2021 Capital Chapter Members Zoom Meeting – February 20th

Prosit Neujahr! Online registration for the 2021 Capital Chapter Members Meeting is now open! Please make reservations by February 15.  This year’s membership meeting will take place on Saturday, February 20, 2021, starting at 5:00 pm EST.  As with our Holiday Gathering in December 2020, due to continuing health concerns, the membership meeting this year will be held online, using Zoom.   You will have to have access to Zoom to participate in the meeting, either downloaded on your computer or otherwise available through your browser (please note, however, that there is an option for members to vote in the election by mail even if you do not have Zoom access).  Everyone who provides notification of their intent to come (by registering on the website, by mail or email) will receive a Zoom link from board member Karen Stokes by email prior to the event, which can be used to log in at the start time.  The meeting’s start time at 5:00 pm EST allows members who may be in Europe also to participate.   Our agenda will begin with reports from the officers of the Chapter, followed by the board election, and then open discussion of other chapter business and questions.  The business portion of the meeting will be followed by the fun part – a multiple-choice quiz on knowledge of German wines for a wine prize from our cellar (to be delivered as soon as we can have in-person events again, or by arrangement with the Cellarmaster for pickup). 

Of course, as this is an online event, members will supply their own choice of wines, cheeses and other foods, and there will be an opportunity to discuss your wine choices with other participants, as we did during the Holiday Gathering.  Members pay nothing for this tasting (but still need to register via our website or mail, or by email to the Secretary, so that we can have an accurate count of who is coming and can send the Zoom link to everyone); non-members pay $10 each, through website registration using PayPal or by check.

There will be a discussion of our finances, membership and cellar status, followed by an open discussion of plans for the future. What would you like to have the society do – what are your expectations? The Board needs to know!

It is at this annual meeting we elect new officers and directors to the chapter Board.   Only members in good standing, with annual dues payments current, are entitled to vote in the election or to attend this event free of charge; $35 annual dues payments per individual or couple may be made online through the website using PayPal or by check to ensure that you are current, before the meeting.   Please contact the Secretary if you are not sure whether you are current.

Members can vote in person at the meeting, or by returning their written ballots by February 10, 2020. Candidate statements and the ballot form (for those who will not be voting in person at the election but would still like to submit a vote) are attached to this notice in a separate document.  Nominations of other candidates than those listed below and on the attached ballot must be received by no later than Friday, February 5, 2021, under our bylaws, so as to allow revised ballots for the election to be prepared and distributed.  All of the candidates running have already been serving in their positions, but we have one open Director position without a candidate, due to the loss last year of our longtime member and friend Stephen Kent.  The Chapter President is also running for Chapter Secretary, in the absence of a separate candidate to fill the Secretary position; he was elected to serve in both capacities last year.  

The candidates running for positions on the Board this election are:

Carl Willner – for Chapter President and Secretary (positions listed separately on ballot)

Christian Schiller – for Chapter Vice President

Ken Belsley – for Chapter Treasurer

Maria So – for Director, also serving as Webmaster

Jim Palanchar – for Director

Karen Stokes – for Director, also serving as Cellarmaster

Our bylaws do not permit nominations from the floor at the meeting for any position for which a candidate is already running, but only in advance so that ballots for a disputed election can be prepared, although floor nominations for uncontested positions are allowed.  For this election, all board positions except one Director slot have one candidate running.  You can give back to the Chapter by volunteering to plan or help with a monthly tasting, in addition to serving on the board.  Your active participation in planning and managing events helps the organization grow – and to do so in the direction you choose. 

All correspondence in response to this email should be directed to our President and Secretary, Carl Willner, by email to carl.willner1@verizon.net or by mail at:

Carl Willner

1014 Reserve Champion Drive

Rockville, MD 20850

If you are attending as a non-member and need to pay online, please be sure to have a PayPal account in advance, as we cannot accept payments by other forms of credit.  If you decide to register by mail, please mail your registration (and check if registering as a non-member) to the Chapter Secretary, Carl Willner, whose address is listed above.

All GWS members and guests are reminded that alcohol consumption can lead to intoxication. Therefore Society members and their guests are expected to drink in moderation at Society events. Fortunately, one of the benefits of holding an online event is that most of you will be safely at home and not driving to the event, but should you decide to visit a friend in order to participate from there, please bear in mind the usual cautions about having a designated driver where available, or mostly tasting rather than consuming alcohol when such drivers are not available.  Drinking in moderation will also help to avoid any mishaps using your computer!

If you no longer wish to receive our announcements, please reply to this email to the sender.

Carl Willner

President and Secretary, German Wine Society Capital Chapter

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Please clip and return this registration form if registering by mail, to the Secretary at the address listed above.  Do not return the entire event notice.   If you are voting by mail rather than by participating in the online meeting, please also clip the ballot form (at the end of this message) and return that to the Secretary. 

Reservation Form for GERMAN WINE SOCIETY CAPITAL CHAPTER MEMBERSHIP MEETING, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2021

Name(s) _______________________________________________________________

Member or non-Member __________________________________________________

Payment submitted _______________________________________________________

E-mail contact ____________________________________________________________

Telephone contact _________________________________________________________

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BALLOT FORM FOR 2021 GERMAN WINE SOCIETY CAPITAL CHAPTER BOARD ELECTION

Mark one candidate for each named office (President, Secretary, Vice President, Treasurer); a candidate can hold more than one office.   Mark up to four candidates for Director positions (three persons are currently running for Director positions; one additional Director may be nominated by members).

_____ Carl Willner – for Chapter President

_____ Carl Willner – for Chapter Secretary

_____ Christian Schiller – for Chapter Vice President

_____ Ken Belsley – for Chapter Treasurer

_____ Maria So  – for Director (serving as Webmaster)

_____   Jim Palanchar – for Director

______ Karen Stokes – for Director (serving as Cellarmaster)