President's Message
Barbara Gard, CMSNA President
Fall, 2011
Dear MacLaren Members,
I am indeed honored to be elected to a second two year term as your President and I thank you for the confidence and support shown to me. I hope to continue with the current strong set of officers and Commissioners moving us forward. This was CMSNA�s first ever contested election and I thank Steve Quillin for wanting to serve the Society again as President. He continues to be active in his role as liaison to the Chief and with the other MacLaren Societies in Scotland and Australia. The election had about a 33 percent turnout for the vote. Although this is about the same as for many municipal elections it would be better if more would take the time to register their choice even in non contested elections. We are here to serve you and I hope that you will always make your wishes known.
I am happy to report the state of the Society is sound! We are financially healthy and though there is a slight drop in memberships we have weathered the tough economic times in better shape than many other non-profit groups. You have a very capable and exceptionally hard working group of officers and Commissioners who keep the organization thriving and we all owe many thanks to all of them.
The AGM in Pleasanton was a rousing success and everyone seemed to have a good time. We were indeed honored to have Donald and Maida with us. The games organizers tried their best to beat down Donald with the heat by keeping him in the sun for several hours on the reviewing stand during the opening ceremonies. But we MacLarens are an extremely hardy lot and Donald came through the day quite unfazed and unmelted. He was his usual charming and most impressive self and we are the most fortunate of clans to have this extraordinary and talented intelligent man as our Chief. Donald is much admired by the other clans and I wish I had kept a log of all of the wonderful things other clan folks said to me about him.
We had do-it-yourself entertainment at the Friday night Ceilidh and in addition to our local talents Donald treated us all to a grand rendition of tunes on the bagpipes. We have a great deal of talent in our midst, including Chuck Lawson giving a dramatic �Ode to the Haggis�, Charles Rouse playing his own compositions on a beautiful guitar, and Tim McLaren also on the pipes. This was a fun way to showcase some of our members� diverse abilities.
The Saturday night banquet and AGM tables were beautifully decorated by Jeannie Rouse and her crew. This was another example of how many folks pitched in to make the AGM a true team effort. A special treat donated by the award winning McLarens Shortbread of California was on the tables as well.
On Sunday the MacLaren marchers were led in the Clan March by Donald himself, a thrill not ever to be forgotten by those proudly following their Chief across the field. Later in the afternoon Donald was escorted to the Greeting of the Chiefs by our own pipe and drum corps with Tim McLaren on the pipes and drummers from Washington state, Harry and Zoe Ann Dudley and Penny McLaren. Donald was standing on the platform when the announcement was made that out of 93 clans present The MacLarens, through the work of Renee Hensley and her huge tent set up crew, had again won the coveted Best Clan Award. The MacLarens are the only clan to ever win this award twice. This was quite the cap on a great weekend!
My special thanks to Tim McLaren for Chairing this AGM, his second time around as an AGM Chairman. His careful planning and hard work were obvious all weekend. My many thanks to all of the folks who staffed the reception room, the hospitality room, set up and tore down and staffed and stocked with food six tents, did the beautiful banquet decorations and entertained at the Ceilidh. Mitzi and John Dickerson did all of the shopping and stocking of food and drink for the tents for the entire weekend, quite the accomplishment. It was a cast of dozens literally, quite a star-studded cast, a true clan effort and very much appreciated. It is difficult to say thank you to all with the fear that someone will be left out but everyone who helped in any way at all please know how much it is appreciated. There is a partial list of those who helped on the web site so please take a look and thank these folks if you have an opportunity to do so. We are indeed a hard working, joyous and close family!
The CMSNA Council met for six hours on Friday and it was a most productive meeting. The Council voted to solicit support from CMSNA members for the Balquidder Kirk in Scotland. As you know, this is our home Kirk and it is a very important part of our MacLaren heritage. The Kirk currently has a relatively small congregation which is trying to support a very old historical building. Due to the age of the building and potential moisture damage to this treasured church the Kirk must be heated 24/7 in the winter, an onerous burden for a very small group of parishioners. The Council voted to add a line for donations for the Kirk on the CMSNA membership forms. If anyone wishes to contribute to this special cause now, please make out your check to CMSNA and put Balquidder Kirk in the memo line. Send your check to Treasurer Mark MacLaren at 611 Indian Home Road, Danville CA 94526. Hopefully we will be able to show considerable support for this piece of our collective history. The support will need to be ongoing so please plan to make an annual contribution. Small or large, all will be appreciated!
The Council also discussed the fact that Margaret MacLaren of MacLaren�s book, The MacLarens. A History of Clan Labhran�, the most accurate and complete history of the MacLarens that has ever been available is now out of print and if found for sale as a used copy it is most expensive. The CMSNA store has just a few copies left for sale and that will be it. The Council decided to investigate the possibility of reprinting this foundation document for our clan. If it can be accomplished in a practical manner the Council intends to undertake this as a project. Donald was most supportive of this effort and committed to help us in every way possible when the Council asked him for his support and endorsement.
The Council would like to move to electronic delivery of the Standard as much as possible. There are many who will opt for a hard copy and those will be sent by US mail as usual but for the rest of you please be certain the Membership Secretary has your current email address. This will definitely speed the delivery of the newsletter since the post office may delay bulk mail delivery for days at every step in the mailing process. It will cut costs for printing and mailing substantially as well.
I am most pleased to announce some new appointments. Ian Patterson of Virginia has accepted the large task of heading a CMSNA By-Laws revision effort. The by-laws have served well for thirty years but a number of changes in communication possibilities and other circumstances have occurred which make a new look at the by-laws necessary.
Penny McLaren of Washington State has accepted the position of Publicity Chair. Penny is a professional writer and publicist and will help raise our MacLaren profile.
My very best to all of you and may we continue to grow and thrive! Please contact me if you have ideas or suggestions of any kind. Barbara
Barbara
