Voting Membership Dues



The M.A.S.S. Board of Directors have voted to establish membership dues of $20/year. It should be noted however, that most of our events will continue to be free and open to the public. The $20 buys you a warm fuzzy feeling and a the right to vote for directors at each October's annual meeting and on any other issues that directors put to the members for a vote.

Funds raised from membership dues and donations will be applied toward furthering our mission "to foster a community of non-theistic individuals by providing opportunities for socializing, networking, and friendship." This will initially consist primarily of getting the word out about us to more potential members in the form of advertising (think local Billboards and Bus Ads, or whatever we can manage).

However, if given the choice of having either your money or your smiling face at our events, we choose your face without hesitation.

If you've previously donated to M.A.S.S., your donation has been applied to the membership dues for this year with our heart felt thanks.

Anybody wishing to donate or become a voting member may do so by bringing a check made out to "Missoula Area Secular Society" to any of our events. If Gina, our Treasurer, is not available then you can give the check to any of our other directors to pass on to her. Soon we'll have a donate button available on the website as well and should eventually have a post office box that checks can be mailed to.

Annual Meeting Minutes

Annual Member Meeting and Board Meeting Minutes

7:00 pm
October 22, 2009
Small Meeting Room at Missoula Public Library

Members Present:

Jon Garvin
Traci Brown
Russell Thayer
Martha Thayer
Milo Coladonato
Gina Simunovich
Jennifer Knell

Jon Garvin opens the meeting by clarifying the difference between “Officers” and “Board of Directors” and how the election of “Board Members” and subsequent election of “Officers” to various positions by elected “Board Members” is to be undertaken based on the Missoula Area Secular Society “Bylaws”.

Nomination of “Members” for “Board of Directors” takes place.

Nominated are:

Jon Garvin
Russell Thayer
Milo Coladonato
Traci Brown
Gina Simunovich

Nominations are seconded.

Staggered length of terms are to be determined by a draw. Strips of paper with the numbers, 1, 2, & 3 are put into a rainbow-colored hat, the numbers representing the length of term for each elected “Board Member”.

Results:

Traci Brown: 3 years
Jon Garvin: 2 years
Russell Thayer: 2 years
Gina Simunovich: 1 year
Milo Coladonato: 1 year
Discussion follows regarding the setting up of a PayPal account at website to facilitate donations and the eventual selling of product. Conclusion is that it will be undertaken.

Discussion follows regarding the proposed cost of membership being too high at $50. No final decision on membership fee is determined.

Discussion follows regarding the setting up of M.A.S.S. knitting group. First meeting is to be held Sunday, November 15.

Discussion follows regarding various donations.

Meeting is adjourned after 25 minutes. “Board Members” move to Old Post to participate in “Board Meeting” over beer and food.

“Board Meeting” begins at approximately 8 pm.

Jon Garvin nominates Gina, Traci, and Russell to continue in current roles on “Board of Directors”. Russell nominates Jon to continue in his current role. Motions are carried. Length of term for “Officers” is one year.

Officers:

Jon Garvin, President
Traci Brown, Vice President
Russell Thayer, Secretary
Gina Simunovich, Treasurer
Milo Coladonato, Member at Large

Meeting adjourned after 5 minutes.

Sunday M.A.S.S. Brunch for November


The First Sunday of the month is fast approaching.

Due to the fact that we've also got a Halloween Pub Crawl going on the night before, it was requested that "brunch" be moved to later in the day to give people more time to get the zombie/pirate/spaghetti monster makeup off their faces and the cobwebs out of their heads. So, this month, "brunch" will be at 2:00PM. Also remember that Daylight Savings Time switches on Sunday, so if you forget to change your clocks, you'll be showing up to brunch an hour early!

Also, our regular Sunday M.A.S.S. attendees have grown in number enough that we've started to give the restaurant hostesses a heart attack when we say how many people we're expecting, and then how unsure we are of exactly how many it will actually be (they seem to prefer exact numbers in the single digits). Finding a place that has room for us, is flexible, and takes reservations has been difficult, but we may have found a good home.

So, this Sunday we'll be in the "meeting room" at The Stone of Accord (that's the new Sean Kelly's on Reserve St. near the Interstate). When you come in the door, just tell the host(ess) you're with the group in the meeting room, and they'll help you find us. If this works out, then we'll probably make this a permanent location for future brunches (which will move back to their regular time slot in December).

A M.A.S.S. Knitting Club is also forming. Come to Sunday Brunch to meet some of the other Knitters and find out more details.

We hope to see you Saturday night for Halloween and/or Sunday afternoon for "brunch".

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The Missoula Area Secular Society (M.A.S.S.) is a (soon to be) 501(c)3 Non-Profit Organization for atheists, secular humanists, agnostics, and all other non-theistic Missoulians to meet, socialize, and grow with other like minded individuals. "We Believe In You!"

Above Image (c)capturethefilm

M.A.S.S. Knitting Club / Winter Camping Trip


As is expected to happen when you get a bunch of like minded individuals together for socializing, many of them tend to discover other common interests. Such has happened with us and a M.A.S.S. Knitting Club is now forming. Naturally, all genders are welcome. The only requirement is an interest in knitting. For more information, contact our VP,

There are also rumors of a possible "M.A.S.S. Welding Club" forming in response to the knitting club (beer drinking may be substituted for actual welding at club meetings). Further information on this will be posted as it becomes available.

A winter hike into a forest service cabin is also being coordinated. Space will be very limited on this event, and preference will likely be given to those who regularly attend other events, so... we'll see you at the Halloween Pub Crawl and/or Sunday Brunch next weekend!

New Board Member!

Our first annual members meeting was a big success. All existing board members were re-elected and we added one more. Our newest board member is Milo Coladonato. Milo is also on the board of directors for Footloose Montana and brings a wealth of experience and fund raising ideas to M.A.S.S. We are extremely excited to have him on board.

The first board meeting after the members meeting was held at the Old Post. At that time the officer positions were voted on, and all the existing officers retained their positions. So, our new directors and officers are...

  • Jon Garvin, President
  • Traci Brown, Vice-President
  • Gina Simunovich, Treasurer
  • Russell Thayer, Secretary
  • Milo Coladonato, Board Member At Large
The official minutes of the meeting will be posted to the blog as soon as Russ sends them to me.

1st Annual M.A.S.S. Members Business Meeting


In July, members of the Missoula Area Secular Society elected their very first board of directors and instructed them to turn M.A.S.S. into a legal non-profit organization.

Since then an attorney has volunteered his expertise, Articles of Incorporation have been drafted and approved, Bylaws have been drafted and approved, both have been filed with the Secretary of State, and the forms for filing with the IRS are being finalized.

Our new bylaws call for an annual meeting of the members in October for the purpose of electing directors. So, on Thursday, October 22nd, we'll (re)elect a new set of 5 directors (one more than we have now), and kick off the staggered 3 year terms for those directors that our bylaws call for. Members must be present at the meeting to make nominations and vote.

We'll be meeting in the "small conference room" at the Missoula Public Library at 7:00pm. Come in the lower level entrance off of Front St. The small meeting room is in the hallway next to the computer room.

We promise to keep things short so we don't take up your entire evening, so please arrive on time (or early) so that we can knock this out and adjourn. An impromptu post meeting social gathering/celebration at a nearby bar or restaurant wouldn't be surprising for those wishing to make a longer evening of it.

Feel free to R.S.V.P. on the Facebook group (not required). Having our Twitter updates sent directly to your cellphone is recommended for last minute updates and changes.

Sunday Brunch Moved to The Shack!


Alert Member Jen K. noticed that Dauphine's appears to have closed, so Sunday Brunch will be at The Shack this month.

222 W. Main St (about a block from Orange St.)
Sunday, October 4th, 9:30am.