President's Blog - May 2006

May 2006
Dear fellow Clansmen,

As we head for Grandfather Mountain and the Annual General Meeting it is a good time to reflect on what we have accomplished this past year. It has been an exciting year for the Society. We have a new set of Bylaws and 8 new committee chairs. We have a new Membership Vice President, and we have new regional Commissioners (in the Pacific Crescent, Cuff Burrell; Buzzy Bramble in the Southeast, Ashby McCowan in the Mid Atlantic and George MacDougall in Canada West).

Our Recording Secretary William Ermatinger is very close to having the Clan Society's 501c3 status approved by the IRS. The process was financially supported by Wylie McDougall and the privately held Clan MacDougall Foundation. I hope to report at the AGM that William has it completed. When all is done there will be two separate entities, the Clan MacDougall Foundation with its own Board of Directors and the Clan MacDougall Society of North America, Inc. with our Board of Directors. The Board of Directors for the Clan Society is elected by members of the Clan Society in accordance with a recently passed Bylaw change that stipulates that the Board of Directors be elected by the current members of the Board, the Regional Commissioners, and by the Chairs of the Standing Committees instead of just by the Board of Directors. The Clan MacDougall Foundation elects its board in accordance with its own Bylaws.

One of our goals this year was to relieve Bill Leroy of some of the burden that he has so ably borne these many years. Many thanks to Don Northcutt who relocated to Kentucky from California where he had been the Regional Commissioner and has now volunteered to take over the membership responsibilities. At a March meeting in Bill Leroy’s Gallery in Frankfurt, Kentucky, Bill and Don divided up the duties and established a schedule for the transition. It will be complete when the Board approves the changes at the AGM. Bill will continue with the Treasurer's duties until we find someone willing to take on that task. A major consideration in both Membership and Treasurer duties is attendance at the AGM. We are hoping one of you out there will come forward and help us fill the Treasurer position.

Our Standing Committees are off and running and I encourage you to read the committee descriptions on our web page and get involved by joining one of them. You will decide how much involvement you want. Remember just a little time spent by you will yield enormous benefits to the Society.

The major theme for this year's AGM will be membership and how to reach out to potential Society members and get them to join. Our membership peaked in 2003 and since then has been in a gradual decline. Currently we have just under a thousand active dues paying members. We must do something proactive to increase the membership so we can continue our mission of spreading the word about our wonderful heritage. Wylie is willing to use the resources of the Foundation if our initiatives require financial support. If you have any ideas that the Board should consider please send them to me and I will see that they are considered.

We can look forward to the Banquet at the Esseola Lodge and the Second Annual Barbeque presented by Beacham McDougald and his volunteers. The Banquet will be traditional and there will be talks and entertainment. Don’t forget to make reservations by sending in the form in the Tartan. (The current Tartan can be found on the website) The Barbeque will be open to all; we especially encourage families and lots of kids. There will be Beacham’s famous barbeque and beans and most other fixin's. Last year we had over 50 folks attend and a good time was had by all.

I will be seeing you at Grandfather Mountain.
Yours Aye
Don MacDougall

Webmaster's Note: This message was originally posted on our old Web site in May 2006. I transferred it to the blog format on Oct. 29, 2006.