MACA Board Meeting Minutes

July 20, 2008

McDonald's, 343 Cochituate Road (Route 30), Framingham, MA

The meeting was called to order at 3:08 PM. In attendance were Maryanne Reilly, Donna Alarie, Robert Messenger, Kenneth Ballou, George Mirijanian, Brian Mottershead, Frank Kolasinski, and guests F. Alexander Relyea and Nicholas Sterling.

MOTION 09-010, Mirijanian/Messenger, accept the minutes of the June 14, 2008, meeting. Passed without dissent.

Stephen Dann arrived at 3:17 PM.

Mr. Messenger presented the treasurer's report.

MOTION 09-011, Mirijanian/Alarie, accept the treasurer's report. Passed without dissent.

Mr. Messenger presented the membership report. This report may be found at the end of these meetings in an appendix.

Mr. Ballou presented the tournament committee report. All the details are set for the New England Open. We have an open request for the Kennedy Senior Center for the last weekend in October for the Greater Boston Open. Mr. Frank Kolasinski has joined the tournament committee.

Mr. Dann presented the education committee report. Mr. Dann is still looking for committee members. The committee's work is still in the early stages of defining the scope of what the committee will do. Mr. Frank Kolasinski and Mr. Nicholas Stirling have joined the committee.

Mr. Mirijanian presented the publication report. We are soliciting ideas for the cover of the next issue of Chess Horizons (October-December, 2008).

President Reilly presented the scholastic committee report. Although Christopher Williams won the high school section of the 2008 Spiegel Cup, the Denker tournament rules require players to be under 19 years of age as of September 1st of the year in which the Denker tournament is held. Because Christopher did not meet this rule, Gabriel Frieden will be the Massachusetts representative to the Denker tournament. Genzyme Corporation is still interested in hosting a ChessFest, but there is some question as to whether October might be too soon for the event.

Vice President Alarie presented the LMCF report on behalf of Brian Lafferty. Mr. Lafferty will distribute ten sets to Nativity Prep and then will arrange to visit the school.

Vice President Alarie presented the e-zine committee report. The e-zine committee curently consists of Donna Alarie, George Mirijanian, Stephen Dann, Brian Mottershead, Brian Lafferty, Frank Kolasinski, and President Reilly (ex officio).

MOTION 09-012 Ballou/Alarie, Replace the last sentence of section 7.2 of the by-laws with the following text:

"Within fifteen (15) days of the close of nominations, all nominees must be corporate members, and the length of the nominee's membership must include the entire term of office for which the nominee is a candidate. Any nominee not meeting this requirement will not be listed on the ballot."

Also insert the following text as a new section 7.6:

"7.6. Write-in Candidates. Within fifteen (15) days of the announcement of election results, all candidates elected to office through write-in votes must be corporate members with the length of membership including the entire term of office to which the candidate is elected. The election of any write-in candidate who does not meet this requirement will be considered void and the office shall be vacant."

MOTION 09-012a, Alarie/Reilly, divide the question. Passed without dissent.

(The portion of the original motion to amend section 7.2 of the bylaws is now motion 09-012b. The portion to introduce a new section 7.6 is now motion 09-012c.)

Vice President Alarie moved to amend motion 09-012b as follows: "All nominees must be corporate members, and the length of the nominee's membership must include the entire term of office for which the nominee is a candidate. The elections commissioner shall notify nominees within seven (7) days of the close of nominations if their membership does not meet this requirement. The nominee will resolve membership issues within fifteen (15) days of notification by the election commissioner. Any nominee not meeting this requirement will not be listed on the ballot." Mr. Ballou accepted this as a friendly amendment.

MOTION 09-012d, Ballou/Reilly, postpone the question (motion 09-012b) until the next meeting. Passed without dissent (abstaining: Mr. Dann).

MOTION 09-012e, Ballou/Reilly, postpone the question (motion 09-000c) until the next meeting. Passed without dissent (abstaining: Mr. Dann).

The date of the next meeting is tentatively set as Sunday, September 14, 2008, 3:00 PM at this location (McDonald's, 343 Cochituate Road [Route 30], Framingham, MA).

MOTION 09-013, Kolasinski/Reilly, adjourn. Passed without dissent.

The meeting adjourned at 5:09 PM.

Kenneth Ballou, clerk

APPENDIX

Membership report as of July 18, 2008

227 adult members
43 family members
329 junior members
217 life members
1 affiliate member
4 complementary copies of Chess Horizons
17 exchanges with other organizations
6 libraries
207 prison
53 subscribers
---- 1104 total

1061 receiving copies of Chess Horizons
816 corporate members (adult, family, junior, and life)
773 voting members

Compared with the previous membership report of May 2, 2008, this represents the following changes in membership categories:

+ 2 adult members
- 4 junior members
+ 1 life member
+ 1 prison
- 3 subscribers
---
- 3 total change
- 3 receiving copies of Chess Horizons
- 1 corporate members
- 1 voting members

Robert D. Messenger
Membership Secretary