Alumni Foundation Annual Meeting of Members and Association Annual General Meeting

Plans are underway to hold the 2025 Alumni Association NPC School of Horticulture Foundation Annual Members Meeting on Thursday Evening, May 22nd from 6:00-7:00pm (Eastern Standard Time) and then the Association’s Annual General Meeting from 7:00pm -8:30pm.

As noted at the last annual meeting of members on November 2nd, we’d like you to think of this as a Town Hall. The intent will be to give everyone the opportunity to ask questions.  We will do our very best to make you feel welcome and create dialogue and discussion.  Your Alumni Foundation Board wants to tell you a little about what we’ve been up to over the course of 2024, and so far in 2025 as well as what we have planned for the rest of the year.  It’s an exciting time.

• Construction of the beautiful Recognition Garden began in the Fall of 2023 and continued through last year.   Bob Murch ‘77 has made it a point to drop in on a regular basis to check the status and take photos.  Bob is one of the Foundation Directors and he’s agreed to provide a condensed, verbal version of the “Update” points.
• John Howard is the Treasurer and he will be presenting his Annual Treasurer’s Report.
• Matt Robertson the Fundraising Coordinator has agreed to provide a brief Update as well.

Just so You All know, there are Two (2) Alumni Association Boards;

• The Alumni Association of The Niagara Parks Commission School of Horticulture was founded  in 1947.  It’s a diverse group of graduates who celebrate their affiliation with the Niagara Parks Commission School of Horticulture through a variety of programs and services designed to support members, the School, and the highest professional standards of horticulture.  The Association Board consists of the immediate Past President, and nine Directors elected from/by active members at The Annual Meeting.

• The Alumni Association Niagara Parks Commission School of Horticulture Foundation Board.  The original Board was formed in 1982.  The Primary Objective is to Administer Alumni Association Scholarships, Bursaries and Awards to assist Undergraduate and Graduate students of Our Beloved Niagara Parks School of Horticulture, and serve for financial donations or bequests received from Alumni and others.  We also organize and hold various Fundraising events to supplement existing funds and Donations used to promote Horticultural Education and Projects such as the Recognition Garden.  The Foundation Board consists of nine Directors elected from/by active members at The Annual Meeting.

A Copy of the Agenda and The Treasurer’s Report and an Updated copy of the Recognition Garden Report are available upon request.

Background:

Over the past 10-15 Years we’ve organized Our Annual Meetings to be held as part of Our Annual Conferences which were held later in the year.  Since Covid hit back in 2020, we’ve been having these annual meetings virtually.  An Annual General Meeting (AGM) for a non-profit organization is a statutory requirement in Canada, mandated by both federal and provincial legislation. It’s a formal gathering of members where they review the organization’s past performance, approve financial statements, elect board members and discuss future directions.

AGMs must be held within 15 months of the previous AGM, but no more than six months after the end of the organization’s fiscal year.  Since we organize both Annual Meetings of the Alumni Foundation and the Alumni Association one after the other, we refer to one as the Annual Meeting of Members (AMM) for the Foundation and the Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the Association.

Meeting Details:

To ensure we’re following procedural guidelines, we’ve scheduled these Meetings for the evening of Thursday, May 22nd starting with the Alumni Foundation’s AMM from 6-7pm.

6:00-7:00PM ET  – Alumni Foundation AMM

Here is the link that you can use to join the meeting that runs from 6:00-700pm.

The intent will be to go Live by 5:50pm in case anyone wants to say hello to other grads prior to the meeting.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86716067637?pwd=9eUIIAzrjdwvWJIgsi6RvtD7UaEmKm.1

At 7pm we plan on continuing with the Alumni Association’s Annual General Meeting (AGM).

7:00-8:30 PM ET -Alumni Association AGM              (same link as Foundation meeting)

Please check the website often as well for updates on Our Annual Meeting and to find out the latest on The September Homecoming.    https://alumninpcsoh.com/

Part of the time will be devoted to providing an update on what is scheduled for the 2025 Alumni Homecoming Event on Friday, September 12th and Saturday, September 13th.