current club formation

THE LATER CLUB, 1960 to Present
FORMATION
First Meeting
The reactivated Caledonian Club of Sacramento held its first meeting on June 29, 1960
in the Filmcraft Studio at 1908 P Street in
Sacramento.
The first officers of the Club were Chief
Thomas Shepherd, Vice Chief Ronald Sharp,
Secretary Elsie Arthur, Treasurer Andrew
Cherry, and Sergeant-at-Arms William Smith.
Incorporation of Later Club
Tom Shepherd and Ron Sharp welcome members at
the first meeting of the Caledonian Club in 1960.
On May 4, 1983 the Club was formally formed by filing Articles of Incorporation with the
Secretary of State of California as a Non-profit Public Benefit Corporation. The specific
purposes were “to educate the public about Scottish heritage, traditions and history by
holding annual Highland Games, Tartan Balls and other cultural activities, to provide
information to assist those engaged in these activities such as dance groups and pipe
bands; to bring together people of Scottish descent to practice and preserve Scottish
traditions: to promote goodwill and understanding between Scottish and American people;
and to perform necessary charitable works whenever practical and possible.” A copy of this
document is attached as Appendix B.
Bylaws and Standing Rules
Because the Club is a corporation, Bylaws are a requirement and we have several sets
of them in our archives.
There is a set of Bylaws approved April 12, 1968 which is before the 1983 Incorporation. Are they using the Articles of 1888 as a basis or were they intended to be a
“Charter” all on their own?
There are several interesting things in these Bylaws. One is that “for the transaction of
business, five members shall constitute a quorum, two of whom must be elective officers.”
Assuming a 10% quorum requirement that would mean the Club had about 50 members.
The next is that “Every candidate for membership . . . must be proposed by a member in
good standing” and allowed into the Club “at the discretion of the member-ship committee
(comprised of the Past Chiefs).” Finally there is the requirement that “The Chief, 2nd
Chieftain must be male. The Treasurer, Secretary, and Sergeant-at-Arms may be female.”
A copy of these Bylaws are attached as Appendix C.
The next Bylaws are dated September 15, 1980, again before the 1983 Incorporation.
These are signed by the Officers of 1979-80 and by a “Constitution Committee,” with no
indication if or when they were adopted. These drop both the requirement that “Every
candidate for membership . . . must be proposed by a member in good standing” and the
male / female limitation on the Officers. The annual dues at this time were $6.00, payable
January first.
The Bylaws associated with the 1983 Incorporation are 18 pages in length, compared to
the four and five pages of the 1968 and the 1980 Bylaws. There was only one class of
membership (although there is provision for life membership for surviving spouse of a
member), the dues were still $6.00, the quorum requirement is now 20 members, annual
meetings are added, and the Board of Directors had five members. These were amended
in 1987 when the dues were raised to $10.00.
Reflecting a general reorganization of the Club by a committee under the leadership of
PC Todd, the current Bylaws consisting of four pages were adopted on June 14, 1989.
These were later amended in 1991, 1995, 1997, 2002 and 2004.
At the same time, at the suggestion of Club Member Ruth Massey, the concept of
Standing Rules was introduced. The idea was that Bylaws should be short in length and
should be difficult to change while Standing Rules could be any length and easier to
amend. Our Standing Rules have been amended rather constantly as ideas have come
and gone, and various procedural sections have needed clarification or inclusion.
The Standing Rules have also been used to describe how a committee or position is to
function and what is expected as a result. For example, the nominating process and
criteria found in the Standing Rules, adopted in 2004, were “devised by Lauren Davis-Todd,
with input from others in the Club.” 1
MEMBERSHIP
In going through our archival materials, the major thought I had over and over was that
there have been so many hours put into this Club by so many people over the years,
whether in leadership, on committees, keeping financial records, solving problems or, in
some instances, engaging in non-productive endeavors.
As of 2007 there are three membership categories: General membership, which is
“open to any person or family interested in furthering the objectives and purposes of the
Club, whether or not of Scottish descent” 2; Associate membership, which was added in
2006 and is “open to any company or organization interested in furthering the objectives
and purposes of the Club” 2; and Life membership which is granted to the surviving spouse
of a Past Chief.
____________________________________________________________________
1
Sharon Young, Club Secretary, Callie News, October 2004
Club Bylaws
2 2007
Member Meetings
There is no information on member meetings prior to 1989 so we can only speculate
about what they were like. Today (2008) there are three kinds of Meetings of Members: the
Regular Meetings, Special Meetings and Annual General Meetings.
Regular Meetings generally have been held monthly except for August and December.
Sometimes, however, these meetings have alternated with Board Meetings and now (2008)
are concurrent. Over the years, member meetings have been held in homes, pubs,
restaurants, mobile home parks, community centers, office conference rooms, SMUD’s
meeting rooms, libraries, churches and . . . well, you get the idea. Many of these have
been followed by socials and/or some sort of program.
Special Meetings, which can be called by either the Chief or by the Membership for
some purpose other than regular business, have been fairly rare.
Annual General Meetings have been held toward the end of a fiscal year, a date that
has moved around the calendar as the Club year-end date has been changed. These
meetings are held for the purpose of electing officers, reviewing the year’s activity, and
voting on Bylaw changes.
Members Annual Dues
Dues, of course, have risen over the years because of rising costs and as more Club
requirements are addressed. One example of an increasing requirement is space to store
an ever expanding amount of Club property.
The window of 1991 to 2007 shows the dues going in 1991 from $10 to $15 for an
individual and $15 to $20 for a family, increasing to $20 and $25 in 1995, to $25 and $35 in
2002, and finally to $40 and $50 in 2007.
Number of Members
Because of the way records have been kept since 1982 (we don’t have any before
then), it’s hard to get an accurate count of how many Club members there have been
during any given time frame.
One reason is because the definition of ‘member’ has varied from “singles or individuals and families” to simply “membership units” which apparently is either one or two
people. Thus in 1991 it was reported in the Callie News that there were 185 members one
month and 197 in another, but the count in the Club’s roster for that year is 314 adult
members.
This brings up the second problem which is that the number of members for any year
depends upon when in the year the count was taken. For example, the count before dues
are payable is different from that after the annual dues cutoff.
In order to have some sort of picture, I have chosen to come up with counts that include
every adult person who was a member, whether from records kept that way (1982-1990),
rosters where I made direct counts, the Callie News (the least useful) where available, or
by taking membership units and multiplying them by 160% (a derived percentage based on
comparison where both number definitions are available).
MEMBERSHIP
400.0
300.0
200.0
100.0
0
1971 1974 1977 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010
LEADERSHIP
Chiefs and Officers, 1960 to Present
We are fortunate to have a complete list of the Chiefs of the Later Club. The dates of
service are not precisely as shown since the term of office has followed the Club’s fiscal
year which has not always started on July first. In fact, some terms more closely relate to a
calendar year. But ignoring that, here is a list of the Chiefs since 1960.
1960-62!
Thomas Shepherd (a)
1962-64!
Ronald Sharp
1964-65 !Peter Currie !
1965-67 ! John Grant 1967-69!
Thomas McGourlay !
1969-70!
Thomas Shepherd
1970-71!
Fred O'Conner 1971-73!
Gordon McGregor!
!
1973-74!
Thomas McGourlay
1974-75!
Donovan Ricks (b) !
!
1975-77!
Don Calavan (MacRae) 1977-79!
Richard Fries 1979-81!
Edison MacFarland
1981-83!
Kenneth Lentsch
1983-85!
Robert MacDonald
1985-87 ! James McDaniel
1987-89 !Roderick MacKenzie 1989-90!
Norbert Keller / Charles Todd (c)
1990-93 !Charles Todd 1993-95 !Angus McKinney 1995-97 !Gordon Scott 1997-98 ! David Shoemaker 1998-99 !David Shoemaker / George Morrow (c)!
1999-02 ! George Morrow 2002-03 !William Butler (d) 2003-05!
Charles Todd
2005-07!
Marlene Myers
2007-08 ! Charles Jamison 2008-11!
Randy Russell
2011-12 ! Charles Jamison NOTES
(a)! Thomas H. Shepherd, 1911–1986, was married to Jennie Shepherd in Aberdeen, Scotland. He retired in 1974
!
after 18 years as a maintenance worker. 1
(b)
One Tartan Ball program lists Thomas McGourlay as Chief in 1974-75.
(c)
Finished term of office of sitting Chief.
(d)
Elected for 2003-04 term but declined to take office.
All Officers from this era are listed in Appendix E.
____________________________________________________________________________________
1! Sacramento Bee, Obituary.
PAST CHIEFS - 1960 to Present
Thomas Shepherd
1960-1962
Ronald Sharp
1962-1964
Peter Currie
1964-1965
John Grant
1965-1967
Thomas McGourlay
1967-1969
Thomas Shepherd
1969-1970
Fred O'Conner
1970-1971
Gordon McGregor
1971-1973
Thomas McGourlay
1973-1974
!
!
!
! !
!
! !
! ! !
!
Don Calavan (MacRae)
1975-1977
Richard Fries
1977-1979
Edison MacFarland
1979-1981
Kenneth Lentsch
1981-1983
Robert MacDonald
1983-1985
James McDaniel
1985-1987
Roderick MacKenzie
1987-1989
Donovan Ricks
1974-1975
! !
!!
!
Norbert Keller
1989-1990
!
!
!
!
!
!
! !
!
!
!
!
Charles Todd
1990-1993
Angus McKinney
1993-1995
Gordon Scott
1995-1997
David Shoemaker
1997-1998
George Morrow
1999-2002
William Butler
2002-2003
Charles Todd
2003-2005
Marlene Myers
2005-2007
Chuck Jamison
2007-2008
Chuck Jamison
2007-2008
Chuck Jamison
2007-2008
Randy Russell
2008-2011
Chuck Jamison
2011-12
Officer Installations
Since 1985, the installations of officers have been held in a number of settings, both
formal and informal. Unfortunately, we don’t have information for the years 1960 to 1984
and 1988 through 1991, although the 1968 and 1980 Bylaws state that the installation of
Officers would be at the first regular meeting of members
following election.
Pic of an installation
1984
Woodlake Inn, Sacramento
1985-86 Sierra Travelodge Inn, Sacramento (a)
1987
Officer’s Club, Army Depot, Sacramento (a)
1992
1993-95
1996
1997
1998
1999-00
2001
2002
2003
2004-07
2008-10
2011
McKinley Park, Sacramento (b)
Hamilton Park, Carmichael (b)
Haman House, Roseville (c)
Andiamo Restaurant, Sacramento (a)
Club House, Colony Mobile Home Park, Rancho Cordova (a)
Buggy Whip Restaurant, Sacramento (a)
Jazzman’s Art of Pasta Restaurant, Old Sacramento (a)
McKinley Park, Sacramento (b
Home of George and Nancy Morrow, Sacramento (b)
Hagin Park, Rancho Cordova (b)
Meeting Room, Trinity Cathedral, Sacramento
Home of Sandy and Rich Welsh, Sacramento
Dinner
Picnic
(c) Buffet Luncheon
(a)
(b)
Board of Directors
The Board of Directors has continuously consisted of Chief, Vice-Chief, Secretary,
Treasurer, and Sergeant-at-Arms, although the Vice-Chief has been occasionally called 2nd
Chief, Chieftain, or First Chieftain. At various times the Board has also included the
positions of Games Marshall, Past Chief, Trustees Committee Chair, Vice Chief –
Membership, Vice Chief – Social, Member-at-Large Membership, Member-at-Large Social,
or just plain Director.
A note on the darker side, over the years there have been several recalcitrant Board
members and members unhappy with the Board of Directors including the Chief (not to
mention members “going after” Games Managers and in some cases after anyone who
happened to be in their way). These have involved attempts at mediation, filing of law
suits, and causing at the very least disharmony. To discourage any further turmoil that
might arise from any description of these events, I have chosen not to detail any of it.
Finances
Since the Board of Directors is responsible for the Club’s financial health, this a good
place to look at Club finances. Again, no data are available prior to 1984.
In the late 1980s the Club was still pretty much a “non-corporation,” that is, it was run
just as a club with, for example, amounts in the treasury of $8,700 in 1980, $7,600 in 1985,
about $15,000 in the bank in 1990, and $12,800 as of June of 1992. But as the Games
grew in size, under the direction of Angie Roddan, that event not only had larger and larger
budgets (read cash demands) but it also pumped thousands of dollars (net profit) into the
treasury. The result was the Club’s assets grew during the 1990s to a peak of $186,458 (a)
in June of 2000. Now, in the words of PC Marlene “Show Me The Money” Myers, we had
to operate as a business.
Then several years of losses from the operation of the Games (2001-03) resulted in a
drop in assets to $113,287 (a) in January of 2003 (b). By 2007 the Games were once again
making money and the net assets of the Club by April of 2008 were $138,100.(a)
However, as of year-end 2011 the Club’s assets were down to $71,700. (a)
(a)
These numbers include both Club accounts and the Callie Fund.
(b)
The Club lost $29,200 putting on the Games in 2003 alone.
Committees and Positions
The number and purpose of committees has changed over the years, with certain
committees coming and going as times have dictated.
The current (2011) committees are:
Standing : Council of Past Chiefs, Fellowship, and Scottish Games
Additional: Audit, Bylaws and Standing Rules, Color Guard, Communications, Grants,
Mediation, Membership, Nominating, and Product Sales
Positions:
Genealogist, Historian, Archivist, Librarian, and Newsletter Editor
Most of these committees and positions were established either in the late 1980s or
after 1990. Some examples are Membership (1989), Librarian (1991), Historian / Archivist
(1991), Color Guard (1994), Audit (1995), Communications (2004) and The Council of Past
Chiefs (2004).
Club Logo
Credit for the design of the Club’s logo goes to Don Calavan
MacRae. The version used by the Color Guard is shown here.
CALEDONIAN FUND
Although a “charitable foundation” was first proposed in 1990, it wasn’t until 1995 that it
was seriously considered. That year, when PC Gordon Scott took office, he championed
the concept (he’s really the ”Father of the Fund”) and in 1996 the Fund was finally under
way with the initial deposit of $20,000 being made in 1997. By October of 1998 the Fund
had assets of $28,704.
PC Dave Shoemaker then picked up the baton and pushed for the activation of a “board
of directors” for the Caledonian Fund. In May of 2001 the Fund had assets of $56,706
(doesn’t square with January 2003 assets of $50,821) but still didn’t have a structure upon
which everyone in the Club could agree.
With the help of the other Trustees at the time including Nancy Morrow, the continued
support of PC Scott, and the agreement among most members, Bruce Bailey, when he took
over as Chair of the Board of Fund Trustees in 2004, gave the Fund a structure that
separated the Fund’s monies and its management from those of the Club proper.
After reaching a high of approximately $70,000 in April of 2008, the Fund had assets of
$28,111 in April of 2009, having suffered a loss in investments. As of year-end 2011 the
Fund’s assets were $29,958.
Caledonian Fund Chairpersons
1998-99
Randy Keith / Moton Holt 1999-00
Gordon Scott
2000-01
Gordon Scott / Jerry Long
2001-02
Tim McKinney
2002-03
Briah McKinney
2003-04
Dennis Elwell
2004-07
Bruce Bailey
2008-09
Susanne Black
2009-10
Dennis Elwell
2010-12
Nancy Morrow
COMMUNICATIONS
Newsletter
The earliest Callie News in the Club’s archives is a one page issue from September
1975. No editor is indicated but it looks like the Vice-Chief was responsible for the
newsletter for the next ten years.
In 2005 Randy Russell produced the first newsletter available on our website, a concept
that had been first proposed in 1997.
Newsletter Editors
Don Calavan MacRae
Ken Lentsch
Doug Elwell
Ron MacDonald
Bob MacDonald
Bob MacDonald & Jim McDaniel
Jim McCracken
Rod MacKenzie
Jim Brandmueller
Barbara Bevis
Rod MacKenzie
Lorna LaVerne
Karyl Todd
Rod and Debbie Yip
Rod Yip
Don Burns
George Penrod
Karin Olson
Marye Wanlass
Randy Russell
Edith Hodges
Kirsten McIntyre
Some of the mastheads since 1984 . . .
1968-1974
1978-1979
1979-1981
1981
1982-1983
May 84 - Jan 86
Feb 86 - Dec 86
Feb 87 - Jan 88
Feb 88 - Jun 89
Aug 89 - Jun 90
Sep 90 - May 92
Jun 92 - Jun 94
Jul 94 - Jan 95
Jan 95 - Dec 97
Jan 98 - Jan 99
Feb 99 - Feb 00
Mar 00 - Oct 01
Nov 01- Jul 02
Sep 02 - Jun 05
Jul 05 - Jun 07
Aug 07 - May 11
Aug 11 -
The earliest Callie News in our archives.
Website
A Club website was first discussed in September, 1996, but it wasn’t
until October, 1998 that George Penrod, the Club’s first webmaster, had a
website up and running at www.beachnet.com/~ray/calcluba.htm. Then in
D e c e m b e r o f t h e s a m e y e a r, t h e C l u b h a d i t ’s o w n U R L :
www.saccaledonian.org, which was changed to www.saccallie.org in
October of 2007. This site has the following pages (2011): Home, About
Us, Calendar, Contacts, Games, History, Library, Links, News, Obituaries,
Officers, Photos, Scholarships and Sponsors. Roger Peeples is the
current (2011) webmaster.
George Penrod
Other Forms of Communication
The phone tree has been utilized in the past for emergency and last minute communications, but seemingly with the advent of email it has become obsolete.
Started in the early 1990s, the Club’s answering machine has been a valuable means
for the public to contact the Club, especially in regard to the Games. There are requests
for information ranging from needing a piper for a funeral to questions such as “how do you
knit a tam?”