BLHS Board's Fall Activities

The fall season found the BLHS busy with a number of activities. Thursday, August 25, following the Biennial Exhibit the board met to debrief and discuss the successes and areas needing improvement. From that meeting guidelines were created in preparation for our next exhibit in 2018. Included were the possibility of a change of venue as it becomes more difficult to use the school because of school board policy and the new Big Lake Fire Hall’s community room now is being made available for such events as our exhibit. We also purposed to follow our mission and begin the arduous task of permanently archiving and preserving our collection of photos, clippings, and artifacts in 2017.

Also this fall the Society received a letter from Darrell Drummond of Drummond Associates (California) requesting that our funds be transferred to Skagit Community Foundation for management and investing. The advantage being our funds would be locally managed and the society becoming a part of the foundation benefits from the local non-profit networking. Trudi Davis began meeting with Mary McGoffin, director of SCF to begin the transfer of monies and also to evaluate the society’s legal role as a non-profit as recognized by the Secretary of State’s office.

November 9, a majority of board members attended a three-hour workshop sponsored by Washington Nonprofits and the Secretary of State’s Office, called Boards in Gear. This workshop emphasized the role that boards play in an organization's success and was designed to provide information and tools that elevate board practice. Discussions included the board's connection to cause, responsibilities, operations, and composition and development.

November 17, the board met to debrief and process the information from the workshop. Discussion centered on our identity as a board, our goals, funding, and our meetings. Results of the discussion led to a decision to separate our business meetings from our open quarterly meetings. Board business meetings will occur quarterly the third Thursday of the month, a week before the open Society Quarterly Meetings, which will focus on community education. It was also decided that the bylaws needed to be reviewed and updated. Each board member was given a copy and asked to read and edit as they saw a need and return and discuss the bylaws  at the January 19 Board Meeting.  

December 13, President Trudi Davis and Secretary Christine Farrow participated in an online webinar titled Nonprofit Legal Checklist. A discussion about compliance of non-profit organizations, the information was shared at the board business meeting January 19.