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Greetings friends,

We hope that you and your families continue to be safe and well as Summer officially settles into residence. Our 2020 AGM was successfully completed on Sunday, June 28, with 35 Stroll members in attendance. Our abundant thanks to Lisa Mulrooney for her exceptional technical support and Don Perkins for his masterful work as Returning Officer.

John Leppard happily returns as president and we are pleased to welcome Shirley Serviss to our leadership team. She brings her abundant energy, skill and experience to a returning group consisting of board members Alice Major, Anne Gerard Marshall, Janis Dow, Lisa Mulrooney, Naomi McIlwraith and Markus Eymann. They are joined by returning board associates Max Vandersteen, Josh Luukkonen and Audrey Brooks. We are so very fortunate to have such an amazing group of dedicated folks to guide our organization.

The new leadership team will hold its first meeting in July and high on the list of agenda items is consideration of possible strategies for safe distribution of our anthology. We will keep you posted in our newsletter on developments in this area. We are committed to running a Poets’ Haven reading series for 2020/2021. Whether that will be face-to-face or on-line remains to be determined. Our scheduled starting date is Monday, September 14 at 7 pm. We are really looking forward to a strong 30th season of serving poets and poetry, with the most vibrant and passionate membership anywhere!

Yours in verse,
John Leppard

Stroll memberships can now be renewed online! 

New and established poets, friends or fans of poetry are welcome to join. 

Membership entitles you to:

• Perform a 10-minute reading at one of the Poets’ Haven Readings
• Publish one poem in our annual anthology (having done a reading)
• Receive a copy of The Stroll of Poets Anthology for that year
• Vote at our Annual General Meeting in March. (Check out the Bylaws.)
• Receive the weekly Stroll Newsletter about upcoming poetry readings, events or volunteer opportunities

New members can join the Stroll HERE.

Returning members can renew their membership HERE.

All Stroll of Poets members are cordially invited to attend an on-line annual general meeting on Sunday, June 28. Registration will start at 1:30 with business beginning at 2 pm. Information regarding membership renewals will be shared at the meeting.

Details regarding how to join the meeting will be supplied upon request. To request information on how to attend the online AGM, please contact Ellen Kartz at ellen.kartz@writersguild.ab.ca by no later than 4:00 pm, on Friday, June 26th. 

We hope you’ll be able to join us!

2020 AGM Package:

Greetings Stroll members,

We hope you and your families are well, safe, and continuing to find healthy and creative ways to deal with these unusual times. The gentle turning of the season, with its verdant reminders of summer to come, has certainly been a blessing.

The board and associates have decided to proceed with a virtual annual general meeting, to be conducted on-line using the Zoom video-conferencing platform. The AGM will be held Sunday, June 28 at 2 p.m. The board is prepared to offer technical support for members unfamiliar with using this program. Details will follow.

All Stroll memberships continue to be valid until the AGM. At the meeting, information concerning renewals will be shared. We are still exploring ways of distributing our 2020 anthology. At this time, due to cost and other practical constraints, we are not considering the option of mailing the anthology to members.

Regarding the 2020/2021 Poets’ Haven reading series, we are still planning to launch in mid-September. Whether our readings happen on-line or at the Upper Crust and Audreys remains to be determined. The sign up for the Haven will commence at some point in August. The board and associates would like to invite you to a very special poetry event on Monday, June 22 at 7 p.m. Watch the newsletter and circle the date on your calendars, it’s sure to be fun!

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me (leppardjohn@hotmail.com). In the meantime, we wish you all the very best. Take care of yourselves and each other and enjoy the beauty of Spring!

Yours in verse,

John Leppard

Dear Strollers,

I hope this letter finds you heathy and safe. You are regularly in our thoughts, and we send you best wishes. The board had an opportunity to meet on-line recently and we wanted to pass on some information to you.

We discussed the situation regarding the 2020 Annual General Meeting. Ideally, we would like to meet face-to-face to conduct the meeting, but we are prepared to consider alternative means of doing so, such as electronic options. The board will have a clear decision on the AGM particulars available for the membership by the end of June. As far as Stroll memberships go, they will remain in effect and will not require renewal until such time as the AGM takes place.

The board also discussed the status of the 2020 anthology. At this point there is no plan for its distribution, as we are exploring safe and practical options. We’ll keep you informed of developments.

The board will continue to convene through virtual meetings and has voted to extend the terms of directors until our 2020 AGM can happen. It is a great comfort to know that our leadership team remains steadfastly in place through this challenging time. Their commitment, ingenuity, energy and experience are invaluable assets moving ahead. If you have any questions or concerns please contact me at leppardjohn@hotmail.com.

Yours in verse,
John Leppard