We will start the third Springwater Trails Annual Meeting at 5:00 during and following the Hike Social.  The agenda for this years meeting will be:

• Review of Springwater Trails activities during 2014.
• Bylaws amendment vote (See below).
• Election of Executive Board members for 2015.
• Announcement of a Trail Construction Committee, a Trail Maintenance Committee, and the Social Supplies Committee
• A trek to Nepal – A talk with personal photos by Melissa Cohen

PROPOSED BYLAWS AMENDMENT

The Executive Board has recommended the following amendment to the Springwater Trails Bylaws, Section II paragraph 3 by adding the additional subparagraph 3.6 to read

3.6    Individuals, who have served the organization as an active committee member on a committee (including the Social Supplies Manager) established by the executive board for a full year term, shall be granted an honorary individual membership to the organization for the following year.

NOMINATIONS FOR EXECUTIVE BOARD 2015

In accord with the Bylaws,  the election of officers to hold the positions of President, Vice President, VP of Hiking, Secretary, Treasurer and Trail Master will be held at the Annual Meeting at the Springwater Center in Springwater, NY.  The term for these positions is one year with no limitation on re-election. The slate of candidates is:

• President:  Mark Hopkins
• Vice President:  Eugene Binder
• Vice President of Hiking:  Wendy Stevenson
• Trail Master:  Rick Henchen
• Secretary:  Katherine Humphrey
• Treasurer:  Melissa Cohen

Members may vote for one candidate in each position above.  Family memberships allow two individuals in the family to cast a ballot. For a given officer position, the winner is the candidate with the most votes. Voting may be completed with an email to the chairman of the nominating committee at [email protected] or in person at the Annual Meeting.

In accord with the Bylaws, the annual meeting has been set for March 23, 2014 at 4:30 pm at Stately Hopkins Manor on Schribner Rd. in E. Springwater, NY. An important part of the annual meeting is the election of officers to hold the positions of President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. The term for these positions is one year with no limitation on re-election.

The membership was active in the process and provided many suggestions to the Nominating Committee. The deadline has now been reached and here is the slate of candidates:

President: Mark Hopkins
Vice President: Joan Kolb
Secretary: Katherine Humphrey
Treasurer:  Melissa Cohen

Trail Master Rick Henschen

A BIG Thank You! to those that have agreed to serve.

All members can vote using one of the following two methods:

1) email the ballot below to: [email protected]  by March 23, 2014.

2) at the annual meeting.

Members, please choose a method and vote for one candidate in each position above. Family memberships allow two individuals in the family to cast a ballot. Insert an X in front of the candidate’s name. For a given officer position, the winner is the candidate with the most votes.

If you would like more information or clarification on roles and responsibilities or the process, please send us a note. Thank you!

Best Regards,

Gene Binder, for the Nominating Committee

Springwater Trails Member Ballot

All, who are interested in our organization, are welcome to attend this meeting.  However, you must be a member of Spngwater Trails, in order to vote.  If you like our enjoyable Sunday afternoons of hiking and fellowship, and are not a member, please consider becoming one, before the meeting.

A final reminder that the first Annual Meeting for Springwater Trails will be held Sunday March 24 at 4:30, following a hike along the Snowmobile Trail C4 from Warner Rd to the Sugarbush Hollow sugar house.

Please plan to join us on Sunday.  We will have the opportunity to talk about hiking trails on state land with Gretchen Cicora from the DEC.  We will also discuss our plans for 2013.  Come and be a part of this dicussion!

The Annual Meeting will be held during our Sunday social, so bring a dish to pass and your own beverage (or you can make a small contribution to future socials).  See you all on Sunday.

Today we sent out emails related to the annual meeting this year.  If you did not receive the email, please send me a note at [email protected] and I will add you to our mailing list.  If you did receive the emails, please take a moment to read them – that is your job before the annual meeting.

The nominating committee’s slate of officers for 2013

Thanks to Dean, the nominating committee has put together a slate of officers for 2013.  Members of Springwater Trails have received a ballot they may return to Dean to vote for the officers. If you haven’t become a member yet, you may join at any Sunday hike or at the Annual Meeting on March 24th, or by mail.  Download the winter brochure for membership details.

If I didn’t mention it before, the Springwater Trails Annual Meeting will be held at 4:30 PM at the Sugar House at Sugarbush Hollow following our Sunday hike.  We are trying to arrange a speaker for this meeting.  Also on the agenda is a brief review of the activities of the Springwater Trails group in 2012 and our plans for 2013.  And, of course, we will elect our new officers for 2013.
We all need to thank Pam and Pati for their hard work on the Executive Board this past year.  If you aren’t aware of all they have done, you must have had your headphones on too tight.  Also thanks to Amy and Marty for filling in as secretary this year.  You will hear more about their plans for Springwater Trails at the annual meeting.

Yesterday, Pati and I met with John Vogel, one of our hikers from Dansville.  John has been recommending that we solidify the status of our organization by filing a Certificate of Incorporation with the state as a Not for Profit Corporation.  John has agreed to guide us through this process and we expect to become Springwater Trails Inc at the annual meeting.  You should expect that the name change will be the only visible change that will occur, but I am putting together a Q&A posting to be available soon.