Minutes of the 2016 HFA Business Meeting to Be Approved in 2017:
The Higdon Family Association, Inc.
2016 Business Meeting Minutes
October 15, 2016
Grenville Hotel, Bay Head, NJ
The Annual Meeting of The Higdon Family Association, Inc., was called to order at 9:50 A.M. on October 15, 2016, by President Charles (Chuck) A. Higdon. Janice J Higdon gave the invocation. President Chuck led the members in The Pledge of Allegiance. President Chuck read the messages from several who had not been able to attend the meeting this year.
Past President and Newsletter Editor Barbara and Sidney Tedford, of West Virginia, were still recuperating from Sidney’s illness. Sidney had celebrated his 90th birthday with lunch and a renewal of his driving license.
Past President Jane and Boone Brackett, from Georgia, were unable to attend due to Jane’s health issues, but hopes to attend the 2017 meeting.
Past President Martha Tidwell, from Texas, had been laid off and was looking for a new job and was sorry she could not attend, but hoped to be at the 2017 meeting.
Past President Carolyn and Randy Cole, of Georgia, were attending a wedding in Houston and sent their regrets for not being able to attend this year. They hope to see everyone in 2017.
Past Presidents Frank and Barbara Higdon of Texas were unable to make the meeting due to Barbara’s struggle with mesothelioma, which limits her ability to travel distances.
Secretary Janice J Higdon read the minutes from the 2015 meeting. President Chuck asked for a motion to accept the minutes as read, Nancy Higdon so moved, with Nan H. Harrison as a second. A vote of the members was unanimous. The minutes were approved as read.
Treasurer’s Report: Janice M. Higdon gave the Financial Statement as of June 30, 2016. The Association had an ending balance of $115,916.38 in the Scholarship Fund. The General Operating Fund with donations, Auction, Dues and Costs for Newsletters, Office supplies, and Meeting disbursements had an ending balance of $15,143.26. The Total Funds for June 30, 2016 were $131,059.64. Since June 30, 2016, Dues payments, Scholarship and Newsletter Payments, left the HFA with a balance $126,663.71.
Treasurer Janice M. Higdon is resigning and Chuck Higdon will become the new Treasurer. In trying to change the Treasurer name at the Bank, it was discovered that the Incorporation papers with original seal was needed. After a short discussion, the Incorporation Papers with the Original Seal were found in the President’s notebook. It was decided by the membership that the Treasurer’s Notebook should hold the Original Papers. President Chuck called for a motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report as read, Charles P. Higdon made the motion which was seconded by Nan H. Harrison. A unanimous vote accepted the report as read.
Membership Report: Membership Chair Janice M. Higdon stated that 8 new members joined due to the HFA website. Sixty-one members renewed their membership, while 3 Statements were returned as undeliverable. Five members were removed due to failure to pay for the last 3 years. To date there are 23 members that have not yet paid their dues for 2015-2016. A request was made to find out if any of the 23 have passed away during this year. The Treasurer will continue to encourage them to pay their dues. A motion was made by Nan Higdon to accept the Membership Report as read, with a second by Bill Higdon. Following the unanimous vote, the report was accepted as read.
President Chuck introduced President-Elect Faye Higdon, of Virginia, to discuss the 2017 meeting. Next year’s meeting will be in Washington, D. C. with the hotel located in Alexandria, VA. The meeting is scheduled for September 14-17, 2017. Some of the activities and tours will include the following:
Visit to the National Archives and Records Agency, where we will be trained to become archivists,
Meeting with National Park Service Rangers and find out the services of the National Park System,
Visits to the Library of Congress, Mount Vernon, National History Museum, The Museum of Indian Affairs, The African-American Museum, The Holocaust Museum
Historian’s Report. Since Carolyn Cole was unable to attend, President Chuck delivered the report. Carolyn had not received any materials for the scrapbook and felt that the position of Historian was no longer needed, since the website was a repository of all of the memories of which the scrapbooks were created. Due to this opinion, Carolyn Cole has resigned as Historian.
Technologist Report. Technologist Frank Mayfield has been busy updating the website (www.higdonfamily.org) with new information that has been sent to him. One project involved a search of family documents by Jane Brackett, which produced a whole addition to the website. Frank wants to encourage other members to search through their pictures, documents, and written stories to send them to him to put on the website. The Higdon Family website has been acknowledged by Ancestory.com as a very robust with family documentation. Frank is also acquiring more information about his own family history by visiting various family reunions and talking with family members bringing documents, pictures and stories to the meetings. Frank and Nell visited Western Carolina University of the North Carolina Education System, to inventory the Higdon Family Special Collection housed at WCU. Past year HFA Website use statistics:
Newsletter Report. Due to Barbara Tedford’s absence, President Chuck read the Newsletter Editor’s report. The Newsletter has been published in November, 2015 and in January, March, May, July, and October, 2016 this past year. The Editor is still in need of members sending her information to use in the letter. Her last request was for a new editor to step in and take the role of editor.
Nominating Committee. Past President Kristen Yokoyama, listed the new officers for 2016-2017, which are as follows: President: Faye S. Higdon, 1st Vice President: William A. Bautz, 2nd Vice President: Unfilled at this time, 3rd Vice President: Unfilled at this time, Secretary: Janice J. Higdon; Treasurer: Charles “Chuck” A. Higdon; 1-year Directors: Nan Higdon Harrison, Nancy Higdon; 2-year Directors: Charles P. Higdon, Jane H. Brackett; Historian: Unfilled at this time; Newsletter Editor: Barbara Tedford; Technologist: Frank Mayfield; Necrology: Barbara Tedford; Nominating Committee: Charles A. Higdon, Chair, Kristen N. Yokoyama, Karen N. Fickes;
Scholarship Committee: William (Bill) R. Higdon, Chair, Sally Swain, Charles P. Higdon.R. Higdon reported the committee reviewed all of the 8 applicant submissions, and three $2,000 HFA scholarships were awarded. The committee conferred by conference call to determine the final three recipients
The committee informed Treasurer, Janice M. Higdon, and HFA Newsletter Editor, Barbara Tedford, of the top 3 winners who are: Elayne Bischoff, 18, of Bardstown, Kentucky, who will be enrolled at the
University of Kentucky majoring in Accounting with plans to be a Certified Public Accountant;
Madeline Brooke Elder, 17, of Park City, Kentucky, who plans to take Pre-Medicine and Biology at Georgetown College in Kentucky, then enroll in a School of Medicine to become an Orthopedic Surgeon; and Kristin Logan, 28, of Indianapolis, Indiana, who plans to become a Registered Nurse and is attending Marian University in Indiana. She earned her bachelor’s degree with honors in Biology from Loyola University in 2011.
Based on a proposal that was passed at last year’s meeting, the Scholarship committee has the option of awarding scholarships in one of the following three ways:
1. To award two scholarships, but increase the amount of the grant from $1,000 to $2,000 for each scholarship, for a total of $4,000.
2.To increase the number of scholarships from (2) to (3) and increase the amount of each to $1,500, for a total of $4,500.
3. To increase the number of scholarships from (2) to (3) and increase the amount of each to $2,000, for a total of $6,000. The decision on which option we will employ in any given year is based on the amount of money in the scholarship fund and the number and quality of the applications we receive.
Necrology Report. Chair Barbara Tedford sent President Chuck the following list of deceased for this last year.
Wanda Broome Higdon died at age 78 on September 10, 2015 in Asheville, North Carolina.
Linda Moore Moss died at age 72 on February 1, 2016 in Sylva, North Carolina. She was the daughter of the late Alvin Charles and Mildred Bryson Moore. She was the niece of Higdon Family Association member Ruth Bryson Ritchie, of Elizabethton, Tennessee.
Harold Douglas Smith, of Raleigh, North Carolina, died at age 59 in February 2016 in the Bahamas. He was the son of founding Higdon Family Association member and Honorary Director Jo Ann Smith and her husband, the late H. A. “Jack” Smith, of Raleigh.
John Littlefield Crawford died at age 97 on March 30, 2016 in Franklin, North Carolina. He was the son of the late John L. and Annie Childers Crawford Higdon and the stepson of the late Alfred Rich Higdon, of Macon County, North Carolina.
Frances Smith Kidwell Payne died at age 95 on May 3, 2016 in Raleigh, North Carolina. She was daughter of the late Robert Nathan Smith and Martha Ellen Higdon Smith and the sister of Honorary Director Jo Ann Smith, of Raleigh. She was the mother of HFA member Dennis Ray Kidwell, of Knightdale, North Carolina.
(Obituaries of these Higdon relatives appeared in the Higdon Family Association Newsletter during the past year.)
Old Business. At last year’s meeting, a request was made to find out what materials were in the Special Collection at Western Carolina University (WCU) of North Carolina Education System. Technologist Frank Mayfield visited WCU to review the collection and inventory it. Frank spoke eloquently about the care the Special Collections Unit of the WCU Library is performing to insure the collection for future generations. Frank discovered the collection is open to receiving any Higdon family documents, pictures and stories that preserve the knowledge of the Higdon family history. He encouraged us to look through our personal memorabilia. If there is no one in your family who wants to care for the history, then send it to WCU for addition to the Higdon Family Special Collection.
New Business. The first item of discussion for New Business was the combining of the Board and Business Meetings into one meeting, due to the small number of attendees in the past few years. Those attending the Board meeting comprise the same members who attend the Business Meeting. After some discussion, a decision appointed Nan Harrison and Charles A. Higdon to examine the By-Laws. The result will be discussed again at the 2017 meeting.
The second item of business was to establish a plan of communications with Officers to meet via conference call or e-mail about sensitive issues before the Board Meeting. The 2017 President Faye S. Higdon will be in charge of this action.
Third item of business was the continuation of the Historian’s Office and the creation of scrapbooks about the HFA. Historian Carolyn Cole stated in her report that the HFA website does the same thing as the scrapbooks which are heavy and hard to carry from meeting to meeting. Carolyn suggests, due to lack of materials, the scrapbooks be scrapped. President Chuck opened the topic up for discussion by the members. The following points were made:
Scrapbooks were a draw for interesting new members at meetings
All but one scrapbook is in the special collections at WCU and are not brought to meetings anyway.
It wouldn’t be hard to FEDEX scrapbooks or materials to the hotel location of the meeting, where the hotel will hold them for the President or Historian.
There has not been a place to display them and keep them safe, as we have not had a hospitality room in the last few meetings. (Hotels are no longer providing hospitality rooms for free).
Something is needed to encourage new attendees and start discussions about family histories.
Frank Mayfield made a motion to table the dissolution of the Historian’s position until further study was made. Charles P. Higdon seconded and a unanimous vote decided to wait for more information to be provided at next year meeting.
The last item of discussion was to establish a written process to send items to be included in the Higdon Family Special Collection at WCU. A committee of Chuck Higdon and Frank Mayfield will work on this.
New Officer Installation. The officers for the 2016-2017 year were asked to stand and Charles P. Higdon administered the oath of office which installed next year’s officers.
Adjournment. Charles P. Higdon made a motion, seconded by Nancy Higdon to adjourn and with a unanimous vote, the meeting was adjourned at 11:32 A.M.
Respectfully submitted by
Janice J. Higdon
2016 Secretary
October 16, 2016
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