Ontario Provincial Association

ONTARIO PROVINCIAL ASSOCIATION

MINUTES September 3, 2017 FERGUS,ONTARIO

Call to Order:President Lorne Douglas called the meeting to order at 1:00 pm. He extended a special welcome to our “First Timers”, Fred McKay & Norma Suprun from Norwich.

O Canada: Jack Smye led in the singing of our National Anthem.

Agenda: It was moved by Terry Swanburg and seconded by Jim Dallimore that the agenda be accepted as presented. Motion Carried.

Minutes:It was moved by Lynn Acre and seconded by Carol Anderson that the minutes of the May 21,2017OPA meeting be approved as circulated. Motion Carried.

Correspondence:Darlene Wiltsie reported sending 1 letter of Congratulations to John & Shelley Scott on their appointment to the position of Parliamentarian.

Roll Call: Marilyn Rosenberger reported that voting delegates from 11 chapters are present. Ausable River Nomads, Brantford Sun-Downers, Bruce County Campers, Golden Wanderers, Halton Fireflies, Meandering Mohawks, Oxford Rovers, Sarnia 4T’s, Tri-County Travellers, Wandering Canadians, Windsor Hobos.

Guests: Our 2017-2018 Pre-Teen Queen Princess, Grace Cammaert thanked everyone for their support and for coming to watch her talent yesterday. President Lorne commented that our youth are our future and he encouraged everyone to promote participation in our youth programs.

Reports: Youth Director: Cheryle McQuiggan reported that 5 posters from our Spring OPA were sent on to compete at Campvention 2017. Two were for “Conservation” and three were for “Camping Is”. Three of our Canadian entries were national winners. Under the “Conservation” category, Elsie Holden, age 12, of the Tri-County Travellers, placed 1st in her age group and Natalie Rosenberger, age 15, of Leisure Company, placed 2nd in her age category. Under the “Camping Is” category, Amber Emmerson, age 11, of the Tri-County Travellers, placed 3rd in her age category. Cameron Scott, age 7 and Ellie McQuiggan, age 3 ½, both of the Tri-County Travellers, each received honourable mentions. Congratulations to all our winners!! Yesterday there were 11 kids participating in the youth program. A big “thank you” is extended to ChrisDevereaux who organized the craft, which was a Canadian wreath in honour of Canada’s 150th Anniversary, followed by an outdoor treasure hunt. The children really enjoyed each event. There was only one contestant in yesterday’s Pre-Teen Princess Pageant. Eleven-year-old Grace Cammaert of the Tri-County Travellersplayed her yukelalee as her talent. Grace is the daughter of Sean & Kara Cammaert and the granddaughter of John & Shelley Scott. Grace was crowned the 2017-2018 Miss Pre-Teen Princess by Clare Rosenberger, our out-going P.T.

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Princess. Clare performed a beautiful dance/acrobatic routine which she choreographed herself. Congratulations to Grace and best wishes to Clare!

Campout Coordinator: Earl Swan thanked the Meandering Mohawks for hosting an excellent campout this weekend. As of yet, he has received no bids for either Spring OPA(May 18-21, 2018) or Fall OPA(Aug 31-Sept.3, 2018). There were no bids from the floor. There is a temporary hold on Blyth for Spring but he must confirm or cancel this by November 5,2017 or we will be charged. Spring OPA is only 8 months away which doesn’t leave much time for planning. If no chapter(s) offers to host, then there will only be voting delegates meeting without a campout. A bid must be received prior to the next voting delegates meeting on Nov.5, 2017 to allow time for the Board to examine it before the membership approves it.

Conservation: President Lorne reported that the Sarnia 4Ts submitted an application for a national grant to assist a Bird Habitat Conservation program near Grand Bend. The application was successful and they were awarded $500 U.S. to provide birdseed.

OPA Scholarship Fund: Sandra Jean Bedford reported donations from May 24, 2017 – July 31, 2017 totaled $3,329.03. Memorial Donations From In Memory Of Kingston Roadrunners Lois Armstrong Ausable River Nomads Lois Armstrong Eager Beavers Stan Horrocks, Ross Lumsden, Maureen Welsh Karen Edwards Hugh Hicks Bill & Charlotte Daly Hugh Hicks Roy & Bonnie Macdonald Hugh Hicks, Murray Grant, Pete Kennett Ed & Joan Hyde Bud & Jean Bedford’s 50th Wedding Anniversary James & Jeanne Selby Hugh Hicks Non-Memorial Donations OPA Annual Donation $2,000.00 Spring OPA 2017 50/50 Draw $ 121.00 Spring OPA Sundaes $ 155.50 Oxford Rovers Campout Donation $ 100.00 Brantford Sundowners donation $ 500.00 Ontario Fireflies donation $ 109.87 Jean clarified that students applying for an OPA scholarship must have parents who are FCRV and OPA memberships in good standing. It is not enough for just the grandparents to have memberships. However grandparents may purchase memberships for the student’s parents to assist with qualification. If the student is entering a 4-year full-time program, then they may apply for a scholarship all 4 years. If they are in a 3-year full-time program, they may apply for all 3 years. If they are only going into a part-time program, they do not qualify for a scholarship. May 1st is deadline for applications to be submitted. Total donations for this year’s scholarship awards amount to $7,690.27 which has been divided between 4 successful applications giving Ashley Skillings, Jack Skillings, Sara LaBelle & Nicholas Kyte each $1,922.00.

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Decals: Faye Swanburg reported that she passed along all the decals to the new Provincial Directors, the Acres, but will gladly resume that duty if asked. All the decals on hand are the property of Ontario and are for sale to the membership. There are various sizes of FCRV decals for RVs and automobiles. It’s not only good advertising for FCRV but it identifies us to other FCRV members as we travel. We also have some OPA decals, a large “Come Camp With Us” banner, some pins and some earrings in stock. Anyone wanting name tags can purchase them directly from Dan O’Neill in Milton or from the national nametag maker at any Campvention. It was suggested that Dan O’Neil be invited to Regional next August.

National Membership: Camy Hicks, Regional Director, reported that currently there are approximately 3,100 members, of which 251 are Canadians from Region 7.

FCRV Ontario Membership: Marilyn Rosenberger reported that currently there are 211 OPA members from 17 chapters and 12 independents. There are 2 lifetime members.

Parliamentarian: Shelley Scott thanked Dave Webster for his many years of faithful service as parliamentarian for OPA. She appreciates the copy of Roberts Rules of Order that he has passed on to her and warned him that they may be calling on him for advice in the upcoming term.

Publicity: President Lorne reminded chapters that there is a renewable $50 grantavailable to each chapter to be used for publicity and recruitment for their chapters & OPA. Submit your paid invoices to our Treasurer for reimbursement up to $50 per year. Also National is offering to reimburse 50-60% of the entry fee for any future RV Shows that we attend for the purpose of promoting FCRV and recruiting new members. More details will follow.

Pull Tabs: Wayne Rosenberger reported collecting 937.5 pounds of tabs/cans in the past year. Along with the cash found mixed with the tabs, this generated $554.03 which will be sent to Camp Quality of South-Western Ontario. This organization provides kids with cancer an opportunity to have a camping experience. They have not yet chosen next year’s recipient but yesterday’s 85.5 pounds of tabs will go towards it.

C.A.M.P.: Jack Smye reported that 6 people on Saturday and 3 people today walked 2 miles uptown to Tim Horton’s and back.

Voting Delegate Rep: Carol Anderson also thanked Dave & Marilyn Webster for their years of serving the voting delegates. She invited the members to submit to her in writing any concerns they would like her to bring to the Board.

Website: Dave Warrington reported that the OPA website continues to evolve. Check out the photos of our Campvention float. He noted that there are still some chapters who have not updated their information or added pictures. If you have any articles, photos or announcements to post, send them to him.

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Treasurer: Printed copies of the financial statement were available. Jim Keenleyside reported that the Actual Year-to-date income so far is $836.43 and the actual Year to Date Expenses so far total $3,118.17. This deficit should be covered by the membership renewals expected for later this year. All the bills are paid and the books are in good shape. Our “Operating Account” has a balance of $12,363.92. If this amount drops to below $10,000 our bank will start “service charges”. There was some discussion regarding the merits of cashing in one of the GICs in order to keep this account balance above $10,000 as well as the benefits of transferring the funds into an interest-gaining chequing account.It was moved by Dave Warrington and seconded by Don Blenkinsop that any decisions regarding GICs and bank accounts be tabled to allow the Board time to research the pros & cons of each suggestion. Motion Carried.

DASAT: Faye Swanburg announced that 66 people attended the excellent seminar on internet fraud yesterday, thanks to the Meandering Mohawks. We have accepted the offer to provide seminars at the Kitchener and Hamilton RV Shows in return for free registration for our FCRV booth.

Special Committees:

Regional Report:Camy Hicks reported that plans are underway for both a Regional Rally in August of 2018 and Campvention in July of 2020. Camy announced that the winner of the $500 Region 7 Scholarship is Ashley Skillings. The deadline for Regional Scholarships is different from both National and OPA, but the information requested is very similar. Applications must be complete in order to qualify.

Provincial Report: Lynn Acre reported that she and Lew have scheduled a Field Staff training session for Saturday September 30, 2017 in Kingston, Ont. A training session will be scheduled for the western districts probably in the spring of 2018. Lynn reminded District Directors that they should be gathering membership information from their Field Directors to be submitted to her by October 15 so she can prepare her report for Regional. She extended a special welcome to Cadets Fred McKay & Norma Suprun and hoped they are enjoying the campout so far.

National Campvention Report: Camy Hicks described Campvention as a truly enriching experience. Lynn Acre announced that there were 233 units in attendance in Lima, Ohio - 28 of which were from Ontario – which was the largest amount from any individual state/province and which equaled 12% of the total. The float theme was “I’ve Been Working On the Railroad” and our stationary float won all 3 awards; President’s Award, Best State/Province, and “Show Stealer”. Our youth won 3 awards for their posters, Jack Glasman’s birdhouse won 1st prize, and Barb Skipper’s site decoration won top honours. Our Canadian hospitality of maple cookies was well received and we even got to participate in a tornado evacuation....exciting stuff. Next year’s Campvention will be held in Virginia and the theme is “Patriotism & the beginnings of our

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Country”. Ideas are already forming but others are welcome. President Lorne has copies of each of the 3 float awards for anyone who attended Campvention.

2017Fall OPA Campout Report: Chris Devereaux of the Meandering Mohawks reported that 57 units are in attendance today.They are very happy with the weather and the campout so far.

Unfinished Business: Bills for Payment: Jim Keenleyside read a list of bills which were submitted for payment. It was moved by Jim Keeleyside and seconded by Jim Dallimore that the following bills be approved for payment. Motion Carried.

$ 89.88Jack Smye for Campvention Hospitality expenses $118.10 Lorne & Mabel Douglas for Campvention Float expenses $ 20.01 Lynn Acre for photocopying & mailing minutes of the May OPA meeting + batteries for microphone $54.07 Cheryle McQuiggan for craft supplies $27.12 Jim Keenleyside for photocopying financial statements

Vacant Chairs: President Lorne stressed the urgent need for a Vice-President, an imminent need for both a recording secretary (now that Lynn has been promoted to Provincial Director) and a Teen Director (since our youth will be reaching their teen years in 2018 & 2019). We also need chairs for Legislation, Chaplain, Historian, Photography, Publicity and editors for our OPAction Newsletter.

New Business:

Hospitality at Nov.5, 2017 OPA Voting Delegates meeting: Wandering Canadians and Meandering Mohawks will supply treats and serve coffee. OPA will reimburse any expenses for treats with receipts.

Bylaw Update: Jim Keenleyside announced that the Board met in June to review, revise and update our OPA Bylaws. Since OPA is a “chapter” of FCRV, our constitution is the same as National’s, but our Bylaws are our own and should be amended from time to time.

Nominating Committee: The Board positions are up for nominations in 2018. Camy Hicks, Lynn & Lew Acre and John & Shelley Scott volunteered to recruit nominee for the Executive positions as well as the other vacant chairs.

2018 DRAFT Budget Presentation: Jim Keenleyside presented the draft 2018 budget which the Board drew up at the June Board meeting. Although this budget projects a loss of $5,280.00 it was noted that not all of the budgeted money may get spent, (ie Teen Royalty budget and Chapter Assistance Budget) so this loss probably won’t occur. It was also noted that the OPA annual scholarship donation has been reduced to $1,000 from $2,000. Any part of the proposed draft budget may be discussed & debated at the November Voting Delegates meeting prior to

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approval. It was suggested that perhaps the $12 annual OPA membership should be increased to $15/year to offset any impending loss. However, it was explained that with our current healthy bank balance and investments, any increase in membership fees would encounter resistance.

Awards Committee: At this time there are no nominations for any OPA awards.

Closing Prayer:Lynn Acre closed the meeting with prayer.

Adjournment:It was moved by John Scott thatthe meeting be adjourned at 3:12 pm.

Next Voting Delegates Meeting:Sunday November 5, 2017 at 1:00 pm at Hespler Arena.

Next Board Meeting: To be announced

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Lorne Douglas – PresidentLynn Acre – Recording Secretary