Victorian Tea Society Guidelines

MEMBERSHIP

1. Eligibility: Any woman is eligible for membership who desires to learn more about the Victorian Era, especially tea; to meet women of like interest, to make new friends and to have fun.
2. Annual Dues: Dues are $20/year, due and payable on March 1st of each year.
3. Annual dues are not pro-rated and are non-refundable. Checks are made payable to the Victorian Tea Society (VTS) and should be mailed to the Membership Chairperson along with the completed Membership Application. Membership will become effective upon receipt of the application and annual dues.
4. Fiscal Year: The fiscal year for VTS is March 1st to February 20th.

TEA GROUPS

1. There are to be no more than eight (8) members in each tea group. Groups meet once a month for a tea luncheon either in a member’s home, local tea house or other chosen venue. Monthly menus are chosen by that month’s hostess. Members are required to pay $10/month in advance to the hostess of the tea for the following month. A group may increase the amount designated about if they desire. As a courtesy to your hostess, please notify her at least seven (7) days prior to your tea date if you are unable to attend.
2. If a hostess chooses to go to a local tea house, the monies collected will go toward paying for the bill and the hostess should pick up any charges over and above the $10 collected from the members. If the group as a whole decides to take an "outing" to a local tea house, each member is responsible for her own meal charges.
3. Only the monthly hostess may invite guests to her own tea. Other members are prohibited from inviting guests to another hostess’ tea. The same guest may attend two (2) tea luncheons as a guest, but then must become a member to continue attendance.
4. Any member who misses three (3) consecutive tea gathering OR who does not hostess a tea within one year OR who is habitually absent shall be put on a waiting list to allow new members to take her place in the group.
5. Minor children are not allowed to attend monthly teas.
6. If for any reason you wish to change your Tea Group, this may be done when annual membership is renewed depending upon tea group availability. Please notify Membership Chairperson as soon as possible.
7. If a prospective member does not have a chosen tea group, she will be placed into a group according to her preference of the day of the week (i.e. second Tuesday, fourth Friday). After placement and attendance in the chosen group, the new member may decide to change groups and be placed in a different tea group as availability allows. In the event a prospective member can not be placed in a tea group within 60 days, her membership dues will be refunded upon request.

VTS EVENTS

1. The Annual Christmas Open House is a members only event that is held the 1s t Saturday in December.
2. The annual Spring Tea is open to the public and held the 1st Saturday after Mother’s Day. Children 8 years and older are invited.

VTS BOARD MEMBER NOMINATIONS

1. A nomination form shall be included in the November-December Newsletter. Anyone wishing to recommend a member to serve on the Board will submit that person’s name on the appropriate form. This form must be postmarked by January 1st.
2. A Nominating Committee will be selected as follows:

A. The Board will select two board members to serve on the Committee

B. Two contact members will be elected at the January Contact meeting.

C. The President will select a Committee Chairperson.

3. Once the Nominating Committee has been selected/elected it shall meet immediately to review the nomination forms. They will form a slate of officers based on the names receiving the most nominations for each position by the members at large.

4. Ballots will then be mailed to each VTS member with SASE.

5. All ballots must be received prior to the deadline date as stated on the ballot form and will be counted by the Nominating Committee. Any ballots received after the deadline date will not be counted.

6. Results of the election will be published in the first Newsletter following the election.

VTS BOARD

Each board shall consist of the following members:

A. President
B. Vice –President
C. Secretary
D. Treasurer
E. Publicity
F. Membership Chairman
G. Historian

The board members shall be elected as follows:

EVEN YEARS:

A. Vice-President
B. Treasurer
C. Membership Chairperson
D. Publicity

ODD YEARS:

A. President
B. Secretary
C. Historian

*Terms of office shall be 2 years

*In order to be nominated and accepted as a candidate for President, the member must have served at least one year as Vice-President.

DUTIES OF BOARD MEMBERS

PRESIDENT:

*Oversees VTS’ business

*Conducts board and contact meeting/organizes agendas

*Oversees board member’s tasks

*Plans for growth of society

*Signer for VTS checks

VICE-PRESIDENT:

*Assumes responsibilities/duties of VTS in president’s absence

*Assists in running VTS’ business

*Event coordinator

*Signer for VTS checks

TREASURER:

*Maintains checkbook

*Keeps books and presents financial statement to board

*detailed report quarterly

*year-end audit of account

*Must be computer literate with knowledge of Quick books

*Prepare yearly preliminary budget and presents to board

*Compiles events financial reports

*Signer for VTS checks

SECRETARY:

*Keep minutes of board and contact meetings

*Correspondence for members (cards, etc)

*Keep all business records

*Notify contact members of meetings

*Draft letters for society business

PUBLICITY:

*Prepares media information and presents to board

*Contacts media for upcoming events/prepares news releases

*In charge of distribution of advertising materials

MEMBERSHIP CHAIRPERSON:

*Will distribute all membership information

*Place new members in groups

*Keep membership rosters and keep updated as new members placed in groups

*Receive membership dues/forwards to Treasurer for deposits

HISTORIAN:

*Keeps VTS history book current and makes sure said book is present at all events

*Takes responsibility that photos are taken at all events.

Revised 10/05