Greetings All – I hope all is well with everyone.
Geoff our President, has asked me to write with some information from our monthly ‘virtual’ Board meeting of last week. We are also sending along a report prepared by Don Langis on the service and recruiting trip he and Geoff Turnbull made to Fredericton and Saint John in the late fall. You will find that at the end of this newsletter.
Approval of the April/20 Financial Report. Financially we are in excellent shape with an end of April/20 bank balance $11,563.75
Approval of the Budget for the current fiscal year. Some items: Reducing the monthly regional (Halifax) luncheon fees from $10.00 back to $7.00 for the General meeting full-meal-deal, Reducing te regional (Halifax) Christmas Dinner member fee from $10.00 back to $5.00 and, a flat fee of $5.00 per member for the AGM buffet. Also budgeting for Regional Chapter Presidents and representatives to attend the AGM (if we are able to hold it in-person) along with other Chapter activities, and By-Law preparation. If all goes as budgeted, we should end the year with no deficit. Remember however, COVID-19 always looms.
We have some new Regional and Chapter By-Laws which will need eventual approval by the Region. The Board gave its approval for it to go forward with the first step being translation. Geoff is looking after this.
Olga Milosevich received approval as our new Regional Secretary for the remaining term of office. She will take over full duties when we can all start to meet with each other again. She will though, have a role in all our discussions and decisions of the Four-Person-Executive-Committee. Welcome Olga.
There is now a vacancy on the Board for a Member-at-Large. Anyone?
Along with this, general discussion on many matters including recent deaths and sickness.
OK. The way ahead for General and Annual meetings in all our Maritime locations is somewhat fuzzy. The Board will again meet virtually in early June – we will take the usual July and August hiatus. We will consider whether it is even possible to hold meetings in September. The executive committee will remain on duty in the meantime. We will need to keep an eye on developments in Ottawa regarding negotiations with the CBC over our legal agreements.
We can hope to be able to hold our Annual General Meeting in October but we are looking at options besides inperson gatherings. It is you, our general membership, who give us the authority to go ahead with plans and decisions for the coming year, and we need to find a way to move forward with this through the annual business meeting.
Of course, we would love to be able to hold our various Christmas Dinners in December. However?????? need I say more.
About it for now.
If any member would like a download of the Financial Statement and/or the Budget: davidscribe@aol.com will get me.
from secretary/treasurer David Carr
Contacts for your regional leadership:
Geoff Turnbull 902-465-1074
g.turnbull@ns.sympatico.ca
David Carr davidscribe@aol.com
Kathy Large (Charlottetown) (902) 394-4966
largekathy22@gmail.com
Linda Gillan Young (Charlottetown) 902-393-8721
nanalinda2050@gmail.com
Bill Doyle (Sydney) 902- 562-1224
bill@cblocals.com
Don Langis (Moncton) 506 854 7407
donald.langis@gmail.com
Now here is Don Langis’ report on the trip he and Geoff made to meet with our members in Fredericton and Saint in late November.
First steps towards creation of a Fredericton-St. John chapter
The first steps have been taken with the aim of creating a second chapter in New Brunswick in the Fredericton-St. John area.
Last Fall, the regional president for the Maritime region, Geoff Turnbull, and the president of the Moncton/New Brunswick chapter, Donald Langis, held meetings in Fredericton and St. John to determine if there was any appetite for a second chapter in the province.
Such a section would better answer the objectives of the Pensioners National Association: members would have the opportunity to organize activities and socialize and to obtain information coming from the region and the national office. This is not the first time that a project like this is proposed. Bad weather unfortunately hindered participation but members present showed interest in the project. It would regroup members from both Fredericton and St. John to reach a membership of at least 25 members in accordance with the rules of the national association. In the meantime, it was suggested that information sessions be held in Fredericton to keep members aware of decisions and to answer questions. The second meeting was scheduled for late May or early June. Unfortunately the pandemic forced us to reschedule a meeting in the Fall – as well as all the other NPA meetings. A date has not yet been determined.
Donald Langis