Meeting Minutes
Minutes for April 2020 Virtual Meeting
Meeting Date: April 2, 2020
The Authors Guild of Tennessee didn’t meet on April 2, 2020 due to the corona-virus pandemic.
None of the members were present. (for nit-pickers, I know “was” is the proper singular verb form with “none” but it doesn’t sound right.) There were no visitors.
March minutes have been approved without correction and have been archived.
Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer Mary Gaines reported electronically that the bank balance as of March 1, 2020 was $1,573.33, and as of March 31, 2020 was $1,584.97, although her bookkeeping balance is $1,652.03 due to uncashed payments that have been sent to members. Mary advises that she has used the ORNL FCU’s electronic banking for the past two weeks which will save time and money for AGT, although payments to members may take a day or two longer than by her mailing them.
Announcements: The social room at the Faith Lutheran Church will be unavailable on the first Thursday in June. If we can have a meeting in June, consider if you’d like an evening dinner meeting, such as at Mimi’s, and let me know.
If any of you have announcements, please let us know by email.
Brief updates from the following committees:
Special Events: Organizers for the next two major festivals have notified us of revisions and additional information is available online.
1. Dogwood Arts Festival, originally scheduled for April 24 – April 26, has been converted into a Virtual Festival. The 109 artisan vendors will have their creations available only online. AGT will not be participating. The festival has reportedly sent us our refunded fee of $425 which will be disbursed to the would-be participants.
2. Oak Ridge’s Lavender Festival. According to their official site, no decisions have yet been made to either reschedule or cancel the event. A decision will be made in time and they’ll notify us as participants.
Membership: Newest member is Vicki Bennett who was introduced in the March meeting. Check out her author’s page for her biography and books.
E Zine: Lizzi Horton-Newton sent out an email a couple weeks ago inviting us all to submit a short story on the coronavirus pandemic: ie., our personal experiences or emotional reaction. This is an opportunity to share our sadness or a bit of inspiration in reacting to this global catastrophe. If this is too daunting, consider writing a short poem or a brief reflection on this uniquely precarious time in our lives in our homes, in our state, in our country and all around the world.
Program: Carol McClain was scheduled to regale us with her wisdom on “Show, Don’t Tell,” which she will do at a later time.
Virtual Adjournment. Cheryl adjourned the virtual meeting and her notes at 11:30; earlier than usual.
P.S. Please take care of yourselves by following the medical guidance of staying home as much as possible, keeping a 6′ social distance when you’re out, washing your hands frequently, and getting rest. I hope to see you all fairly soon. Stay in touch.