Guemes Island Community Center Association
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An email purporting to be from GICCA under Lisa Charnock’s signature has gone out widely. Please do not click on any links and please delete the message. We are very sorry for the inconvenience and will try to address the problem.
POETRY IS A PORTAL
Conversations About Poems With Island Poet, Lisa Charnock
Guemes Island Church
Saturday, September 23 and October 7
2:00PM - 3:30PM
Events are free and open to All.
Why would ANYONE want to sit down to read and discuss poems with other people? Poetry doesn’t have to push people away. It doesn’t have to be decoded. You don’t have to be “smart enough” to understand what a poem makes you feel. That’s the key. Poetry often speaks to the feelings and associations in our own lives. Let’s GET poetry together! Session 2, October 7 We will continue our discussion of poetry as a portal. We will explore what the poems bring up for us; not what we think the author was “doing”, but what is going on when we listen to the sounds, make some leaps, let the poems work on us.
Click Here for more information
GUEMES EMERGENCY TEAM
“GET”
“GET” is being established in 2023 to replace Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) which now requires member recertification and training for all participants in order to continue using the title "CERT." The new GETprogram builds on the strengths of CERT as well as uses the existing “Map Your Neighborhood” (MYN) program”. It recognizes the challenges that are unique to Guemes Island. Click here for more information on this important new program.
Memorial Day to Labor Day: Drop in on Saturday and Sunday at 10:00
Year-round: Players are encouraged to join in casual play on weekends at 10:00 am in good weather months. To communicate availability; players use the “TeamReach” App. Look for Guemes Pickleball and use the code 8GuemesI (letter I like Island at the end).
This is available year-round to build groups to play. Also check out Facebook for Guemes Island Pickleball Players. Anyone is welcome at the scheduled play time, otherwise, island visitors and Airbnb owners should plan to provide their own equipment to guests. Pickleball, a combination of tennis, badminton, and ping pong, was first created in 1965 in Bainbridge Island, Washington, by three fathers looking to give their bored children a new activity by using a hodgepodge of other sports as inspiration. It is now the fastest growing sport in the country with more than 36 million players. One tennis court can accommodate two pickleball courts with temporary nets. Available for residents of the island, equipment is stored in the locked cabinet with portable community nets, paddles, and a few balls. Island residents need to attend the weekend play session to learn about net handling and security, before getting the lock combination to use them at will. As of this writing, a generous local resident will be providing a rolling net that she will leave on the court during summer for anyone to use. It will be stored during winter. Local players are encouraged to contribute $10 per year to the PICKLEBALL fund held at GICCA to buy/replace nets and gear. Island players are currently planning an annual fundraiser so that there is funding to support local interest.
Skagit County Burn Ban Modified to Allow Recreational Fires
Due to the increase in moisture levels, recreational fires are now allowed in unincorporated areas of Skagit County. Residential yard and land-clearing fires continue to be banned until further notice. See here for the complete press release from Skagit County.
GICCA Bylaws Amendments for September 28, 2023 Membership Vote
President’s Message: Bylaws Revisions for September Membership Vote
The GICCA Board met monthly through the summer to conduct a comprehensive review of Association bylaws for presentation of proposed amendments in the September business meeting. Association members present at that meeting will vote on the proposed amendments. Our working meetings were announced in the GICCA newsletter and on the website, and were available by Zoom for the public to join. I want to thank the Board, who worked so hard, and all the members of the public who joined to follow the process.
Bylaws should provide guiding principles, and where they are particular and prescriptive, future Boards must adhere to them. Our revisions often sought ways to make future Boards’ implementation options flexible wherever possible.
We hope you will read all the proposed changes. When you do, you’ll see a lot of “redline,” indicating changes from the current bylaws, as last amended in February, when the Membership voted on some minor amendments. Many proposed changes consolidate relevant sections under the Finances Article. Others make modifications needed to comply with recent changes in nonprofit law. Importantly, some changes are proposed to improve Members’ ability to participate in the organization.
The review of the bylaws was comprehensive, which means that changes in one section often result in changes in other sections – many are interconnected. We will ask the Membership to vote on the proposed changes to Articles III through IX as a whole, but with a process to propose any modifications for a follow-up vote in October or November.
The Changes, in Short
Here are the most important changes from the perspective of how the Association will operate going forward:
- Elections will include an option for absentee voting for members who are unable to vote in person in November
- A new designation of “Associate Members” encourages island residents under the age of 18 to participate in the organization, including being able to participate as non-voting Board members
- Processes for amending bylaws are clarified in terms of timing requirements for posting proposed amendments and providing notice of the schedule for voting
- The December Organizational Meeting executive session, following election of new Board members, will include election of new officers and discussion of a draft budget and workplan for approval in the January business meeting
- The Board will be able to determine its schedule for business meetings in January for the rest of the year. Minutes for all meetings – business, working, and executive sessions –will be required to be posted.
- The Association will be required to adopt an annual budget, and to convene a Finance Subcommittee that includes a non-Board Association member to provide oversight of Association finances.
What’s Next?
At the September meeting, we will outline the changes being proposed, and present the document as it appears on the website. We will also explain how modifications can be made in subsequent months if there are modifications proposed by Members in the discussion which are moved by the Board to take up in subsequent months. The Membership will be asked to vote on the bylaws as a whole, as presented, rather than taking amendments in real time in September, with the full understanding that changes can still be made.
If you have comments or concerns or thoughts, please let us know! We can bring them forward in the September meeting on your behalf if you are unable to attend. We appreciate everyone’s input. You can email us at 4gicca@gmail.com.
Lisa Charnock
GICCA President
August 24, 2023
See here for all the proposed changes.
Artist of the Month: Arden Charles
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| When exploring art created by Arden Charles, viewers are led on a personal journey to discover the story each piece summons for them. Techniques ranging from assemblage and painting to bamboo stock and ink stand alone or come together to delight the eye. Read on to learn more about Arden and what has made her the artist she is. https://guemesislandart.org/arden-charles-aotm/ |
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