Are you up on your Mushkegoinnimowin?
The Annual General Meeting for this year was held at the Bill and Helen Norrie Library Oct. 19. This lovely new library is one large rectangular room with solid windows on each side, offering a bright and sunny welcome to all of the MWG members that attended. The boardroom, spacious and equally luminous, was humming with the conversations of three to four dozen members as I arrived and was warmly greeted by Sharon Hamilton, Andy Dutfield, Susan Rocan and other members.
Sharon opened the meeting with a vibrant “Hello and Welcome Everyone!” and then passed the microphone to David Williamson for the land acknowledgement reading. Dave surprised everyone by first reciting the land acknowledgement in Swampy Cree, also known as Mushkegoinnimowin, which he mentioned he had learned with the assistance of his mother-in-law, followed by a second reading in English. It was an enchanting and perfect start to the AGM of a Guild that is eager to promote diversity and inclusion among its membership.
Sharon resumed the reins and launched directly into the AGM business at hand. Her President’s Report described the past year as both exciting, with many new initiatives, and also challenging, with a few minor setbacks. On the upside, she noted that membership had increased once again, to 275 members, and she offered a heartfelt thank you to all of the volunteers without whom many of the MWG programs could not operate.
New initiatives included a continuation of the Youth program, our participation in the new North Point Douglas Hub project, three new Critique Circles that include a second Prose CC, a new Poetry CC and a new BIPOC CC, the development of the Reporters’ Group that is now providing articles on numerous MWG events to the website each month, and a new DEI (Diversity, Inclusion, Equity) committee that has been working diligently on drafting our DEI-related policies and a new Safe and Respectful Environment Policy.
Sharon announced that with the addition of several new board members, all empty slots on the Board of Directors are full. and work is underway to assign a second vice-president to enable even better management direction going forward. The new directors and their initial roles are as follows:
- Marlene Schellenberg – Finance; Nominations and Governance
- Beth Watters – Finance; Treasurer
- Jake Reichert – Finance; Poetry Critique Circle Co-Moderator
- Bryan Bellec – Resource Planning and Fundraising; Beta Reader Program; Tech for Streaming Events
- Steve Oetting – Reporters’ Group Coordinator; Membership, Communications and Marketing
- Tami Reynolds – 50th Anniversary; Nominations and Governance; Prose Critique Circle Moderator
- Matt Brough – Program
On the downside, longstanding Treasurer Clarice Sinohinc and bookkeeper Yuri Karube have departed. Sharon thanked them graciously for all their contributions. The transition has been challenging, but with the assistance of new Treasurer Beth Watters and new bookkeeper Angela Hilderbrand, financial management tasks have been completed on time. Grant applications were also challenging over the past year, but with funding from the provincial government, a generous donation from Kamal Malaker to support of the annual Rabindranath Tagore Poetry Competition for the next five years, a donation from Dave Williamson to support the short story competition, and the collection of membership fees, the guild is in a better financial picture than last year at this time.
Sharon then asked Andy Dutfield to review the financial report and request approval from the membership for the proposed budget and financial statements as presented and prepared by the Exchange Group. Andy also reviewed the ongoing efforts and achievements of the various committees, thanking both the chairs and the members of those committees.
David Williamson was then asked to provide some details about the new North Point Douglas Hub project. He invited Dr. Di Brandt to come up and elaborate on the program. She described the North Point Douglas area as one of the most unique parts of Winnipeg, with both its extraordinary population of artists of a wide variety of creative arts and its high population of underprivileged citizens. The funding provided by the Province of Manitoba is just one of many initiatives intended to help rejuvenate this area of our city and offer valuable opportunities to its residents.
Once all of the questions were answered and the required voting concluded, Sharon invited all of the board members up to the front for a special surprise. She then presented Andy Dutfield with an honorary lifetime membership and her heartfelt appreciation for the huge volume of time and effort that he has provided to the Guild, not only during his five years as president but every day since in which he continues to contribute his time, his skills and his energy. It was a special moment, one that was greeted with beaming smiles and resounding applause, and a lovely end to a productive and successful meeting.
