Annual Fall Conference 2018
GENERAL SESSION MEETIING MINUTES
TFMC DISTRICT VI
OCTOBER 6, 2018 – TARRYTOWN UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
2601 EXPOSITION BLVD., AUSTIN, TX 78708
The 2018 Texas Federation of Music Clubs District VI Fall Conference was held at Tarrytown United Methodist Church, 2601 Exposition Blvd. in Austin on October 6. The following clubs were in attendance: The Wednesday Morning Music Club of Austin represented by Carolyn McColloch, Sue Breuer, Phyllis Noonan, Virginia Kniesner, Janie Keys, Marcia Edwards, and Sarah Harriman; The Etude Music Club of San Antonio represented by Lois Armor, Marque McKay and Cookie Nattinger; the New Braunfels Music Study Club by Martine Allen. Judy Gorrell came from the Arpeggio Music Club in San Antonio. Mary Thomason (President of District VI) and John Isaacks came from the Crownridge Music Club in Boerne. Sue and Brett Bachus came from the Opus 64 Club in Austin.
The General Session meeting was called to order at 10:49 a.m. The roll call was taken by name tag pickups. The "Pledge to the Texas Flag" was recited, and "Texas Our Texas" was sung. Martine Allen led the singing while Brett Bachus played the piano accompaniment.
Janie Keys, President of the Wednesday Morning Music Club welcomed the attendees. Cookie Nattinger, President of the Etude Club of San Antonio, responded to the welcome with a cordial thank you, and extended an invitation to the 2019 District VI June Board Meeting in San Antonio. Robert’s Rules of Order was cited by Phyllis Noonan as the set of rules being used by the Parliamentarian for this meeting.
The minutes from the September 2017 Fall Conference were reviewed. These minutes were approved as submitted in the conference booklets.
Treasurer John Isaacks presented the Treasurer’s report and Budget. The account balance as of October 6, 2018 is $5,726.92. This is $588.59 more than the account balance on September 30, 2017.
The donations of $150 to Opera in the Ozarks and $150 to Round Top should be added back into the budget. The estimated expense budgeted for the Original Account is $360. The estimated budgeted income is $670. All were in favor of the proposed budget with those changes.
At the September 30, 2017 meeting, Judy Gorrell and Cookie Nattinger were named to a committee tasked with exploring how the festival clubs felt about the current system of rebating part of their TFMC and NFMC dues. Currently Festival Clubs pay $2.50 per participant per competition entry. Half goes to the TFMC and half to NFMC. A rebate is returned to District VI and then the district has decided to rebate a portion back to each festival club in the amount of $50.00. The remainder of the rebate is retained by District VI and is then spent according to the decisions of the District VI Executive Committee. Judy Gorrell, Mike Gorrell, and Sue Bachus discussed this procedure. They all thought it was a good idea and wanted to continue this practice. It was further recommended that the rest of the rebate be used towards the State Convention if the need arises. These monies could also be used in the event of a shortfall in the Festivals Accounts (individual clubs, district club or state clubs). The District VI Executive Committee needs to consider this before a decision is made.
The Musical Interlude started with performances by two students from TFMC Festival District 6-4. Brett Bachus was the emcee and accompanist for the two students: Sophia Clifft and William Clifft. Sophia played a Schubert waltz on violin and “The Mermaid and the Sea” on piano. William played “Butterfly Garden” on piano and “Perpetual Motion” on violin. WMMC member Richard Kilmer played a “Duo in G Major for Violin and Viola” by Mozart with Bruce Williams. Carolyn McColloch was the emcee. Richard is principal violinist for the 2nd violins in the Austin Symphony Orchestra, and Bruce is principal violist. Richard played on a violin from 1672 that used to belong to Carolyn’s grandmother, and now belongs to Carolyn. Bruce played a viola that dated back to 1680.
Mary distributed awards to club presidents from the recent TFMC Convention in Dallas. The New Braunfels Music Study Club received three awards; Wednesday Morning Music Club also received three awards; and the Etude Music Club of San Antonio received one award. Junior Achievement awards go directly to the teachers. Mary also distributed gold cup miniatures to attendees who registered for the conference on time.
"The Volunteer's Grace" by Shelagh Walsh (2001) was recited before the luncheon as the invocation. The delicious luncheon was hosted by Hospitality Co-Chair Sarah Harriman from the Wednesday Morning Music Club. It consisted of sandwich breads, meats, and cheese, fresh vegetables and fruit, and cheesecake for dessert.
New business was conducted after the luncheon. The Executive Committee recommends the registration fee for District VI annual meetings be increased from $5 to $10. This would change the wording of Standing Rule No. 1 to read: “A season registration fee of $10 shall be paid by all persons attending the annual meetings. No one will be allowed to take part in any session unless such registration fee is paid.” Half of this registration fee goes toward the cost of the meeting venue. If the hosting club has the meeting in someone’s home, then half of the registration fee goes into the hosting club’s funds. The other half of the registration fee goes to the district (Bylaws, Article IV, Sec. 3). Sue Breuer moved that this be passed by acclamation. All were in favor.
The Executive Committee also discussed elections. Article VI of the Bylaws covers elections. The nominating committee shall prepare a slate of officers and a nominating committee for the next biennium, to be at the annual fall conference of the even year. The slate of officers shall be sent to members of District Six 30 days before the annual fall conference. The elections will take place on the second year of the biennium, at the annual fall conference. The new officers will take office in the month of June, following election.
The nominating committee was not able to complete its work this past year. The slate of officers was not able to be sent to members of District Six 30 days before this annual fall conference. The Executive Committee ruled our automatic election of immediate past club presidents as officers in District VI. The election will not be able to take place at this fall conference. The slate, 30-day notice, and vote will take place via email to the senior club presidents. The new officers will be sworn in during the June 2019 Board Meeting.
Nominations from the floor were also encouraged. At the Executive Committee meeting Judy Gorrell nominated herself for the President’s position. Mary Thomason, Virginia Kniesner, and John Isaacks wanted to do another term. These names will be on the slate that is emailed out in addition to blank write-in lines.
Mary announced that Robert Centeno has been asked to take over the District VI 6-4 festival from Sue and Brett Bachus who no longer have a separate studio complex.
Virginia conducted the memorial service for five club members who passed away during the previous 12 months. All were members of the Wednesday Morning Music Club: Josie Champion, Doris Jean Tyler, Enid M. Hallock, Jane S. Parker, and Jean Haham.
TFMC Music in Poetry Chair Marque McKay announced the 2017-2019 Music in Poetry Challenge. The challenge is to compose music for the poem “In the Evening” by Fenton Johnson (1888-1958). Johnson was born in Chicago and was a forerunner of the Harlem Renaissance writers. The deadline for entries is January 15, 2019. No CD’s. Send to Lois Armor, 11003 Whisper Valley, San Antonio, TX 78230 loisarmor@sbcglobal.net.
Mary Thomason pointed out the content of our conference packets. It contains a report from Mary Thomason as President of District VI, a report from Lois Armor as President of TFMC, and a report from Michael Edwards as President of NFMC. Mary said our district’s Student/Collegiate Division membership is practically non-existent, so growth in that area will be our challenge for the upcoming year. Mary can forward more information about NFMC’s summary of their Milwaukee June 2018 Convention. It has actions and consequences listed.
Lois reported information from the March 22-24 TFMC Convention in Midland. A task force was appointed to set up the 9 TFMC Districts into Regions for the purpose of hosting TFMC Conventions only, and to investigate combining the State Convention and State Board Meetings to meet once each year in August. At the TFMC State Board Meeting August 17-18 in Dallas the TFMC Board approved on a trial basis, beginning in 2020, 3 Regions be formed for the sole purpose of conducting the annual convention/State Board meeting in August of each year. District 6 is in Region 3 with Districts 4 and 7, and will host along with Districts 4 and 7 during 2021. The meetings in 2020, 2021, and 2022 will still be held at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Love Field in Dallas. This will allow more people to be involved in the hosting. The trial will be re-evaluated in 2022. The 104th TFMC Annual Convention will be held in Lubbock March 28-30, 2019 as currently scheduled.
The report from NFMC’s President Michael Edwards covers the Young Artist Concert, 2019-2021 Officer & Board Nominations, Publications, Upcoming Events, and Francis Christmann.
The Courtesy Resolutions Report was read by Lois Armor and the Credentials Committee Report by John Isaacks and Carolyn McColloch. The meeting was adjourned at 1:52 p.m. with Marque McKay leading “The Gift of Song” to Phyllis Noonan’s piano accompaniment.
Submitted by: Virginia Kniesner , District VI Recording Secretary
