The 2009 AGM
McPherson, KS
Sept. 25, 26 & 27, 2009
This AGM has been concluded and a full report will be available soon along with the final results of elections and a summary of board business decisions. A summary report from President Fred Stewart is below.
The 2009 Annual General meeting was held on Sept. 25, 26 and 27, 2009
in conjunction with the McPherson Scottish Festival in McPherson, Kansas.
The hosts were Region VII High Commissioner Stewart Cummings and
his wife Nancy. Many Thanks. Now for some reports.
Success: 2009 Annual General Meeting, McPherson, Kansas
Social News: RHC Stewart Cummins and his wife, Nancy, as hosts for this year’s AGM, deserve several rounds of applause as this year’s meeting was well attended, productive, and enjoyable. With 3 officers, 5 Regional and 3 State Commissioners in attendance, our CSSA president got down to the task of conducting a very productive board meeting on Friday, then, once rejoining with family and members alike, on to the High Tea, held in honor of President Fred Stewart, where many tasty treats, including Dundee cake and a pate, courtesy of RHC VIII Ian Wilson, as well as Scotch eggs and maple pecan shortbread created by Nancy Cummins, were enjoyed. And while a bit of rain did dampen Friday’s evening’s Fire Ring Service for the McPherson Highland Games, we gathered indoors to enjoy some McPherson, Kansas hospitality.
Games: With clear weather on Saturday, the Stewart tent
had many helpers on hand, and can brag that 4 new members were signed
up, 3 renewals taken, and $220 in merchandise sold. The Stewart’s
gathered in full for the noon parade, see picture below, and were led onto
the field with Stewart’s daughters, April and Beth, along with Grandson
Donald, and Beth Wampler carrying the banner. The tent was graced with
experienced members such as Don Livingston and Doug Kuehn as well as fairly
new Stewarts, like Great Grandson, Lochlan Cummins.
AGM and Banquet: We gathered later that day for the Annual General Meeting and banquet. With the haggis piped in, then blessed by member Dave Cutter, and a wonderful meal enjoyed by the 42 folks present, President Fred Stewart took the podium to give his review of the year and Board Meeting. While saddened to accept the resignation of RHC IX Scott Stuart, Fred announced the appointments of Sarah Garmire, as RHC IX and Michael Walker, as RHC V. He also announced our new data base manager in training, Kathleen Stewart who, along with husband Matt, are state commissioners. Kathleen will replace Paul Carl. In researching membership statistics, the society has remained constant at ~450 for the past 4 years. Fred has challenged Commissioners and members alike to recruit one new member each. In keeping with increases, test regions volunteered to begin accepting credit and debit cards at clan tents for merchandise and membership purchases, hopefully beginning in Spring 2010. Vice-President Kevin Stewart was asked to take the podium to report that the society has compiled and submitted paperwork for 501C3 status (the editor can personally attest to the effort put forth by both Fred and Kevin on this endeavor). Readers will note upon reading the Presidential Pipings, page 2, the impact this step may have on those who travel far and wide to represent CSSA at games within their regions. Fred stressed communication throughout his delivery. He has urged all of us to utilize the Clan Stewart of Society newsletter, our web page as well as the CSSA Facebook page.
More pictures from the games.
Next AGM: Lastly, the announcement of next year’s
AGM meeting place: New Hampshire Highland Games, held at Loon Mountain
Resort, Lincoln, NH on Sept,17-19, 2010. Our host, Clark McCurdy, NH
Commissioner, is already busy with planning this event for CSSA.
A summary 2009 AGM business report from CSSA President Fred Stewart:
You should get more from the articles in the upcoming Fesse Cheque, but here is a rundown on the discussions I thought were important. I’ll stay as close to the printed agenda as possible.
We had a quorum, I don't remember the exact count, but it’ll be in the minutes when Ginny gets them finished.
I’ll skip the reports, again, Ginny has them if you’d really like a copy.
Old Business:
a. 501c3 – I’m happy to report that, through the hard work and diligence of our VP, the paperwork has been submitted to the IRS. We cannot consider ourselves a 501c3 Non-Profit Organization until we receive notification from the IRS. Vice-President Kevin Stewart should be the recipient of that notification, I hope, soon.
b. Benefits for members – The bookmark program is continuing, at least until I run out of the bookmarks, so if you need some, let me know. After we run out, we’ll evaluate the program with your inputs to determine if it’ll continue. I don’t remember the discussion on Certificates and Pins; Sorry.
c. Discretionary funds – Payoffs are continuing, I know it’s been slow, but it is continuing.
d. Membership Recruiting – The donation received in ’08 for that purpose still has not been designated for use. As far as a Drive Plan; I’ve challenged the RHCs to increase the membership in their regions by 10% and I’ve challenged the members to recruit just one new member each.
e. Advertisements in the FC – Yes, we are accepting advertisements per the decision made last AGM by the Board of Directors. To date, we’ve had one, but hope for more.
f. The Gathering – enough has been said on that subject.
New Business
a. 2010 budget – I had sent out my proposed 2010 budget the week prior to the AGM. It was adopted by the Board.
b. Credit Cards at festivals and games – VP Kevin and I have been discussing this for quite some time and proposed it at the Board meeting. With the advent of smart cell phones, those that can access the internet from virtually anywhere, the possibility of being able to accept plastic at the tents is more viable than ever. With ‘Merchant Services’ and a host of other agencies, including intuit, the author of our financial software, out there, it was decided to run a couple of test regions to get the feel of the capabilities and difficulties in using this program. Two areas are going to be tested under the supervision of our VP. The Board of Directors discussed this subject and felt that it was a move that has been needed for quite some time because we are missing out on the impulse buyer for memberships and for our merchandise. All of us have witnessed vendors at the games using this method of collection for several years with it becoming very popular just recently. More information on this will follow.
c. Charitable Donations for 2010 – Not much was discussed because nobody was prepared to discuss it. I’ve asked all regions to submit at least one organization for consideration to receive a contribution from us. Then we’ll use the same method as this past year to make the final determination.
d. Book Publishing – Past-President Al Stewart had asked that this be placed on the agenda for discussion with the suggestion that we look to publishing ‘The Story of The Stewarts’. I don’t remember all the discussion, however, it was tabled for now.
e. Goal Oriented Organization – Another suggestion from Al, and a good one. In the past we have not had goals, either within the regions or at the national level. I’ve asked each region to set their own goals, in keeping with the stated mission and objectives of the CSSA. I’ve asked that these be set at 1-year, 3-year and 5-year goals. From these individual regional goals, we’ll be able to project goals for the CSSA over the same time intervals.
This is all that I can remember and pick from my sparce notes.
Fred Stewart
President, CSSA
