Dear Fellow Guild Members,
I hope this letter finds you and you families in the very best of health and well-being.
It is hard to comprehend that we have lived for nearly a year in this devastating pandemic and the terrible restrictions, fear, paranoia and that horrible term “social distancing protocols”.
During this time, every aspect of our personal and professional lives has been altered beyond recognition. We have had to learn to modify and be flexible in everything we do. It has been no different with the function and operation of our Emerald Guild Society. We have been forced to suspend all monthly member meeting and cancel numerous social events. But rest assured your elected Officers and Board of Directors are working diligently to continue the business and progress of the Guild. Your Board has held monthly meeting since August (via zoom initially and recently in person & via zoom) to push ahead with our upcoming pocket directory, new website, employment committee and prepare for the eventual return to our monthly meetings. Once NYC restriction on indoor dining are relaxed to 50%, we will be ready to move forward and schedule an in-person meeting. This moment cannot arrive soon enough, and I look forward to seeing you all very soon. Please find the following updates for your information.
Nominations and Election of Officers and Directors: Due to the restrictions of Covid-19, the current slate of Officers and Board of Directors have agreed to continue to oversee your guild for another term. Thank you all for your continued support and cooperation.
Membership Dues: The deadline to remit your membership dues is past due. Registrar, Martin Howley has distributed several email reminders. As per our Bylaws, any member delinquent by our March Board meeting will be notified and unfortunately dropped from the organization.
Life Insurance: I am actively seeking proposals to increase the death benefit of our Life Insurance Policy. I will keep you informed of any updated information.
Super Bowl Pool: Our Super Bowl pool was again sold out, and congratulations to the winners. A big Thank You again to Mr. John Grady for his terrific job of organizing the pool during Covid-19 restrictions. We are considering increasing next year’s pool to 500 points and are requesting your feedback on this.
Pocket Directory: Our Pocket Directory is now closed and with the printer. Your directory committee has done a tremendous unheralded job in securing 506 advertisements for the combined years 2020 & 2021. We will also be producing a digital version of the directory. Both vendors/contractors and Guild membership will be offered a choice of a hard copy directory book or a digital copy. We will keep you updated on when the directory will be ready for distribution.
Agent Night: Due to Covid-19 restrictions, our Annual Agents Night, typically held in February was cancelled
St Patrick’s Day Parade & After Party: Unfortunately, due to Covid-19 restrictions the 2021 NYC St Patrick’s Day Parade has been cancelled. As a result, our annual after-parade-party has also been cancelled. We look forward to the day when we can proudly march up Fifth Avenue again on March 17th.
Emerald Guild Grand Marshal: Your 2020 Grand Marshal Mr. Paul Motherway was prevented from fulfilling the honor of leading our Guild in the St Patrick’s Day Parade, due to its cancellation last year and this year. Your Board of Directors has voted to retain Paul as our 2022 Grand Marshal.
Website: I am very happy to report that our new website is now “Live”. Please check it out at EmeraldGuild.org. A very big thank you to Mr. Simon Greenwood, who has worked so diligently in conjunction with the web-developer. Simon is continuing to modify and tweak certain aspects and functionally of the site for our requirements. We will email the membership in the near future with personal log-in information.
Member of the Year Award 2021: Your guilds highest award is being organized and overseen by Vice-President Mr. Brendan Harte. Brendan has emailed the nomination form to all the membership and all nominations are to be returned to him no later than March 12th. The conferee of this award is entirely chosen by you the membership; I encourage you to submit your nomination as soon as possible.
Vendors Night: This annual event is typically scheduled for the third week in May. We are hoping, if the current easing of Covid restrictions continues, we will be able to hold this very important event as a thank you to our many great and loyal supporters. If indoor gathering restrictions are still in place in May, we will look to hold the event later in the year.
Golf Outing: Our 2021 Gold Outing is currently scheduled for June 28th. We had hoped to present our wonderful new location “Inwood Country Club” last year, but unfortunately the event fell under the rath of Covid-19. Mr. Simon Parsons is our golf committee chairman. You will be hearing from our Golf Committee soon with all the details of the event’s beautiful location on the south shore of Long Island, and its wonderful facilities. Please check out their website: www.inwoodcc.org
Sincerely,
Declan Moran
President
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