2019 MCSNA Minutes

Minutes of MCSNA Inc Members AGM

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Menzies Clan Society of North America, Inc., on October 19, 2019, at 1:05 P.M. EDT, at Stone Mountain Highland Games Clan Tent. The meeting was called to order by the Rory Menzies, President of the Menzies Clan Society of North America. Gordon M. Brown was elected temporary secretary of the meeting. Rory Menzies gave apologies for the Trustees who were unable to be present at the meeting and welcomed all for their attendance in light of the pouring rain of the day.

Gordon M. Brown presented the formal notice of the meeting which was given to each member. Upon motion made, seconded and carried, this document was ordered on file. Gordon M. Brown presented a certified list of members and reported the presence of quorum. There were 51 members present, 8 members present in person, 43 members were present by proxy. The temporary secretary reported that the minutes of the previous meeting were previously circulated by e-mail and approved without objection.

This year there were a number of retirements of longtime stalwarts of the Society in North America. Primarily due to advancing age and accompanying health limitation, Hugh Zylstra, Jerry Minnis, David Mathewes, and Robin Bentzen were retiring this year. A video of the proclamations given was recorded and posted to the Clan Facebook page. Kate Mathewes received the proclamation for her father, David Mathewes who was on the telephone to receive the honor. Also retiring was Rory Menzies who has served so well as President of the MCSNA, one of the many “hats” he wore as President of the MCS and Chair of MCT. In August, Rory was elected to Council of MCS and it was reported that he will remain available in future to the Clan.

Gordon M. Brown then stated that the election of directors was in order. The terms of the directors is five (5) years, pursuant to the by-laws. He stated that pursuant to the by-laws six (6) directors were to be elected, three (3) of whom must be from the Menzies Charitable Trust. All would serve a five (5) year term.

Rory Menzies nominated and Gordon M. Brown seconded the following persons for election as directors:

Pauline Wyllie, UK
George MacBeth Menzies, Esq, UK
Julie Riddell, UK
Gordon Menzies Brown, Esq, USA
Rob Means USA
Scott A. Gardner, USA

Gordon M. Brown asked if there were any further nominations. None were made. Rory Menzies made a motion which was duly seconded by Scott Gardner that the nominations be closed and the acting secretary cast one ballot for the slate as duly nominated and seconded. This motion unanimously carried. At this time the Membership Meeting was adjourned and a directors meeting was immediately held:

Gordon M. Brown advised that the following directors would take the following offices of the corporation by previous agreement, and were duly elected:

Pauline Wyllie, President
George MacBeth Menzies, Esq., Vice President of Scottish Affairs
Julie Riddell , Castle Liason
Gordon Menzies Brown, Esq., Vice President of North American Affairs
Rob Means, Secretary
Scott A. Gardner, Treasurer

​Currently, Rory Menzies, Gordon M. Brown and Laura Bentzen have signature authority on the account. Laura Bentzen and Rory Menzies will no longer serve as officers of the MCSNA. By previous agreement is was resolved that Gordon M. Brown and Scott A. Gardener will have signatory authority over the account and that Gordon M. Brown was empowered to sign any necessary bank resolutions to effectuate the change. Scott A. Gardner suggest changing the bank to a Bank in the North East USA as BB&T did not have any branch locations in the state in which the signatories resided. Again by previous agreement it was resolved that Gordon M. Brown was empowered on behalf of the MCSNA to open, close or otherwise modify the bank accounts to make it convenient for the signatories going forward. The group agreed.

It was decided the next annual meeting of the members would be held at the Tartan Day Parade in Manhattan on April 4, 2020. The date and place to be determined. The secretary then asked the group if there was any further business to discuss.

There being no further business, on motion duly made, seconded and carried, the meeting was adjourned at 1:25 P.M.

Dated: October 22, 2019
West Seneca, New York
________________
Gordon M. Brown
Vice President of North American Affairs