Minutes of Executive Meeting – July 13, 2021

Malvern Red & Black Society
Executive Committee
Minutes of Meeting – Tuesday, July 13, 2021
7:00 P.M. Virtual Via Zoom

Present: Sandra Burk, Randy Deffet, Lois Maxwell, Vandra Masemann, David Fuller, Bob Watson, Paul Warner

Regrets: Ken Scullion, Dianne Renwick, Rod Tennyson

1. Call to Order – at 7.08 pm

2. Approval of the Agenda –  It was noted that a date for the next meeting needed to be set as Item 14 (Lois/Bob – approved). Vandra asked for an item to be added about giving our thanks to Adele Ashby who was retiring from the MRBS Executive after many years. Adele hoped to be able to help with the Reunion if it took place next spring. (Vandra/Lois – approved).

3. Approval of the Minutes of June 8, 2021 meeting – these were accepted with some edits to be relayed to Ken (Bob/ Randy – approved),

4. Matters arising from the Minutes

• Cenotaph – David Fuller. He had received an email from the TDSB Supervisor of Facilities who is back on the case. He will find someone who will shepherd the projects. He is in favour of the educational signage as well as the roller system for security along the base. David had found suppliers in BC and the UK.), So far he has not heard back from Greg McKinnon. (Vandra will follow up on this.)  We will need to commission the work and send the maquette to Danny Barber in Ottawa. We also need to come up with a timeline for the project. The TDSB will need to do an assessment of the base. Various other details were discussed. Randy noted that we needed to make this a high profile project. It was noted that that indeed it was, in 2011. (VM/RD – accepted).
• Projects Update – covered in Agenda Item #11

5. Announcements – It was moved that the MRBS thank Adele Ashby for her long years of activity and service for the MRBS in various capacities such as President and Vice President, Recording Secretary and Musings Editor and wish her well. (David/Lois – approved). It was also announced that we are going to try out some new photos for the MRBS website.

6. President’s Report – Sandra Burk . She reported that the Malvern Annual Spring Concert is available online. The players and singers are all separated on Zoom. She also noted that the marquee of the Fox Theatre had a congratulatory message to Malvern Grads on June 25. They were welcome to get their photos taken under it on that day.

7. Communications Reports

• Vandra Masemann – mail  – there were three pieces of mail picked up at the school on the last day: the missing cheque from Randy Deffet, a TD bank statement for May, and the CRA response to the Charity Report submitted from the OMF.
• Bob Watson – email – none from the 1940s and 1960s. In redandblack@malverncollegiate.com, there were two new members from the list of those who attended the AGM last November. There were several pieces of spam from website advertising companies, one of which was sent to David and Paul to see if any of the ideas were useful. There was also one reply to our call for assistance from a Malvernite who was willing to help out. [She ably summarized the results of the Malvern Wear survey.]
• Dianne Chadwick – database – absent.
• David Fuller – website – absent at that time.
• Sandra Burk/ Vandra Masemann – Facebook. Sandra reported there were 346 on the Facebook page and 939 in the Facebook group. There had been negative feedback when the new Code of Conduct had been posted on the page. Randy suggested he could move the Rules to the background now that most people had seen them. Sandra said that she had been posting the notices on both the page and the groups as they did not automatically transfer.
• (Lois/Randy – approved all reports)

8. Treasurer’s Report – Bob Watson  reported that the current bank balance was $1079.47 which included the deposit of $600 from the OMF. The book balance was $979.47 as the $100 cheque for the MRBS award had not yet been cashed.  Rod Tennyson’s donation via CanadaHelps was deposited in the OMF account in May.  (Bob/Lois – accepted).

9. Archives Committee Report – Vandra Masemann  reported that Donna and Erik are still working on revising the Wikipedia entry for Malvern. Donna is still updating the members database and has separated out the 50s and 60s names for the proposed Reunion. She has sent them to Dianne. Vandra reported that the OMF had granted funds of $200 for Archives supplies.

10. OMF Report – Ken Scullion – see attached report from Ken Scullion who was absent. Bob reported that the OMF is working on recruiting new members. There are two access cards for the OMF account, which are held by Bob and Lois. Bob had asked for back bank statements for the OMF account, but had not received them. He is checking to see if anyone is due any money from the OMF and is concerned to make sure all donor cheques have been deposited. (Tim/Randy (approved).

11. Projects

• Reunion proposal progress report– Rod was absent and would report next time.
• Requests from FB members for vintage rugby shirts update – Vandra reported that the Malvern Wear survey of the Facebook group was being tabulated and would be sent to Jacquie Martin. We are aiming for an order sheet to be ready for September.
• Creating a store on FB to support retail of rugby shirts update – David had reported this was easy to do as a plug-in by Bluehost.
• Updating of Charter and web site, progress report – Randy reported that he was working on the updating of the Charter and the website. Please read the final Charter draft in the July 13 agenda. An approval vote is requested at our next meeting. He thanked Paul Warner for his assistance. He has sent out his draft of how to sign up for Membership. A discussion followed about the use of ”maiden” on the membership form. It was decided to change it to “surname while at Malvern”, which could apply to anyone who might have changed their name. Paul Warner explained how a copy of each online membership application will be emailed to our database manager. He noted that one could get a “stat-counter” to see the amount of traffic on a website.It was agreed to implement.
• Randy continued:Decade coordinators (D/Cs) already have password access to their decade email inbox. PaulWarner is setting up an online password dropbox, for each D/C, to provide secure password storage. Once set up, can each D/C please post their password there? Paul can assist as needed. Decade Coordinators, also please provide a brief bio and message to their decade albums. He noted that the Members’ List on the website could have separate lists for the living and the deceased. Randy will contact Donna and Dianne for their feeling about a dedicated ‘In Memoriam’ Members’ List. If agreed, Paul can do the technical set up work on the website (Randy/Lois – accepted).
• Creation of a fund-raising committee – Ken’s report was deferred to the next meeting

12. Other/New Business – Randy noted the new banner on the website. We will experiment with various images.

13. Motion to Adjourn moved by Lois at 8:40 p.m. – accepted.

14. Next Meeting – Tuesday, September 8, 2021, 7:00 p.m. via Zoom (David Fuller to arrange)

OMF Report

I am pleased to report that the OMF executive members met at the TD Bank last week and updated the organization’s banking records. Our Treasurer, Bob Watson, can now access our accounts and is well on his way to recreating our financial ledger with a view to confirming our financial situation.

I can also report that the OMF transferred funds owing to the MRBS that had been received via Canada Helps and via other forms of donation.

Work on recruiting new members to the OMF is in its infancy as we’re trying to develop a recruiting strategy and campaign.  I will say that the topic has aroused some strong feelings and considerable discussion.

Work on a web site and a review of the OMF by-laws/Charter are also planned.

I would invite other OMF members present at this meeting to feel welcome to add in their thoughts and comments.

Respectfully submitted,

Ken Scullion, President, OMF