NAGCR Ballot

As announced earlier a ballot is required to elect Tom Miller for Honorary Life Membership and to change the by-laws with respect to the Annual Report.

The proposals can be read here and the ballot sheet must be printed and mailed according to the instructions on the ballot sheet. Please contact me if you have any questions or difficulty accessing the ballot.

NAGCR Ballot Instructions

To ensure that your vote is valid, please follow these instructions carefully.

1. Address a mailing envelope to the address provided below.
2. Place your ballot sheet into the mailing envelope and seal.
3. Provide your name and return address on the mailing envelope, legibly, and SIGN the back of the envelope.
4. If more than one (1) ballot is included from the same household, ALL those members submitting ballots must SIGN the back of the envelope.
5. Multiple ballots in separate envelopes (each including all information described in #3 above) may be transmitted in a larger envelope.
6. Please do not place any other Guild material in the envelope.
7. Ballots should be submitted postmarked no later than December 23, 2016

Mail to—

NAGCR

c/o HENDRICK RASCOE ZITRON & LONG LLC

3290 Northside Pkwy NW, Ste 925

Atlanta, GA 30327

Nomination for Honorary Life Membership - majority of votes cast required

Honorary Life Membership is considered to be the highest honor that the NAGCR can confer. It is designed to recognize ringers who have performed outstanding service to ringing in North America and to the NAGCR over many years.

Tom Miller – Nomination for Honorary Life Membership

It is with great pleasure that I announce the nomination of Tom Miller for Honorary Life Membership in the NAGCR.

Tom has been a member of the NAGCR since 1980 who along with his wife Barbara rang handbells. Tom did not learn to ring tower bells until the idea of restoring St Mark's became a reality. He learned quickly and became a staunch supporter of the newly formed Philadelphia Guild of Change Ringers and saw the importance of having one band cover both Philadelphia towers. He researched and published a paper titled Bells on Trial about the history of St Mark's bells and their relationship with the church.

When Beverly Faber decided not to run for another term as Membership Secretary in 2004, Tom volunteered to run for this demanding position. He has served as Membership Secretary for 12 years. Throughout this time he has meticulously and responsively worked with members and the other officers to resolve specific issues, and to maintain extremely accurate and up-to-date records. As Membership Secretary he took the position to a whole new level. He has expanded and streamlined the use of the computer programs as apply to membership, Tom is always ready to help any member or tower with information. Additionally, to support members desiring electronic payment he did the research and developed the procedures to use Paypal and Dwolla.

He archived all the issues of the Clappers 1972-2007 and put them on one CD which members were able to purchase. He also uploaded all of The Clapper archives to the website. He has copied all the Annual Reports for inclusion on the website.

Tom is an avid traveler and has been to AGMs and many other ringing events throughout North America.

He has been a member of the Executive under 4 different NAGCR Presidents and his long-term and continuity has assisted past and current Executive committees with historical perspective. For twelve years Tom has provided extraordinary support to the NAGCR in perhaps the most demanding of the officer positions. He should very deservedly receive recognition through granting Honorary Life Membership.

Proposal to Amend the By-Laws regarding the Annual Report (endorsed by the Executive Committee, 09/17/2016) - majority of votes cast required

Current wording:

7. Annual Report

An Annual Report shall be distributed to all Resident Members in the first quarter of each business year. This report shall include at least:

• reports from all officers, including a summary of major actions of the Executive Committee, a financial report, a peal analysis, and a current membership list, giving names and addresses of all Resident and Associate Members and names of all other members;

• a report on the most recent Central Council meeting; • reports from all Committees; • the current Constitution and By-Laws.

Proposed new wording:

7. Annual Report

An Annual Report shall be distributed to all Resident Members in the first half of each business year. This report shall include at least:

• reports from all officers, including a summary of major actions of the Executive Committee, a financial report, a peal analysis, and a current membership list, giving names of all Resident, Associate and all other members;

• a report on the most recent Central Council meeting; • reports from all Committees; • the current Constitution and By-Laws.

The Annual Report shall also include a listing of all Resident and Associate members of the North American Guild with their contact information and membership status; this listing may, at the Executive Committee's discretion, be omitted from the printed Annual Report and provided in a digital-only appendix.

Proposal to Amend the By-Laws regarding the Duties of Officers (endorsed by the Executive Committee, 09/17/2016) – majority of votes cast required

8.3 Current wording:

Provide the membership directory for inclusion in the Annual Report

Proposed new wording:

Prepare the membership directory to accompany the annual report.

I received no additional nominations for Executive Committee officers and a nomination for Eileen Butler was received for Central Council Rep by the deadline, October 17. Since there were no nominations for Education Officer, Ann Martin has offered to continue in the position. Therefore, the following are elected by acclamation:

President - Bruce Butler,

Membership Secretary - Mary Platt

Treasurer- Bob Aldinger

Peal Secretary - Rick DePuy

Newsletter Editor - Diane Amison-Loring

Education Officer - Ann Martin

Public Relations Officer - vacant

Central Council Reps: Bruce Butler, Eileen Butler, Alan Ellis, Beverly Faber

Please vote! Thank you, Bruce Butler, NAGCR President