The Annual General Meeting of the Nova Scotia Wild Flora Society will be held Monday, April 26 at 07:00 PM Atlantic Time.
At 8 pm Conservation Data Centre Keynote Speakers, Sean Blaney (Executive Director & Senior Scientist) and Colin Chapman (Botanist/Lichenologist) will join us, to speak about their conservation work.
Agenda
Monday, April 26, 2021
Via Zoom due to COVID 19
- Call to Order (Charlie Cron)
- Approval of 2020-2021 Year AGM Agenda
- Approval of Minutes of 2019-2020 Year AGM held Jan 6, 2021
- Approval of 2020-2021 Year Membership Report
- Approval of 2020-2021 Year Financial Report
- Approval of 2020-2021 Year President’s Report
- Approval of Nomination of 2021-2022 Slate of Board Members and call for further nominations from the floor. Slate:
Marion Sensen
Charlie Cron
Heather Drope
Bob Kennedy
Mary Macaulay
Anne Mills
LH Paris
David Patriquin
Caitlin Porter
Rachelle Watts
- New Business
- Adjournment
The 2020-2021 President’s Report ;
The past year has been a difficult season for the Nova Scotia Wild Flora Society. We have not been able to have any meetings at the Museum due to the Covid-19 restrictions. In the fall of 2020, we began discussing plans for Zoom meetings. We tried a practice run with a small group of board members initially. The first few sessions were organized by Dr. David Patriquin and Bob Kennedy. We did encounter a number of glitches but gradually began to iron out most of the wrinkles. We then had a virtual meeting, a delayed AGM, for the 2019- 2020 season early in the new year, (2021). Mary Macaulay then began hosting meetings on our behalf. Since then, we have had several regular virtual meetings. We still encountered a few problems, some individuals could get audio only, no visuals, others had difficulty with the audio signal, some were not able to access the meetings at all. This is all part of the learning curve, and there have been gradual improvements with each meeting. The use of the Zoom Meeting format has allowed members from outside of Halifax to participate in regular meetings. This may have significant advantages to us in future.
We managed only one field trip last year, to Troop’s Island in June, with significant help from Beth Magee, who provided transportation via small boat, and was the official leader for the entire trip. We did not have any other formal field trips last season. Many of us did small field trips on our own either alone or with only two or three people. This allowed maintenance of social distancing, and adherence to Covid 19 rules, which was certainly not the same as our organized large group trips.
This year we have had one field trip completed, to Digby Neck to view skunk cabbage, lichens, and interestingly curly grass fern, surprisingly still in its usual winter appearance. Thanks go to Jeff White for leading this trip. A major trip to Maguma Falls is in planning stages now for the long weekend in May. We will need to limit numbers, but it may be possible to have two small groups, one for a day long trip, and the other for a shortened version. Details should be worked out by the end of April.
There will no doubt be further challenges in the current season. We still do not know when regular meetings will be able to begin again at the Museum. There will be many new issues for the New Board to discuss, regarding finances, regular meeting organization, and field trips.
As per our customary practice the old board, including the President is deemed to have resigned at the end of the AGM and the new board, elected at the AGM will then continue with the society business.
I wish to thank all Board Members and other members who have contributed their time and efforts to maintaining the coherence and activities of this group. Each one has contributed their efforts and although I have not named each one specifically, all have participated equally and allowed us to continue. Thank you everyone for helping to maintain this group effort.
Charles Cron, President NSWFS.
