Introductions
Anne Pryor, senior convener, facilitated the meeting. Sue Eleuterio took notes. Anne handed out copies of the section's annual report along with a report from the National Network for Folk Arts in Education, a financial report on the section, a list of prize amounts given by other sections, and an annual planning calendar for the section. (If anyone not in attendance would like copies of these handouts, please contact Anne, anne.pryor@arts.state.wi.us.

There were 20 members and visitors present at the start of the meeting. We introduced ourselves before proceeding and found the group to be a mix of teachers, librarians, scholars, and public sector folklorists. We have $2,700 in the section's account.

Newsletter
Jackie Thursby, current newsletter editor, would like to continue for one more year as newsletter editor, but needs to cut back some of her time spent on the task due to other assignments at Brigham Young University. Prior to the meeting, Rosemary Hathaway volunteered to assist with the newsletter, and Gregory Hansen agreed to continue as corresponding editor. Based on input both prior to and during the meeting, we agreed to continue issuing only a single issue per year. Joseph Edgette suggested that the newsletter be called the "annual" newsletter rather than the "spring" or "winter" newsletter, since that implies that there's more than one issue per year and that then gives the editor more flexibility to produce the newsletter as possible, to which the group agreed. Ideally, the newsletter will come out after October so that reports on the sessions and business conducted at the annual meeting can be included.

The group agreed to publish the newsletter primarily on line, posting it to the section's website and then sending out email announcements of the newsletter's availability to those members for whom we have email addresses. We also will send out postcard announcements of the newsletter's posting because we do not have email addresses for about a third of the section's membership, and email addresses can change so frequently. If a member cannot access the virtual version of the newsletter, some printed copies will be available. The convener will send those out. Not printing and mailing to the entire membership will reduce the section's expenses and follow a trend that AFS and other sections are establishing. We should evaluate this new procedure at the Rochester meeting.

Conveners
Robin Cogburn, junior convener, sent a message since she was unable to be in Anchorage. As she had made clear in Columbus when she took on the junior convener position, she is unable to be senior convener next year. Ruth Olson of the Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures, was accepted as the incoming senior convener. At the close of the meeting, we still needed a junior convener. Rosemary Hathaway of the University of Northern Colorado volunteered via email and will now be the junior convener.

Greeter
Prior to the meeting, Amy Davis agreed to fill a new position for the section, that of "greeter." Those present approved. When a person newly joins the section, Amy will welcome them and explain how the section functions. We still need to arrange with AAA that Amy or the convener be informed when we get a new member. (I mentioned this new position at the conveners' breakfast meeting on Friday. Several people thought it was a good idea and Tim Lloyd asked that we keep him apprised as to how it progresses during the year. It may be something that other sections or AFS itself adopt.)

Membership
A concern was raised that the AFS Board might be about to rescind the ability of sections to accept members who are not members of AFS. (At the conveners' meeting, board members said that it was not an action they were planning to take.)

Dorothy Howard Prize
The 2001 Dorothy Howard Prize for Folklore and Education was awarded to the Oregon Folklife Program for their most recent additions to the Oregon Folklife Series: the student magazine Traditional Arts of the Oregon Country (1999) by Laura Marcus and five instructional units posted on the Support for Teachers in Art section of the Oregon Public Educators Network website (2000), compiled by Leila Childs. Nancy Nusz, the director of the Oregon Folklife, accepted the award.

Thanks were extended to LuAnne Kozma, chair, Lynne Hamer and Anne Pryor for serving on this year's Prize committee. Volunteers for next year's committee are Hayden Roberts, Nancy Nusz, and one of the co-conveners.

Copies of the prize guidelines, judging criteria and a bio of Dorothy Howard written by Jan Rosenberg were handed out to folks who requested it.

Maida Owens reported that "Louisiana Voices" has garnered institutional and administrative attention because of winning the 2000 Dorothy Howard award. She suggested that the section design a logo for the DH Prize so that winners can use it to succinctly announce that their product is award winning. Nancy Nusz suggested that Jan Rosenberg, who is most familiar with Howard's work, be asked if there might be an appropriate image to use as a symbol. Otherwise, an abstract design might be appropriate.

Website
Another suggestion was that we post information about Dorothy Howard on the website. This brought up the topic of the difficulties Robin and Anne experienced this past year in redesigning and expanding the website. The suggested bio and many other pieces of info are ready to go but we've run into problems with having AFS's current webmaster post them. (That issue was raised at the convener's breakfast and other sections reported the same problem. Tim Lloyd is going to look into it.)

Sessions for 2002
Anne raised the suggestion that we brainstorm topics of import and interest around which the section could organize sessions for the 2002 conference. Prior to the meeting, Tim Evans expressed interest in organizing a panel on training folklore students for work in folklife in education. Tim invites people who are interested in possibly presenting on that topic to contact him at evanstar86@aol.com.

Other topics that were raised include: the intersection between folklore and the teaching of tolerance; connecting with upstate NY educators and highlighting the cultural education they do; discussing collaborations with state Departments of Education such as what exists in Montana, Oregon and Louisiana; introducing graduate students to the field of folklife in education work; discussing how our work is affected by the current national turn to standardized assessments; and inviting a speaker versed in national trends such as Alfre Kohn.

Expanding awards
Anne raised a concern over the low amount of the DH prize money and the idea to establish an additional prize as a good way to use some of the section's funds. The group agreed to raise the DH prize amount to $100 from its current $50 and to establish a committee to create criteria and judging guidelines for a prize for K-12 educators doing cultural work in their classes. (The committee has yet to be established. If you're interested in being on it, contact Ruth or Rosemary.) The committee's recommendations will be presented to the section at next year's meeting and if approved, the prize will be awarded for the first time in 2003. The section agreed to table a third topic, whether to offer some support to a K-12 teacher to attend the annual meeting.

Tales Online
Esther Clinton of Indiana University told the group about Tales Online, a new database well into creation. It and is designed for use by librarians, scholars and teachers to search for folk narratives, many with full text, by many different criteria. The project is NEH funded and will be tested by 30 teachers in February in Chicago. "Tales Online" is scheduled to be ready for use by 2003.

Zora Neale Hurston Prize
Jerri MacGregory passed out info on Zora Neale Hurston Prize and encourage submissions.