MINUTES OF THE 122^nd ANNUAL MEETING
FEBRUARY 8, 2007
Caesars Restaurant, San Francisco, California

The meeting was called to order at 8:20 PM.

1. Presidents Greeting
President Hermann Attinger cordially welcomed the members present who came out despite the rainy weather. He recognized some special guests, in particular Consul Hans Bachmann, consular liaison for the Society, Jean-Benoit Levy, a Swiss graphic designer living in the Bay Area, and Vera Divenyi, former scholarship recipient. He mentioned that a gift would be handed out to the members at the conclusion of the meeting.

Out of 211 dues-paying members, 30 mailed in a proxy statement and 25 members attended the meeting, thereby establishing a quorum.

2. Minutes of the 2006 Annual General Meeting
Board Secretary Marianne Aubert read the minutes of the last years Annual Meeting, which were then approved unanimously.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

3. Treasurers Report
According to Treasurer John Zeiter, the year 2006, like 2005, was a good year...

Treasurers Note: The General Fund account balance for year-end was adjusted to include the 2006 year-end donations ...

4. Auditors Report
Hans Surber read the report of the audit that he and Kurt Engel conducted. They reviewed the balance sheet of each fund as of December 31, 2006 and the related statements of operations for the period of January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2006. They examined, on a test basis, the evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures to obtain reasonable assurances that these statements are free of material misstatements. They ascertained that the scholarship awards were property authorized. They found that the books were kept in an orderly manner. Hans stressed the fact that the Treasurer's job is significantly more complex than it used to be due to the number of funds involved. The auditors conclusion was that John Zeiter is doing a very good job.

Hans Surber commented that the SBS brochure contains a reference to Charitable Annuity Remainder Trusts. Hermann Attinger replied that we have eliminated this reference in the newly revised brochure, as we will not pursue this type of donation mechanism.

5. Investment Committee Report
Hermann Attinger presented the report on behalf of Andy Eggler, who had to travel to Switzerland due to the passing of his mother. He noted that 2006 was a better year in the financial markets. As a result, we have had an overall return of almost 8%. Current asset allocation is 47% cash and bonds, 53% in stocks. Due to the present yield curve, we placed the proceeds of bonds that matured into CD's or money market funds. Six-month rates get you a better rate of interest. Thus we are heavy in cash but ready to move when the situation changes.

Andy Eggler reports that the outlook for 2007 is fair. The economy is slowing down. We will probably increase our investment in foreign markets that are doing well, particularly Europe and Asia.

6. Welfare Committee Report
Melanie Facen presented the report of our welfare assistance activity. We continued to help one family in particular. Another elderly lady needed assistance and companionship and Melanie personally helped her organize things and took her shopping and to lunch. As things got worse she enlisted the help of the Consulate. We are very grateful to Consul Hans Bachmann and the staff of the Consulate for their excellent support. Gift certificates went to some needy Swiss families at Christmas time. Melanie concluded her report by reminding the audience to let her know of anyone who needs assistance.

7. Scholarship Committee Report
Susy Lutsky reported that we received 16 completed applications. 11 grants were awarded from the General Fund and one each from the Amstutz Fund and, for the first time, from the Isler Fund. No scholarship was disbursed out the Canonica Fund, in order to increase the amount available in 2007. The Silvia Wieland Iselin scholarship will be awarded for the first time in 2007. Compared to the previous year, we were able to increase most of the amounts and Susy is grateful that we will be able to increase grants again this year. Susy commented on the increased use of our website by applicants, to which Linda Maillard made significant enhancements. Another achievement of the year 2006 was the complete revision of the application form.

Susy then introduced Vera Divenyi, a former scholarship recipient. Vera expressed her gratitude for the award, which helped cover some of the tuition for law school. By coincidence she is now a coworker of the Board Secretary. Hermann Attinger remarked that it was a wonderful and unique occasion to meet a scholarship recipient in person.

8. Membership Report by Linda Maillard
Membership grew by 4 to 211, a small increase, but, as Linda Maillard remarked, a move in the right direction. She noticed that the small donations make up the bulk of our receipts. Donations from businesses were similar to the previous year, but clubs were remarkably generous.

9. Public Relations
Bernhard Daniel commented that we need new blood, in other words younger members; he encouraged the audience to entice family and friends to join the Society. He also mentioned that Marianne Haas and John Davies were present. Ms. Haas has offered to help in any way that we feel is needed and in particular with people with disabilities.

Bernhard introduced Germain Gschwind, a member, who is looking to sell his property in San Francisco in a way that would benefit the SBS and possibly enable a young Swiss family to buy a home in the City. He is interested in negotiating with someone who would be interested.

10. Fundraising Report
Esther Scott reported that she and Gus Strotz focused on researching donation vehicles. Spent quite a bit of time talking with insurance companies and others on how it could be done. As far as CRATS are concerned, they found that they only work for large charities but not for smaller ones like ours. Too much responsibility and risk involved. Esther is putting together a flyer that will be mailed with the invitation to the Spring Party concerning the opportunity to make tax-free donations out of IRA accounts in 2007, including out of mandatory distributions.

Esther will approach companies that are Swiss-owned or Swiss-managed and encourage them to become members.

11. Special Events
Beat Bossart reported that the Spring Party attracted 160 guests, entertained by Tony Rayman and his band. Everyone had a good time. The most elderly among the guests, all in their nineties, received beautiful gift baskets prepared by Susy Lutsky. Beat mentioned generous donors of raffle prizes such as Albert Zimmermann or A-Z Travel, the Maillards, the Stanford Court Hotel. The 2007 Party will be organized by Robert Rieder, who is succeeding Beat upon the conclusion of his three year term on the Board.

12. President's Report
We have a strong base, a most capable Board of Directors and most importantly, very loyal members, some of whom we look forward to seeing at the Spring Party on April 15th.

Hermann is happy that we will be able to increase the scholarship amounts again this year. As we heard from Linda Maillard, on balance our membership has stayed about the same. However, Hermann did a little analysis of the contributions. The combined donations of individuals and business were almost the same as in the previous year, while those of Swiss organizations and clubs increased by an astounding 32% to nearly $5000! A special thank-you is due to our fellow Swiss clubs in the Bay Area! When we look at the breakdown of the donations, we find that the top 7 individual donors ($500 and up) contributed a full 25%, the next 72 donors ($100-500) another 35% and the bottom 127 donors 23%. Organizations and clubs provided the remaining 17%. "You can draw your own conclusion from this statistics, but to me these numbers reflect a shining solidarity within the Swiss community where the financially better off do not hesitate to support those less fortunate. This is Swiss tradition at its best!!"

Whereas the year 2005 had been unique due to special events, 2006 was a year of consolidation - what can we do better, what can we do more of. We improved our website significantly, we have a new logo thanks to Jean-Benoit Levy who offered to redesign our logo, brochure and stationery at no charge. Bernhard Daniel found a Swiss printer, Willy Herzig in San Rafael who will print our stationery at a reasonable price.

There were no special comments or questions from the audience, which means that we could proceed with the election of the board. Members are elected to rotating three-year terms. This year the following members stand for reelection: Linda Maillard and Hermann Attinger. Regretfully, Beat Bossart is resigning from the Board upon conclusion of his three-year term. Hermann stated that he and Beat worked very well as a team, Beat always willing to handle special projects and varied duties. Thank you very much, Beat ! We will miss you.

We are very fortunate that Robert Rieder, originally from Liestal, has accepted to join our Board as Vice President. Beat introduced Robert and read his biography.

We appreciate the fact that Hans Surber and Kurt Engel are willing to continue as Auditors for another year.

13. Election of the Board and Remarks by Consul Hans Bachmann
Hans Bachmann greeted the audience and spoke of his arrival here five months ago. He is amazed that this is the 122nd annual meeting of the Benevolent Society and hopes it continues for another 120 years at least. The Consulate is happy to know that it can rely on the SBS to provide assistance. Obtaining funds from Switzerland is getting increasingly difficult. Hans then proceeded with the reelection of Hermann Attinger and Linda Maillard (3-year term), Hans Surber and Kurt Engel (1-year term), and election of new member Robert Rieder (3-year term).

Hermann Attinger expressed his appreciation for the steadfast support that we receive from the Consulate officers and staff, with whom it is truly a pleasure to work.

14. Other Business

Comments from the audience:
Kurt Engel announced that Swiss Ambassador Urs Ziswiler will be in San Francisco on March 1st. There will be a dinner event for Swiss clubs and societies at the Stanford Court Hotel; further details will come through the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce.

The Book The Swiss Experience in San Francisco - 150 Years of Swiss Consulate Presence in San Francisco - is the result of an initiative by former Consul General Roland Quillet. It has been completely revised and updated. The Consulate has made 600 copies available to us for public distribution to interested individuals for a suggested donation of $20. Your Board of Directors has decided to provide all members with a copy. Please pick up your copy (one per family) on the way out as our Thank-you.

Charles Gambony made a motion to close the meeting, seconded by Melanie Facen. The meeting was closed at 9:30 PM.

* * * * *

Following the Annual Meeting, Board members met briefly to discuss the following:

• Appointment of Robert Rieder as Vice President so that he can legally function in his new duties. All were in agreement.
  
  
• To send out the invitations to the Spring Party, Linda Maillard will need event details by March 1st, as the invitation will go out before March 15th. The flyer regarding IRA accounts tax-free donations will be included in this mailing. To that end, Susy Lutsky needs to prepare the wording that would apply to the special scholarship created by donations made under this "Triple Play" fund. Susy to consult with Esther Scott if necessary and finalize by February 15th.

Meeting adjourned at 9:45 PM.