MSNA Executive "Board Briefs"
In an effort to improve communication with members, we welcome you to the first edition of “Board Briefs.” This short composite will follow each MSNA Executive Board meeting to quickly inform members of the results, decisions, or actions of the MSNA Board. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the MSNA Administrative Coordinator, Sharon Maus, at msna@citescape.com

MSNA Executive Board Meeting
January 9, 2008
Osseo Area Schools
President, Tom Pellegrino

MSNA Video - Learing Zone Xpress will market the MSNA Vision and Values video. MSNA will receive royalties from this marketing venture.

Industry Conference -Plans are moving along for the MSNA Industry Conference being held May 6 & 7, 2008 Rutger's in Brainerd. The registration form will be in the April Processor.

2010 MSNA Annual Conference - The Executive Board recommended and voted on the location of the 2010 conference. The conference will be held in Rochester.

Candidates for MSNA Board - The Executive Board has received names to fill the openings on the Excutive Board. Bernice Reinke has accepted the nomination for Secretary/Finance and Deb LaBounty has accepted the nomination for Vice President. Watch for more information in the April Processor.

Member Services - There was NO Louise Sublette entries this year. Judging for the Heart of the Program and Leadership award will be done in March. Scholarships are still available. Send in your applications to Mary Betlach.

Minnesota Dept of Ed - MSNA was informed about a "Special Dietary Needs" conference that will held in Chicago July 7-11,2008. Discussion was held about sending some people from the Nutrition Committee. A motion was made to send three people who will be asked to present at the Nutrition Conference in Rochester in the fall. Barb Griffiths, Brenda Braulick and Linda Dieleman will be representing MSNA in Chicago.

Legislative - President Elect Jean Ronnei will be going to Washington DC for the SNA Legislative Conference March 2-5, 2008. Jean, Elaine Keefe and the PPL committee have developed an MSNA issue paper to present at the conference.

Boot Camp - The new MSNA "Boot Camp" will be on June 25-26, 2008 at St. Ben's College in St. Joseph. The theme for this session will be a focus on "Back to the Basics". Look for more information and registration forms in the April Processor.

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MSNA Executive Board Meeting
December 5, 2007
Osseo ISD
President, Tom Pellegrino

SNA Fall Membership Drive. SNA rewarded Minnesota a free SNA membership as a winner of the Midwest Regional membership drive. The membership certificate will be included as part of the Board Silent Auction Basket at the annual conference in August 2008.

MSNA Audit – MSNA recently completed a financial audit conducted by the accounting office of Malloy, Montague, Karnowski, Radosevich & Co. The audit went well with only recommended procedural changes noted.

A World of Hope – One Potluck at a Time – An exciting opportunity awaits MSNA chapters and members! Mary Paula Deane, foodservice director with the Hastings Public Schools, has agreed to work on a web page and tool kit that shows how to raise money for childhood hunger issues. . The Southeast Metro chapter is hosting the first event in February, which will be a pot-luck event. The tool kit will include invitations, descriptions, brochures, recipes, and steps for hosting an MSNA pot luck. Anyone interested in working with Mary Paula is invited to contact her.

Southeastern MN Flood Donation. MSNA was pleased to be able to donate $1,000 to members of Southwest Chapter 11 members who experienced financial setbacks because of the summer flooding in their area. The Minnesota School Food Service Director’s Group matched the donation, for a total of $2,000 donated.

Education Activities
The MSNA “Boot Camp” is scheduled for June 25-26, 2008 at St. Ben’s College in St. Joseph, MN. The theme of this 2-day format training will be a focus on “Back to the Basics. We are planning for 60 people at an introductory rate of $150, which will include meals and programming. Lodging is additional. Stay tuned for more details!

Administrative Coordinator: Sharon Maus was offered and accepted the position as MSNA Administrative Coordinator, replacing Deb Lukkonen, who recently resigned after serving nine years for MSNA. Sharon will work out of her home in the St. Cloud area. The board welcomes Sharon and is excited to have her part of the team. MSNA wishes Deb well in her new adventures!

Legislative Update: Tina Wheeler, MSNA Public Policy Chair, submitted her resignation for the post earlier in November. This year, MSNA will not seek new state funding for our nutrition programs, as it is a non-funding year. Elaine Keefe, our lobbyist, reports that the Minnesota Legislature is extremely busy with transportation and education challenges, along with early indications of a deficit year. Given this scenario and the recent resignation of Tina, MSNA will not hold a Legislative Conference this year.

Nutrition Conference Update: 299 attendees enjoyed a fabulous conference at the Lakeville South High School on October 27. MSNA earned a nearly $8,000 profit on the event.

Membership: Work continues in the development of “Chapter Liaisons,” or member representatives, which will provide a communication link from Chapters to the MSNA Executive Board. The purpose of the Chapter Liaison will to meet periodically with Chapters and their leaders to provide feedback, input and direction when needed. We hope to see about 10-12 Chapter Liaison in place by the start of next school year. If you have an interest in being a liaison, please contact Mary Betlach at mary_betlach@rdale.k12.mn.us.

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MSNA Executive Board Meeting
October 10, 2007
Osseo ISD
President, Tom Pellegrino

MSNA Plan of Action - Work continues on the MSNA Plan of Action. All Board members are responsible for coordinating a part of the action. Educational programming for the 2007-08 school year will follow a “Beyond the Basics” guidelines, in an effort to provide high quality top-notch conferences this year.

Education Activities
A proposed “Boot Camp” will be replacing the MSNA Academy which has been experiencing declining attendance over the last three years. This 2-4 day event will provide in-depth training that focuses on customer needs. Proposed educational workshops will include a focus on “food quality” as well as marketing. Participants will learn how to creating quality foods, kick your program up a notch, and how take care of the details to get quality. A survey will be coming out in the near future to help determine the exact needs of members. The Boot Camp will likely be held in the central Minnesota/St. Cloud area.

Nutrition Conference – Registration is in full swing for the annual MSNA Nutrition Conference to be held on Saturday, October 27, at the Lakeville South HS. The theme is “Women’s Health Issues.” Park Nicolette medical center staff will be on hand to take blood pressure and blood glucose tests for each member attending. These tests help screen for potential heart disease risks. Also, Chris Freytag, who many know from Channel 11 Early AM presentations on healthy lifestyles, will be our final presenter for the day. We will have drawings for door prizes at the end of the event for items that will help you “get going”, stay in shape, or reduce stress – such as a weekend stay in Minneapolis area hotel! Heart Disease is the #1 killer of women, and we need to learn the things we can do to reduce our risks!

Trainer Network. Annette Hendrickx Derouin is chairing this committee. Her charge is to bring the list of network of trainers up-to-date and plan for future training and protocol.

Membership: Work is underway in the development of “Chapter Liaisons,” or member representatives, which will provide a communication link from Chapters to the MSNA Executive Board. Some of you may recall a number of years ago when we had “Area Directors.” The Chapter Liaison will be fashioned after the area director. The purpose of the Chapter Liaison will to meet periodically with Chapters and their leaders to provide feedback, input and direction when needed. We hope to see about 10-12 Chapter Liaison in place by the start of next school year. If you have an interest in being a liaison, please contact Mary Betlach at mary_betlach@rdale.k12.mn.us.

MSNA Executive Board – Chapter Visits. Members of the MSNA Executive Board would like to visit all of the state chapters at least once this school year. If you have a meeting on a particular date, time or location that you’d like a board member to be present at, please contact the MSNA Administrative Coordinator, Deb Lukkonen, at msfsa@gte.net.

Marketing MSNA – Work continues on further development of the MSNA video “Mission, Vision and Values.” Plans are underway to split the DVD into different segments in order to more fully utilize the information for various groups. For example, the DVD would be shortened to a 7-minute video for use at a School Board Meeting, or other community event. In another note, ConAgra has committed to donating $5,000 to offset some of the costs in producing the video.

MSNA Vice President, Mary Anderson, along with Immediate Past President Sherri Knutson will be presenting a workshop at the MASBO convention on November 9. Their presentation will feature the MSNA Visions and Value video ad focus on the “new look of MSNA.” Mary has also submitted a proposal to SNA to be part of the Annual National Conference breakout workshops session in Philadelphia in July of 2008.

Legislative Update - The Legislative Conference is tentatively scheduled for February 11 at the St. Cloud Civic Center. This conference will not include a “visit to the hill” as it has in the past, but will focus more on becoming comfortable with the legislative system, learning the ropes about meeting with our legislators and reviewing the MSNA issue paper. More information to follow.