Saturday, October 13, 2012

Pollocks Hardware

Pollocks Hardware recently sent out their newsletter. Some neat tidbits in it were:

They are holding their Paderno Sale from November 14 - 18. More information on the sale can be found at  http://www.pollockshardwarecoop.com/blogs/news.

Pollocks is also updating their website frequently. Check it out at www.pollockshardwarecoop.com. They post it with photos, news, products for sale and with information about the Social Enterprise Center at 765 Main Street's Warehouse). Plus they also have Community News! 

You can also check out their Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pollocks-Hardware-Co-op/84030323460. 

Don't yet have a Pollocks membership? Ask about one next time you're in. With it you will get 10% off at The Tallest Poppy (631 Main Street), 10% off parts at Minute Muffler (1011 Main Street) and 10% off sales and services at St Paul Small Engine (2985 Henderson Highway).. in addition to the awesome deals with member sales!

Halloween Decorating Contest

A few weeks ago I posted about us holding a Halloween Decorating Contest this year. This will be our second annual Halloween Decorating Contest held in St. John's.

If you've decorated your yard, your neighbours decorated theirs or someone down your block has, let us know! We will be delivering nomination cards before the end of next week. It will have the date and time of voting!

I've seen some really awesome houses and cute displays so far. Great work everyone.

Friday, October 12, 2012

Community Spotlight - Pendragon

Every three months we include a Community Spotlight article in our newsletter. This last issue included an interview with Pendragon. The interview, in its entirety, is posted below.


"We sell fun!" that's how John explained his business to me when I recently visited him in his store, Pendragon Games and Hobbies. John and his wife Linda have been in the business of selling board games for almost 40 years. He opened his first store in Ottawa in the 1970's, and his wife ran the store while he was off on military duty. In 1982, he opened a store in downtown Winnipeg, and for the past 8 years, he has been at his current location at 1354 Main Street, on the corner of Main and Cathedral.

John sells all kinds of games - farming, action, family oriented, decision based and role playing ones. They come from all over the world, China, India, Germany, Switzerland, and they are all English editions. Were you aware that the earliest version of a board game was found in Ancient Egypt? 

Aside from carrying the traditional board games that most of us grew up with such as Monopoly, Chess, Checkers, and Cribbage, John also carries such popular ones as Dungeons and Dragons, Ticket to Ride, a cross country train adventure game which outsells Monopoly in Europe, and the Settlers of Catan, an award winning game of Discovery Settlement and Trade. 

He also sells games that have been made out of a TV series such as Pillars of the Earth, pocket books based on the games, t-shirts, and Dungeon and Dragon figurines. The figurines come in a steel gray color and can be painted. He carries a good selection of paint colors, as well as a booklet on how to paint them. Prices for the board games range anywhere from $20.00 to $80.00. He doesn't sell computer games, but he does buy and sell used board games.

John pulled out one of the display games to show me and I couldn't help but be impressed by what I saw - exceptional graphics, nice visual representation, and detailed figurines. If you would like to try one out before you buy, he would be more than happy to demonstrate one for you.

There is no major board gaming convention held in Canada, so John has to travel to the US or Europe to see the latest board games in the industry. 

John shared with me as we talked that he would like to put on a game demonstration evening at the local high school or library, but, for now, in the lower level meeting space of his building, he holds game nights. Wednesday evenings is 4E D&D Encounters at 6:00 pm, followed by Casual Games Play at 7:00 pm. Thursday at 6:30 pm is the Pathfinder Society RPG play, and Fridays at 6:30 pm, Magic the Gathering Card Game Play. Pendragon Games and Hobbies meeting space is also available to rent for your meetings. 

If you have fond memories of a particular board game from your past, drop by and talk to John, maybe he can help you find it. Pendragon opens at 10:00 am Monday to Saturday, and closes at 6:00 pm, Fridays at 9:00pm. The store is closed on Sundays. If you would like more information please contact John at 772-5415. There is no website but they have a Facebook page.

Their Facebook page can be found at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pendragon-Games-Hobbies/115539495130521.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Constitution Changes

At our recent Annual General Meeting, we had our Constitution available with changes that we have made Our new Constitution is below with the changes at the bottom/highlighted in red within the new Constitution.   

St. John’s Residents Association, Inc
Constitution and By Laws
Effective July 2012

NAME
1.        The Organization shall be called the “St. John’s Residents Association, Inc.”, hereafter referred to as “the Association”
BOUNDARIES
2.        The boundaries for the Association will be Atlantic Avenue (Northern boundary) to Redwood Avenue (Southern boundary) to Main Street (Eastern boundary) to McGregor Street (Western boundary)
PURPOSE
3.        The purpose of the Association is to assist residents in preserving and enhancing the physical, social and the economic environment of the community by sponsoring and promoting community initiatives, providing a forum for cooperation and mutual support among community groups, supporting residents to find and implement solutions and foster community between community partners
MEMBERSHIP
4.        The Association is comprised of two types of membership
1.        The Association shall not assess any membership fees
2.        All individuals who reside within the boundaries, as defined by section 2.0 are automatically members; classified as holding a Resident membership
3.        Individuals who reside outside the boundaries may apply in writing to hold a Community membership. This can include individuals who work or operate a business within the boundaries, landowners within the boundaries, individuals who volunteer within the boundaries and individuals whose immediate family attends school, recreation activities or other ongoing activity within the boundaries
4.        The Board will notify applications within 90 days as to their acceptance
5.        All memberships hold the same rights and privileges. These include the right to vote, hold office and participate in the affairs of the Association. The Association reserves the rights to remove membership privileges from members of the Association
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (AGM)
5.        There shall be an Annual General Meeting once every September
1.        There must be thirty (30) days’ notice of an Annual General Meeting by both public postings and social media services
2.        Notice of intention to consider proposed constitution amendments must be publicized as per section 8.2
3.        The quorum of an Annual General Meeting shall be no less than twenty (20) members.
4.        No voting by proxy shall be allowed at any meeting; however, nomination by proxy is allowed
GOVERNANCE
6.0 The Association shall be governed between Annual General Meetings by a Board of Directors nominated and elected by members of the Association who attend the Annual General Meeting. A police record check may be conducted for all Officers of the Board (President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer)
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
7.        The Board of Directors shall be comprised of an “Executive Committee” made up of a President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Members at Large and delegates or representatives from any sub-committees put in place by the Association who are non-voting members
1.        The President shall be responsible for:
1.                    liaison with other organizations or, if unable to attend, may delegate someone in their place
2.                    be official spokesperson for the Association
3.                    preside at all meetings, executive and general or delegate to the Vice-President
4.                    supervise the affairs of the Association;
5.                    prepare the agenda for meetings of the Directors and at the Annual General Meeting
6.                    not vote at any meeting of the Association except in the case of a tie, where they will cast the deciding vote
7.                    be a singing officer with the bank/credit union
8.                    other duties assigned by the Board of Directors
2.        The Vice-President shall be responsible for:
1.                    assisting the President in the performance of his/her duties
2.                    performing the duties of the President in his/her absence
3.                    being a signing officer with the bank/credit union
4.            other duties as assigned by the Board of Directors
3.        The Secretary shall be responsible for:
1.                    taking, transcribing and distributing the minutes for all meetings
2.                    collecting and presenting all correspondence for all meetings
3.                    typing of correspondence, reports, etc. as approved by the Board of Directors
4.                    maintenance of complete set of records of the Association
5.                    being a signing officer with the bank/credit union
6.                    other duties as assigned by the Board of Directors
4.        The Treasurer shall be responsible for:
1.                    General bookkeeper for the Association including receipt of all monies and deposit of same, subject to the order of the Executive
2.                    paying all bills in the name of the Association along with another signing officer as ordered by the Executive
3.                    safekeeping of cheques and all financial records for the Association
4.                    providing financial reports for every meeting of the Board of Directors
5.                    providing a complete statement of assets, liabilities, income and expenses at the Annual General Meeting
6.                    being a singing officer with the bank/credit union
7.                    other duties as assigned by the Board of Directors
TENURE OF DIRECTORS
8.        All members of the Board of Directors, both Executive Members and Members at Large, shall be elected for two (2) year terms. The President and Secretary will be elected on odd years and Treasurer and Vice President will be elected on even years. Members at large will be elected annually.
1.        A person elected as President, Vice-President, Secretary or Treasurer may serve in that specific position for a maximum of two consecutive two (2) year terms
BOARD OF DIRECTOR’S MEETINGS/GENERAL MEETINGS/AGM’S
9.        General meetings of the Association shall be open to the public. The Board shall have the right to hold closed meetings
1.        Quorum for the transaction of business at any board meeting shall be 50% plus one member and no less than thirty (30) members/community members at the AGM
VOTING
10.     At all meetings of the Association, motions shall be decided by a consensus wherever possible or by a majority vote by a show of hands of by secret ballot.
SIGNING AUTHORITY
11.     The Board of Directors shall authorize expenditures and all payments of the Association shall be
made by cheque
1.        All cheques authorized by the Board of Directors will require two signatures
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
12.     The Association shall act without financial gain to its members, any profits or other accretions to
the Association shall be used in furthering its undertakings
1.        In this section “Conflict of Interest” shall mean a decision of the Board of Directors,
this may provide a personal or financial benefit to a Director
2.        Should a conflict of interest issue arise, the affect Director shall declare the possibility
and that director shall not participate in discussions and voting on the matter in question
COMMITTEES
13.     The Board of Directors shall appoint and/or approve the establishment of Committees as
required.
1.        The Board of Directors must approve all proposed actions by any Committee of the Association prior to implementation
2.        One member of each committee shall provide the Board of Directors with regular
Committee reports at Board meetings, in person or in writing
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
14.     Written notice of a proposed amendment to the constitution shall be given to the Secretary atleast fifteen (15) calendar days before the Annual General Meeting
1.        Amendments to the constitution shall be made at an Annual General Meeting by a two-thirds (2/3rd) majority of the members in attendance
INCORPORATION
15.     The Association must be registered as a non-profit corporation and conduct itself in accordancewith regulations.
DISSOLUTION
16.     In the event that the Association is dissolved and after payments of all debts and liabilities of theAssociation, the Board of Directors shall authorize and distribute all remaining assets of the Association to another non-profit organization having similar objectives to the Association to thebenefit the community


The changes that we made were:

Boundaries
- The North boundary was changed from Carruthers Avenue to Atlantic Avenue and the West boundary was changed from McKenzie Street to McGregor Street (to reflect where we have been providing services)

Rationale
- this section was removed. It stated: The Association is based on the rationale that: Residents have a right to be and feel an active part of the community; Residents have responsibilities as members of the community; A community is only as strong as its residents; Strong communities help ensure a strong city and province.

Membership
- changed "hold office and participate in the affairs of the Association.  The Association reserves the right to remove membership privileges from members of the Association creating problems within the membership i.e.: known and/or active drug dealers, dangerous criminals, etc." to current wording

Alliances
- this section was removed. It stated: The Association may seek alliances both formally and informally with other area organizations to strengthen communication and networking in the interest of the community.

Fees
- This section was removed as its own section and added under Membership. It read the same as it states under Membership.

Annual General Meeting
- We changed this section from: "There shall be an Annual General Meeting once every calendar year; There must be thirty (30) days notice of an Annual General Meeting by both public postings and at least two (2) notices in the local community newspaper; The quorum of an Annual General Meeting shall be no less than thirty (30) resident members; No proxy shall be allowed at any meeting of the Association." to what it currently reads

Board of Directors
- We added in "who are non-voting members" to point 7.

Board Attendance and Vacancies
- We removed this section. It stated: For Board of Directors’ meetings to be conducted efficiently to ensure fair work distribution between all Board members, it is crucial all Board members attend meetings as regularly as possible.  In order to encourage attendance at Board meetings and to maintain a full Board: A Board member who misses three consecutive meetings without an excuse acceptable to the Board may lose their position.  The Board of Directors may declare the position vacant and may appoint a member of the Association, preference given to members of the current board, to fill the position vacated until the next Annual General Meeting.  Normal election procedures would follow; Should there not be enough members at large, the board may appoint a member of the community in good standing to the vacant position.

Voting
- We changed this section from: "At all meetings of the Association motions shall be decided by a majority vote by a show of hands or by secret ballot.  In the case of a tie the President shall cast the deciding vote." to read what it currently states." 
- We changed: "All cheques authorized by the Board of Directors will require two signatures signed by any two (2) of the four (4) Executive positions (President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer)." to "All cheques authorized by the Board of Directors will require two signatures

Constitutional Amendments
- We removed "Notice of intention to consider proposed amendments must be publicized as per section 8.2." 

Sections highlighted in red are additions/changes to a sentence which remains, though changed from how previously stated.