A Special Meeting was called and was open to all members to discuss the future of the Donegal Association as there were not enough members on hand to hold elections at our Annual Meeting in October 2008. Here is a synopsis of what transpired at our special meeting.
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Attendees at the meeting were: Brian Doherty, Tara Hanrahan, Gayna Driscoll, Anne Marie Doyle, Bridie O'Connor, Sandra McLaughlin, Laura Doherty, Josephine Boyle, Tom Boyle, Roisin McLaughlin, David McLaughlin, Michael Gallagher, Josephine Bradley, Frank Bradley, John O'Donnell.
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The new officers for the Donegal Association are:
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President - Bridie O'Connor
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Vice President - Sandra McLaughlin
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Secretary - Laura Doherty
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Assistant Secretary - Anne Marie Doyle
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Treasurer - Gayna Driscoll
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Assistant Treasurer - Tara Hanrahan
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Trustees:
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Frank Bradley
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Brian Doherty
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Michael Gallagher
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David and Debbie McLaughlin
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Roisin McLaughlin
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John O'Donnell
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The purpose of the special meeting was to decide the future of the Club. It was apparent at previous events that attendance/membership was dropping to an unsustainable level...thus this meeting was called by John O'Donnell.
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There was no Treasurer report delivered this time because the current Treasurer (Trish O'Donnell) was out of town.
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Because of a the very poor showing received at the Adult X-mas party, one option that was brought to the table was a combination party : for the Adults and Kids - with the focus being " the kids x-mas party". It was thought that a new location in Countryside might offer equal travel time for both Northsiders and Southsiders. Tom Boyle was going to check for availability at a discounted price at Park Place in Countryside. It was deemed a very suitable site due to location, parking, on site food preparation, and bar.
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Another X-mas site party mentioned was the Holiday Inn in Countryside, perhaps using one of their function rooms for the party.
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The annual picnic will continue - still to be held at Catherine Legge Memorial Pk in Hinsdale. Eileen McLaughlin said that she would be available to help with this event.
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The pub quiz was discussed and was agreed by members present to continue with this activity. John and Roma Devitt were to be contacted regarding their availability to emcee the event in late February. There was no agreed amount (or I didn't hear it) on admission to the pub quiz. In the past, the food at the pub quiz was provided by the Donegal Assn, resulting in negative cash flow, so it was decided that if the quiz was held at a pub where food was regularly served, each participant would take care of their own food needs. ( FYI : The Assn has always provided John and Roma with their meal for that evening, and this probably should continue since they never ask for $$ for emceeing this event). Molly Malone Pub in Forest Park was mentioned as a possible site for the quiz. There was further discussion about each pub quiz attendee to try to bring an additional couple of people to the quiz.
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The annual meeting is still to be held in late October. Membership dues will run Jan to Dec, ie., the calendar year. The membership dues are to be: $25 per family, and $15 for individuals. New board members are elected at the October meeting. The new board members don't assume office until January of the following year.
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A web page was created for the Donegal Association by John O'Donnell. The site is www.donegalusa.org.
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There was discussion about using email rather than "paper mail" for association communication to try to save postage costs.
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There is an effort to clean up the membership mailing list to be current. Josephine Bradley and Josephine Boyle offered assistance to do this.
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There was discussion about trying to save costs of printing (reprinting) the Donegal Association letterhead. My notes are sketchy about this discussion. Maybe it could be kept electronically in a MS Word document and printed out as needed. Then there would be no "reprinting" costs.
