Věstník (West, Tex.), Vol. 67, No. 49, Ed. 1 Wednesday, December 5, 1979 Page: 3 of 32
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Wednesday, December 5, 1979
3
the newest unit of Sokol in Texas, for all
present to discuss and approve, accept or
amend. Let us do this for our youth and
also for ourseíves; we cannot lose! We
also hope to háve the equipment by that
time.
This should give all of us a boost
forward: at the last Westfest, lne.
General Meeting, held recently, Brother
Robert Dobecka of Lodge No. 6,
Cottonwood asked if Westfest eould help
Sokol West in the uniťs effort. Lo and
behold! Someone made a motion that
Westfest give Sokol West $500.00 and it
passed unanimously, and, as president of
the unit, in behalf of all the meinbership,
we say that we sincerely thank you all
and do not intend to let you down! This
editor eould not be present because of
other pressing matters.
We hope to see you at the meeting
Monday, December lOth at 7:30 p.m.
* * #
On the front page is the proclamation
that Mayor A.J. Muška of West issued
for Sunday, December 2nd, 1979 in
recognition of the 75th Anniversary of
Lodge Jaromir No. 54, West. Brother
Muška is atrue fraternalist in his journey
down life*s path.
SUPREME LODGE
FROM THE PRESIDENT’S OFFICE
Pre-Convention Delegáte Information
To: All Lodges
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
As we get into the latter part of 1979
and start electing delegates to the
XXIÍIrd Convention to be held iri 1980,
it oceurs to me that it might be well to
háve a brief review of the election of
delegates in the local lodges. I am
referring primarily to Article 4 of our
by-laws.
Only those members may be elected
delegates or substitutes who háve
attended a majority of the meetings
during each of the three years preceding
the election of delegates to the
convention. The delegates to the last
convention felt that if a member was
going to be elected a delegáte to a
convention where decisions of great
importance are going to be made that
will affect the Society for four years, they
should be as active as possíble in their
local lodges. This was to preclude, I am
sure, a member not attending any or very
few of his lodge meetings for two years
and then making an all-out effort to
attend at least one-half of them in the
year before the convention. In the
workshops earlier this year, for example,
those attending were of the unanimous
view that the present by-law is not too
stringent and should not be weakened or
re-worded so as to require less active
participation on the local lodge level.
The first thing that may arise in some
lodges (very few, I believe) is that the
lodge may not háve enough members
qualified to be elected delegates under
this requirement. Certainly, one cannot
plead lack of knowledge of this
requirement because the by-laws háve
now been in effect almost 8 years and
there has been a wide distribution of our
by-laws.
Let us také, for example, the čase of a
lodge that is entitled to five delegates,
but only four members qualify as
delegates under Article 4 (d) 3. In such
instances, the lodge should proceed to
elect only the four who are eligible, and
those four will háve the voting power of
five delegates. To elect a delegáte who is
not eligible would certainly be a violation
of the by-laws. ín other words, those
delegates present would vote with the fulí
voting strength allotted to their lodge.
(Of course, if a lodge is entitled to one
delegáte who is not present in the
convention, that lodge is deprived of
representation and votes in the
convention).
Other questíons that háve arisen haye
been as follows:
a) What is meant by a majority? The
answer is one more than half. For
example, if a lodge hoíds monthly
meetings, then a majority of the meetings
would háve to be seven. If a lodge holds
quarterly meetings - four a year - then a
majority would be three.
b) Does attendance at the meeting in
which the election of delegates takés
plače count toward a majority? Yes; you
cannot discount or invalidate the
meeting in which election of delegates
takés plače. Delegates and substitutes
are elected in what has been termed for a
number of years “the annual meeting” or
in the nearest succeeding meeting.
Article 95(b) stipulates that the annual
meeting is to be held in November or
December or the first meeting thereafter.
Also, if the lodge wishes, and with the
consent of two-thirds of its members
present, it may nominate (but not elect)
delegates in the meeting preceding the
annual meeting.
c) How and when will we know how
many delegates our lodge is entitled to?
Each lodge has been ťurnished an official
count by Financial Secretary Mikuláš’
office.
d) How many delegates does a lodge
elect?
Every lodge has the right to elect
delegates according to its membership
and according to the following scale:
From 20 to 100 members over 16 years of
age, one delegáte; for each additionaliy
attained 100 members, one additional
delegáte. The delegates in the convention
are entitled to one vote for every active
and full-benefit member over 16 - in
short, all those members except sociál
members and those on Extended Term
Insurance.
e) What if a lodge is entitled to an
additional delegáte after the annual
meeting and 60 days before the
convention?
Brother Mikuláš will inform your lodge
to this effect and the answer is the same
as in the čase of the delegáte who cannot
go to the convention: the substitute with
the highest number of votes becomes the
additional delegáte. (See Art. 4(g)3 of
the by-laws). (Comment: There appears
to be a conflict in the wording of Articles
4(a)3 and 4(g)3. The former States that
the additional delegáte is elected and the
latter States that the substitute with the
highest number of votes goes as the
delegáte. In either čase, however, the
person is elected.)
Article 4(a)3 eould be misleading. It
reads as follows: “A lodge attaining an
additional 100 members between the
annual meeting and 60 days before the
convention may elect an additional
delegáte.” A lodge may not necessarily
need 100 members to qualify for an
additional delegáte. They may need 3,
15, 20, or 40 to qualify for an additional
delegáte. In other words, however many
delegates it takés to make an additional
100 will entitle a lodge to another
delegáte.
t) How many substitutes does a lodge
elect?
See answer below in “Additional
Information”.
g) What if an elected delegáte cannot
attend the convention?
If any of the elected delegates cannot go
to the convention, for whatever reason,
the substitute with the highest number of
votes fills the first vacancy. The same’
proceduře holds true in the event other
delegates are unable to attend until all
substitutes are depleted.
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Sefcik, R. J. Věstník (West, Tex.), Vol. 67, No. 49, Ed. 1 Wednesday, December 5, 1979, newspaper, December 5, 1979; West, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth624958/m1/3/: accessed July 8, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Slovanska Podporujici Jednota Statu Texas.