THE PRESIDENT’S NEWSLETTER
Volume 39, No. 5, November 2018
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE.
Gentlemen we are passing through a critical time for our society. Like many societies of our nature we are struggling with finances, membership, and participation. I’m sure we have gone through this many times in the past 215 years and we have survived. We have a number of members actively working on making the meetings more enjoyable and entertaining, increasing membership, and making needed repairs to the rooms. We have tried to add additional activities which I am hopeful will be fruitful going forward but at this point they have been very frustrating. Financially we are losing money every year and will continue to until we are able to significantly increase our membership. But above and beyond that we need to improve participation. I believe that the president’s tea was very much enjoyed by those who attended but only five members actually came to the tea this year. The fall picnic was held in October, unfortunately on a rather cold and rainy day. It was held inside the rooms and the six members who attended all claim to enjoy the festivities. Both of these activities involve a significant amount of expense and time that is hard to justify in the face of this turnout. The Kirkin of the Tartan was held last Sunday and we had five members at that program. The Sunday before was our Remembrance Day and three members attended. We were unable to find a Piper. This was particularly disturbing as I looked at the past president’s program in my pocket from 2001 and found that of the nine past presidents honored, only one of them is still alive. The remembrance program is not exciting but it’s part of what the society is all about. If we’re not going to participate in these programs then we have to question what the society is supposed to be doing.
On a positive note we had a very good turnout at the last meeting in September and I’m very hopeful that we will see a similar turnout this coming Thursday. It’s particularly important that we have that turnout because this is the meeting when we approve the slate of officers for the society and for the board of managers. If approved they will officially assume their roles at the St. Andrew’s Nicht event. We will need a quorum at Thursday’s meeting. In an effort to streamline the meetings we will again plan on emailing the minutes of the last meeting to the membership so that this can simply be quickly reviewed. Below is the slate of candidates for the officers of the society as well as the board of managers. The only change in the slate this year is the nomination of Willard Bruce as the librarian/historian of the society.
Following and attached here is the Nominating Committee’s slate of candidates to be acted on at our next meeting
The other bit of housekeeping that will be necessary at this meeting will be acceptance of the resignation of Jeffrey B Clark. Unfortunately, we received news that he wishes to resign his membership in the society at this time. Our brief presentation at the upcoming meeting will be from Michael Lynch, the director of historic preservation for the state. He will be giving an update on present activities.
We are making progress in the rooms. The insulation of the attic is almost complete. We had a full day of work today, 11/3, and I want to thank both past Pres. Rich Hixon and non-steward Dan Graves for a solid five or six hours of bull work to clean out a trash filled attic and lay 95% of the insulation. The library has been cleaned and oiled and repairs are being made throughout the rooms. The lawn is still a little sketchy but is greatly improved and we will continue to see that improvement in the spring. The porch has been rebuilt and painted.
I want to take the opportunity to give a special thanks to Rev. Shook who has essentially single-handedly managed the website since it’s initiation. Simon Locke has graciously agreed to take on the role of webmaster effective December 1. I have asked him to communicate with Joe to make sure that there is a smooth transition. I’m sure there will be some changes in the website, particularly which information is open to the public and which will be password-protected for members. I think the more that we contribute to the website the better it will be. That means that anyone having pictures of activities or just bits of information to share about the society should feel free to forward that for inclusion on the site. We will certainly have more information about this once Simon has had an opportunity to take charge.
You all know we have a number of activities going forward. The first is the stated meeting to be held on November 8. St. Andrews Nicht will be held on Friday night November 30th. We will start at the rooms for cocktails and then moved to the Fort Orange club as has been our tradition. Those invitations have already gone out and if anyone has not received one please let me know. I would certainly ask all of you to seriously consider attending and bringing guests. I will have handouts for the upcoming Christmas activities at this Thursday’s meeting. There will be a decorating party with children happily invited on Sunday, December 9th. Each child is encouraged to bring a decoration for the rooms. The Christmas party will be a potluck affair on 12/16. This was well attended last year and a great deal of fun. Christmas carols were enjoyed by all even if the harmony was sometimes rough. Our next regular meeting will be on Thursday, January 10th and lastly Burns night is scheduled for Friday night January 18. In deference to those poor souls who live north of the Mohawk River, this year Burns Night will be held at the Century House in Latham.
Looking further ahead the March meeting will be Lady’s Night and we will plan on a picnic in the spring as well. Also, the rooms will be open for viewing during the St. Patrick’s Day parade with the usual festivities.
That’s it for now. I hope to see you all on Thursday with fine attendance going forward.
Gentlemen of the Society:
The Nominating Committee is pleased to announce its slate of nominees for 2018-2019. Our current officers have agreed to be placed in nomination for the coming year with one exception. Our long-serving Librarian/Historian, Norman Rice has asked the Nominating Committee to relieve him of his duties. In his place, we are nominating Willard Bruce. Mr. Bruce has a deep interest in not only the history of the Society but in the history of the Albany community. We are pleased that he has consented to being added to our slate. We are nominating Mr. Rice for the position of Librarian/Historian Emeritus. Norman has agreed to being available to consult with us on the administration of the Norman Rice Library.
President MacDowell will head the slate for a second term as President of the Society. He will also be nominated as Physician.
The full slate is shown below. We thank 1st Vice President William Burke, 2nd Vice President Andrew Patterson, Treasurer Charles Brown, Secretary Frank Alguire, and Chaplain Nixon McMillan for their willingness to serve the Society if elected for another year.
Gordon Peters, Piper to the Society, will continue to serve in that important position as well as continuing his work on the Board of Managers along with John Fenimore, Patrick Foy, Peter McLetchie and Joseph Shook.
Our appreciation is extended to James Robert Burns for agreeing to continue to serve as our Armorer.
The election will be held at the stated meeting of the Society on November 8. The officers will be installed in office at the St. Andrew’s Nicht celebration dinner on November 30.
THE SLATE.
President – Richard MacDowell
1st Vice President – William Burke
2nd Vice President – Andrew Patterson
Secretary – Frank Alguire
Treasurer – Charles Brown
Librarian/Historian – Willard Bruce
Physician – Richard MacDowell
Chaplain – Nixon McMillan
Board of Managers:
John Fenimore
Patrick Foy
Peter McLetchie
Gordon Peters
Joseph Shook
The President and Treasurer of the Society are ex-officio with vote on the Board.
Submitted by the Nominating Committee, Joseph Shook, Chairman of the Past Presidents
October 2018