Minutes of Executive Meeting – May 11, 2021

June 8, 2021 /

Malvern Red & Black Society
Executive Committee
Minutes of Meeting – Tuesday, May 11, 2021
7:30 P.M. Via Zoom

Present:  Sandra Burk (Chair), Dianne Chaddwick,Tim Daciuk, Randy Deffett, David Fuller, Donna Halliday, Vandra Masemann, Lois Maxwell, Ken Scullion, Rod Tennyson, Ila Vaculik (Beattie), Paul Warner, Bob Watson

Regrets: Adele Ashby, Joyce Heighway, Irene Hubel, Erik Malmsten, Volker Masemann,

1. Meeting called to Order: The Chair, Sandra Burk, called the meeting to order at 7:05 P.M.

2. Minutes of Tuesday, April 13, 2021 meeting: 

Motion: Moved by Ken Scullion, seconded by Vandra Masemann, that the minutes be approved. Carried.

3. Approval of the Agenda 

Motion: Moved by Ken Scullion, seconded by Lois Maxwell, that the agenda be approved. Carried

4. Matters Arising from the Minutes:

  • Cenotaph – David reported that he had nothing new to report.
  • Database – DB review update – Dianne called upon Donna who is conducting the DB review to comment.  Donna reported that she and Lois have been working the master database, which has about 2600 entries, for months. They have reviewed some 1600 entries and made appropriate updates.They have sent any obits to Irene who is organizing them and has four binders full of such material. There followed a discussion on members who had not provided express consent to receive our updates. Vandra and Donna offered to compare an original list of members to a list of members who had given their consent with a view to identifying differences in the two lists. Concern was expressed that we may not have the most current e-mail address for some of our older, in terms of membership, members. Discussion also centered on our adherence to privacy legislation. It was agreed that we were in compliance with regulations. The group noted that all of our e-mail messages contain an “unsubscribe button” to allow members to opt out of receiving them. Dianne expressed her appreciation to Donna, Lois and Vandra for their work on the databases.

5. Announcements:

  • Vandra reported that Volker had tidied up Malvern’s gardens (following up on his November fall clean-up). The Malvern caretaker wrote to express his appreciation and to congratulate Volker on his work.

6. President’s Report – Sandra Burk: The President reported that she had no specific items requiring an update, but wanted to express her appreciation to Randy, on behalf of the Executive, for his work on updating the Code of Conduct and Privacy Policy. The President also extended a warm welcome to Paul Warner.

7. Communication Reports:

  • Mail (snail) – Vandra Masemann: Vandra reported that she had picked up the mail from the school. Much of the mail was made up of bank statements and a letter from CRA relating to the OMF charitable organization tax filing being late. It was agreed that Bob would review previous year’s filings and work towards filing the 2020 filing.
  • Email – Bob Watson: Bob reported that there were no emails received at all.
  • Database – Dianne Chadwick: Dianne indicated that she had nothing to report at this time.
  • Website, Facebook – David Fuller:  David reported that Paul was taking care of website updates. Paul indicated that he had a number of updates to perform and that they were high on his list of priorities. Sandra and Vandra reported that we had 921 FB “friends”. The Beacher History Caboddle has impacted the number of people joining our FB page.

Motion: Moved by Vandra Masemann, seconded by Randy Deffett, that the Communication Reports be accepted. Carried.

8. Treasurer’s Report – Bob Watson: Bob reported that the bank balance is now $483.37.  There are no outstanding items.

Motion: Moved by Bob Watson, seconded by David Fuller, that the Treasurer’s Report be accepted. Carried.

9. Archives Committee Report: – Vandra Masemann: Vandra requested that Donna provide this report as she has worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic to update the archives.  Donna reported that she has been dropping of material, Beach Metro News, obits and the like, to Irene and that Irene has been organizing obits, clipping Malvern-related stories and the like for inclusion in the archive once we are able to access it. Donna has also joined a number of FB pages with a relationship to Malvern and this has resulted in a number of people (Muir Sumner and Harry Miller, both former teachers, for example) offering to make donations of material to the archive.  These items will be picked up once the pandemic situation allows.  Donna has also been adding material to our database. There have also been requests for copies of various Muse articles.  These will be responded to once the school reopens. Donna also reported that she had been in touch with Greg McKinnon, Manager of the TDSB archives and Jason Cheung, to see how they are doing with respect to the creation of our archival database. Vandra, Volker and Donna are working to update the WIKI entry for Malvern because there was some incorrect information there. Once updated the information will be returned to the TDSB for posting. Donna agreed to forward to Paul a list of deceased Malvernites so that the list of FB members can be properly updated. It was noted that not all names on Donna’s list were members of our FB page. David requested that he also receive a copy of the list to compare to the veteran’s list.

Motion: Moved by Vandra Masemann, seconded by Lois Maxwell, that the Archives Committee Report be accepted. Carried.

10. Onward Malvern Foundation Report – Ken Scullion: Ken reported that there was really no new news. The signing members of the Executive had determined to abide by the stay at home order and had not made the trek to the bank to update the OMF’s banking information. In response to a question raised by Randy, it was agreed that we need to review the MRBS/OMF registration page. There was discussion about the “overlap” between the MRBS and OMF. A relationship between the OMF and MRBS is necessary as the OMF can issue tax receipts for donations. Vandra raised the issue of wanting new members for the OMF. These issues will be discussed at a future OMF meeting.

Motion: Moved by Ken Scullion, seconded by Randy Deffett, that the OMF Report be accepted. Carried.

11. Projects

  • Proposed Amendments to MRBS Charter/Bylaws, The Code of Conduct and our Privacy Policy – Randy Deffett:  Randy presented the most recent draft of these polices. Discussion ensued about whether or not we had the right to edit the policy if we discovered grammatical, syntactical or editorial in nature errors. It was agreed that we had that right to edit (“tidy up”) so long as we did not change the fundamental meaning.
  • Motion: Moved by Randy Deffett, seconded by Bob Watson, that the Code of Conduct, the Privacy Policy and the Privacy Statement be accepted. Carried
  • Randy asked a follow-up question whether or not we wanted/needed a solicitor to review the material. It was agreed that we did not require such a review.
  • It was agreed that the Code of Conduct should be made part of our FB page.
  • David raised the issue of ownership of the FB page. It was agreed that we need to look into this matter. This led to a discussion about the difference between a FB page and our FB group (which was set-up in 2007). These are completely separate entities in the eyes of FB administration.
  • Creation of a Fundraising Committee – Ken Scullion: Ken reported that he and Bob had yet to meet to discuss the creation, structure and responsibilities of this committee. A report will be ready for the next meeting.
  • Requests from FB members for Vintage Rugby Shirts – Vandra Masemann: Vandra reported that there was significant interest expressed by FB members in obtaining new rugby and hoodies with the old MRBS crest (which Vandra believes is owned by Jacquie’s son) on them. Vandra reached out to Jacquie Martin (who took care of the production of these items in 2003 and 2011.)  Jacquie’s daughter-in-law has agreed to take on this project and will provide a costing analysis. There was a lively discussion with lots of support expressed pending answers to several questions. Vandra and David agreed to meet prior to our next meeting to discuss logistical matters and the possibility of a small store (e-commerce) attached to our website. David and Paul to discuss the various technical issues and requirements and come to the next meeting with an update.

12. Other/New Business: Randy raised some questions about our FB page with some 326 members and FB group with some 920 members. These run in parallel and contain different material. Discussion ensued about the desirability of amalgamating these two sites. No final decisions were made, but it was agreed that there needs to be a closer connection between the two sites. Randy also raised the issue of our need to obtain an SSL (security) certificate. David and Paul will meet to discuss and follow-up. Randy requested that he be invited to any discussions.

Randy also talked about some of the updates he would like to make to the MRBS Charter. Vandra suggested that we add one more member-at-large (3 to 4). Randy will continue his work and circulate the results in due course.

13. Motion to Adjourn: Ken Scullion moved adjournment at 9:00 PM. Meeting adjourned.

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

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