American Primrose Society
Annual General Meeting
To be held online at 6.00 pm EDT, Sunday May 23, 2021
PROVISIONAL AGENDA
- Opening and Welcome to the Annual General Meeting (Elizabeth)
- Approval of Agenda
- Approval of the Minutes of AGM, May 17th, 2020
- Discussion of Annual Report from the Board
- Results of the Spring Election and introduction of the new Director. (Dean)
- Open Period for Members’ Comments and Questions.
- Conclusion of the Annual General Meeting.
2021 Annual Report of Board: Summary Statements
President’s Report, submitted by Elizabeth Lawson
As the reports of board members below demonstrate, I think we can say that the American Primrose Society is healthy. Membership numbers are holding, finances are sound, and the website, quarterly, and seed exchange operate under skillful, dedicated leadership. Several areas currently receiving board attention include: the ICRA initiative, website content, Constitutional revision, and recruitment of new board members. Committee chairs overseeing these areas would appreciate any suggestions from members. The running of APS and its various mandates is only made possible by those who volunteer to be board members or undertake other responsibilities. Special mention should made of Ed Buyarski, who has just retired from the board after 22 years of service!
Increasing advertising has been my special task. We were fortunate to welcome Sequim Rare Plants back as an advertiser last year. I was happy to see that Margaret Roach’s article “Why Shop at a Specialty Nursery?” (www.nytimes.com, March 17, 2021) mentioned Sequim Rare Plants. A dozen or so specialty nurseries were mentioned in the article, some of which I had already approached with no luck. I will try the others. This spring Jeffrey Douglas, who runs a website called The Green Pinky (“Gardening Made Easy” at www.thegreenpinky.com), bought advertising to link his website to our home page. However, additional new advertisers have proved elusive, perhaps because nurseries rely on buyers finding them through the Internet and perhaps because there are fewer specialty nurseries than would be desirable. I am working on a proposal to query botanic/public gardens for ads and/or memberships, as I am interested in increasing both. I would love to see membership increase to 300!
Re advertising, I had more rack cards made, as Amy Olmsted had run out and she sends the cards out to nonmembers who buy seeds. The Seed Exchange has reliably over the years brought in new members! (Rack cards are 4 x 8 inch glossy cards, with an image and APS promotional details.) Past President Rhondda Porter graciously permitted me to use her account (and her design) at Vistaprint in Canada because we were in a hurry, but it was a little difficult to use her account in my name, so I want to develop a rack card that can be passed along by email to any member who wants to use it. Vistaprint was excellent, but if you create a new account you must use the template they offer and begin the process anew. Most printing facilities, for example WordPro here in the US, will work from an email file. If anyone needs rack cards, please let me know.
Please scroll to the end of the document to find the Membership Report. It is an Excel document, which I could only insert at the end of my Word document. Inserting after the Treasurer’s report created all kinds of formatting problems.
Many thanks to all board members for their reports, with special thanks to Jon Kawaguchi (Treasurer), and Julia Haldorson (Membership). Tracking financial and membership data takes time and requires attention to detail and commitment to the process. Please be sure to read through and assess the numbers to understand how APS fares now in mid 2021.
Treasurer’s Report, submitted by Jon Kawaguchi
Balance Sheet: as of March 31, 2021
Cash in Bank: (Checking) $14,062.45
Society’s Investments:
Money Market Savings 15,000.00
CD, US Bank 5,000.00
Total: $34,062.45
Income Statement: as of March 31, 2021
1/1/21 – 3/31/2021 1/1/21 – 3/31/21
Revenues: $4,062.35 $4,062.35
Expenses: (2,325.96) (2.325.96)
$2,325.98
Gain (Loss) $ 2,325.96
The Net Gain for the First Quarter 2021 is $2,325.98
Budget: as of March 31, 2021
Seed Exchange 2020 – 2021 was very successful with a profit of $1,002.85 as of March 31, 2021. Many thanks to Amy Olmsted. For future expenditures, not annual operating expenses, it’s strongly advised that the expenditure(s) be included in the Budget Statement that is usually sent to the Board for approval four to six months prior to the end of the upcoming year so the money is set aside. For internal control and for the well-being of the society and its members, the budget should be evaluated and approved. For an expenditure that is not on the budget and has been voted and passed by the board, a vote must be approved to take the funds out of the reserves to make payment. The society should not rely on donations to prevent losses as the amount of donations varies from year to year.
Investments
$5,343.05 CD for 47 months, Interest Rate: 0.4%, Maturity Date: March 30, 2025. $15,000 was transferred from checking into Money Market Savings Account with 0.09% interest. Savings Account moneys can be transferred with no penalties.
Website: as of March 31, 2021
Jane Guild is the Information Technology (IT) person for the society. Jane continues to ensure the website is updated and running well. The new membership system has been set up (many thanks to Jane) on the website where the treasurer, membership chair, webmaster, IT person, and seed exchange chair have access to the membership list. Jon Kawaguchi is responsible for assisting members with website problems, maintaining the membership system, and basic website duties.
Quarterly Sales: as of March 31, 2021
2021 Total Quarterly Sales: $0
Donations: as of March 31, 2021
Donations:
General Fund: $675.00
Seed Exchange 2020-2021: $395.00
It’s suggested the Board should have discussions on how the General Fund Donations will be spent. If there is no decision, the General Fund donation should be moved to the society’s reserves (savings).
Advertisement: as of March 31, 2021
Advertising Income for Quarterly
Ads for Quarterly for 2020
- Jelitto Seeds Winter – Fall 2021 ½ page
Color ads
- Barnhaven Fall 2021 and Winter 2021 ¼ page
- Botanophilia LLC Winter – Fall 2021 ¼ page
- Odyssey Perennials Winter – Fall 2020
- Sequim Rare Plants Fall 2020 – Summer 2021 ¼ page
- The Green Pinky April 9, 2021 to April 8, 2023
Invoices were sent to Odyssey for 2021 ads. It’s vital that the Society find more advertisements in the future. Elizabeth Lawson has volunteered to assist in finding advertisers for the society.
Quarterly: as of March 31, 2021
Many thanks to Maedythe Martin and Jane Guild for an excellent Quarterly.
253 Winter 2021 Quarterlies were printed at a cost of $523.00 = $2.07 each.
243 Quarterlies mailed at a cost of $307.50.
Based on total costs with 243 Winter Quarterlies 2021 mailed: $5.91 each.
2021 Average Annual Quarterly Mailed Expense: $5.91 each.
2021 Total Four Quarterlies Mailed Estimated Expense: $23.64.
Quarterly Publication Expenses: as of March 31, 2021
The publication expense is as follows:
Winter 2021
Printing Expenses (253) $523.00
Envelopes 87.76
Mail Preparations 10.00
Postage Back Issues 9.00
Mail Service (243 mailed) 307.50
Printing Total: $937.26
Editor’s Honorarium 500.00 $1,437.26
Winter 2021 Quarterly Cost: $5.91 each (based on 243 Quarterlies mailed)
Seed Exchange 2020-2021: as of March 31, 2021
Revenues:
Sales: $2,009.00
Donations: $551.00
Total Revenues: $2,560.00
Expenses: $1,557.15
Profit: $1,002.85
If needed, a final income statement will be completed by the end of the third quarter 2021.
Secretary’s Report, submitted by Dean Wiegert
Non-Profit Status
APS is registered as a 501(c)3 in the state of Oregon and must have an Oregon address for the principal place of business. For many years, member Ann Lunn has acted as the Registered Agent using her address as the principal place of business. Ann has decided to pass on the position for 2022. We are grateful for Ann’s service and that member Robin Hansen agreed to become the new Registered agent. Ann Lunn will facilitate the transfer of renewal forms so that Robin can make the 2022 renewal and notify the Corporation Division of OR that she is the new Registered Agent.
Publishing Member Email Addresses
In August 2020, the board considered a suggestion to allow the sharing of members’ email addresses to facilitate easier communication among members. Due to concerns of some about privacy and spam, the board decided to not add email addresses to the shared membership list at this time.
Constitution Change
2020 saw the board vote to amend article V of the Constitution to allow for online Annual General Meetings (AGM) if an in-person annual meeting is not possible. The amendment was approved by member vote, filed with the state of Oregon and acknowledged by the state on October 7, 2020.
Society Archive
In November 2020, discussions were held by the board to decide what to do about society property that is currently held by various individuals. The board voted not to pursue a physical archive unless someone volunteered to do so. Instead, the board voted to pursue digitally archiving materials on the website when time allows.
Board Elections
The society continues to seek out members willing to serve on the board of Directors. Serving on the board is a great way to contribute to the society, meet and network with other society members, and gain valuable experience in the running of a non-profit organization. Board members have the chance to make decisions on the direction the society takes. I urge all members to consider standing for election to one of the board positions at the next election in early 2022. It will be most important to find someone to replace Elizabeth as President for the Spring 2022 election. Members with questions about standing for election, should contact the Secretary at se*******@am*********************.org . The Spring 2021 election was held from February 1, 2021 to March 15, 2021. Fourteen society members voted in the election. Five board positions were elected: President, Vice-President, Secretary and two Director positions. The incumbents were the only candidates on the ballot for the three officer seats. Elizabeth Lawson was re-elected as President but will only stand for a one-year term. Mark Dyen was re-elected as Vice President, and Dean Wiegert was re-elected as Secretary. For the two Director positions, there were three candidates: Amy Olmsted, incumbent; Joshua Piper; and Susan Haddock. Amy and Susan were elected Directors. These terms begin at the conclusion of the 2021 Annual General Meeting.
Webmaster’s Report, submitted by Jon Kawaguchi
Jane and I continue to maintain the website. Jane does the IT stuff and continues to instruct me on new things. I continue to do the basic website duties such as imputing membership information of people who send in checks for membership payment, imputing seed exchange payments of people that send payment by checks, answering member’s inquiries, etc. As usual, Jane’s instructions are very easy to follow and always there to assist when I need advice. Listed below are some the things that were done with the website in the past few months.
- For the automated 365-day membership system, Jane has set up an automated email reminder and the society has been receiving membership renewals.
- The APS election was set up on the website where members could vote online.
- In the APS Store, the advertising section was updated to simplify the process with offering type of advertisement in black and white or color, timeframe, and size of the advertisement. The advertising rates were revised.
- The society received a new advertiser, The Green Pinky, and Jane set up the advertisement and link on the APS website.
If any member wants to add a notice or finds any information on the website that needs to be updated or changed, please contact me.
Website Review Committee Report, submitted by Lucy Coles
I would like to preface this report with the statement that the website is looking lovely and is very easy to use. I have not been contacted with any complaints or suggestions in respect to fixing the website. Elizabeth Lawson has mentioned the addition of material to the Reference Page. Some things I would like to see on those reference pages would be information about how to make crosses, how to grow from seed, and how to care for different types of primula. It would be wonderful if different members could include their knowledge, written in simple terms, so that newcomers could come to the website for information and understand what they are reading. Another section could be examples of perfect specimens of each type of primula and explanations of what the judges are looking for when they judge. I would be more than willing to help build this information base, especially if pieces were sent to me in the summer when I am not working.
Primula ICRA Committee Report, submitted by Patricia Hartman
The APS received word the first part of 2021 that we were approved as the ICRA for Primula. ICRA ( International Cultivar Registration Authority) is the official body that is recognized worldwide for naming and registering cultivars. The committee is now in the process of documenting those cultivars that are currently named, building a criteria list for cultivar submissions, and recruiting interested participants that would like to be part of this exciting next step. A special thank you to all the past members who have enabled the APS to make it to this level of the process.
Editorial Committee Report, submitted by Maedythe Martin
The spring issue of the quarterly is going to the printer this week. It will be in members’ hands by the end of May. Sooner than that it will be posted on the website. Again, health issues prevented Jane and me from getting it done on time. Sorry.
The spring issue has images of Sarah Gross’ primula paintings. We are so lucky that by chance she got in touch with me and then gave us permission to feature her art in the quarterly.
We will start on the summer issue at the end of the month. If anyone has any requests or ideas for content, please send them to me.
Chapter Reports
Juneau Chapter
The Juneau Chapter of APS is hoping to start up again now that restrictions have been lifted and the weather is improving. Primula are starting to appear and bloom throughout the area and members are encouraged to visit gardens, share plants, and save seeds. Several members of the chapter will be participating in a zoom meeting for a Garden Club in Eagle River to present on growing and caring for Primula the first week in June. – – Patricia Hartman, President Juneau Chapter
BC Group
The Group has not met for over a year, as I am not travelling to Vancouver – or anywhere, given the COVID situation. I did put in a seed order for the Group’s members, and we are all growing the seed we each requested. And we have one new member from Vancouver if we ever have another meeting.
We have no activities planned at the moment. But we keep in touch by email now and then.
–Maedythe Martin, President BC Primula Group.
| Membership Report, submitted by Julia Haldorson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Membership | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TABLE 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| As of 2/17/21 | As of 5/11/21 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current: | D | Life | Regular | Total | D | Life | Regular | Total | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| US | 8 | 22 | 142 | 172 | 9 | 22 | 162 | 193 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Canadian | 5 | 3 | 12 | 20 | 5 | 3 | 13 | 21 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Foreign | 2 | 4 | 16 | 22 | 3 | 4 | 18 | 25 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Current | 15 | 29 | 170 | 214 | 17 | 29 | 193 | 239 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TABLE 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Expirations: | As of 2/17/21 | As of 5/11/21 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| US | 42 | 40 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Canadian | 10 | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Foreign | 7 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Expirations | 59 | 54 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purpose of Membership Schedule: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1. Table 1 compares the number of current members as of 2/17/21 with the current members as of 5/11/21 by the 3 categories of membership: US, Canadian, International. Membership for each category is divided amongst digital copy (D), lifetime (LF) and regular memberships. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2. Table 2, compares the number of expirations on 5/11/21 with the number of expirations on 2/17/21. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Analysis: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current membership has increased by 25 members. This number includes renewals and new memberships. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| åç | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Actions Taken: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1. A renewal notice was posted on the APS website. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2. Renewal reminders were sent. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3. The Seed Exchange attracted new members as well as renewals. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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