Chapter Five
"This is Your Membership Card..."
In August 2008, Jeff Pintea stepped down as president, and Danny Dillman (Sergeant Colt) [Class of 2003] was elected the 5th President of PFUFA. He served for two years (2008 to 2010). His Officers were:
Vice President - Shawn Moore (Who Dey Baby) [Class of 2003] served 2008 to 2009.
Greg Jenss (Titletown #1 Clown) [Class of 2003] served 2009 to 2010.
Treasurer - Joanie DeKoker (Best Bills Fan) [Class of 2003] served 2008 to 2009.
Candice Chifici (Go Go) [Class of 2008] served 2009 to 2010.
Secretary - Stephanie Phillips [Class of 2003]
The membership gift for 2008 was the PFUFA Coin, and each active member was given a coin that reflected his/her PFUFA class year.
Sergeant Colt created the coin, told everyone present why the coin was made, gave a brief history of the challenge coin, and spoke of the importance of coins in the military. In a nutshell, the coin is our Membership Card. It means “you belong to us and we belong to you.” (The front of the coin is pictured above and the back is pictured to the right. The coin has a two inch diameter.)
To finalize the Inaugural PFUFA Draft, and to welcome the Class of 2008, a ceremony was held in the courtyard of the Comfort Inn hotel in which the Class of 2008 received their coins. Today, current classes receive their coins at the PFUFA Sunday Breakfast at the Hall of Fame, but that first year, it was a little less structured. Sergeant Colt gave another speech on the coins, then he and Pantherman welcomed each new member when they stepped forward to receive their coin.
The below video is actual induction of the Class of 2008. This video has not been edited to content, but simply had title graphics added. Draft classes still receive their coins in similar manner.
Special recognition needs to be given to two members of the Class of 2008: Paul Gates (BernieHawk) and Susan Podd (Buffalo Wings). They were two extremely worthy fans, but neither were personally honored in the Hall of Fans. During the creation of the PFUFA Draft, our members were determined to figure out a method to bring Paul and Susan into the group. Both of them came to Canton year-in and year-out and contributed greatly to the organization without being actual members. It can honestly be said that both Paul and Susan were the catalyst of the Draft. Their trading cards are pictured below.
Earlier in 2008, PFUFA was informed by the State of California that it had “suspended the organization’s registration.” As such, Sergeant Colt’s first issue of his term was to address PFUFA’s organizational registration. Becoming a legal non-profit in the State of Ohio was a multiple-year event, and started with registering PFUFA as a “Doing Business As” (DBA). The process eventually went to Articles of Incorporation, state non-profit filing, and finally federal non-profit status.
Special recognition needs to be given to Candice Chifici (Go Go) [Class of 2008] in the registration of PFUFA as a legal non-profit. As stated above, it was a multiple-year effort, and Candice saw the process through to the very end. Finally, in 2013, PFUFA became an official 501.c7 non-profit with the U.S. government. Though others assisted, Candice was the driving factor, and her determination saw this through to completion. (She is pictured to the right.)
At the 2008 reunion, Sergeant Colt introduced a new style of PFUFA Ring to the organization. It was called the “Ten Table Ring” based off NY Giants Michael Strahan’s desire to have a very large, very noticeable championship ring that can be seen from a distance. This new ring was a huge hit with the members, and many ordered it. Although there were more than a few issues with order process through the ring company, members were very happy with the end results and the Bling of this ring. In 2013, Burnt River Bob was able to secure a new vendor for the PFUFA rings (the new ring company is Jostens and they make a donation to the J Babe Stern Community Center every year). The new ring is similar to the Ten Table Ring and is pictured to the left.
In 2009, the Hall of Fame made another change to the weekend schedule, but this one was minor. This change, however, prompted Sergeant Colt to overhaul the PFUFA weekend schedule to better align with Hall of Fame weekend activities. The major portion of this change was to move the Friday Night Dinner from a local establishment to a Sunday Morning Breakfast at the Hall of Fame. Also, he created the Official PFUFA Friday Tailgate. It was also during this restructure that PFUFA was invited by the Hall of Fame to participate in the FIRST PLAY event held each year. It is considered to be the official kick-off to Hall of Fame weekend.
In an attempt to bring PFUFA and the Hall closer together, and while working with the J Babe, Sergeant Colt moved the Charity Event to the Hall of Fame. The first time at the Hall did not work out well and many of the Babe kids were missed. In 2010, a second attempt was made and the attendance of the Babe kids was better than the first, but not good enough for the membership. PFUFA had established a better relationship with the Hall, but the Babe was not benefiting as much as desired. Thus an adjustment had to be made: PFUFA would hold two charity events. One would remain at the Hall and the main event would move back to The Babe. In 2012, PFUFA began its current schedule of two events. It was during this time, the PFUFA Flag was created and the tradition of having Potential Veterans carry the flags on broom handles was born. (You can thank Sarge for that too.)
From the very creation of PFUFA, the office of President was the final authority on all organizational matters. There was no other authority to go to for redress of issues if you disagreed with the President’s decisions. However, the President did have to be re-elected each year, and this was the opportunity the membership had to remove a President (as well as all other offices). Additionally, with the creation of the PFUFA Draft, the President was the one that oversaw and ran the draft process. Too much power rested with the President, and an additional office with a committee needed to be created to run the Draft. In addition to this, if the organization were to become a real non-profit, the power structure had to be changed and new positions created. The organization needed an upgrade.
In the second most historic and crucial moment in PFUFA History, during the 2010 Annual Business Meeting (pictured to the right), our organization took another giant step forward. At the meeting, the membership completely overhauled the entire By Laws, and it took over 7 hours to complete. Some of the major changes were: the creation the Board of Directors, the dissemination of power to other offices, the creation of 2 year terms for each officer, creation of 2 year terms for each director, and creation of the Membership Officer. Sergeant Colt had re-written the By Laws earlier in the year and had sent a draft copy to each member. All members were encouraged to send in corrections and adjustments before the reunion. Then, at the Business Meeting, every line of the new By Laws were read aloud and voted on. It was the longest, most grueling meeting to date, but the membership had successfully positioned itself to become a true non-profit.