Minutes of the 1990 HFA Business Meeting
October 19, 2002
Chattanooga, Tennessee
The 2002 Business Meeting was called to order by President L. Frank Higdon.
The invocation was given by Dr. Shelby Smith.
The pledge to the flag was led by Ernest Higdon.
The minutes of the 2001 business meeting were read by Secretary Barbara Higdon.
Membership
Group discussion of new membership ideas included:
contact with local genealogy societies
ads in local papers
grandparents should bring in children and grandchildren
and communication should be established with other Higdon family meetings.
Volunteers to establish communication with these other Higdon family meeting groups were:
- L. Frank Higdon - North Georgia Area, e.g. Fairmount, Georgia annual reunion;
- Eva Wood - Western North Carolina, e.g. Franklin area;
- Frances Smith - Northeast Florida and Southern Alabama;
- L. Frank Higdon - Southeast Tennessee and Northern Alabama;
- Juliet Kilgore - Charleston, South Carolina area.
News articles
The group discussed the need for volunteers from the numerous small family groups to commit to write articles, collect news on what is of general interest within each small family group and forward it to our editor Lisa Atkins. Several people volunteered to do this as follows:
Name: Group
Charles P. Higdon: Knox County, Tennessee
Eva Wood: Western North Carolina
Sally Swain: Copperhill, Tennessee
L. Frank Higdon: North Georgia
Gale Tyrrell: California
Janice J. Higdon: Texas
Eugene Smith: Kentucky
Frances Smith:Northwest Florida and Southern Alabama
Paul Brown: Oklahoma
Nina Ruth Vaughan: New Mexico
Nan Harrison: Michigan
Bill and Janice Higdon: Virginia
Membership Directory Request
We have had requests from members asking for a list of membership (names, addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, etc.) No one had any significant objections to providing this data only to members.1
Next Meeting
Next year's meeting was discussed and is scheduled for August 14, 15, 16, 17 in Fredericksburg, Texas being coordinated by Ernest and Joyce Higdon of Eldorado, Texas. The following year (2004) is to be in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Treasurer
Charles P. Higdon presented the annual Treasurer's Report which showed an ending balance of $9,104.15 in the general account and $8,195.15 in the Scholarship Fund (subsequent donations & collections at the meeting probably sent the Scholarship Fund over $10,000 and activated the Scholarship Committee).
New Officers
The 2002-2003 newly elected officers and appointees are as follows:
President Ernest Higdon, Eldorado, Texas
1st Vice President Nina Ruth Vaughan, Las Cruces, New Mexico
2nd Vice President David Mudd, Clarkson, Kentucky
3rd Vice President Sally Swain, Lebanon, Tennessee
Secretary Joyce Higdon, Eldorado, Texas
Treasurer Charles P. Higdon, Clinton, Tennessee
1-year Directors:
Gale Tyrrell, Vacaville, California2
Leoma Morris, New Baden, Texas
2-year Directors:
Helen Higdon Allison, North Carolina
Janice M. Higdon, Virginia
Newsletter Editor & Research Assistant Lisa Atkins, Knoxville, Tennessee
Technologist Nancy Higdon, Clinton, Tennessee
Parliamentarian L. Frank Higdon, Rockport, Texas
Necrologist Frances Smith, Gulf Shores, Alabama
Historian Eugene Smith, Leitchfield, Kentucky
Nominating Committee: Charles E. Higdon, Paul Brown, L. Frank Higdon
Scholarship Committee: Gale Tyrrell, Carol Tyrrell, William Higdon
Membership Committee: Eva Wood, David Mudd, and Frank B. Higdon
Constitution and Bylaws Committee: Charles E. Higdon, Charles P. Higdon, and Nancy Higdon
Adjournment
A motion to adjourn was made, seconded, and passed.
Additions accepted during the reading of the minutes in 2003:
Lisa Atkins volunteered to become the new editor for the HFA newsletter. With Lisa becoming editor, the need for someone to volunteer to be the Research Assistant to help with questions coming through the web site was presented. The Research Assistant should have access to e-mail and have an interest in genealogy. No one volunteered.
Charles and Nancy Higdon prepared and distributed a booklet (revision date October 13, 2001) to the members containing the Constitution and Bylaws that reflect the changes approved at the 2001 HFA meeting in Tulsa.
Eva Wood explained that the 2002 Archiving Committee checked with
Western Carolina University. The university would own the copyright to
HFA materials. Once archived, the HFA materials, including the photo
albums, could not be removed for any reason from the university. The
members present discussed how much they enjoy browsing the albums at the
annual meetings. The idea to archive the HFA materials was shelved and
the committee disbanded.
1Technologist Nancy Higdon volunteered to prepare and distribute the
Membership Directory.
2Carol Tyrrell of Angels Camp, California, was the One-year Director.
Here are a few notes taken by Nancy Higdon during the 2002 HFA meeting that were not read as part of the minutes but may be of some interest:
A mass mailing to Higdons throughout the United States was considered. In the past, there has not been much response to mass mailings. But a special mailing was approved. Members should send prospective names to the newsletter editor.
Listing phone numbers of the officers in the newsletter was vetoed. (The newsletter is distributed to several libraries; this could open the officers to unwanted telemarketing.)
Consider a paid membership as a birthday gift to one of your relatives.
Nancy Higdon will contact Dolores Day as a contact for writing articles covering the Louisiana families.
An appeal was made regarding early registration for the annual meetings. Registering early provides the President with a more accurate headcount and avoids overpayment for banquet meals. Also, members should read the registration directions carefully; checks for the annual meeting registration should be payable to the President, not the Treasurer.
An announcement was made for the Sunday devotional service to be held by Shelby Smith at 9:00 a.m.
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