The Constitution and By-Laws of the Hudson Valley Homebrewers

ARTICLE I - NAME

This corporation shall be known as the Hudson Valley HomeBrewers.

ARTICLE II - PURPOSES

This corporation has been founded to fulfill the following purposes:

ARTICLE III - MEMBERSHIP

Membership is open to anyone of legal drinking age.

Requirements for active membership are as follows:

  1. Membership is to be renewed yearly, with dues set by the Board of Directors. All adult members of a single household of legal drinking age may be included in a single membership. In this case, the household will receive one copy of the club newsletter and be eligible to cast one vote.
  2. Each member is required to bring homebrew (not a commercial beer) to at least 1 meeting or corporation event per year.
  3. Each member is required to brew at least one batch of homebrew per year.
  4. Each member is required to contribute time to at least one corporation event per year.
    Examples are:
    • attendance at Board of Directors meeting
    • assistance in planning, preparation or clean-up of major corporation events such as picnics, Oktoberfests, pub trips, fund raisers, etc.
    • work on homebrew competition in coordinating, preparation, stewarding, judging and clean-up; entering a beer in competition does not count toward contribution time
    • talks, lectures or discussion leader of homebrewing topics presented at meetings or authorship of such articles submitted to HVHB News.
  5. Members unable to fulfill membership obligations can request a waiver. The Request will be reviewed by the Board of Directors at its next meeting. Board of Directors will notify the member of its final decision prior to a subsequent general meeting.
  6. Each member is expected to maintain responsible conduct at corporation events. in the event a member does not maintain proper conduct, immediate and appropriate corrective measures will be taken by Sergeant-at-Arms or Corporation Officers in his absence.

ARTICLE IV - ELIGIBILITY FOR OFFICE

Any active member in good standing is eligible for corporation offices.

ARTICLE V - OFFICERS OF THE CORPORATION

  1. This corporation shall have six officers: President, Vice-President, Recording Secretary, Corresponding Secretary, Treasurer and Sergeant-at-Arms.
  2. A Nominating Committee will be set-up in September and begin solicitation for nominations for corporation officers.
  3. Nomination Committee will announce request for nominations for corporation officers at the October general meeting.
  4. Nominations will be presented to the membership at the November general meeting and additional nominations can be taken from the floor.
  5. Election of corporation officers will be held at the December meeting to assign officers for the following year. Election will be by paper (secret) ballot.
  6. Swearing in of new officers will be at the beginning of January meeting with new officers immediately assuming proper roles.
  7. Officers will serve a one year term, renewable once for that office. After two consecutive terms, members must leave that office for at least one year.
  8. The officers will form the Board of Directors who are responsible for making corporation decisions and for meeting agendas.
  9. The duties of each officer will include:
    1. President oversees all corporation activities, calls to order and conducts all meetings, sets meeting agenda, appoints committees and reviews the monthly newsletter prior to publication.
    2. Vice-President assists the President as needed, performs duties of President In his/her absence, distributes and tallies score sheets and reviews the monthly newsletter prior to publication.
    3. Recording Secretary keeps the minutes of all meetings, presents minutes for approval at following meeting, assists corresponding secretary as needed, brings bread for tastings to general meetings and conducts election proceedings.
    4. Corresponding Secretary is in charge of all correspondence including: press releases for all corporation activities, assembling press kits as needed, correspondence with other clubs and reporting items such as birth, weddings, deaths, etc.., as given to him/her.
    5. Treasurer will have charge of all corporation finances, provide detailed written reports to Board of Directors, verbal report to membership, is in charge of tracking membership dues and eligibility for corporation elections, issue membership cards and provide labels for corporation mailings.
    6. Sergeant-at-Arms will preserve order at all meetings, will take immediate and appropriate measures when a member does not maintain proper conduct, maintain meeting attendance records, assist treasurer in elections to insure membership standing during voting and coordinates beer brlnger sign-up sheets.
  10. In the case an officer cannot fulfill his/her obligations or has resigned, the Board of Directors shall make a decision as appropriate: either to appoint a replacement to fill the vacancy until the next corporation election or to distribute the duties among other officers of the corporation.

ARTICLE VI - CORPORATION FINANCES

No expenditure of corporation funds in excess of two hundred dollars shall be made unless it is approved by a majority of the members present.

ARTICLE VII - BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETINGS

  1. Board of Directors consists of the officers of the corporation: President, Vice-President, Recording Secretary, Corresponding Secretary, Treasurer and Sergeant-at-Arms.
  2. Board of Directors will meet on a monthly basis from January through December.
    • Meeting location and dates will be announced at general meeting.
    • Meetings are open to all members. Members attending, may contribute ideas but cannot participate in the actual decision making of the corporation.
  3. Meetings will run under Robert's Rules.
  4. Board of Directors is responsible for making corporation decisions and meeting agendas.
  5. Four Board of Directors members will constitute a Quorum in decision making.

ARTICLE VIII - GENERAL MEETINGS

  1. General Meetings will be held on a monthly basis from January through December.
    • Meeting location and dates will be announced at all meetings and will be listed in HVHB News
    • Meetings are open to all members. Non-members may attend one meeting but must pay dues to attend thereafter.
  2. Meetings will run under Robert's Rules.
  3. Normal meeting agenda can be changed as deemed necessary by the HVHB President.

ARTICLE IX - VOTING AT GENERAL MEETINGS

  1. All members in attendance have a right to vote or abstain from voting.
  2. On matters that require a formal vote, a quorum consisting of 20% of the general membership, excluding officers, must be in attendance.
  3. In the event a candidate is running for office uncontested, the Secretary may cast a single vote in favor of the candidate on behalf of the membership at large.

ARTICLE X - COMMITTEES

  1. This corporation shall have a Board of Directors composed of the six elected officers who are responsible for making corporation decisions and meeting agenda.
  2. Newsletter Committee will include:
    1. an Editor appointed by the Board of Directors
    2. an Assistant Editor (appointed by the Editor) to step in as needed when the Editor is unable to complete the required tasks
    3. the President and Vice-President who will review each newsletter issue
    4. the Treasurer who will generate mailing labels
    5. the Distributor (as solicited by the Board of Directors) who will be responsible for printing, collating and mailing the newsletter.
  3. Nominating Committee (cannot include members in office) will be:
    1. formed at the September general meeting
    2. in charge of solicitation of nominations for corporation officers
  4. Other Committees which promote the purposes of the corporation include:
    1. Activities Committee: plans and organizes major corporation social activities such as picnics, Oktoberfests, pub trips, etc.
    2. Competition Committee: In charge of organizing annual sanctioned homebrew competition
    3. Education Committee: promotes the educational programs of the corporation such as brewing sessions, lectures, workshops, etc.
    4. Fund Raising Committee: plans and organizes fund raising activities that benefit both the corporation and related outside groups as needed
    5. Ad-hoc (temporary) committees for special purposes may be formed by the President as needed.

Each committee with the exception of the Board of Directors will elect its own Chairperson, set its own meeting dates and agenda.

ARTICLE X1- PUBLICATIONS

The publication of the corporation shall be the Hudson Valley HomeBrewers News and such other publications as the Board of Directors may authorize.

ARTICLE XII - LIAISON WITH THE AMERICAN HOMBREWERS ASSOCIATION (AHA)

The corporation shall have one elected member to serve as a liaison, reporting on competitions, activities and events of the AHA. The liaison's responsibility is to report such AHA news to the HVHB News Editor and membership at the general meetings.

ARTICLE XIII - GENERAL PROHIBITIONS

  1. No part of the net earnings of the corporation shall or may under any circumstances inure to the benefit of any member or individual.
  2. No substantial part of the activities of the corporation shall consist of carrying on propaganda or otherwise attempting to influence legislation and shall not participate in or intervene in political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office.
  3. The Corporation shall not be organized or operated for profit.

ARTICLE XIV - ADOPTION/AMMENDMENTS

  1. This Constitution/By-Laws becomes effective when approved by a majority vote taken at a general corporation meeting.
    1. Input for Constitution/By-Laws by members can be presented in writing to the Board of Directors.
    2. All suggestions will be reviewed by the Board of Directors who will decide if the suggestions will be presented to the membership for adoption into the Constitution/By-Laws.
  2. The Constitution/By-laws can be amended by following the same process as in Article XIV item 1 above.
  3. Each member of the organization will be given a copy of the Constitution/By-laws approved by the voting membership.

Proposed: January, 1994
Adopted: February, 1994

This page (C)opyright 2010 by Hudson Valley Home Brewers, Inc