Happy Spring everyone! Finally! Lovin’ the flowers out there!
Here are some updates from this year’s AGM, for those that couldn’t attend.
Executive
We have two new additions to our Executive: Jeannie Tellier and Cathy Brodie! Thanks so much to Heather Cameron and Janis Anderson for their commitment to running this organization. Janis has stepped down from the Executive but has signed up to help Patricia with the costume department rentals over the summer. Sue Buckley assumed the remainder of Janis‘ term.
Please keep in mind that next year we will potentially need to replace 8 members of our Executive. Most of us will finish our terms next year. We will need a new President, First and Second Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary and Directors. Some current Exec may choose to stay on, but my time as President will be done as I will have served for 4 years. Naturally, I will stay on as Past President (in an advisory capacity) So, keep that in mind over the next year.
iiiIf you have any interest in joining the Executive, please contact me and I can let you know what these positions require of you. Let me say that it is worth the effort we put in to see this place continue to be so successful! The Kootenays needs us!
The AGM
As a society, we are required to keep a current Membership List. One of the issues we continually run into is that pesky Quorum count. According to our Bylaws, we require 25% of the membership at the AGM to hold elections, vote on Bylaws etc.. Your Executive has reviewed our Bylaws and has decided to better define what constitutes a voting member. This will greatly reduce the stress that arises each year, when we wonder if we will make quorum.
Currently we have “ordinary members” and “active members”. Being an “active member” means that you have participated in some RLOP event at some point during the past two years. This would give you voting rights, if you are over 16 years of age. The title “ordinary member” applies to someone who has been involved in RLOP events in the past two years, but has no intention of ever attending an AGM. This could apply if you were a parent who brought their child to rehearsals or a friend who just came one show to sling a paintbrush.
Basically, if you wish to be considered an “active member”, we are looking for a willingness to attend the AGM, even if you can’t make it one year. We currently have 84 “active members” but this includes everyone. We would like to know from you, if you wish to maintain your voting rights.
Keep in mind that we do need people to attend the AGM; it is a vital part of maintaining this organization. But if you never plan to come to an AGM, it will help us reduce the “active membership” list, so quorum numbers aren’t such a source of frustration. I have attached sent out the current membership list. It tells you how many years you have left as a voting member, as of this year’s AGM. Editor’s note: if you didn’t get a membership list and want one, contact Dawn!
If you do not want voting rights, please let me know. If I missed your name, I apologize. Please let me know that too. Or if you only have one year left, but feel you were involved this year, let me know that too. We plan on keeping membership attendance lists, like they used to on past Executives. If you come to the Fall Fair, bake cookies, sing at Christmas or get involved on stage, your membership will be updated.
Fall Show
We are excited to announce that Julie Crispin has decided to direct her first show! She has chosen a musical, murder mystery called “Murder At Crooked House”. We will start auditions in the Fall, with the show being performed at the beginning of November. Please note that we have also been asked to perform this show for the Castlegar Rotary in January for one night. So, whoever is involved in the Fall Show will be needed that one night in January as well.
Mainstage 2012
We are thrilled to announce that we are planning to produce “Pride and Prejudice” for our Mainstage Show. This is a musical version of the beloved Jane Austen classic. Erica Charette has chosen this show to direct and Lorren Culley has agreed to be our Musical Director again this year! We have many backstage roles to fill, so if you have any aspirations to help out with sound, producing, publicity, sets, costumes, etc… please contact Erica. We are still working out royalty details and dates so stay tuned!
Hall Cleanup
We will begin our hall overhaul (nice play on words there!) in the summer. Please let me know if you would be available. We plan on renting a large dumpster to take away unusable things and we would also like to do a weinie roast at the same time.
Summer Singing Engagement
Diane Williamson has asked for members of the RLOP come together for an event for the Order of the Eastern Star, who are celebrating 100 years of service in BC and the Yukon. It will happen on July 9th around 6:00pm at the Cominco Arena. We would sing for about 15-30 minutes, doing songs we know already like those from Oklahoma, Brigadoon, South Pacific etc. We would need to meet a couple of times before hand to rehearse. Please let me know if you can come.
I can organize us but I can’t play to piano for rehearsals, so someone with the ability to read and play music for our rehearsals would be great! We won’t need to worry about doing 4 part harmonies and we will most likely be singing a capella for the event. Please let me know if you can attend a couple of rehearsals along with the event; I would hold them on Sundays for a couple of hours.
That’s it for now! Thanks for your hard work, everyone! We’re looking forward to another fantastic year!!!
Dawn
