-- BASH
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Picnic and Auction
The next VFA function is our annual Bash
(i.e., picnic and auction), on Saturday, August 19 (just a short time away).
It will again be at the Conference Center of Skyland The schedule of
planned events is given on the enclosed colored sheet. The footnotes of that
sheet include the directions to Skyland, along with some suggestions. After
the heavy rains in 2004, please note that The VFA has retained the Skyland
location to make use of the shelter provided by their Conference Center.
The Bash is a wonderful opportunity for
you and your friends to meet old friends, make new friends, and see many of
the raptors and hunting dogs used in falconry, some of which have been
acquired this year.
Many of our members spend Friday or
Saturday night to extend their socializing time. Hopefully, you have already
or will be able to make reservations at the campgrounds, cabins or lodge by
calling 1-800-999-4714. If accommodations at Skyland are not available,
additional accommodations may be available at the Big Meadows National Park
(same reservation number), about 11 miles South on Skyline Drive.
Most of you will want to also make a
reservation for our catered lunch. We are using the National Park caterer
again this year. The lunch will consist of:
hamburgers, hot-dogs, buns and condiments,
potato salad, baked beans, cold slaw,
fruit pie (for desert), and various drinks
(coffee, tea, sodas, & bottled water).
It should be plentiful for those with reservations.
Contact Bill Harry at
afalconer@juno.com or at
703-281-3564 on or before August 16 for your meal reservations. Please
indicate the type and number of adult or children (3 to 9 years) reservations
you want. As indicated in the notice (and expanded here to include
applicants), the lunch cost will be $11 each for adult member or applicant
and their family members, or $6 for their children. The meal price will be
$15 for all adult guests or visitors, and $8 for their children. The
increased costs for guests and visitors decreases (but doesn’t eliminate) the
VFA subsidy and, hopefully, it will encourage membership in the VFA.
As also indicated in the notice, you may
bring your own lunch food but you will not be allowed to take it into
the shelter of the Conference Center. You will thereby save money, but limit
your time for socializing.
There were almost 100 attendees last year. So
why not bring your family and/or friends for the best VFA social event of the
year?
VFA Vice President
The office of VFA Vice President is scheduled for
an election this year. According to Article III, Section 1.l. of the VFA
By-Laws: “The board of Directors shall,…(1) Provide to all Regular Members
timely notice of both nominations and elections, and reasonable opportunity to
nominate and to vote.” This is your notification.
If you have been a Regular Member for the past
365 days and want to be considered for the office of Vice President, you
should notify Bill Harry (see previous contact information). Similarly,
contact Bill if you would like to nominate someone else (similarly qualified
by their membership), but you must first get their concurrence to run for the
office of Vice President.
Bill will provide election ballots for all
Regular Members if more than one candidate is obtained. If only a single
candidate exists, “…the election…shall be considered waived…” (Article III,
Section 1.k.).
This term for the office of Vice President will
run from 1 September 2006 to 31 August 2008. It is therefore imperative that
you make your own or other nomination very soon. Although a résumé of the
candidate’s qualifications is not required, it would certainly be useful to
the voting members.
Article IV, Section 2.c. requires a 20-day
notification for elections conducted by mail. Therefore, so that the
necessary ballots can be sent, received, returned and counted in order for the
election to be completed by 1 September, all nominations for this office must
be received by 4 August 2006.
VFA Director
With thanks for his good service as both a
Regional Director and as a Meet Director, the VFA Board of Directors and
Officers accepted the resignation of Ray Norton from the position of Mid
Regional Director last year.
At our field meet this year, the VFA Board
selected Dr. Robert May of Yorktown to replace Ray and serve as the Mid
Regional Director.
Note
I may have erroneously indicated to some of you
that the Bash would be on 20 August this year. You can chalk it up as another
senior moment on my part. It is on the 20th, as
indicated herein. I sure hope it has not created an unrecoverable problem for
any of you.
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A more complete Mewsletter will be
available at the Bash in August, or mailed thereafter to the others.
