BBV-CERT General Meeting Minutes
June 22, 2026
Present: Susan Elliott, Steve Elliott, Ed Williams, Marie Smith, Jim Smith, Norma Grimes, Bob Grimes, Johnny Wells, Michael Echenlaub, Cindi Schaub, Susan Antrillo, Susan Smith, Paul Arnold, Gayle Venegas, David Venegas, Jennifer Ries, Adrienne LaFrenais, Lynn LaFrenais, Linda LaFrenais, Ian Thome, Judy Whitaker, Sam Bolog, Nancy Moering, Joyce Crist
Call to Order: Meeting was called to order by President Susan Elliott at 5:30 p.m.
Pledge of Allegiance: The flag salute was led by Susan.
911 Designee: Johnny Wells will call 911 in case of an emergency.
Meeting Minutes: There were no minutes due to Andrea’s absence.
Treasurer Report: Ed reported an income of 29¢ in interest on savings and 0¢ in interest on checking. As of today the balance in checking is $1,499.57 and $5,804.05 in savings for a total of $7,303.62.
Committee Reports:
- Fundraising Committee– Marie & Jim Smith are distributing flyers for the pizza fundraiser on July 8th at Maggio’s. Norma will be posting the flyer on Facebook starting next week.
The taco fundraiser at Sonora Cantina will be on the Monday following Labor Day. We are now registered with the state to do raffles. Jim is building a donation box which will also have the CERT QR code on it.
- Membership – Johnny Wells announced there were 700 in attendance at the Art, Gem, & Mineral Show. He manned a table for about 5 hours. There will be opportunities for recruiting again on Labor Day weekend.
We are welcome to set up a pop-up anytime at the Farmers Market on Fridays at Meadow Park from 3-8 p.m. if there are any volunteers to man it.
- Training– There are currently 13 signed up for the June 23-26 Basic Training. If there aren’t at least 20 signed up by Wednesday, Susan will cancel training and invite the 13 to attend in August or October.
- Assets–Steve and Susan gathered visited the Fawnskin container. He brought items from there to give to the team for their backpacks. There is a large quantity of first aid kits. Items from them could also be used for our backpacks.
The Fawnskin container needs cleaning and the Bear City container has evidence of rodent activity. A workday will be set.
New Business:
Steve and Susan met with Matt Fonda and Dan Rogers from Big Bear Lake Fire Dept. They have agreed to help with a live fire exercise in August and with basic training. GPS and map reading training conducted by Matt was also suggested. Steve would also like us to have fire line cutting instruction.
Steve and Susan also met with Sam Fuller at the Sheriff Station. Sam is the head of Search and Rescue and will be our point of contact with the Sheriff Station. He has agreed to allow us to have the county trailer parked in their lot adjacent to the Masonic Lodge. We can then access it easily for training.
Old Business:
On-boarding: Eight training graduates were sworn in by Suyan and Lupe from OES and are now Disaster Service Workers and full-fledged members of Big Bear Valley CERT. They were Mike Eichenlaub, Paul Arnold, Jennifer Ries, Adrienne LaFrenais, Lynne LaFrenais, Linda La Frenais, Susan Smith and Joyce Crist.
CERT IDs were missing for Cindi Schaub, Gayle and David Venegas, and Ian Thome and Judy Whitaker. Suyan will check with County HR to find out about their background checks.
Training: Backpack check was postponed.
Upcoming Training/Other Events:
- Farmers Market Recruiting, Fridays, 3-8 p.m., Meadow Park
- Basic CERT Training, June 26, 5-9 p.m., and June 27 & 28, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Masonic Lodge
- Pizza Fundraiser, July 8, Maggio’s
- Board Meeting, July 27, 5 p.m., Masonic Lodge
- General Meeting, July 27, 6 p.m., Masonic Lodge
- Tour de Big Bear, August 1, 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., Snow Valley
- Antique Car Show Recruiting, August 8, Bartlett Parking Lot
- Board Meeting, August 24, 5 p.m., Masonic Lodge
- General Meeting, August 24, 6 p.m., Masonic Lodge
- Basic CERT Training, August 28, 5-9 p.m., and August 29 & 30, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Masonic Lodge
- Art, Gem, & Mineral Show Recruiting, Sept. 4-7, Masonic Lodge 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
- Taco Fundraiser & Raffle, September 14, 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Sonora Cantina
- Basic CERT Training, October 23, 5-9 p.m., and October 24 & 25, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Masonic Lodge
- Halloween in the Village Recruiting, October 31, 4 to 7 p.m.
- Holiday Potluck Monday December 7th, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Meeting Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 7:14 p.m.
Reluctantly submitted,
Norma Grimes