Meeting Minutes 12 Dec. 13
Malvern Red & Black Society
Executive Committee
8:00 p.m., 12 December 2013
Harbour Club, York Quay, Toronto
Present: A. Ashby (Chair), D. Fuller, D. Halliday, I. Hubel, Vandra Masemann, Volker Masemann, S. Munro, R. Tennyson, R. Watson
Regrets: S. Burk, D. Chadwick
Guests: E. Butchers, D. Sharpe
1. Minutes of October meeting
Acceptance of the Minutes of October 2012 moved by Adele, seconded by Volker. Accepted.
2. Matters arising from the Minutes
Vandra raised the issue of the community hotline phone shared by MRBS and the swim club. We do not receive many calls on it. Principal Sharpe said that she would check into it. It may be that there will be no savings to be had as a result of cancelling it. [If it serves a good use, then the MRBS is happy to have it continue.]
There was a discussion on the subject of our database and the suggestions for automatic updating that came from Tim Daciuk. It was decided that options one and two are not suitable. We will continue to look into option three. Vandra proposed a motion to that effect, seconded by David. Passed.
3. Announcements
Principal Sharpe noted that a music student has proposed that since Glenn Gould went to Malvern that the auditorium be named in his honour. The Glenn Gould Foundation is supporting the proposal. The auditorium would be rededicated and a plaque with the new name and pictures of the pianist would be posted in recognition of Malvern’s continuing excellence in the field of music. Moved by Vandra, seconded by Adele that Vandra write a letter on behalf of the MRBS supporting the proposal. [Since this meeting, there has been some other discussion if he is the right person to have this honour. It has been suggested that George McRae is a more fitting person. We need to talk further about this item. I think the student should be restrained from proceeding with the Glenn Gould Foundation until a decision is made. When I think about it, it is a decision that needs to be made by all the school constituencies, not only the MRBS. It is unfortunate that the student contacted an outside agency before the decision was made. Your views are welcome. Ed. Note.]
4. President’s Report – Vandra Masemann
Vandra asked for and received a vote of thanks to go to Adele Ashby for her contributions during her term as MRBS President. She also noted that the OMF November meeting did not take place because of illness. [The next OMF meeting will be on February 19.]. A cheque for $1400 was received from the United Way. Vandra suggested that the money be allocated to Malvern’s emergency fund. She was unanimously supported. Principal Sharpe said there was a process in place to direct funds to needy students.
Results of MRBS 2013 AGM elections:
President: Vandra Masemann
Vice-President: Adele Ashby
Member-at-Large: Dianne Chadwick
5. Vice-President’s Report – Adele Ashby
Adele reported that she had attended Malvern’s Commencement in November and had presented two MRBS award cheques to two deserving students, one male and one female, Jackson Steinwall and Sarah Jarvis.
6. Communications Reports – Sonya Munro, Bob Watson, Vandra Masemann
(a) Snail mail – Sonya Munro
Sonya reported that there had been very little mail since our last meeting with the exception of two donations.
(b) Phone and email – Bob Watson
Bob reported 1 phone call; no activity on the 40s and 60s email; 38 on the Red & Black email,
13 regarding souvenirs, 8 changes to the database, 6 about the Musings, 2 about transcripts, 1 about Malvern music recordings, 1 about World War I clippings, 2 about OMF cheques; 5 webmail.
Database – Donna Halliday
Donna, who is no longer database manager, is still collecting changes: 13 to date.
7. Treasurer’s Report – Bob Watson
Bob noted that we have $5,624.40 in the bank, with 1 outstanding award cheque of $100. He has received 2 cheques from the OMF totalling $535 – $300 for the Big Book and $235 for general funds.
8. Technical Director and Big Book Project Report –David Fuller
David has agreed to undertake to post items now that he has keys to our websites.
He reported that the key thing was to get the TDSB involved in the Book Restoration project. To this end, Vandra reported that she and Donna had had a meeting with the TDSB archivist, Greg McKinnon yesterday at Malvern. He will deliver a report on the condition of the Big Book before Christmas with a ballpark estimate of costs of restoration to it and to our Doris McCarthy book. [This report has not yet been received.] We would like the project to be finished by May 2015, the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe.
Greg will also show Donna how to use a new system for cataloguing archival material. Our subject headings will be used so that re-formatting will not be needed. She currently has 4,000 entries in the database she has created.
Vandra asked Principal Sharpe to help us find us a student to help with keeping our online systems updated and with scanning of archival material.
Vandra is to ask Daphne how much money has been donated to Malvern via CanadaHelps.
Greg will also show Donna how to use a new system for indexing archival material. Our headings will be used so that re-indexing will not be needed. ( Donna is this the correct wording?) She currently has 4,000 entries in the database she has created.
Vandra asked Principal Sharpe to help us find us a student to help with keeping our online systems updated and with scanning of archival material.
Vandra is to ask Daphne how much money has been donated to Malvern via CanadaHelps.
9. Other business
Some suggestions were made for content to the Spring 14 Musings:
-communicate the effects of the huge proposed rise in postage, especially to those alums who receive paper copies of the newsletter to see how many would switch to email;
– ask members to write to us about their lives, not just at Malvern, but as witnesses to history. Their contributions could be integrated into the new history curriculum. We could suggest dates and events, perhaps beginning with the 30s, 40s, and 50s decades. Students may wish to interview participants. Vandra will check the new Ontario Humanities and Social Sciences curriculum to see where this activity might fit. [It did not fit into this curriculum. The new History curriculum is still in process.]
– David will contribute a shorter version of an article he is writing on the Sisley Brothers.
10. Motion to adjourn and Motion of thanks to Rod for his hospitality
Moved by Volker, seconded by David.