Hello Ladies,
* It’s December already – time to prepare for Christmas and look forward to the coming year and our chapter’s sixth anniversary. As a historical note, although we had our first Affairre! in February, 2003, our chapter was actually registered on January 8 of that year.
* This is a very important newsletter so in addition to posting in on our blog (kenoraredhatters.wordpress.com) I am also emailing it to those who have internet access and mailing it to everyone else who has been active in our chapter in the last year.
* Many thanks to our November hostesses, Awesome Audrey, Lady Barbara of Keewatin, and The Red Hatter for another great Affairre! No matter where we go, what we do, or how many attend, we always have a good time, don’t we?
Our December hostesses, Lady Di (Diane Paroby) and Artistic Shirley (Quinton), are busy planning a fun Christmas Affairre! for us on Saturday, December 13 beginning at 12:30 p.m. at the Log Cabin Restaurant. Since neither of this month’s hostesses have internet access, please phone them to let them know you’ll be coming. They haven’t given me an RSVP date but you should call as soon as possible and at least two days in advance.
If you wish to participate in the gift exchange, please bring a wrapped, unlabelled gift. It should have a value of $5 or less and be something related to Red Hatting and/or Christmas. Please put a note inside it to say who it’s from. If you have a Secret Friend this is a great opportunity to give her a gift, too, but please mark her name on it clearly and don’t mix it in with the exchange gifts. (I’ve heard a rumour that Santa may pay us a visit again, too, so be sure to have your list ready for him.)
Don’t forget this will be the last opportunity to buy tickets on the singing bear which we will draw for that day. Proceeds will go into our Fun Fund which, after our wonderful trip to Winnipeg last week, is very low.
* Our Hostess List will be circulated again this month and next and then a draw will be held if any months have not been filled.
I know everyone had a great time on our trip last week and hope it won’t take three years to raise enough for our next adventure. It’s a shame several ladies had to miss this because of back problems, etc., so let’s think of something fun we can bring here so everyone can enjoy it next time. I have a couple of ideas but I’d like to hear yours first.
* Red Hatting is an important, exciting part of my life and it’s such a privilege to share it with so many wonderful, fun friends. There are many of you I would probably not have met any other way and what a shame it would be not to know you.
This fall I’ve had the great opportunity to attend two Queens’ Councils – first at the convention in Thunder Bay and then at the Royal Affairre! I hosted in October. What a great experience to find out about other chapters and share information. As a result of these conferences and in light of the news of the International Red Hat Society’s financial troubles, I’ve had lots to think about.
We’ve all heard, many times, the old adage, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, and our chapter is flourishing. However, there’s also the saying, “A stitch in time saves nine”, and there’s a general feeling that if the RHS had practiced some “preventive medicine” it wouldn’t be in such trouble.
I’ve been giving a lot of thought to our chapter and informally surveyed a few of our members. While there is very little I’d want to change about it there are two areas that need attention. I really cherish the informality of Red Hatting and have tried to preserve it by making sure each of us has as few responsibilities as possible. However, there are some things that just don’t work that way.
* To begin with, I’ve just paid our chapter dues to the RHS. With all its talk of reassessment and restructuring, I was very surprised they were not increased – still $39 US which, at the current rate of exchange, was $51.39 CAN.
In the past I’ve collected for this by “passing the hat“, sometimes at two or even three Affairre!s until we had enough to cover it. This was fun at first and a good way to avoid bookkeeping. Each year, though, it seems a little harder to collect this very small amount of money. Since this happens during the winter, the ladies who go south for the winter have expressed concern that they didn’t get a chance to contribute but since we’ve never kept any books, this would be difficult to work out. At the other extreme, it saddens me that there are a number of members who make a point of not contributing. This was really noticeable at our Anniversary Affairre! in February. Each one present was asked to contribute $2 for dues and if everyone had done so there would have been enough to pay them in full, especially as Canadian money was almost at par with US money at the time. However, as some did not contribute and some put in only $1, it was necessary to collect again the next month to make up the difference.
When our chapter was formed I paid the first year’s dues and since then have paid for things like tip hats, name tags, occasional long distance calls, some postage, etc. It doesn’t sound like much but it adds up. I’ve always been happy to do this and wouldn’t even bring it up but the plain, simple truth is that I can’t afford to do it any more.
One question on the registration form for the in October was about dues paid by members of the various chapters and what this money is used for. Only two other chapters reported collecting just enough for RHS dues as we do, but they also collect throughout the year as expenses arise. The rest collect up to $25 per member. (I’ve heard of lots of chapters that collect much more that that, too.) One chapter’s members pay enough to cover the cost of their Christmas party. Members of another pay enough to send their QM to conventions, etc. I can’t imagine including things like that in our chapter dues but I do need to collect enough to cover expenses and I think it only fair that every member pay equally. Most chapters, I find, collect $10 per year from each member.
I don’t think we need that much so I will be collecting $5 per member by the end of December. Anyone who will not be attending the Christmas Affairre! can drop it off at my home or mail a cheque to me. I will keep a close account through the year of how this is spent and will issue a report when membership fees are due again. Any money left over at that time will go into our Fun Fund. Beginning in January our Contact List will include only the names of paid members.
Those who choose not to pay will always be welcome as guests at our Affairre!s but will not receive monthly newsletters, invitations, etc. They can still access the newsletter online for information but they won’t get reminders when it is published. Also, keep in mind that chapters that plan invitational events such as conventions, luncheons, etc., will accept registrations only from registered individual members of the RHS and members of registered chapters. This will apply to our upcoming minivention in April, too. Non members will be welcome to participate in chapter events such as our recent trip to Winnipeg if there is space but they will have to pay full price.
If any of you are interested in supporting the RHS by purchasing a Supporting Membership for $20 US per year you can find information about this at www.redhatsociety.com. If you don’t have internet access, please ask me or someone else who does to help you with this.
* The other area that needs attention is communication. Since we began our chapter our newsletter has been easily available for members who have internet access. This is now done by means of a blog for two reasons. The main one is that a number of you tell me you don’t remember what was in the newsletter because you or someone you share your computer with deleted it as soon as you read it. The other reason is that not everyone uses the same computer programs and some couldn’t open the printable attachment I used to send. By using a blog the newsletter is always there to be reread. Some had trouble with this when I used the Yahoo service so I switched to WordPress which is much more user friendly. You`ll find several back issues of the newsletter there as well.
For those who don’t have email access, we’ve tried to maintain an email buddy system but results have varied widely. Some conscientiously print and deliver or mail newsletters, etc., but others rarely print these things out and sometimes forget to pass on information or to make arrangements for someone else to do so if they’re going away. Email buddies were never asked to pass on the Friday Broadcast from RHS Hatquarters so only those with internet access can read them. I know that some members who get information from an email buddy contribute to the cost of printing and postage but I`m not sure how many.
Those who don’t have email buddies have been asked to provide a year’s worth of stamped, addressed envelopes but few do this and those who do give me only a few at a time. They often need several reminders when these run out, meaning they miss a few newsletters. I`m happy to print and mail newsletters but need to be able to organize this on a yearly basis.
We’ve asked that hostesses call anyone on the list who doesn’t have email or a buddy but not all of them remember to do this and often if I meet someone who hasn’t attended for awhile she tells me it’s because she doesn’t get any information..
We really appreciate the dedication of our email buddies but it’s time to give them a break by making some changes so that everyone has equal access to information. We still need them to pass on invitations and the hostesses to call those who don’t have a buddy but distribution of newsletters is going to change as follows.
In addition to dues, I will be collecting a mailing fee of $10 per year (which works out to $ .83 per month) from members who don’t have email access. Close to $7 of this will be for postage and the rest for paper, envelopes, printer ink, etc. This is also due by the end of December. Again, I will keep a close account of how this is spent and issue a report when fees are due again. You can, of course, choose to pay just your membership and forego the mailing fee but this will mean that you will not get any information about our chapter or the RHS except for invitations passed on by your email buddy or directly from our hostesses.
Those who pay this amount will receive a monthly mailing including our newsletter and copies of the Friday Broadcasts for the month and any other pertinent information. If anyone who has email access would rather pay this amount to receive information through the mail I will be happy to do this for her.
* I know these may seem like major changes to some but I’m sure you’ll agree that they are necessary to help our chapter continue to flourish. If you have any questions or comments about them, please call or email me.
* That’s about it for now ladies. See you on the 13th!
In Friendship and Fun
Queen Debbie of the Lake
