Annual Meeting

NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING

If you are a current member of the Club, you should receive a mailing this week that includes a required Notice of our Annual Meeting which will take place on Friday, September 20, 2013 in Corning during the Symposium. There are two items addressed in the Notice. One is the election of officers and directors and the other is the proposed change to add modern, post-Carder Steuben to our bylaws and mission.

The election of officers and directors involves electing a new President as my successor and the election of a new Director to replace Alan Shovers, who like me, is stepping aside so that we can have other members get involved in helping to manage the Club. Fear not, Alan is going to continue serving as Editor of the Gazelle Gazette.

We have had a great deal of discussion regarding post-Carder Steuben at last year’s annual meeting, at numerous Board meetings and in the Gazette. The time has come to decide on whether or not to proceed with the first steps necessary to recognize post-Carder Steuben as part of our Club. For purposes of voting, the question has been framed as a vote on amending the Club’s Mission and Bylaws to expand our purpose to include all Steuben glass, and not just Carder Steuben.

I do not intend to rehash the prior discussions of this issue but do want to address some questions that have been raised:

1. At present there is no Club or organization for collectors of post-Carder Steuben and we have no way of knowing the number of such collectors.

2. We do know that there are many Club members who collect both Carder and post-Carder Steuben.

3. Our Club membership application does not identify what type(s) of glass a member collects.

4. There are no plans to change the name of our Club.

5. If the Club proceeds with a post-Carder Steuben database, we have several members who have already volunteered to work on it. Marshall Ketchum, our Webmaster, has enough on his plate and would be minimally involved.

6. The Board has obtained a cost estimate for developing a post-Carder database that is well within our means, and, if we proceed, we would again use the company that developed our current database.

7. We do not expect to have to increase Club dues regardless of whether or not we proceed with a new database.

8. If we proceed, we have already obtained rights from Corning Inc. to use their Steuben intellectual property to develop a post-Carder Steuben database, and we have good working . relations with Corning Inc., CMoG and the Rakow Library which would be helpful.

9. We all know the glass that we are discussing but have not yet agreed on how to refer to it. The term “post-Carder Steuben” seems to be preferred.

Once again, the vote next month is to begin the process of formally recognizing post-Carder Steuben as a category of glass that will be included in the Club’s mission.

Lastly, let me say that it has been an honor and pleasure to serve as your President for the last four years. I will be stepping down knowing that the leadership of the Club will remain in good hands.

David Goldstein, Preident

2013 Carder Steuben Club annual Symposium will be held at The Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY from September 19-21, 2013. The festivities will begin with Frederick Carder’s 150th birthday celebration on the evening of September 18, 2013.

Any opinions expressed by participants to the Gazette e-mail newsletters are the opinions of the authors and are not endorsed by or the opinions of the Carder Steuben Club.

President