Committee records, 2007

Results of the Committee Elections held in April 2007

The following members were elected unanimously to serve on TSFA Committee for the ensuing year:

  • Fred Sackett, President
  • Mary Lou Sackett, Vice President
  • Nancy Cluff Siders, Discussion List Administrator
  • Chris Sackett, Webmaster & Secretary
  • Thurmon King, Historian
  • Darlene Sackett, Newsletter Editor
  • Tom Smith, Registrar
  • Members at Large: Patty Sackett Chrisman, Don Hertzler, Glenna Hertzler, Kari Roehl, Arabella Sackett, Gina Bundy.


    • Minutes of the family meeting at the Sackett Family Reunion held in Fort Wayne Inn, Fort Wayne, IN, Sunday, August 12, 2007, 2:00 PM

    Meeting Attendance: Debbie Barbee, Don and Glenna Hertzler, Lester Sackett and Gini Jonas-Sackett, Mary Lou Sackett and Mike Penn, Miriam and Dan (son) Sackett, Ted Smith, Thurmon King, John and Terri Sackett, and Jean Carpenter

    Also attended weekend activities: Sandy Berry and Ashley (niece), Rachel Stella and Neil (grandson), and Sylvia King

    Mary Lou Sackett chaired the meeting, in the absence of President Fred Sackett who was stranded in route to the meeting.

    1. Secretary's report. These weren't available to be read and approved, but the minutes of the last meeting (September 2, 2006) are posted on TSFA web site.

    2. Registrar's Report. Mary Lou shared the Registrar's report by Tom Smith. TSFA was founded with 73 members in 2003; currently there are 179 members. One member dropped membership after the DNA study was started. One member passed away. We have seen a positive and excellent growth rate in our organization.

    3. Summary of TSFA List-serve Suggestions. Don Hertzler shared copies of his summary of the issues that were brought up in TSFA list-serve discussions this past summer. All the following motions are in the form of recommendations to the TSFA Executive Committee.

    4. Election of Officers and Recruitment of officers: After a lengthy group discussion of ideas and options, Don moved and Lester seconded a motion to recommend a private vote for electing officers to be made on a web site handled by a special e-mail through a nomination committee.
    Vote: unanimous

    b. Selection of nominating committee: Don moved and Lester seconded a motion that the president appoint the nominating committee to be approved by executive committee.
    Vote: unanimous

    c. Campaign Bios. After group discussion, Don moved and Lester seconded a motion that the organization request a campaign bio from each nominee for officer to be posted on the TSFA web site with a limit of 250 words. Submitting the bio is at the option of nominees.
    Vote: unanimous

    d. Synopsis of discussions: Discussions on each issue were often lengthy with group wisdom being distilled down to a motion. Consideration was given to electing an executive committee and letting the elected members elect their own officers. It was felt that this technique might lead to the feeling that the officers were part of a clique. A general election with bios posted on the Internet would help members get to know candidates and to feel a part of the election process. The issue of appointment vs. election of administrators was considered. Since administrators were essential to the infrastructure of the organization, it was felt that we would be best served by asking the executive committee to be in control of appointing administrators rather then selecting them by general election. A clarification was made on how the TSFA constitution allows changes by resolutions that are voted on by the membership. Our TSFA sanctioned list serve is operated by Nancy. The need to clarify the responsibilities of the Vice President position was discussed. There was a consensus that action is needed to define policies that will insure continuity of administrator responsibilities in the case of an untimely demise or serious illness of one of the administrators, since current policies and the voted changes in policies will take care of that. Total discussion time took approximately almost two hours.

    5. Appointment of Administrators: Lester moved and Don seconded the following resolution:
    Strike, "TSFA Web Administrator, Sackett Discussion List Administrator, Historian, Newsletter Editor, Family Gatherings Coordinator" from Paragraph 4.3 of our constitution and add to the end of this paragraph, "appointed administrators, including TSFA web administrator, E- mail list administrator, historian, newsletter editor, family gatherings coordinator and up to six members at large, shall be voting members of the executive committee."
    Vote: unanimous

    6. Duties of the Vice President: Don moved and Glenna seconded a motion for a resolution to add the following to the constitution:
    "In the absence of the President, or his/her inability to act, the Vice President shall perform all the duties of the President, and, so acting, shall have all the powers, and be subjected to have all the restrictions of the President."
    Vote: unanimous

    7. Report from Historian: Thurmon indicated that John Lisle's Sackett Family Database web site has contributed to a considerable amount of valuable information being validated and shared amongst our members; Thurmon shared several specific cases where individuals had sent in valuable information or had submitted letters of appreciation for the information on the database.
    30,400 names are listed in the Sackett database
    19 participants in the DNA test group:
    1 is a member of John Sackett of New Haven group
    1 Unassigned
    4 Vermont Sacketts
    The rest are in Simon's group.
    1 test is pending

    8. Report on 2008 Reunion: Next year's meeting is in England, tentative date: Sept. 15-20, 2008. Suggestions or questions about this reunion should be passed on to Liesa.

    New business:

    9. TSFA Newsletter: Glenna expresses the committee's appreciation for our newsletter published by Darlene Sackett and encourages members to send her stories.

    10. Simon Sackett Plaque: Lester will be the Cambridge connection for getting approval of a plaque for Simon Sackett once we get more information on it as listed in the Sackett newsletter.

    11. 2009 Reunion: A consensus was reached that we explore a reunion to be held on the west coast – either in California or Washington State. Past reunions have been held in the Midwest, north, and east. It was felt that it would be helpful to continue to hold reunions in different sections of the country. Ted and Thurmon were asked to begin to explore a location for the 2009 reunion.

    VP was thanked for chairing the committee. $66 was provided by attendee donations to help reimburse Mary Lou to cover the costs of rental of the boardroom for the family meeting.

    Meeting adjourned: 4:15 PM