Words by Paige Turner – Images by Manual Phocus
Seasons change, tides roll in and out, and, for the members of JOCO, the new year brings a chance to rub elbows at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on Sunday, January 7, 2024 at the West Linn Adult Community Center (WLACC).
Somehow Murphy’s Law will prevail at the most inconvenient times, and the AGM provided just such a scenario. Bill Relya was instrumental in obtaining the WLACC for our AGM. A spacious room (the Grand Fir), with plenty of room for socializing. Bill, Gene, and Sarah Owens arrived ahead of time to unlock the doors and begin the setup process. That involved getting out the tables and chairs for attendees, and providing additional space for serving the food and beverages. By the time this correspondent arrived, there was little else to be done except put on the table cloths, and either find or start a “chat group.” There was plenty of room to move around and talk, and the acoustics were agreeable, no one needed to use a microphone and speaker to be heard throughout the room.
Members arrived at a fairly steady pace, and almost everyone had arrived just ahead of the announced 10:00 AM start time. But this is where Murphy and his minions stepped in. The food and the beverages (coffee plus hot water for the tea drinkers) arrived about 9:15 AM. Once the food and beverages had been placed, Gene noticed that there were no eating or serving utensils, which had been specified in our catering order to Elephant’s Deli. A copy of our order was produced, which confirmed that utensils were, in fact, to be supplied, and Gene was able to catch the delivery person before they left the parking lot.
It was now about twenty minutes to “show time” so Ashley and Curt McKay stepped into the breech and ran down to the nearby Safeway store to pick up paper plates, napkins, and disposable eating utensils. Fantastic! The meeting was now back on track. And then the Elephant’s delivery person reappeared with the requisite utensils… . Wow! Now we had a veritable plethora on hand. (As a side note, there is no truth to the rumor that the McKays are forming a startup company that will specialize in following catering deliveries and offer Jaguar-themed disposable table and serving ware.)
Gene had printed some handouts for each table so that those that wished to, could follow along with the program, which was a nice touch.
Mark Hull delineated the health of the club’s treasury, and that it was actually on something of a growth spurt, thanks to the investment accounts showing some healthy gains over the past year. Tomas gave a summary of what was happening with the JOCO website, then Sue Kornahrens recounted some menbership acheivements and asked everyone to introduce themselves, their “plus one’s,” and which Jaguar(s) grace their driveways.
Gene introduced an amendment to the club’s by-laws, and after a slight change to the wording of the proposal (which was duly voted on and approved), the amendment was put to a vote and passed unanimously by all members attending. New board members are: Ashley McKay, Curt McKay, and Mike Scott. The slate was voted on and approved by a unanimous vote, their terms will run to 2027.
Tomas Bromander was announced as this year’s Fox – Bagley Award winner, and the choice was enthusiastically acclaimed by everyone in the room.
Tim Ashcroft steps off the board, and is the clubs’ new Vice President, while Carl Foleen will try to fill Gene’s shoes as club President for 2024.
The last order of business was the introduction of two new permanent awards approved by the club’s board earlier this year: The Rathbun Driving Award, named in honor of Jim Rathbun, past JOCO president; and the Hinamon Participation Award, named in honor of past JOCO president Judith Hinamon. Both awards are designed to encourage more participation from club members, and the awards will be presented at the 2025 Annual General Meeting.
Many thanks to Gene and Sarah Owens for their tireless efforts in 2023 to inspire and guide the club throughout 2023. It was a task accomplished with humor, grace and fortitude, especially given the personal health challenges that continue to command so much of Gene’s attention.
