepali Community in Oregon. Everyone enjoyed it a lot and everything turned out to be good. Kudos to everyone for making this event a successful one.
- For audit purposes, the payment that we have made to the artists will be shown on paper signed by all members of the executive members
- The net profit for the concert was $692. $50 is due from Prachin. Jagat dai will deposit $642 for now.

2. Table Tennis Tournament
- The date is set for Saturday, July 21st, 2007. The tournament will begin at 10 AM.
- The venue for the tournament will be Portland State University
- The committee for the tournament consists of Shuddhodan Ranjit, Prachin Shrestha, Samdup Khangar and Sanjeev Pradhan
- We will review the rules for the tournament and make changes if necessary
- We will start promoting this tournament through the website and flyers

Meeting Date: July 21, 2007
Place: Starbuck's, 1717 SW Park Ave
Time: 9:15 AM - 10:30 AM

Present at the Meeting: Dillu Thapa, Sanjeev Pradhan, Jagat Shakya, Ganga Bhattarai, Prachin Shrestha, Pradip Baniya, Suraj Aryal

The following topics were discussed during the meeting:

1. Food Menu
a. Lunch
• Sandwich (turkey, peanut butter)
• Hot Dog (chicken only)
• Fruits (Watermelon)
• Chiwra
• Alu Sandeko (Ganga didi)
• Bhatmas Sandeko
b. Dinner
• Rice
• Barbeque Chicken and Pork
• Nepali Chana
• Alu Tama
• Alu Achar
c. Snacks: Chips; Salsa
d. Drinks: Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Diet drinks
e. Dessert: Pie

2. Gas Grills
- Requests will be made to David Norquist, Basanta Karki and Bikram Vaidya for the gas grills

3. Games
- Volleyball team needs to be formed. Jangbu will be the team captain.
- There will be kid's games like tug-o-war
- There will be other games like bingo and Antaksari

4. Other
- NAO will buy two water coolers that will be used for the picnic and for future events
- Two plaques will be made as an appreciation for participation in the volleyball tournament for our visitors to the Northwest picinic
- Request will be made to all the NAO members to bring their own camping chairs

5. Sound System
- We will bring our current system to the picnic for music. In terms of speakers, we will borrow Debesh dai's speakers
-Sanjeev will coordinate with Debesh dai to sell the two huge speakers we have and then purchase two small ones that will be easier to move around

Meeting Date: Sep 22, 2007
Time: 10:45 AM - 12:15 PM
Place: Shuddhodan dai's Taekwondo place, Beaverton

Present at the Meeting: Dillu Thapa, Shuddhodan Ranjit, Sanjeev Pradhan, Jagat Shakya, Suraj Aryal, Ganga Bhattarai

The topics and the details that were discussed in the meeting are outlined below:

1. Dashain Party
a. Ticket Prices
The following ticket prices have been confirmed for the Dashain party.
Member Non-Member
Adult $16 $21
Student and 12-18 yrs $13 $18
6-12 yrs $9 $14
*Children under 6 yrs Free
*Students must show current ID

b. Food Menu
We have decided to go with Shuddhodan dai's quotation for food at the Dashin Party. Here is what the menu looks like.

Appetizer
Pakoras with Chutney and Tandoori Chicken

Main Course (Dinner)
Pulau rice
Naan
Chicken Curry with Nepali taste
Mutton Curry (Khasi Ko Masu)
Cauli Aloo ko Tarkari
Chana Chole
Tomato ko Achar

Dessert: Rasmalai

c. Alocohol
Beer – Mingma; Wine - Trader Joe's

d. Purchase following items: Paper plates for dinner, Paper plates for snacks, Water cups, Spoons, Forks, Napkins Dessert plates, Wine cups, Beer cups, Lemonade – Mingma, Disposable table cloth

e. Door
The following people will be at the door to check tickets
- Ganga didi
- Urmila didi??
- Deepa Chalise??

f. Cultural Program - Dillu dai

2. Director saab's Schedule

Thursday, September 27th
Afternoon - Dillu dai will pick him up and drop at Helen didi's house where he will stay
Evening - Open

Friday, September 28th
Morning - Breakfast at Helen didi's
Afternoon - Open
Evening - Sanjeev will take him out for dinner

Saturday, September 29th
Morning - Breakfast
Afternoon - Movie
Evening - Dinner at Helen didi's house

Sunday, September 30th
Afternoon - Lunch at Dillu dai's or Jagat dai's house
Evening - Dinner at Jagat dai's or Dillu dai's house

Monday, October 1st
Afternoon - Dillu dai will drop him off at the airport

Meeting Date: Oct 20, 2007
Here is the meeting minutes from the Executive Committee meeting held on October 20th, 2007 in preparation for the upcoming Dashain party to be held on October 27th, 2007 (Teleconference).

Present at the Meeting: Dillu Thapa, Shuddhodan Ranjit, Sanjeev Pradhan, Jagat Shakya, Mingma Sherpa, Prachin Shrestha, Pradip Baniya, Suraj Aryal

The topics and the details that were discussed in the meeting are outlined below:

1. Gate
Sanjeev, Jagat dai and Ganga didi will be at the door. Sanjeev will bring a printout of the paid list from Paypal and the Dashain list from Google Docs as a reference list for paid people of the Dashain party. We will push for membership for renewals and new members.

2. Music
Prachin will take care of the sound system and will get help from others. He will co-ordinate with Mingma, Jangbo and Sanjeev to compile a list of music to play during the dinner and the dance party.

3. Food
Mingma will bring table cloth for the food section. The following time has been set for the various events:

Gate Open: 6:15
Snacks: 6:45 to 7:30
Dinner: 8:00 to 9:15 or 9:30
Dance Floor: Open after dinner until 11:15 (provided we get to extend by an hour)

4. Alcohol
Mingma will bring beer and wine and host the bar.

5. Time Extension
Dillu dai will call MAC to extend the reserved time by an hour and then send out an email to NAO group.

6. Decoration
Pradip dai, Suraj dai will get help from Eresh, Samdup and others for decorating the stage.

7. Membership Cards
After Dashain, we will create membership cards and send them to the paid members as an ID card that they can bring for other functions.

P.S. We will extend the RSVP deadline until Monday or Tuesday depending on which is more comfortable for Shuddhodan dai to have enough time to prepare the food.

Meeting Date: Feb 23, 2008
Time: 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Place: Shuddodan dai's taekwondo place, Beaverton

Present at the Meeting: Dillu Thapa, Shuddhodan Ranjit, Sanjeev Pradhan, Ganga Bhattarai, Prachin Shrestha, Suraj Aryal

The topics and the details that were discussed for the New Year Party are outlined below:

1. Wine and Beer
We will talk to Mingma to see if he can host the bar and also calculate how much wine and beer we need to purchase.

2. Food
We will get quotes from different entities and we will discuss them and choose one when we meet for Kagbeni at Hollywood Theater on March 16th. The following food items are samples that we would like to see in the quote but they can vary depending on the vendor.

Snacks: Samosa; Pakora

Main Dish
Rice and Dal or Pulao
Vegetarian dishes - Alu Gobi, Chana
Non - Veg dishes - Chicken, Goat

Dessert- Rasbari or Yogurt and Lalmon

3. Recognition
The people mentioned in Dillu dai's email will be recognized. We will give them plaques at the New Year Party. Dillu dai and Ganga didi are working on ordering the plaques.

4. Party Supplies
We have some supplies left from the Dashain party. Dillu dai has them. He will figure out what is not enough for the party and will purchase them.

5. Cultural Program
An email has been sent out to the mailing list. We will have a program based on the response we get from the people.

6. Insurance
Payment has been sent for the alcohol insurance for the New Year Party at MAC.

7. Ticket Price
The door prices for the New Year Party will be the same as Dashain.

Members Non-Members
Adults $16 $21
Youth (12 -18 yrs) and Students $13 $18
Children (6 -12 yrs) $9 $14

Sanjeev, Jagat dai and Gangai didi will cover the front for tickets.

8. Door Prizes
An email has been sent out to the mailing list asking for volunteers to donate for the door prize. Possible prizes are OMSI, zoo, Nike stuff, haircut (Nancy), OSU (Urmila).

9. Calling List
Sanjeev will update the official list on Google Docs. If anyone has any new information, please send it to me. We will call to get RSVP for both events - Kagbeni and New Year Party on the weekend of March 8th/9th.

10. Volunteer List
An email has been sent out to the mailing list requesting volunteers for stage setup, music collection/DJ, table setup and cleanup.

Meeting Date: Apr 19, 2008

Time: 3:00 PM - 4:45 PM
Place: 610 SW Alder St, Portland, OR 97205

Present at the Meeting:
Executive Committee: Dillu Thapa, Kush Shrestha (ex-president), Sanjeev Pradhan
Advisory Committee: Bimal Pathak, Kanhaiya Vaidya, Satish Upadhaya

The topics and the details that were discussed in the meeting are outlined below:

1. Membership Drive
- The biggest question we have is how we can persuade people to become members and continue their memberships
- As a first step, we will send reminder about membership expirations to personal email addresses

2. Dashain Party
- We will not call people for RSVP as we have been doing the past few events.
- We will however email people at their personal addresses besides the regular one to the mailing list.
- We will also try something new and have 3 different rates - early RSVP rate, regular deadline RSVP rate and door rate.
3. Financial Objectives
a. Scholarships
- NAO will sponsor a student starting with $500. In order to accomplish this, there needs to be some criteria and standards. Bimal Pathak will write some criteria and we will refine it as a group. We will have some criteria by Dashain to be handed out for fall next year.

b. Emergency Fund
- We will set aside some amount to an emergency fund which we can use to donate for emergency situations such as the flooding that occurred in Nepal last year

c. Long Term Goals
- We will work on expanding our current fund to $10K in the next 4-5 years. We will build this fund so we can establish something like a community center, etc.
- To safeguard the fund, we should maybe modify the bylaws so the fund cannot be spent in one instance. We should think about writing something that the executive committee can only spend $2-3K in one instance and if they want to spend beyond that amount, then they have to go through the community.
- Advisory committee will write something as a first draft by the end of June. After it's refined, it will be presented to the executive committee.

4. Audit
- As an organization, we should also audit our account. We can find out the process for getting audited with community member, Krishna Bhattarai, CPA
- We will also check the IRS website.
- If we cannot find CPA, we can also find 2-3 people outside of the executive committee for certification purpose.

Meeting Date: Apr 27, 2008

Time: 7:15 PM - 9:00 PM

Present at the Meeting: Dillu Thapa, Shuddhodan Ranjit, Sanjeev Pradhan, Jagat Shakya, Ganga Bhattarai, Prachin Shrestha, Pradip Baniya, Mingma Sherpa, Suraj Aryal
(Teleconference)

The topics and the details that were discussed are outlined below:

1. New Year Party Evaluation
- Low Turnout
- Postcard was a good approach
- Raffle was also a very good idea
- Alcohol went at a loss due to the $135 insurance
- Overall, it was good

2. Briefing on meeting with Advisory Committee
- Next Steps for NAO
- Scholarship fund
- Emergency fund

3. Table Tennis Tournament
- Tentative Date: 08/02/08
- Prachin will talk to Pemba regarding use of facility at PSU
- Sanjeev will talk to Pasang
- Warm up notice to be sent to our mailing list
- It will be a 1 day event
- We will use tournament rules and regulations from before and modify it if necessary

4. Summer Picnic
- Will be potluck style
- Supplies will be purchased by NAO
- For dinner, we will either serve barbeque chicken or Ganga didi's family will cook different dishes
- Ganga didi will send out an email regarding cost for 100, 125 and 150 people

Meeting Date: Aug 27, 2008

Present at the Meeting: Dillu Raj Thapa, Jagat Shakya, Pradeep Baniya, Suraj Aryal, Sanjeev Pradhan, Prachin Shrestha

Agenda:
1. Evaluation of the various events
2. Donation for Saptakoshi flood victims
3. Movie "GORKHALI RAKSHAK" talk
4. Dashain Agenda

Decision & Conclusion:
1. Evaluation of the various events
o Will be discussed next time

2. Donation for Saptakoshi flood victims
o $1001.00 donation to be provided from NAO's account
o Will need to find a donor by the end of this week (the sooner the better)

3. Movie "GORKHALI RAKSHAK" talk
- NAO will be fully involved with selling tickets and promoting the event.
- If Sunny Bee sells 400+ tickets by end of September we plan to do another show.
- First show NOVEMBER 1st - Hollywood Theatre.
- Profit division 20-80%

4. DASHAIN Agenda
o NAMASTE newsletter
o Supplies (Ganga didi/Dillu Dai will manage and confirm)
o Venue - confirmed OCT 18th
o Rental & Insurance (Jagat Dai will sent email & Confirm)
o Advertisement - DO A DITIGAL WISHES/ADVER show by using projector
o Ticket prices - EARLY BIRD gets $2.00 off if bought before SEPT 27th.
o Cultural program - for sure to happen
o Speech from PRESIDENT
o MUSIC- need to find more NEPALI Dance music
o DECORATIONS - need more decoration this time around
o Alcohol/Beer (Not deided yet)
o Non-Alcoholic drinks (????)
o Raffel Prizes (Everyone will try to make an effort to collect prizes, atleast minimum of two... make sure you mention that it is for non-profit organization. Dillu dai can you send us our TAX ID number)
o No Calling this time around, but induvidual email (SANJEEV will make the personal email happen)Program for the event is roughly planned
o CATERING - Still collectiong quotes. After Dashain Party Go home and chill out and relax or party even more!!!!!!!!!!!!

5. THINGS TO DO:

• JAGAT DAI - Send yahoo groups and friend to collect articles (due date Sept 20th) to make Namaste newsletter
• SANJEEV/DILLU DAI - Send yahoo groups and friend the DASHAIN info
• SANJEEV/DILLU DAI - Send yahoo groups and friend to Request DASHAIN VOLUNTEERS for
  1. DECORATIONS
  2. SET-UP
  3. CLOSEDOWN/CLEAN
• SANJEEV/DILLU DAI - Send yahoo groups and friend to Request ADVERTISEMENT/DIGITAL GREETINGS
  1. $100 - business 30 sec video
  2. $50 - business slide
  3. $10 - family greetings
  

Meeting Date: Sep 14, 2008

Time: 3:30 PM - 4:45 PM
Place: Oregon Culinary Institute

Present at the Meeting:
Dillu Thapa, Shuddodhan Ranjit, Sanjeev Pradhan, Jagat Shakya, Suraj Aryal, Pradeep Baniya, Mingma Sherpa, Prachin Shrestha

We received three separate quotations for catering food for the Dashain party. Upon discussion and review of the quotes, we have decided to go with India Palace. The quotation is for $10 per person. There is a clause stating that if there are less than 150 people then it will be $11 per person.

Here is what the menu looks like:

Appetizer
- Mix Veg Pakoras
- Tandoori Chicken

Main Course
- Mutton Curry
- Chicken Curry with Bone
- Cauliflower and Potatoes
- Chana Masala
- Pulao Rice
- Naan
- Tomato Fish Achar

Dessert
- Gulab Jamun

We have requested to make the following adjustments on the quotation:
1. Have Chicken Chilli as an appetizer item instead of Tandoori Chicken
2. Have Tomato Acchar without fish as a main course item so it serves as a vegetarian dish
3. Remove the clause stating that it will be $11 per person if there are less than 150 people and make it $10 per person regardless of the number of people attending the party.
4. Have name tags for all the dishes

Shuddhodan dai will talk to his team and get back to us regarding our requests.

Meeting Date: Dec 6, 2008

Time: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Place: Starbuck's, Hillsboro

Present at the Meeting: Dillu Thapa, Shuddodhan Ranjit, Sanjeev Pradhan, Jagat Shakya, Prachin Shrestha, Pradip Baniya, Suraj Aryal Mingna Sherpa and Ganga Bhattarai (on the phone)

The following topics were discussed during the meeting:

1. Evaluation of the Dashain Party
There was a lot of negative feedback on the food at the party. Everything else seemed fine. We need to work on it to do a better job next time.

2. Poll for Food Choices for the next event
We will put a poll on our website for food choices for the upcoming New Year Party. We will do either IP tracking or use cache so a person cannot vote more than once. The choices will be:
a. Catering from a restaurant (traditional approach)
b. Potluck with minimal entry fee
c. Food stalls with minimal entry fee

We will put the poll sometime this week for about a month. Based on the response we get, we will evaluate and move forward with the best choice from the community.

3. Natural Disaster Fund
A natural disaster fund will be opened at a bank on Jan 2nd, 2009. Until then, we will look at different options like CD, savings, etc. and go with the one that makes the most sense. $789 will be deposited initially to the fund.

4. Update on the Flood Victims Check
The check given to Raja dai ($1031) hasn't been cashed by him yet. However, the money has been given to the appropriate people in Nepal for the cause.

5. New Year Party
New Year Party 2066 will be held on April 18th, 2009 at Multnomah Arts Center, our favorite facility. Focus will be given to cultural program. As mentioned before, we will decide on food after the results of the poll.

6. Scholarship Fund
A scholarship fund will also be opened at a bank on Jan 2nd, 2009. Shuddhodan dai has generously offered to give $500 for the fund and NAO will also put $500 so the fund will be opened with an opening balance of $1000. The advisory committee is working on criteria for the scholarship fund which we hope to start in the Fall of 2009.

Meeting Date: Feb 14, 2009

Time: 10:15 AM - 12:30 PM
Place: 6th and Alder, Downtown

Present at the Meeting:
Executive Committee: Dillu Thapa, Jagat Shakya, Sanjeev Pradhan,Ganga Bhattarai, Prachin Shrestha, Pradip Baniya
Past President: Kush Shrestha

The following topics were discussed during the meeting:

1. Funds opened
a. Natural Disaster Fund
- An account was opened on Feb 14th in the amount of $789
- A criteria will be set for giving out the natural emergency fund. Whenever someone is in need of emergency fund and once they've met the criteria, we will ask committee members to make donation which will go into this fund. NAO will try to contribute for the situation too and the final amount will be taken out for the individual

b. Scholarship Fund
- An account was opened on Feb 14th in the amount of $700
- We will try to put $500 every year towards this fund
- We need to recognize Kinoko Kuzumi (Thompson) at the New Year Party. She donated $200 towards this fund.

2. Audit
We will contact Krishna Bhattarai for our annual audit

3. New Year Party
a. Food
We will try to server Nepali food this time. We will wait until Feb 28th for the Lhosar event to see how Mingma's cooking experience went. At this point, we're trying to see if we can use Mingma's work area along with some of our volunteers to cook the food for the event. Once Mingma gives us a feedback after the Lhosar event, we will then make a decision as to get it catered of cook it ourselves

b. Alcohol
Mingma will get beer and wine. We will charge $3 per glass.

c. Raffle
We all should try to get raffles for the prizes. If we start today, there is a lot of time to contact different organizations.

d. Culture Program
It will be around 1-1.5 hours before dinner.

e. Sponsoring Bhutanese
We will not be able to collect donation this time for the Bhutanese people. They will need to pay for the event. The best we can do it treat them as out of state guests so they can pay member rate.

f. Music
Prachin and Eresh will handle this

g. Door
Sanjeev and Jagat dai will be at the door

h. Bar
We will request Rajan Dhaubadel to cover the bar. He may need additional help.

i. Decoration
Pradip dai, Suraj dai with more help can decorate the stage

j. Rates
Members Non-Members
Adult $20 $25
Student/Youth $15 $20
Children (6-12 yrs) $10 $15

- These are new rates for the New Year Party.
- Early Bird will get $3 off

Early Bird RSVP Deadline: March 31st, 2009
Regular RSVP Deadline: April 11th, 2009

h. Election
We will hand over the final membership list to EC by 7PM on party day

Next Meeting:
The next meeting will be held on April 4th, 2009. Time and venue will be determined later.

Meeting Date: Apr 4, 2009

Time: 1:15 AM - 2:30 PM
Place: Shuddhodan dai's place, Beaverton

Present at the Meeting: Dillu Thapa, Shuddhodan Ranjit, Jagat Shakya, Sanjeev Pradhan, Ganga Bhattarai, Pradip Baniya, Suraj Aryal

The following topics were discussed during the meeting:

1. Food Preparation for the New Year Party
a. Cooking (Snacks/Main Dishes)
The food will be cooked on April 18th and the following people will head the cooking department - Tara Karki, Binita Baniya, Shrijana Sthapit, Lalita Budathoki, Goma Parajuli and Bikram Vaidya. Backup will be Shrijana Norquist
Volunteers will be needed on the evening of April 17th to prep for the food be cooked. So far, we have the following people - Kush Shrestha, Uma Shrestha, Dillu Raj Thapa, Suraj Aryal, Ganga Bhattarai, Sanjeev Pradhan, Rejina Pradhan, Pradip Baniya.

b. Cooking (Dessert)
Lalmohan will be cooked on April 11th around 1 PM at Pradip dai and Binita didi's house in Tigard. Binita Baniya and Tara Karki will lead the efforts with other volunteers helping.

c. Supplies
Dillu dai will take care of it

d. Kitchen
Small kitchen has been reserved at MAC for warming up food and preparing rice

e. Bar and Food Setup at the party
An email will be sent out to the nepaloregon mailing list requesting 5 volunteers for bartending and setting up and looking after the food. If we do not get any response, we will talk to the Bhutanese people to see if they're willing to help and we may subsidize by giving them free entry to the event

f. Beer/Wine
Mingma will let us know if he can bring beer and wine. Sanjeev will stay as backup.

g. Music
Follow up with Prachin. Eresh will stay as backup.

h. Setup (Stage, Tables)
Everyone will help

i. Door
Jagat dai and Sanjeev will be at the door

j. Program Menu
6:00 PM – Ex Comm members arrive at MAC, setup begins
6:30 PM - Doors open, ballot opens for election, as we verify membership all members 18 and older will get a ballot and the ballot box will remain at the entry
6:45 PM - Serve snacks
7:00 PM - Culture program starts, recognition of Mali family
7:30 PM – Last ballot given for election
8:00 PM - Ballot closes for election, dinner starts, EC will start counting votes
9:00 PM - Culture program continues at the end of which election results will be announced. Afterwards, open dance floor begins
11:00 PM - Cleanup begins

Sanjeev Pradhan
NAO General Secretary, 2007-09