San Francisco Civil War Round Table Meeting Thursday 19th December 2013 at the United Irish Cultural Center 2700 45th Avenue, San Francisco ===========
The meeting started at 6:45pm with the Pledge of Allegiance, led by Gil Lopez, and the introduction of guests.
The President reported that, although the membership had voted in 2011 to register the organization as a non-profit corporation, the putative advantages of this action were far outweighed by the disadvantages, including fees, tax returns and other paperwork. The following motions to amend the By-laws were thus proposed and approved unanimously:
Article 7.5: Delete the sentence which states “The secretary shall also be responsible for the annual filing or on-line entry of any documents required to maintain non-profit status.”
The members also unanimously approved the following addition to the By-laws:
Add Article 6.6 as follows: “The Board may from time to time appoint non-voting Members at Large to assist in the operations of the organization.”
Bob Bowen conducted a magnificent Christmas book raffle with an unprecedented array of high-quality Civil War books as prizes. Members gave generously and the record sum of $144 was raised which Charlie Sweeny generously rounded up to $200.
Guest speaker Fred Martin gave a reading from his soon to be published book "Abraham Lincoln's Path to Re-election in 1864."
The meeting concluded on a festive note at 9:00pm with the President wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
The 2013 Ormond Eckley Award for "outstanding contributions" to the San Francisco Civil War Round table was presented to Melani Van Petten for her invaluable work in composing the monthly newsletter.