Minutes of the Inaugural Meeting
Association for Historical Fencing
Held in New York City, 25 May 1999
Keith S. Massey, Trustee of the AHF, called the meeting to order at 4:20 PM. Edgar De La Vega took minutes. The other trustees of the corporation, Ramon Martinez and Jeanette Acosta-Martinez, were also present.
I. Opening Remarks.
A. Maestro Martinez commented on the general purpose of the AHF.
II. Reports of Trustees.
A. Mr. Massey informed the membership that the Articles of Incorporation had been filed with the state of NJ.
B. Mr. Massey further informed the group that the tax exemption process was under way and would be spearheaded by Nivaldo Hernandez, who has expertise in that area.
III. Approval of Formational Documents
A. The Articles of Incorporation were approved as presented by unanimous vote.
B. The Bylaws were approved by unanimous vote with the following amendments (all of which were also approved by unanimous vote):
1. Article IV, Sect.1: (Membership) was amended to add at least one class of membership for organizations and schools. Sect. 2 was amended in order to clarify that organizational members would not have voting rights.
2. Article VI, Sect.1: (Officers) was amended to reduce the number of directors to four. Sect. 10, dealing with resignations, was added.
3. Article VII, Sect. 1 (Board of Governors) was amended to reflect the reduction in the number of board members. Sect. 3 was amended to clarify that the exhibitions being referred to were those sponsored by the AHF. Sect. 5 was amended to reduce the quorum from six members to four because of the reduction in the number of directors. Sect. 7 was amended to reflect that notification of meetings could be sent by e-mail.
4. Article VII, Sect. 1 (Executive Committee) was amended to reflect the change in the committee to include the two Vice-presidents, but exclude directors.
5. Article IX, Sect. 6 (Finance Committee) was amended to reflect the reduction in the number of members of the finance committee from "not less than six nor more than ten" to "four."
IV. Election of Officers
The following members had been nominated by the Trustees for positions on the Board of Governors:
| President: | Maestro Ramon Martinez |
| 1st Vice-president: | Jeanette Acosta-Martinez |
| 2nd Vice-president: | Jana Umbs |
| Secretary: | Keith S. Massey |
| Treasurer: | Nivaldo Hernandez |
| Director: | John Kovacs |
| Director: | Keith Cini |
| Director: | Valerie Eads |
| Director: | Jeff Helmers |
Mr. Massey called for nominations from the floor and none were presented. Therefore, all nominees were declared elected as per the bylaws.
V. New Business
(NB. As of 5:40 PM, the chair was passed to President Martinez for the remainder of the meeting)
A. Dues were set at $35 for charter members, to be adjusted by the Board when the treasurer completed the financial plan.
The meeting was adjourned on motion from K. Massey at 5:47 PM.