October 9, 2012 Minutes

Friends of the Farm Board Meeting
Ravenwood Boardroom
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
1 pm

Present:   Gertie Purdy, Catherine Hennessey, Doug MacDonald, Connie MacKay-Carr, Libby Martin, Lane MacLaren

Regrets: Nora Jenkins Sylvia Poirier, Kim Devine, Roger Younker, Ken MacDonald

1.    Call to Order
Lane MacLaren, Acting Chair, called the meeting to order.

2.    Approval of the Agenda
Connie MacKay Carr moved, Gertie Purdy seconded the approval of the agenda. Motion carried.

3.    Approval of the minutes of  September 13, 2012
Catherine Hennessey moved, Doug MacDonald seconded the approval of the minutes of September 13, 2012. Motion carried.
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4.    Business from previous meeting.
·    Annual Meeting – The date of Tuesday November 6 at 7:00 pm was confirmed for the annual meeting. Lane MacLaren will book the Farm Centre for that evening.  Catherine Hennessey will be the speaker for the meeting and will talk about the history and context of Ravenwood, Ardgowan, and the “Royalities” area; her proposed title for the talk was “Ravenwood: A Royalty Treasure”. Connie MacKay-Carr will arrange for an ad in the newspapers and she and Gertie Purdy will see that an e-mail notification goes out to the membership. Laura Lee Howard was contacted and has agreed to put herself forward as a new nominee to the Board.
·    Report on the Memorial Fund – The criteria for the  Janice
Simmonds Award has been written and Henry Purdy was contacted about designing a lasting plaque. The first award will be given to Lloyd MacLeod at the annual meeting. Bert Christie will prepare and read the citation for the award. Lane MacLaren has also prepared a piece about Janice for the award ceremony.  It was agreed the annual award will consist of a framed copy of the Harris painting of Ravenwood with a hand-lettered inscription on the matting stating: Janice Simmonds Award presented by Friends of the Farm to recipient’s name and year. The Simmonds and MacEachern family will be informed about the award and invited to attend the annual meeting.
·    Planning for the Memorial Fund – Lane MacLaren and Doug MacDonald met with Dr. Rodriguez and Gail Arsenault to discuss the various ideas for a memorial to Janice Simmonds on Farm property.  They were sympathetic about the idea of a memorial but they indicated that anything permanent and immovable or necessitating maintenance on the property would require approval from Ottawa and that this was unlikely to be given as similar requests had been turned down in the past. Connie MacKay-Carr will inform the MacEachern family that their idea for a magnolia grove does not appear possible.
·    It was decided the Friends would pursue a different option and place a memorial bench with plaque on the section of the Rails for Trails that runs through the Farm. A motion to purchase a bench from the City was put forward by Doug MacDonald and seconded by Connie MacKay-Carr and all voted in favour. Perpetual care of the bench and winter storage will be included in the purchase price. It was suggested a perennial flower bed could be planted and maintained by the Friends beside the bench. Lane MacLaren will contact the City to arrange for the purchase of a bench and its placement at the desired location.

5.    New Business
There was a discussion of ideas related to what the Friends of the Farm could do to commemorate the 2014 anniversary and the potential partners in any project.

6.    Adjournment and date of next meeting
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned.  The date of the next meeting was not determined.

Lane MacLaren                    Nora Jenkins
Action Chair                        Secretary – Treasurer