For the first time, we will be having our annual meeting virtually.

Our Annual Meeting is slated for 3 pm on Saturday, January 23rd via Zoom.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7375337585

Meeting ID: 737 533 7585

+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington D.C)

There is a very limited board agenda, primarily consisting of voting on new board members. Additionally, there will be opportunities for our members to connect and share experiences connecting with nature. If you have a photo that you’d like to include in our slideshow (either from 2020 or a historical photo that holds special memories for you) please email it to office [at] camp-sequoia.com and we’ll compile a slideshow to share.

For 2021, the board has waived membership dues for anyone for whom paying would be a hardship, so when we vote on the slate of officers for the board at the annual meeting, everyone who is a member can participate.

Your slate of 2021 Officers up for election at the January 23rd annual meeting:

Mary Gatling– Vice President (2 year term)
Pam and Lincoln Gray– Treasurer (2 year term)
Elizabeth Pass-Newsletter (2 year term)
Stephanie Gardner-Historian/Parliamentarian (1 year term)

A huge thanks to everyone who stepped up to serve in board roles as well as those board members who continue to serve out their two-year term having been elected last year.

The board conveys heartfelt thanks and gratitude to Carl Droms who, per our bylaws, is term-limited from serving additional terms as our treasurer. Carl has been and continues to be an asset to our organization and we thank him for his exemplary service.

by Brian Lux, President, HMN Board of Directors

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More News

… from the State Program: the VMN VMS is being replaced

Dear wonderful VMN volunteers,

You may have already gotten this reminder from your Boards. As you may already know, the VMN Program will be transitioning to a new Volunteer Management System (the VMS, where you report your volunteer hours) in the first few months of 2021.

To facilitate the VMS changeover, we will need for you to do the following:

1. Please update your profile information if you haven’t already.
2. Make sure to ENTER YOUR 2020 HOURS BY DECEMBER 31, 2020 (both Volunteer Service and Continuing Ed)
   — Any edits to those 2020 hours and to volunteer profiles can be made up until January 7. These will be moved to the new VMS system. Any added after January 7 will not be moved.
3. Please do NOT enter any 2021 hours. You will want to keep a log for your own use until the new system is launched. At that time, you can enter your 2021 hours.
4. Everyone can continue to use the old VMS through at least March for OTHER purposes, such as communications, accessing project information and documents, running personal reports, downloading, etc. But remember, any hours entered for 2021 in the old VMS will not be transferred.

Please be assured that we are diligently working on doing as much of the groundwork and logistical preparations as possible to make the transition for chapters and volunteers as easy as possible. We will be giving everyone training on the new system (Better Impact-Volunteer Impact if you want to Google it) nearer to launch time (expected around March).

We at the state office are still in the early stages of configuring the new system so we won’t have answers to the many questions you may have, just yet.

** Your Board members will be able to answer questions as we relay any new information to them. Please refrain from emailing VMS questions to the state office if possible. **

Have a peaceful, healthy, and happy holiday season!

Terri Keffert
Volunteer Coordinator, Virginia Master Naturalist Program