BESi aastakoosoleku kokkuvõte / BES annual meeting recap

28. jaanikuu, 2022

Tere seltsi liikmeid,

Selle aasta kevadel pidas Bostoni Eesti Selts 7. mail oma iga-aastase liikmeskoosoleku. See oli kolmas aasta järjest, mil me seda pandeemia tõttu virtuaalselt pidasime. Kuna meie liikmeskond on üle kogu New Engand’I ja teiste riigi (ja maailma) nurkades, oleme suutnud tõhusalt korraldada oma tegevusi, hoida sidet ja pakkuda paindlikkust inimeste tihedale ajakavale. Loodame, et see on ka edaspidi suurepärane platvorm suurenenud osalemiseks, organiseerimiseks ja võrgustike loomiseks.

Selle aasta oluline päevakorrapunkt olid valimised, täpsemalt järgmise presidendi ja asepresidendi valimine. Pärast kahte järjestikust kolmeaastast ametiaega presidendina oli aeg valida keda uut juhtkonda. Ühingu põhikirja punktis 4.15.8 on sätestatud, et "Ühingu president võib olla ametis maksimaalselt kaks järjestikust ametiaega".

Siiski esitas Madli Mangum juhatuse toetusel ettepaneku pikendada ametiaja piirangut viimaste aastate erandlike asjaolude tõttu:

”Kui ma aga mõtlen selle peale, miks presidendi vahetuse ajastus halval ajal tuli, siis allpoolsed punktid on põhjusteks:

· Tänu Covidile on Seltsi tegevus näost näkku olnud väga piiratud viimased kaks aastat, seega on olnud raske leida uusi inimesesi/kandidaate presidendi ametikohale, kes lihtsalt niisama “jah ma teen” ei ütleks, vaid ka tõesti oleks nõus presidendi rutiinseid kohustusi täitma.

· Tänu Covidile on Massachusettsi osariik maas oma paberimajandusega. See tähendab, et me siiamaani ootame, et nad kinnitaks meie eelmisel aastal esitatud aastalõpu aruanded. Aastalõpu aruannetele lisaks ootame ka veel allkirja õiguse muutmist MA osariigi tasemel, et Merit Beckles uue Laekurina saaks allkirja õiguse. Kui nüüd presidendi ka sinna otsa veel ära muudame, tähendab see veel uut pabeiritööd ja uusi hilinemisi.

· Praegune Juhatuse liikmeskond, Pauli suurel toetusel, on saavutanud stabiilsuse, mis puutub ürituste alahoidmisse, kokkusaamiste muutumist füüsilisest asukohtadest virtuaalseks ja siis vastupidiseks kui vaja.

· Paul ise on nõus olema Bostoni Eesti Seltsi President edasi ühe ametiaja, või vähemalt niikaua kui uus president on leitud ning Aastakoololeku poolt sisse hääletatud. See oleks suureks abiks Selsti tegevusele ja kasu saaks sellest nii Juhatus kui ja praegused liikmed, kes siiamaani on truult meie üritusel osalenud.

· Meie Põhikirja vaadates, punkt 7.1 all on kirjas, et “Üldkoosolek võib muuta Selsti Põhjikirja ja Kodukorda kui see on ära tähendatud päevakorra punktina koosoleku kutsetel koos sisseviidavate parandustega ja kui selle poolt otsustava 2/3 hääleõiguslikest liikmetest”

Arutelu oli lühike ja Paul Attemann valiti ühehäälselt kolmandaks ametiajaks presidendiks, Marii Engelman valiti asepresidendiks ja Louise Jakobson valiti uueks juhatuse liikmeks. Meil on väga hea meel, et Marii on taas asepresident ja Louise on uus juhatuse liige. Louise on anglo-eestlane, kes elas Eestis neli aastat 1990ndatel, USAs alates 1998. aastast, ta on annetuste koguja (algkoolis ja nüüd American Mathematical Society’is) ja Rhode Islandi fundraiserite kutseühingu juhatuse liige. Louise soovib aidata BESi ja parandada oma eesti keelt! Ta elab Warwick, RI’is.

Muud arutelud hõlmasid meie iga-aastaste liikmemaksude suurendamist, liikmete osaluse suurendamist, meie veebisaidi kasutamist teabe jagamiseks ja liikmete andmebaasi kasutamist ning seda, kuidas BES saab toetada Ukrainat ja eelseisvaid BESi üritusi. Dr. Anne-Reet Annunziata, Eesti aukonsul Massachusettsis ja Rhode Islandil tervitas osalejad ka.

See oli suurepärane kohtumine ja me julgustame jätkuvalt inimesi osalema, nautima meie üritusi, pakkuma uusi ideid ja tasuma oma iga-aastaseid liikmemaksusid. Ilma nendeta ei saa ühing lihtsalt jätkata oma tegevust.

Järgmisel igakuisel juhatuse koosolekul, mis toimus virtuaalselt 7. juunil, valiti ametnikud:

Aadu Pirn, sekretär

Louise Jakobson, abisekretär

Merit Saar-Beckles, laekur

Madli Mangum, abilaekur

Nele Kaps, kultuuri juht

Villu Tari, arhivaar

Direktorite nõukogu asus tööle ja alustas 27. augustil Fitchburgis, MA-s asuvas Saima Parkis Soome keskuses toimuva iga-aastase suvepikniku planeerimist! Rohkem üksikasju jagatakse juulis või augusti alguses ja me loodame teid seal näha!

Elagu Eesti ja jõudu meie seltsile!

Lugupidamisega,

Paul Attemann

President

Bostoni Eesti Selts

____________________________________________________________________________________

June 28, 2022

Greetings society members,

In the spring of this year, the Boston Estonian Society held its annual membership meeting on May 7th. It was the third year in a row in which we held it virtually due to the pandemic. With our membership spread over New England and other corners of the country (and the world), we have been able to effectively conduct our business, stay connected and offer flexibility to people’s busy schedules. We hope that this will continue to be a great platform for increased participation, organizing and networking.

Twelve to fifteen gathered on the Zoom platform to conduct our usual business. Annual reports were presented by the President (Paul Attemann), the treasurers (Merit Saar-Beckles, Madli Mangum), the Boston Estonian School Director (Triin Vallaste) and the society archivist (Villu Tari). The Board of Directors bid farewell to two long serving board members who have stepped down this year, Airi Talluri who served as Secretary and Raimo Kalvi who served also as Secretary and most recently as a member at large. We thank them from the bottom of our hearts for their contribution and support!

An important agenda item this year was elections, specifically, the election of the next President and Vice-President. After serving two consecutive 3-year terms as President, it was time to elect someone new leadership. Section 4.15.8 of the Society's By-Lawns states that "The President of the Society may hold office for no more than 2 consecutive terms."

However, a motion to extend the term limit due to exceptional circumstances over the last few years, was proposed by Madli Mangum with the support of the Board of Directors:

“When I think about why the timing of the change of President came at a bad time, the following points are the reasons:

· Because of Covid, the face-to-face activities of the Society have been very limited over the last 2 years, so it has been difficult to find new people/candidates for the position of President who would not just say "yes I will" but would actually be willing to do the routine duties of President.

· with the effects of the pandemic still lingering, the state of Massachusetts is backlogged with its paperwork. This means that we are still waiting for them to approve our end-of-year reports from last year. In addition to the year-end reports, we are also waiting for a change in the signing authority at the state level so that Merit Saar-Beckles signing authority as the current Treasurer. If we now change the President there as well, it will mean more paperwork and more delays.

· The current Board membership, with Paul's great support, has achieved stability in terms of downsizing events, changing meetings from physical to virtual locations and then back to in-person gatherings.

· Paul himself has agreed to serve as President of the Boston Estonian Society for another term, or at least until a new President is found and voted in by the Annual Meeting. This would be a great help to the activities of the Society, and would benefit both the Board and the current members who have faithfully attended our events to date.

· Looking at our Bylaws, under Section 7.1, it is written that "The General Assembly may amend the Constitution and Bylaws of the Society if so indicated as an agenda item on the meeting invitations with the amendments to be introduced and if approved by a quorum of 2/3 of the voting members."

The discussion was brief and Paul Attemann was unanimously elected for a third-term as President, Marii Engelman was elected Vice-President and Louise Jakobson was elected as a new board member. We are excited to have Marii back as Vice-President and we are very pleased to welcome Louise! Louise is Anglo-Estonian, who lived in Estonia for four years in the 1990’s, in the USA since 1998, is a fundraiser (in elementary school and now American Mathematical Society); currently serving on the board of a professional society for fundraisers in Rhode Island. Louise is looking to help BES and improve her Estonian! She lives in Warwick, RI.

Other discussions included increasing our annual membership dues, increasing member participation, utilizing our website for sharing information and database of members, and how BES can support Ukraine and upcoming BES events. Dr. Anne-Reet Annunziata, Estonia Honorary Consul of Massachusetts & Rhode Island delivered a greeting to the participants.

It was a great meeting and we continue to encourage people to get involved, come enjoy our events, offer new ideas and keep up with your annual membership dues. Without these, the Society simply can’t continue to do what it does.

At the following monthly board of directors meeting which was held virtually on June 7th, officers were elected:

Aadu Pirn, secretary

Louise Jakobson, assistant secretary

Merit Saar-Beckles, treasurer

Madli Mangum, assistant secretary

Nele Kaps, cultural liason

Villu Tari, archivist

The Board of Directors got down to business and began planning for the annual summer picnic on August 27th at the Finnish Center at Saima Park in Fitchburg, MA! More details will be shared in July or early August and we hope to see you there!

Sincerely,

Paul Attemann

President

Boston Estonian Society