Minutes taken by Gertrude Kehleay, General Recording Secretary
5th National Reunion Conference
GUMMSAA – USA
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Friday, August 2nd to Sunday, August 4th, 2019
Theme: "Share responsibility for education of future generations and focus on development with sustainable solutions".
Friday, August 2nd, 2019
Arrival of delegates and friends. We met in the home of Mr. & Mrs. Kear' for the Meet and Greet. During this time members were registering. Mrs. Marian Webba led the group in singing some of the old farmiliar songs from Ganta that we learned during our school days. The Kears prepared a lot of food and drinks. The evening was a joyful evening. Everyone had a great time, eating, drinking and singing.
Saturday, August 3rd, 2019
I. The beginning of the business meeting. Before the meeting started, Mrs. Marie Davies, Mrs. Kau Alpha and other women prepared a continental breakfeat for the group. Marie was selling Souvinir mugs and Ellen Miller brought her Artworks for exhibition, and Taryor brought some of his publications for exhibition. Among the books there was a special one written by Mrs. Winifred J. Harley with the title: "A Third of a Century with George Way Harley in Liberia." This is the History of the establishment of Ganta Mission everyone needs to have a copy to prepare for the coming Centinial of the mission in 2026.
THE MEETING
I. Saturday, August 3, 2019. The beginning of the business meeting.
a. The meeting was called to order by the Interim President, Dr. Taryor at 11:00 am. Prayer was led by Mr. Abe Wrotto and followed by the
Liberian National Anthem and the School Ode.
b. Roll call by Mr. Prince Toweh, Interim Vice President.
c. Mrs. Kau Alpha, Interim Secretary presented the minutes of 2018 NRC minutes. There were no written minutes, but she reported that the late Mr. Allan Blegay was elected as interim Chair; Ms. Ellen Miller, Co-Chair; Famatta Massaquo, Financial Secretary. Mrs. Alpha also stated that the national fee be reduced from $100.00 to $75.00 to encourage people to attend. The motion was not passed, so the $100 was agreed upon by everyone.
II. Presentation and Discussion of Strategic Plans was presented by Dr. Taryor. The emphasis of the strategic plans were: That presentation can be found in the15th National Reunion Conference Journal. The Strategic plans consisted of the following:
a. Obtaining our 501(C)3
b. Construction of our Website to help us promote our Association.
c. Set a budget so that we can acquire a responsible financial management.
d. Grant Proposal Writing if we can acquire our 501(c)3
e. We should Report yearly to the IRS our Income & Expenses for Tax purposes.
f. Internal and External Auditing yearly when possible
g. Membership Increase
h. Our principle guidelines and standards were: Transparency, Accountability, Responsibility, Dependability, and Stewardship.
It was moved that the presentation be opened for discussion. Prince Toweh wanted to add another project: (a) google duck and robocall that will alert everyone of any announcements. He said that he will make sure that we get those systems. He will be in charge of that. Some suggested that membership drive was the most important. Mr. Sam Pennoh said that the elected officers will carry on those proposals.
*Vote was taken for the most important Strategic Plan.
1. 501(C)3 – majority
2. Website – majority
3. Membership – majority
4. Budget – 10 people voted
Mr. Henry Gaypia moved that the 4 major items should be the work of the new administration. It was seconded by Miss Ellen Miller.
III. 2020 NRC Location and Date: Place – New England (Rhode Island) volunteered to host the NRC. Someone suggested to take the conference to Liberia but that suggestion was turned down.
IV. Regional Reports:
All the reports were done verbally because they were already printed in the 15th Annual Journal.
a. Northeast Region – Mrs. Kau Alpha
b. Southeast Region – Ms. Evelyn Miller
c. New England Region – Dr. Taryor
d. Midwest Region – Mr. Henry Gaypia
e. Southern Region – Mr. Laluba enry Gaypia
Bishop Nagbeh’s daughter, Karen Nagbeh, was introduced to the group. Karen made a visit to the Association.
V. State of the Association Address: Dr. Taryor, Interim President. The report was written in the program booklet.
VI. Some Committee Reports were not written.
The Interim President, Dr. Taryor, reported that the death of Mr. Allen Blegay possed some challenges at the time for the Association. The attendance at the funeral was great. The Association was well represented. Dr. Taryor gave the Eulogy at the funeral and Mr. Sam Pennoh was the organist.
Making preparation for the conference required many hands. Many people helped Dr. Taryor to put the program together. Some of the help came to doing the following things:
a. Preparing Certificates for our Honorees
b. Inviting a guest speaker
c. Making the program booklet, etc.
He especially thanked Mrs. Kau Alpha, Gertrude Kehleay, Mrs. Marie Davies, and Fatu Kear for all her help. On page 36 in our 15th Annual Journal you can find this expression of gratitude to these 4 ladies.
VII. 501(C)3: Mr. Samuel Pennoh reported that during Mr. Boayue’s administration, the 501(C)3 was revoked. He presented some documents but was incomplete. He said that we have to start all over. Mr. Pennoh agreed to work with the new administration to continue the process.
VIII. The Treasurer’s Report: The report by Mrs. Uluma Sharpe was suspended until Sunday. Financial Report was also suspended.
IX. Election of National Officers and Board Members:
a. President elected: Dr. Nya Taryor
b. Vice President for Operation: Mrs. Kau Alpha
c. General Secretary: Gertrude Kehleay
d. Treasurer: None. In due time, Miss Teewon Toweh was elected after the conference session.
e. Financial Secretary: Mr. Abe Wrotto
f. Chaplain: Yei Gbatu
g. Parliamentarian: Mr. Henry Garpia
X. Board Members:
a. Dr. Richard Page
b. Mrs. Marian Webba
c. Miss Ellen Miller
d. Mrs. Annie Saye-Sahn
e. Mrs. Mary Ann Nagba
f. Mr. Francis Miller
g. Mrs. Marie Davies
h. Mr. Togba Dennis
XI. The Treasurer’s position will be taped off until we can find one. Mrs. Uluma was instructed to continue to serve in an interim treasure until our new Treasurer is duely elected.
The president elect, Dr. Taryor, wanted to make it clear that we are here for everyone. We will have everyone’s input. He pointed that there was no animosity for anybody and no special favor for any body. We must all work together to build a great organization.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:00 pm with prayer by the Chaplin elect, Ms. Yei Gbatu.
Saturday, August 3rd Evening activities.
The Banquet was very successful. Attendence was remarkable. A special word of thanks goes to Mrs. Marie Davies for her hard work cleaning the hall and making sure that the fan and air condition work well. She made sure that the decorations were superb. The food was good. Many of our Alumni over 75 years of age along with some parents and relatives were honored. They were all given real handsome and well-prepared personalized Certificates.
Our Guest Speaker was Mr. Rubel Gehyeka. His remarks and speech were well-received by the audience. He spoke on the theme: "Shared Responsibility for Education of Future Generations and a Focus on Development with sustainable Solution."
Sunday, August 4th, 2019
It was suggested that the financial report be postponed until the first meeting in November.
Prayer by Marie Davies.
Respectfully submitted by your humble Servant
Gertrude Kehleay
General Secretary of GUMMSAA
August 18,2019
Teleconference of Officers:
Members Present were:
Dr. Nya Kwiawon Taryor, Sr.
Mrs. Kau Alpha
G. Kehleay
Mrs. Marie Davies
Miss Teewon Toweh
Mr. Prince Toweh
Mr. Henry Gaypia
Miss Ellen Miller
Mr. Abe Wrotto
Meeting started at 8:12 pm. Prayer by Prince Toweh.
Agenda:
· The installation of officers
· Bank account charge
· Budget
· 501(C)3
· Website to be built
· The death of Marie Massaquoi
I. It was suggested that the installation of the elected officers be done on the phone by teleconference the first Sunday in October.
II. Treasurer: Teewan Toweh was nominated by Marie Davies. She won by acclamation.
III. Budget: postponed again.
IV. 501(C)3: Prince Toweh explained the process to the group. Some questions were asked. The president thanked Mr. Toweh for his time and presentation. Prince Toweh suggested that he has prepared 501(C)3 forms for other organizations before. He could prepare ours for less fees.
V. Dr. Taryor explained that a website for our Association would be a plus because it will be the source of our information, where we can post all our minutes, reports, list and pictures of our officers, our reports, conference reports information on what is happening in Ganta and vital statistics. Moreover, the website can be the site where we can reference when we write our grant proposals for the donors to see the activities of the Association. It was put into vote and majority of the members present agreed to instruct Dr. Taryor to pursue the project. Mr. Henry Gaypia suggested that he and Dr. Taryor should check Godaddy for the price they charge.
VI. As for the death of Marie Massaquoi, some of our members along with some of our honorees like Elizabeth Constance, and Jenet Garmie were at the funeral. Her sister Famatta Massaquoi coordinated the funeral program. We expressed our deepest sympathy for the loss.
Respectfully Submitted by your Humble Servant
Gertrude Kehleay,
National General Recording Secretary
6/8/2020
GUMMSAA General Meeting
The meeting started at 8:20 pm
Opening prays by Dr. L. Taryor
Members Present:
Dr. L. Taryor
Gertrude Kehleay
Dr. Richerson Paye
Mrs. Kau Alpha
Mr. Abe Wrotto
Miss Ellen Miller
Mr. Alpha Lalubah
Mr. Sam Wuo
Mrs. Kau Alpha said that two meetings were held by the Vice President but there were no reports. It is still in progress, however the 2020 annual convention will be held virtually. They will send information to Dr. Taryor to be placed on the website.
Due payment was discussed
a) It was concluded that old members must pay their dues to participate in meeting and voting right.
b) New members will be told to pay if they want to participate in voting. In other words, all voting members must pay their dues. Dues are $100.00 per person. It was agreed that due should be paid by July 15th.
The president asked about the queen contest and banquet. What are we going to do to raise funds since we will not have the queen contest and banquet? Some suggested that each decade group raises funds. Example from 1954 to 1964 from 1964 – 1974, the group that comes up with the most funds wins the contest.
The President also said that we should consider having a face to face annual conference if possible. He is hoping that the pandemic will fade away by that time. It was agreed that we will have a virtual conference as agreed on during the previous general meeting.
The President talked about the 501 (C)3. He said that they will need more information:
a) Telephone numbers of all leaders and board members.
b) The bank statement. AB Wrotto will resend the bank statement to the president.
Mr. Frank Mellish briefed us about the 501(C) 3. He said that our 501(c)3 was revoked for 3 years. They will need a convincing reason to reconsider. The preparation in cooperation of article was in Georgia. Why was it revoked? They are still working on details.
Website; The Social Committee including website, Social Media must be active. Dr. Taryor will revisit that committee.
The President announced that Mrs. Marie Davies lost her brother in Guinea.
Moses Dolo was sick and doing better.
The closing prayer was led by Dr. Taryor.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:30pm.
Respectfully Submitted by
Gertrude Kehleay
General Recording Secretary
July 5th, 2020
GUMMSAA General Meeting
The meeting started at 8:32 pm
I . Opening prayers was led by Dr. Taryor
Individuals Present at this meeting were:
1. Nya Taryor, 6. Gertrude Kehleay
2. Prince Toweh, 7. Marie Davies
3. Kau Alpha, 8. Yah Emma King
4. Abe Wrotto, 9. Sam Wuo
5. Ellen Miller , 10. Marian Webba
II. Prince – Chair of the planning committee
- Reported that this year annual conference will be on zoom
- There will be 3 sessions:
Friday – Registration and singing
Saturday – Business Meeting
Sunday – closing
(a) Theme: utilization of education
(b) Speaker: Daniel Mahn
(c) Prince reported that there will be no honorarium for the speaker.
(d) Queen Contest: There will be no Queen Test. Instead, the contest will be generational support. Winners will be determined by the amount of money each generation or former students of the various decades will raise.
Example: from 1959 to 1969 – from 1969 to 1979 and so forth. The committee has put in place those who will be responsible to head those decades. They are:
Sennih Gosby
Marie Davies
Ellen Miller
Sam Wuo
Abe Wrotto
Kau Zigbo
The announcement of the winner will be announced during the evening of the Saturday business meeting:
Prince also said that the zoom cost for one month is $15.00. Prince will take care of the processing of the zoom. He will pass out the link to the zoom conference so that everyone can practice on July 26th.
Dr. Taryor asked for the third time that all officers and board members send their names, addresses and phone numbers to him, so that Mr. Frank Mellish can complete the 501(c)3 paper work.
Mr. Prince was to email me and Dr. Taryor the information of the conference, but as of today July 10th, I have not received it. Closing prayers was led by Dr. Tayor.
Meeting was adjourned at 10:40 pm
Respectfully submitted by
Gertrude Kehleay
General Secretary
GUMMSAA
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