The San Antonio group's request for junior development funds was discussed and approved unanimously. They are advised to try to get in touch with Ardy Wiranata through the national organization, and also to consult Steve Kearny for other recommendations.

The slate of officers was compiled by David Zarco and presented to the entire attendance at the banquet following the tournament. No other volunteers/draftees were nominated from the floor, and the officers for the following year are:

Jim Greenlees, President
Jim Daniels, Vice President
Phil Ayoung-Chee and Jamilie Mansour, co-secretary
Richard Juday, Treasurer

The South Florida Badminton Association is planning to hold a regional camp in (tentatively) August. Some play will be on Friday night, play will continue through Sunday. All ages and levels of play will be catered to. It is a self-funded event (for a change, Zarco was not rifling the pockets of the SBA treasurer!). The camp fee will be in the range of $50 to $75 and an off-season room rate has been arranged at Don Shula's inn.

The Southern Annual Tournament for 1999 will be in Miami. In order to have the temporally averaged center of gravity for the Southern move back west a bit, in 2000 we hope to have it in Texas. The venues mentioned were: In first place, San Antonio, one of the hottest spots in Texas for tourism. Come early, visit the Alamo, the Riverwalk, Sea World, etc. First runner-up was Houston. (Juday hopes San Antonio comes through.) And Miss Congeniality was Waco (Jim Daniels is comparatively comfortable in third place.) Juday was directed to get in touch with the San Antonio group and see if they are softened up by the promise of the junior development funds.

At the banquet, a round of applause went to the whole Charlotte area group for putting on a fine tournament. The risk-averse reporter won't try to name all the workers, but Margaret Hewitt's maniacal dunning of malingering miscreants who had not paid their entry fee was one high point in watching the proceedings. Someone had even arranged for a sports chiropractor to be present to make adjustments on the spot. A soggy and lachrymal farewell was bade to the Hewitts. All full of tears and flapdoodle, to take a line from Twain. John has been promoted to be his company's VP for Asia, and he thought he could do that better from Asia itself rather than the Carolinas. Margaret is moving to Hong Kong pretty much perforce, since John plans to sell the house in Davidson. Karen wants a free place to stay in an exotic location for a while, so she is going along with her parents. We all look forward to their return in only a few years. John was again passing out advice and bragging about how well his new (only five years old) hip is doing. He said that his surgeon had told him that right after the surgery passive sex was OK. The listeners contemplated active sex in comparison with passive sex. Consensus was that passive sex must be is watching videos, active sex is starring in one.

The treasurer showed the books for all interested parties to look at, with no takers for the fourth year in a row. We have $8465.38 in the bank as of 31 March and are accruing interest at the rate of approximately $15 per month with no checking fees. This is an increase in net worth of $610 during the past year. Most of the SBA income has been from dues rebate from the national organization, no dues having been exacted from the general membership in several years.One hopes that the new slate of officers and renewed enthusiasm for the sport will result in a surge of activity this year that will demand dues again in order to keep the SBA solvent.

Zarco gave a rundown on national news, he being the Region 3 representative to the national organization. (Note that the Treasurer is compiling these notes and gags at the new name the national organization has taken upon itself. He plans to continue with that indirect reference until it comes to its senses and becomes United States Badminton Association again. Admittedly it may be a long wait.) There is a national residence program in Orange County (CA) in addition to the facility at the Olympic center in Colorado.  Rochester NY is becoming a 'pilot city' for badminton, with a concerted effort to insert it into YMCA/YWCA's, schools, etc. Zarco says the new national coach is likely to be Ardy Wiranata. That is not all that Zarco said, of course, but it is all that the assembler of these Minutes wrote down.

The treasurer gave his informal annual 'legs of the tournament' award.Pete Johnson won the male division for having either the longest legs or the shortest shorts, it being a little difficult to differentiate. Anna Chien won the female division for help and advice to the leg-weary, in addition to her own sterling pegs.

The outgoing President, Phil Rogers, had announced that he was shortly to be married. He was running around with his fiancée at the previous year's tournament in Atlanta, and all agreed it was high time for him to take the plunge. Besides, she is a really nice lady even though your Reporter can not immediately come up with her name. Following a short reading from the Book of SBA's Ebeneezer, it was announced by Ebeneezer's current holder (Jim Greenlees) that because of these two momentous events (departure and marriage), Ebeneezer will take up residence in the Rogers household for the next year. All are reminded that if any SBA member visits the Rogers and finds that ol' Eb is not prominently displayed, that SBA member can demand $20 from Phil on the spot. (In event of such a lapse, Phil will make to check that half of that sum is forwarded to the SBA treasurer for deposit into the general fund. That is the concomitant rule.)