A. President Mary Carlisle called the meeting to order at 11:00 AM and welcomed those in attendance.
             a. Minutes taken by Debi Fairchild, Recording Secretary
             b. No previous minutes since the Gulf Coast Poets have not met because of field trips and the holidays. This is the beginning of a new year for poets.
    B. Reports
    Treasurer's Report: June thru December 2008 (From Leo F. Waltz, Treasurer)
             Beginning Balance $1,341.66, June 1, 2008
             Ending Balance $1,680.99, Dec. 31, 2008
    C. Announcements
             a. Remember the monthly contests, you can't become a winner unless you enter. Dick Peake has won many competitions, because he enters and he has wonderful poetry.
             b. Gulf Coast Poets fourth Monday night critiques started again on January 26th at the Coffee Oasis-contact Kate Sanger for details.
             c. Scheduled Meetings and speakers
                     February 14, Speaker - Rebecca Hatcher Travis
                     March 14, Speaker - Marie Delgado Travis
                     May 9, Speaker - Carolyn Luke Reding, from Austin, Texas
                     June 13, Speaker - Susan Bright, Plain View Press
                     September 12, Speaker - Ken Jones, Borders Reading Host
                     December 12 (annual Holiday Party)
             d.  Scheduled Field Trips
                     April 11:  Poetry Society of Texas, Dallas, Texas (Mary Margaret Carlisle featured)
                     April (date TBD): ACC Writers Workshop, Alvin, Texas - FMI, contact Gilbert Benton GBenton@alvincollege.edu
                     July (date TBD):  Poetry Society of Texas Conference
                     October 10:  Houston Poetry Fest, Houston, TX  -  FMI, contact Robert Clark Houstonfirstfri@aol.com
                     November (date TBD):  ACC Poetry Workshop, Alvin, TX - FMI, contact Gilbert Benton GBenton@alvincollege.edu
             e.  Vacation
                     July 11
             f. Other Workshops from allied organizations
                     Intensive Critiques and Chapbook Workshops- visit http://sol-magazine-projects.org/ or talk to Mary Carlisle for details. Limited space available.
             g. Upcoming Contests
                     1. The Robert Clark Appreciation Award-deadline March 31st
                     2. Valley International Poetry Festival-deadline March 21st
                     3. Texas Poetry Calendar-deadline March 20th
                     4.  The next Gulf Coast Poets Competitions to be announced in early March
             h. Other Announcements
                     a.  Rebecca Travis' book, Picked Apart the Bones mentions the Gulf Coast Poets, where she's won several competitions.
                     b.  Poets Roundtable, a critique group in Galveston, meets every second Tuesday of every month for details e-mail John Gorman at gorman@uhcl.edu Bring at least 15-20 copies of a one-page poem.
    D. Speaker-John Gorman - Always fun and very passionate about his poetry and others. So if you didn't attend you missed a great meeting and performance. John talked about comedy poems in rhyming form. Rhyme is unnatural, because people don't talk in rhyme, but we enjoy it.
    E. Winners of door prizes:
    Carol Cook (a guest), Becky Travis, Dick Peake, Oscar Pena, and two employees of Barnes and Noble.  What a surprise!
    F. Read-A-Round Poems
                     a.  Carol Cook:  Ode to Hurricane Ike (or I Think I Stink)
                     b.  Mary Carlisle:  It's 2009
                     c.  Dick Peake read a few winning poems from recent Gulf Coast Poet competitions.

    Meeting ended at 12:30 pm and some members went with John Gorman for lunch at Tillie's.