By-Laws
GORHAM HISTORICAL
SOCIETY
ARTICLE I
ARTICLE II
The purpose of the Society is to bring together those people interested in the history of the Town of Gorham and State of Maine and to collect and preserve ephemera and artifacts of the history of the town and its citizens so that people now and in the future will have resources to study their heritage.
The Society’s major function will be to discover and collect any material or memorabilia which may help to establish or illustrate the history of Gorham.
The Society shall provide for the preservation of such material and for its accessibility, as far as may be feasible, to all who wish to examine or study it; seek cooperation with officials to insure the preservation and accessibility of the records and archives of the Town of Gorham and its institutions; and support the preservation of historic buildings, monuments, and markers.
The Society shall disseminate historical information and arouse interest of the past by publishing historical material in the newspapers or otherwise; by holding meetings with pageants, addresses, lectures, papers, and discussion; by marking historic buildings, sites, and trails; and by using the media to awaken public interest.
The Society shall use, purchase, sell, convey, mortgage, lease or rent real or personal property only and solely for the purposes for which this Society was organized and to do all things necessary to carry out the purposes of this Society. No part of the net earnings, if any, of this Society shall benefit, without equal consideration, any Member, Director, or Officer. ARTICLE III
(a) Charter Member-- Any person who became a member prior to January 31, 1969. (c) Sustaining Membership -- Any business, club, association, or other group that assists in sustaining the work of the Society by paying annual dues. The sustaining member does not have voting rights. (e) Student Member -- Any full-time student in high school or college upon payment of annual dues. The student member has voting privileges. Annual dues for the next calendar year for each type of membership shall be established at the annual meeting when the officers are elected and shall be due at the next regular monthly meeting.
ARTICLE IV
The officers of the Society shall be President, Vice-President, Vice-President of Project Development, Vice-President of Programs, Executive Secretary, Recording Secretary, and Treasurer. The Board of Directors shall consist of the Society officers and the Immediate Past President.
(a) The PRESIDENT shall preside at all meetings of the Society; appoint the chair of Committees; preside at meetings of the Board of Directors, and be an ex officio member of all committees except the Nominating Committee.
The officers shall be elected at the Annual Meeting and shall serve a term of two years. The President, the Vice-President and the Executive Secretary shall be elected at the 2006 Annual Meeting to serve two-year terms. The Vice-President of Project Development, the Recording Secretary, the Vice-President of Programs and the Treasurer shall be elected at the 2007 Annual Meeting to serve two-years terms. Thereafter two year terms shall be served by all officers.
ARTICLE V
The meetings shall be held regularly on dates to be determined annually. If it is deemed advisable to change the date of a regular meeting, this may be done by majority vote at any regular meeting of the membership or by the Board of Directors. A written record of all regular meetings shall be supplied to the membership prior to the next regular meeting.
The annual meeting shall be in October for the purpose of hearing the annual reports from all Officers and Standing Committees; electing Officers for the following calendar year, and establishing membership dues.
Special meetings may be called by the Board of Directors. A written notice of ten (10) days shall be given to the membership for special meeting. No business shall be transacted except that mentioned in the notice of that meeting.
A quorum for a regular or special meeting shall be twenty (20) members .
ARTICLE VI
Vacancies occurring among the officers and committee chairs shall be filled by the Board of Directors to serve the remainder of the term.
ARTICLE VII
There shall be the following Standing Committees: Membership, Publicity, Ways and Means, House, Curator of Historic Memorabilia (archives building), Scholarship, Editor of the Gorham Historical Society Newsletter, and Historic Sites. Standing Committee Chairs may enlist volunteers for membership to their respective committees.
There shall be a Nominating Committee appointed annually with one member appointed by the Directors and two elected by the membership.
The Auditor, as appointed by the Board of Directors, shall examine the financial records of the Society annually and shall make such reports as the Board of Directors shall require and, will, on an annual basis, file a complete audit to be kept with the permanent records of the Society.
ARTICLE VIII Section 1. Any amendment to the By-Laws shall be proposed in writing to the membership not less than a month in advance of the annual meeting. The amendment shall be discussed and acted upon at the annual meeting. Adoption of amendments shall be by a 2/3 vote of those present.
ARTICLE IX
The rules contained in “Robert’s Rules of Order, Revised” shall govern proceedings at all meetings of the Society.  |
By-Laws |