South Collegiate Alumni Association
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
MAY 4, 2005 – 7pm
In Attendance:
Executive - Pete Telford (President) John Martin (Vice-President)
Connie Weir (Secretary) Carolyn MacVicar (Treasurer)
Bob Johnston (Director) Janet Jones (Director)
Also in attendance – Andrew McClenaghan, Tim Hutchinson, Shaughn Russell, Anne
Rockey & Betty Telford.
After calling the meeting to order, P. Telford, welcomed everyone in attendance and introduced the members of the SCAA executive.
1) Minutes – Executive Meeting, March 9, 2005: The minutes of the last executive meeting were reviewed and approved with one correction: Under item #6 (April Newsletter) the date of the Pub Night should have been May 7 not May 6.
2) Minutes – Annual General Meeting, May 5, 2004: The minutes of last year’s general meeting, prepared and submitted by secretary, Connie Weir, were reviewed and approved.
3) Financial Report (Carolyn MacVicar): Carolyn presented a detailed report for the year ending March 31, 2005. (See attached) Revenues for the year totalled $3,565.32 and expenses totalled $11,666.59. The largest expense items were the donation to the school for the purchase of the Baldwin piano ($7,500), website management ($2,568) and the Newsletter ($814.14). Despite the fact that expenses exceeded revenue, the SCAA is still in reasonably good financial shape, with a bank balance of $6,774.29 at the end of March.
4) SCAA Annual Activity Review (Pete Telford): Once again, Pete presented a one-page summary of the association’s activities from May 2004 to April 2005. (See attached) Highlights of the 11-item report included the upgrading of the website with the establishment of a system of class reps to help update contact information, the provision of a $2000 maintenance fund for the new grand piano with the proceeds from the February benefit concert (Baldwin’s Debut), the securing of room 210 as a permanent home for the school archives and office space for the Association, and the establishment of a “Speakers’ List” of alumni willing to speak to student groups at the school. Pete also spoke about the Education week student project, sponsored by the SCAA, in which the Academy class produced 10 posters illustrating the lives and careers of 10 illustrious South grads. The poster prepared on Greg Curnoe was chosen to submit for the display at the Board of Education, while the other nine are on display in the school lobby. (Note: The complete one page summary is to be put on the SCAA website, so any interested alumni can read the details of this impressive list of activities and accomplishments.
5) Up-coming Projects:
a) Committed: Newsletters (two a year)
75th Anniversary Award
Alumni Basketball Tournament (first Sat. in Dec.)
Website & Database
Website Report (Andrew McClenaghan): Andrew stressed the importance of creating a system whereby we decide what we need to alert our alumni about, to reduce the number of mass e-mailings required. The consensus was that they should occur only four times a year, and that in addition to upcoming SCAA events, we can use the mass e-mails to inform alumni of upcoming school events that they might be interested in. We can ask the staff for submissions in this regard. There are still a few years for which we need class reps, but the system is in place for the most part. Activity on the website is greatest after the newsletter publications, but we are hoping that more regular updating of info and the addition of some new info categories will increase the number of regular monthly “hits”. The fact that our website is now listed on the TVDSB site should also promote awareness.
b) Possible: Gym Floor Fundraising – The school needs a new gym floor. Estimated cost of a new wooden floor, score clock and scoreboard is $200,000. The goal is to have the funds raised by June 2006. 10% of the cost will be paid for by the TVDSB, while the rest has to be raised by the students, alumni and sponsors. (Discussion of SCAA involvement postponed until after the executive elections.)
6) Executive Elections:
The following have been selected to serve on the executive for the next 3-year term of office (May 2005 – May 2008)
President – Pete Telford
Vice-President – Shaughn Russell
Treasurer – Carolyn MacVicar
Secretary – Andrew McClenaghan
Directors – Tim Hutchinson, Bob Johnston, Andrea Manias, Cinzia Marino, Anne Rockey & Connie Weir
Newsletter Editor – Connie Weir
Pete thanked retiring executive members for their past service to the Association: John Martin, John Koreen, Becky Dwinnell, & Janet Jones.
7) Future Projects: Gym Floor Fundraising – It was agreed that since this project was not one that all alumni would wish to contribute to, that an effort be made to target specific groups of alumni for whom it would have the most appeal. We have, for example, 20-25 families of multi-generational South grads with a history of athletic involvement. Alumni who operate their own businesses would also be more likely to donate, given the potential for business promotion. Both the website and the newsletter can be used to promote the campaign, which has been dubbed the “Roar for the Floor”.
Champions Night – Following some discussion, the new executive approved the idea of sponsoring a fundraiser next year to raise money for the campaign. The members of all championship teams and their coaches would be invited to a “Champions Night.” In addition to food, there would be casino games and team photos. Such an event should also be able to attract a lot of good press, which would also benefit the campaign. Proposed time for this event: a Friday in mid-September
Other fundraising ideas/events – 1) A “ Roar for the Floor” lottery 2) a student organized 5K run on Fri. May 6/05.
Official launch of campaign - The school plans an official launch of the campaign at the Gathering on the Green (Wortley Village), the first Saturday in June.
Scholarship Money – A. McClenaghan raised the issue of the importance of funding student scholarships. Since the 75th campaign failed to raise the money we hoped that it would, some of these awards are still under funded. On the other hand, we did make a significant contribution to the school’s award fund after the Reunion. The suggestion was made that we ask the TVDSB for an up-to-date accounting of this scholarship money.
Reunion Package – As part of our plan to be pro-active in encouraging groups to organize their own 10, 20, 30-year class reunions, we should consider creating a reunion package that would assist them in planning their events.
8) Financial future: One of the main issues involves the continued funding of the alumni website. Because it will involve some thoughtful discussion and planning, this topic was tabled until the June meeting.
9) Next meeting: Wednesday, June 22, 7PM, Room 210
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