Hello community members, residents, and partners,
This is my first article for you as an officially-elected member of the Hidden Valley Community Association (HVCA) Executive – the part of our Board of Directors (the Board) that works with our Directors, Coordinators, volunteers, and partner organizations to oversee the business side of your not-for-profit community association.
First, thank you to the six members of the HVCA, in addition to the 2019-2020 Board members, who showed up at our Annual General Meeting (AGM) in September. Choosing to attend in-person meetings in September was a difficult decision for many. But had you not attended, our in-person AGM would have been rescheduled into October, and every month out, until we reached the number of members specified in our association bylaws to hold elections for the Board, or until we failed to meet our bylaws, resulting in the Association being ‘struck’ (shut-down as a registered association). With our Treasurer and our Interim President stepping down, and me in the interim Vice President position, conducting business to get us back on track for hockey, soccer, and other sports in the upcoming year (not to mention planning for events in the new reality of holding gatherings) would have been nearly impossible, instead of just ‘extremely difficult’. Thank you for attending and voting in a Board of Directors to serve Hidden Valley and Hanson Ranch residents and members until our next AGM in June 2021.
Secondly, thank you to those members who stood again for election into director positions, and to Vivian Morgan, a resident of our community who became a member this year and joined the Board of Directors. Vivian stood for election as incoming Treasurer, but without HVCA membership at the time of the AGM, required ratification of that result at our first official Board meeting in September, following the AGM. Over the last year, we learned how to work virtually, and the new Board will look at how more community members can attend our meetings, events, and programming, including being at and participating next year’s AGM, virtually if they choose.
Finally, thank you very much to our outgoing Treasurer and Vice President (acting as interim President), Brian Pearson and Brad Morris, respectively, for your years of service on the Board. Your hours of work every year ensured that the tools for running our business delivered the real-world improvements to our community’s spaces and places. Without your dedication and commitment, the current Board would be unable to attempt to serve the needs of our residents and members.
So, putting on my ‘November’ newsletter hat, I hope that you’re all ready for winter, and that the Board has been able to pull together a reasonable program of information, events, and activities for the upcoming months that justifies renewing your memberships, joining the association as new members, and helping us out through volunteering at those events in the community, or even by joining the Board directly, to make sure that we keep getting better at enriching the quality of life and community spirit for all residents of Hidden Valley and Hanson Ranch.
Neill Coad, Vice President, HVCA
