COUREURS DE BOIS ELLIOT LAKE
Annual General Meeting November 15, 2022
1.
CALL TO ORDER
The
meeting was called to order by David N. at 7:01 p.m.
There were 33 members in attendance.
David N. welcomed everyone to the Annual
General Meeting and then introduced Clair and
Paul Eldon of 108 Lifestyle and Sporting
Goods. They did an interesting and
informative
presentation of clothing and footwear
suitable for winter snowshoeing and cross country
skiing, snowshoes, and cross country
skis. They had gifts for a name draw and
the winners
were Lucille and Emily.
2.
APPROVAL OF THE SEPTEMBER 20, 2022 MINUTES
Moved
by Astrid T., seconded by Art F. that “the
Minutes be approved as written.”
CARRIED.
3.
NEW VICE-PRESIDENT
David
N. moved that “Louise McLean be added as signing officer on the Coureur de Bois
Bank account and Julie Burton be
removed.” Seconded by Jackie S. Thirty-three (33)
members voted in favour of the motion;
zero (0) against. CARRIED.
4. FINANCIAL
AND MEMBERSHIP REPORT
Sue
L. reported on the financials since the last meeting. Moved
by Sue L, seconded by
Donna C. that “the financial report be accepted.”
CARRIED.
We
currently have 88 paid members, with another member joining this evening,
raising the
total membership to 89.
5.
VICE-PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Louise
M. reported that the Christmas Cookout will be held on Thursday, December 15,
2022 on Horne Island. We will meet at the Scotia Bank for our
regular gathering and then
meet at the Ski Hill’s parking lot, from
where we will hike to cookout site on Horne Island.
Louise asked for volunteers to assist
her for the cookout. The regular
Thursday hikes will
not take place. Hotdogs and hot chocolate will be
served. Members will bring desserts.
6.
TRAIL MASTER’S REPORT
Heber
D. gave a report on trails that have been recently cleared and marked,
specifically
Grant’s Trail and Porcupine Trail.
He reported that the first “hike and
clear” on November 1st on the Beaver Mountain Trail
was a success. Part of the trail was re-routed in order to
avoid the tricky area by the rope
section.
Both trail markers and the ropes have been removed from that section and
the new
route is clearly marked.
Other trails that need some attention
include High Rocks, Helen’s Trail and more clearing on
Porcupine Trail.
Heber also reported on our Blog,
indicating issues with locating/searching for our group via
Google searches; it doesn’t always lead
people to our blog in a consistent way.
Heber said
that he has been looking into having our
own website on free sites. A problem
with this
avenue is limited bandwidth. It would be more beneficial to our group to
have our own paid
website, but this would cost $44 per
month. Heber suggested that for the time
being we
continue with the blog format, and he
will try to figure out ways to make the blog function
more efficiently, if possible.
7.
HIKE LEADERS’ MEETINGS
David
N. reported that the hike leaders meetings have been going well with improved
involvement by our certified leaders.
8.
CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS
David
N. reminded members that the Constitution and By-Laws has been on the blog for
a couple of months for everyone to read
and to make comments or suggestions. As no
one
on the Executive received any feedback from
Club members, Dave N. made the motion that
“the Constitution and By-Laws be accepted as
written.” Seconded by Sirje P. CARRIED.
9.
NEW BUSINESS
Christmas Year-end Dinner and Dance with the Penokeans
It
is too late to plan a Christmas dinner and dance for this year, but it was proposed
that we
plan for this previously regular event
for Christmas 2023.
Christmas
Parade
The
Elliot Lake Christmas Parade will be held on Friday, November 25th
at 6 pm.
Instead of a float, David N. suggested
that we “hike” the parade route. People
will carry
our Coureurs de Bois banner as well as
other relevant signs. Members are
encouraged to
wear their backpacks, perhaps carry snow
shoes and hiking poles, etc. We will be
handing
candy canes to the children along the
route. Members will meet at the Scotia
Bank at 5:30
pm.
Caroling and hot chocolate will be available at City Hall after the
parade.
Creation
of a Social Committee
Louise
M. put forward the idea of having a Social Committee who would be responsible
for
planning and organizing Club events
occurring during the year. Several members
indicated
their willingness to serve on this
committee. Louise also urged new
members to join our
Facebook group as it can serve as an
efficient way to communicate with each other,
advertise events, etc.
Trans-Canada
Trail
David N. reported that the Trans-Canada
Trail association had received $55,000,000 in grant
money to be used for various projects
along the trail system. The Executive
had decided that
this is not something that would be of
use to us at this moment.
Highway
Cleaning Project
David
N. reported that the Highway cleaning went well. There were two groups involved
they gather 20 plus bags of garbage.
Thursday
Senior Hikes
David
N. thanked Astrid T. for joining Chuck Z. in leading the popular senior hikes.
E.L.R.L.
Grant
Sue
L., in her financial report, gave a run-down of the tools and equipment that we
have
purchased
with the grant. David N. reported that
80 signs are being made which will be
attached
to various trees, identifying those particular trees. Other signs were shown to the
members
which will be used on the trails, and a bench has been purchased for one of the
trails,
the location to be determined sometime next spring.
Membership Dues
A proposal was made by the
Executive that dues for couples be raised from $25/couple to
$40/per
couple, starting in September, 2023.
This information will be given to members via
the blog, and a vote will take place at our
meeting in May, 2023.
Certified
Leader Renewal
David N. reminded past leaders,
whose leader certificates have expired, that their certificates
can
be renewed for a $5.00 fee, payable by the Club, with the purpose that they
would
resume leading hikes. Please inform Bill H. if you are interested
in renewing your
certificates.
Coureurs
de Bois Crest
David
N. presented the crest that Pat D. had made for our Club. Her cost would be $10
to sew the crest onto the chosen garment. Louise M. looked into the cost of hoodies and
t-shirts from a company in Blind River, which
would include sewing on the crest. The
cost
was
$35 for polyester/cotton blend hoodies, in various colours, and $15 for a
cotton t-shirt.
A
concern was voiced that it would not be ethical to have Pat go to the trouble
of getting a
digitized
program for her sewing machine, produce a crest and then not use her for this
project.
Agreement was voiced by a number of members regarding this matter. Louise will
find
out if we can buy the hoodies and t-shirts without the crest being applied by
them.
Jack
and Carla are also going to source non-cotton t-shirts and hoodies as an
alternative
possibility to the Blind River company.
Monday
Leisure Hikes
Chuck
Z. read the description of our Monday Leisure hikes, which is listed on our
blog, as a
reminder to leaders and hikers of the
purpose of these hikes. He also reminded
members that
he organizes back country cross country
skiing outings on off-hike days. Please
contact
Chuck if you are interested.
Proper
Footwear on Hikes
A
concern was brought to the Executive to remind people to wear proper and safe
footwear
on hikes.
As this is the responsibility of the hike leaders, it will be discussed
at the next hike
leaders meeting.
10. NEXT MEETING
Our
next meeting will be January 17, 2023 at 7 p.m.
11.
ADJOURNMENT
