Board of Directors Nominees

The nominees for the 2014 Board of Directors election taking place during the Annual General Meeting (4pm on Saturday, November 30, 2013 at 11321-166a St, Edmonton, AB) are as follows:

Andy Dempsey – Andy has been volunteering with the Alberta Browncoats Society since Can’t Stop the Serenity 2011.  Attendees might remember him best for his bright smile and spot-on impression of Vanna White during the live auction portion of the event. Most often, Andy’s involvement takes place behind-the-scenes, helping organize and obtain items for our annual charity auctions, packing items for charity events, organizing stock and ensuring financial accuracy post-events. Andy has been involved in charity convention booth process in Edmonton since 2013.

Anita “Pokee” Pocky – Pokee has been volunteering with the Alberta Browncoats Society since 2013. In addition to choreographing the Hero of Canton flash mob dance and volunteering at Can’t Stop the Serenity, she has written articles for our newsletter (also posted on the website) and manned the membership information booth at the 2013 Pure Speculation Festival.

Beverley Williams – Beverley is a founding member of the Alberta Browncoats Society and has acted as the organization’s Secretary/Treasurer since 2010.  In addition to her volunteer obligations as a member of the Board, Bev is part of the Browncoat knitting group that supplies the ABS with “not afraid of anything” toques and has helped organize the annual Can’t Stop the Serenity event in Edmonton since 2010.  Bev has volunteered at our charity convention booths in Calgary and Edmonton since 2012.

Doug Reid –  Doug is a founding member of the Alberta Browncoats Society and has acted as the organization’s Vice Chair since 2010.  In addition to his volunteer obligations as a member of the Board, Doug has helped organize and run the annual Can’t Stop the Serenity event in Edmonton since 2010.  He has helped organize and man the charity booth at the Pure Speculation Festival in 2011 & 2012 and has volunteered at our charity convention booths in Calgary and Edmonton since 2012.

Drew Semper – Drew is a founding member of the Alberta Browncoats Society. Our “Jack of all trades”, Drew does a bit of everything for the organization; most of it in a behind-the-scenes manner. Occasionally he does step into the spotlight; most notably when he’s MC’ing the Can’t Stop the Serenity event. Drew makes pompoms for our “not afraid of anything” toques, gathers auction items, researches and purchases merchandize, organizes and volunteers at our convention charity booths (since 2011), and helps plan and execute Browncoat shindigs.

Jeri Noyes – Jeri has been volunteering with the Alberta Browncoats Society since 2010 and joined the Board in 2013. In addition to managing the merchandize table at the Can’t Stop the Serenity event since 2010, Jeri has volunteered at our charity convention booths in Calgary and Edmonton since 2012 and been instrumental in the organization of the Browncoat shindigs held in Edmonton and Calgary in 2012 and 2013. The on-going joke is that Jeri has never seen Firefly or Serenity (we’ve discovered that’s not entirely accurate); her main motivation for working so tirelessly for us over the past 4 years is raising funds for charity. And she’d like it noted that she’s very, very good at raising funds.

Sheelagh Semper – Sheelagh is a founding member of the Alberta Browncoats Society and has acted as the organization’s Chair since 2010. Our “Jill of all trades”, Sheelagh plans and organizes the annual Can’t Stop the Serenity event as well as all facets of the charity convention booths since 2010. In addition, she purchases booth merchandize, negotiates contracts, obtains auction items, pays bills, writes for the newsletter and website, answers emails, and knits the “not afraid of anything” toque at conventions (at knit-a-thons or just because we’re running low on stock) and as part of the Browncoat knitting group.

Wendy McCormack – Wendy joined the Board in 2013. In addition to her volunteer obligations as a member of the Board, Wendy is part of the Browncoat knitting group that supplies the ABS with “not afraid of anything” toques and has helped organize the annual Can’t Stop the Serenity event in Edmonton since 2010.  Wendy has been involved in the preparation and manning of our charity convention booths in Calgary and Edmonton since 2012.

Registered members who live within 100 kms of Edmonton must attend the Annual General Meeting in order to vote in the Board of Directors election.

Registered members who do not live within 100 kms of Edmonton, as indicated in our member database, may record their vote on any agenda item via email using their registered member email address between November 26 – 29, 2013. Eligible in-absentia voters should list which board members they choose vote for in the body of their message. Members may select up to seven (7) nominees but are not required to do so.

We are currently working on a method for out of town members to dial into the meeting via internet based calling service. Details will be posted once testing is complete.

Reminder: Annual General Meeting

Don’t forget to mark your calendars for the upcoming Annual General Meeting. Please join us on at 4pm on Saturday, November 30, 2013 at 11321-166a St, Edmonton, AB.

Agenda:

  • Call to order
    • Minutes from Previous AGM and Oct 20 By-law Special Meeting
  • Old Business
    • Reports of Committees in General
  • New Business
    • Presentation of financial report
    • Committees
    • Serenity screening
    • Election of Board of Directors

We will be electing the 2014 Board of Directors at the AGM. Interested members may self-nominate via email using their registered member email address between October 21 and November 22, 2013. The board may contain up to 7 members.

To be eligible to be elected to the Board as a Director a person must have served at least one year as a member in good standing.

2014 Memberships will be available for purchase at the meeting.

By-laws, AGM and knitting notes

By-law Special Meeting Results
On October 20, 2013 our membership voted unanimously to accept the new by-laws. The new by-laws will be filed with the Province of Alberta this week.

Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Board Member Elections
In addition, we set the date for the Annual General Meeting (AGM). Please join us on at 4pm on Saturday, November 30, 2013 at 11321-166a St, Edmonton, AB. A meeting agenda will be emailed to all members and posted on this website in the coming weeks.

Among other agenda items, we will be selecting the 2014 Board of Directors at the AGM. Interested members may self-nominate via email using their registered member email address between October 21 and November 22, 2013. The board may contain up to 7 members.

Potential board members must:

  1. Be a 2013 general member in good standing.
  2. Consent to having their name and address appear in public Government of Alberta documents (Corporate Registry Database) and on our website
  3. Attend 4-6 Board meetings in addition to any general meetings.
  4. Actively participate in a minimum of one committee or extra duty.
  5. Commit to and complete a minimum of 24 volunteer hours with ABS.

Please note: This election is for general board members. Executive positions (Chair, Vice-Chair and Secretary/Treasurer) on the board are determined by the elected board members at a future board meeting.

All members, 18 years of age or older, in good standing as of November 22, 2013 will be eligible to put their name forward for a position on the board of directors. Members wishing to be elected to the Board of Directors must be present at the AGM.

A member is elected to the Board of Directors when they put their name forward for nomination and receive sufficient votes on the ballot from the general membership in an election vote held during the AGM .  In the case of a tie, a secondary vote may be held until a minimum of 6 positions on the Board of Directors are filled.

Registered members who live in Edmonton and surrounding area must be present to vote at the AGM.

Registered members who do not live within 100 kms of Edmonton, as indicated in our member database, may record their vote on any agenda item via email using their registered member email address between November 23 – 29, 2013. Eligible in-absentia voters should indicate which agenda item they are voting on (use agenda item number), along with their choices, in the body of their message

We are currently working on a method for out of town members to dial into the meeting via internet based calling service. Details will be posted once testing is complete.

Special thanks to Leavitt Machinery General Partnership for use of their space for the Special Meeting and AGM.

Knitting Projects – Donation Drop-offs
We will be collecting poppies for the Valour Place Poppy Project and knit items for the Bissell Centre at The Carrot Community Arts Coffee House (9351-118 Avenue, Edmonton, AB) on the following date:

  • Saturday, October 26 from 11:30am – 2pm

October Knitting Projects

We’ve been knitting a certain toque for a few years now. At nearly every convention we attend it been a popular seller. In fact, it’s been one of our largest fundraisers over the past 3 years. Now that Edmonton Expo is over and Calgary Expo is still many months away, we’d like to take a quick break from yea auld pattern and participate in other knitting projects with a big community impact.

For the month of October, we’re asking the members of the Alberta Browncoats Society knitting group – and anyone else in the community who wants to participate – to join in our upcoming projects.

Bissell Centre
The Bissell Centre works in the community to empower people to move from poverty to prosperity. We enable people to meet their own basic daily needs, participate in community, have sustainable livelihoods, feel hope for the future and make plans for a prosperous life. Winter is coming. Let’s try to make it a little warmer for their clients and member of the community.  We’ll be making/collecting the following hand knit items:

  • Children’s hats, mittens and scarves
  • Adult hats, mittens and scarves
  • Baby blankets
  • Single-bed sized blankets

Note: The Bissell Centre distributes children’s items and blankets directly to clients through their programs. Adult sized items are provided to inner-city schools for distribution to parents in need.

Valour Place Poppy Project (#knitmonton)
#knitmonton is looking for poppies for a yarn art installation at Valour Place in Edmonton. Valour Place is a temporary home-away-from-home for Canadian Forces members, families of the Fallen, Veterans and RCMP, along with their families, when medical treatment is required in Edmonton. Please visit their website for complete details. Suggested poppy patterns are available here and here. Poppies may be knit or crochet in any size. Requirements are the poppies be created in washable yarns and contain 4 red petals with black centres.

Drop Off Details:
We will be collecting poppies for the Valour Place Poppy Project and knit items for the Bissell Centre at The Carrot Community Arts Coffee House (9351-118 Avenue, Edmonton, AB) on the following dates:

  • Wednesday, October 9 from 6:30 – 9pm
  • Wednesday, October 23 from 6:30 – 9pm
  • Saturday, October 26 from 11:30am – 2pm

If you don’t have a pattern handy, a number of great patterns can be found for free online. You can visit Ravelry, Canadian Living’s free knitting patterns and the Free Vintage Knitting website for some great ideas.

Can’t, or don’t want to knit, but still want to help? We’re always looking for donations of yarn (or funds to buy yarn). Contact us to discuss the details of your donation.

Results: Edmonton Expo 2013

For the second year in a row, we had a fabulous time hosting our charity booth in the hometown. Thanks to everyone who supported our charity booth by buying a toque, bag or raffle ticket we raised $2110 for charity! You make us all so mighty!

The donation breakdown from this weekend’s event is as follows:

Matt Stevens (Geekographs) donated a wonderful John Barrowman “Cap’t Jack” geekograph for our booth raffle which John generously signed for us. As is quickly becoming a tradition, Jason Palmer drew our raffle winner. And a ruffle on our raffle bin. The proud winner was Alan Rose.

Jason Palmer donated a wonderful Edmonton Expo piece to our annual charity auction. And we shouldn’t forget to mention that John Barrowman also signed another special item to add to the charity auction as well!  2014’s auction is starting to look like something special.

We owe a huge thank you to Clinton, Paul, Wendy, Bev, Andy, Natalie, Sheelagh & Drew for all the help with booth set-up, sales, and tear down.

We were so busy, we forgot to take lots of photos! If you did take any photos of our booth we’d love to see them. Please share them on our Facebook page.

Click on photos to enlarge.