I deeply regret that we haven’t seen each other in months now. We had such a great beginning in the fall with our luncheon, followed by excellent programs at First Unitarian Church, which seems to work well for us, and at Westlake Hills Presbyterian Church. Then suddenly in March it came to a screeching halt!
Though we were unable to meet together, the Board has been in contact virtually and has begun discussions about how to proceed this coming fall with the safety of our members and performers being of paramount interest to us.
First, let me bring you up to date about the decisions the Board has made:
1) Submissions for the Fielder Grant Competition will proceed as in the past. Judging will not occur until spring 2021 which gives us time, should a change in procedure become necessary.
2) Submissions received for programs for the upcoming year have been very few, so the deadline for submission may need to be extended beyond June 15th.
3) Upon the recommendation of the Wilcox, Maurer, Rudd and Putter Committee, all ten high school Seniors who had entered the contest will be given an award of $500 each. These students have worked very diligently and such diligence deserves to be acknowledged and rewarded.
4) The WMMC is making a gift of $1000 each to KMFA and to Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM).
5) The yearbook format may be changed somewhat for next year, but it should be completed around August 1st.
These were decisions the Board felt comfortable making without input from the WMMC membership.
The difficult part of the Board’s job cannot be completed without some input from you. We wonder whether to plan meetings again in the fall, wait until early 2021 to begin, or some other variation. Therefore, we would like for you to help us by answering the following questions. Keep in mind what the church decides about utilizing their meeting space will play a critical role in our decision-making.
1) If we begin in the fall, would you likely attend meetings?
2) If we wait until early 2021 would you be more likely to attend meetings?
3) Would you feel more comfortable waiting until fall of 2021 to begin meeting again?
Our plan is for a WMMC Board member to make personal contact with each of you. We want to know how you’re doing and what you’re doing. Please be thinking about how you would like to see WMMC move forward.
In addition to this report, I cannot express too strongly how important it is for you to pay your dues. The work of the National Federation goes on and we are part of that. We encourage you to retain your membership, whether active or associate, in the WMMC and to remain engaged as a member by sharing your suggestions and thinking with us.
Very truly yours,
Sarah Harriman, WMMC President 2019-2021
