Williamsburg Players
Annual Membership Meeting Minutes

August 7, 2005

1. The meeting was called to order by President Rick Hinson at 2:00PM in the James-York Playhouse.
2. The first order of business was a drawing by Karen Foley to award a coffee mug to one of the attendees. The mug was won by Dick Moff.
3. Betsy Hall brought up a point of order that she had four general proxies and one proxy for the By-Laws vote. Susan Fournier stated that she also had one general proxy. Rick Hinson stated that he was in possession of five general proxies.
4. There were no minutes from last year's annual meeting, so no approval vote could be taken.
5. Rick Hinson presented his annual report which is attached to these minutes. He discussed the mission and vision of the Players and our achievements over the past five years.
6. Debbie Noonan presented the financial report for the year. It was a very successful year with an overall income of over $18,000. In addition, we brought the Scholarship Fund to the $80,000 endowment level specified when it was created.
7. Recognitions
   1. The Scholarship recipients this year were Christina Madison from Lafayette High School and Gabriel Possich from Bruton High.
   2. Brandon Lyles, the coordinator of our new Reader's Theatre, was introduced and he explained that it is a venue for presenting original work, as wells as a way for new talent to see what it feels being on stage.
8. Rick noted that the 50th anniversary committee has been formed, although there is always room for more help. Barney Barnes is the director of this committee. Mollie Robbins is handling much of the history stuff. Mary Hinson is gathering old playbills, newsletters, newspaper articles, stories, etc. for the celebration. She is currently only missing 16 playbills mostly from the earlier years of the theater.
9. Volunteer and Special Recognition Awards.
   1. Karen Foley thanked all the volunteers for their hard work this past year.
   2. In particular the box office staff, Pat Richards for her work on the yard sale, and Bob Burdette for organizing the costumes and selling most of our older ones to a costume archivist for $575.
   3. In addition we acquired a professional sewing machine from Betsy Hall, which should be put to good use.
   4. Karen also noted that we will be focusing more on committee work in the future. She is using a volunteer sign-in sheet for volunteers to track their hours. She reminded everyone to keep an eye on the volunteer web page for upcoming opportunities.
   5. In addition she recognized individually the following volunteers for their contributions to the theater this year in time and energy: Trudy Foss, Bob Shea, Brandon Lyles, Lynn Schumann, Carole Meyer, Peggy Baker, Al Schumann, Bob Burdette, Carol Moff, Donna Apperson, and the Board members.
   6. Upon her retirement from the Board after 18 years of service, Debbie Noonan was given special recognition. She was presented with flowers, a silver tray, and a Lifetime Patron pass. Debbie thanked everyone for making the past 18 years wonderful and assured everyone that she would still be around to help.
   7. Karen closed by stating her new Volunteer motto: More People, Less Work, More Fun!!!
10. Bob Noonan presented the revised By-Laws for the group's consideration. There were minor changes in the wording here and there.
    1. In particular in Article I, number 2, the word Virginia was added to make the statement "a nonprofit Virginia corporation".
    2. There was concern about Article II, number Ib and the meaning of an "application". It was decided that the name of the new Volunteer sign-in sheet would be "an application for Volunteer Membership". This seemed to satisfy.
    3. There was also a question about Article II, number 4, Term. The wording was changed to "... until the first of September following the end of the fiscal year when the season subscription purchase was made."
    4. The entire By-Laws were discussed at length and passed unanimously by those present. There was one Proxy vote against.
11. Election of the Board of Directors. Karen Foley presented the current continuing Board and the slate of new officers. Those continuing on the Board are Karen Foley (Volunteers) and Bob Shea (Programs).
    1. The slate includes:
       

       Andrea Daughtry	Secretary
       Bob Noonan	Planning and Assessment
       Diane Floros	Treasurer
       Rick Hinson	President
       Steve Hall	Business and Finance

    2. There was a call for nominations from the floor. Peggy Baker and Donna Apperson were nominated from the floor.
    3. Debbie Noonan moved that the nominations be closed. Karen Foley seconded. This passed.
    4. Susan Fournier moved and Betsy Hall seconded that the election be done by secret ballot and each person be voted on individually rather than the entire slate. This motion failed.
    5. Susan Fournier moved that the slate be approved by acclimation. Amy Lyles seconded. Counting the proxies, the motion passed 29-8-1.
12. Rick noted that we have many challenges and goals for the coming years. These include:
    1. The planning for and celebration of our 50th anniversary.
    2. The planning for and celebration of the 20th anniversary of our Scholarship program.
    3. And, of course, we want to move forward with our capital improvements, starting perhaps with an expansion of our parking lot.
13. Rick opened the floor for general discussion.
14. There was a question about the new roof and why it was needed. Rick explained that the old roof had bubbled and water was leaking in. The new roof should last another 10 years.
15. Karen had one final door prize drawing which was won by Bob Shea.
16. Al Schumann moved and Amy Lyles seconded that the meeting be adjourned. The meeting was adjourned at around 5 PM.

Respectfully submitted,
Debbie Noonan
Outgoing Secretary