Louisville Tropical Fish Fanciers, Inc. Constitution and By-Laws

Article I - Name

Section 1 - The name of this organization shall be the Louisville Tropical Fish Fanciers, Inc.

Article II - Object

Section 1 - The purpose of this society shall be to promote and encourage interest in the study of aquatic life and to provide an educational program of oral and written information for the benefit of the membership and general public.

Section 2 - To sponsor public exhibitions and shows.

Section 3 - To maintain aquaria in hospitals and other non-profit organizations.

Article III - Officers

Section 1 - Officers of the society shall consist of the President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer and a Membership Office.

Section 2 - PRESIDENT - It shall be the duty of the President to preside and maintain order at all meetings, appoint committees as approved by the Board of Directors, supervise elections and assume leadership of all activities of the society. He shall be an ex-officio member of all committees.

Section 3 - VICE-PRESIDENT - It shall be the duty of the Vice-President to preside in the absence of the President and to perform the duties of the President whenever he is not available. He shall also attend all special board or society meetings with the President. He shall serve as the Program Committee chairman and shall make all provisions for arranging the meeting room for meetings and programs.

Section 4 - SECRETARY - It shall be the duty of the Secretary to keep minutes of all meetings. These minutes shall be maintained as a permanent part of the society records and shall be passed to successive secretaries. Copies of these minutes shall be sent to the Editor within seven (7) days for publication in the club bulletin. The Secretary will attend to all correspondence of the society and may be assisted by others when necessary.

Section 5 - TREASURER - The Treasurer shall receive all monies accruing to the Louisville Tropical Fish Fanciers, Inc. and keep a ledgerof these monies, subject to annual audit by two members of the Board of Directors. He shall be responsible for billing and receiving all monies due the society. He shall issue checks in payment of bills to cover expenses incurred by the society, also in ledger form with receipts, and these checks shall be signed by any two of the following three officers: President, Secretary and Treasurer.

Section 6 - MEMBERSHIP OFFICER - The Membership Officer shall accept requests for membership upon receipt of dues and issue membership cards signed by the President. An accounting of these dues and the monies received shall be turned over to the Treasurer. The Membership Officer shall disperse the information received from the application blanks to the appropriate committee chairmen and officers for utilization in coordinating society activities. He shall maintain records of visitor attendance at general meetings and shall follow-up with a letter thanking them for their attendance. He shall act as liaison officer between the Board of Directors and members in order to convey any suggestions or complaints concerning club related activities to the Board of Directors for consideration.

Article IV - Board of Directors

Section 1 - The Board of Directors shall consist of the immediate part President, the President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Membership Office, the Editor, and two elected senior members and one elected junior member.

Section 2 - In the event that the President is re-elected for a succeeding term, he shall also be considered the immediate past President. In such case, a third senior member shall be elected to the Board of Directors from and by the membership at large immediately following the general election and at the same meeting.

Section 3 - The Chairman of the Board shall be selected by the Board members.

Section 4 - Five of the above members shall constitute a quorum in order to transact business of the society.

Section 5 - Board meetings shall be held bi-monthly and at other times at the discretion of the Board. The general membership is encouraged to attend these meetings.

Section 6 - Special Board meetings may be requested and will be called if felt justified by the majority of the Board.

Section 7 - Board of Directors - Responsibilities:

  • (a) - The Board of Directors as your elected representatives conducts the essential business of the Louisville Tropical Fish Fanciers, Inc., interprets the Constitution and By-Laws, and sets operating policies with the approval of the general membership. Decisions that apply to the general membership and cannot be resolved by the action of the Board will be brought before the general membership to be acted upon.
  • (b) - Requests for any action to be taken by the Board of Directors must be submitted to the Chairman at least three (3) days in advance of a Board meeting unless declared to be of an emergency nature.
  • (c) - The Board of Directors will assist in, and approve of, the selection of all appointees for the various non-elective functions of the society including committee members.
  • (d) - The Board of Directors, in addition to being kept advised of the activities and progress of operating committees, will serve as the annual show committee, and will appoint through the President various other members to audit the records of the Treasurer at the termination of each fiscal year.

Section 8 - Any member of the Board of Directors failing to attend any three (3) general meetings or any two (2) Board meetings will be subject to replacement by the Board of Directors at its discretion.

Article V - Election Procedure

Section 1 (a) - The Officers and Directors shall be elected for a term of one year in office by members in good standing. (b) - In the event any Officer or Director should be unable to fulfill his term of office of one year, a new election shall be held to fill that office.

Section 2 - A candidate for office shall be at least 18 years of age and in good standing with the Louisville Tropical Fish Fanciers, Inc. except the junior Board member who must be between 14 and 18 years of age.

Section 3 - No absent member shall be nominated for office unless the member making the nomination shall vouch for such member's acceptance if elected.

Section 4- Nominations:

  • (a) - A nominating committee shall be selected by the Board of Directors at the September Board meeting to nominate at least two members of the society for each elective office to be presented for nomination at the November general meeting. Further nominations will be accepted from the floor at this time.
  • (b) - Nominations shall be made at the November meeting with election at the December meeting. The President shall appoint a committee of three (3) consisting of one judge and two tellers to distribute the ballots and tally the vote. The judge shall declare aloud the names of the successful candidates.

Section 5 - Only members in good standing twelve (12) years of age or older may vote in the election of officers.

Article VI - Committees

Section 1 - The chairmen of the following committees are appointed by the President, subject to approval by the Board, and are responsible to the President. Each of these committees will make a written report to the Board of Directors at all Board meetings.

Section 2 - Any member of the Louisville Tropical Fish Fanciers, Inc. wishing to serve on any committee will be permitted to do so if deemed qualified by the Board of Directors. The Board will notify any member who is refused an appointment.

Section 3 - Committees may consist of one chairman and assistants or committee members as required unless otherwise specified by the Board.

Section 4 - Committee Duties

  • (a) Following is a list of various committees and their duties. Others may be added as needed. Section 4 (a) - PROGRAM - The Program Committee will plan and execute a-variety of suitable programs as approved by the Board of Directors.
  • (b) - REFRESHMENT - The Refreshment Committee will arrange for light refreshment to be served at each regular meeting and supervise any serving of special refreshments (for example, the Christmas Party, zoo meetings, picnic, banquets, etc.)
  • (c) - AQUARIUM AID - This is a standing committee to supervise the installation and maintenance of aquaria in non-profit institutions in the Louisville area as a civic enterprise. Locations suggested must be approved by the Board of Directors.
  • (d) - BREEDER AWARD PROGRAM - This is a standing committee consisting of society members located in different areas of the city in order to be convenient to Breeder Award Program participants. Family members working together will be considered as one member of this committee. One of the duties of this committee will be to maintain a record of all spawnings. All monies collected by the Chairman will be turned over to the Treasurer. AWARD OF CERTIFICATES AND PLAQUES will be made by the Chairman of the Breeder Award Program Committee at each general meeting following their having been earned by the B.A.P. participant.
  • (e) - DOOR PRIZES AND RAFFLE - This committee shall solicit, receive and supervise the distribution of door prizes and shall solicit major prizes, issue raffle tickets on these prizes, and keep a record of distribution of same.
  • (f) - BOWL SHOWS - This committee will be responsible for setting up the bowl shows at each meeting and selecting the categories of fishes to be shown, will obtain bowl show judges and maintain a record of point standings as published in the bowl show rules.
  • (g) - HOSPITALITY - The Hospitality Committee will meet and greet new members and guests, introduce them, and socialize with them in order to make them feel at home. This committee will also assist the Membership Officer in the duties of that office when required. All members of the Board of Directors are ex-officio members of this committee.
  • (h) - PUBLICITY - This committee will carry on a publicity program for the society through notification of our activities to various news media and local dealers.
  • (i) - LIBRARIAN - The Librarian will keep a check on library books issued and see that they are returned, will report damaged or lost materials to the Board of Directors, and will inform members what information is available and how to obtain it.
  • (j) - EDITOR - The Editor shall be responsible for the publication and distribution of the bi-monthly bulletin and see that it is distributed in time to include the meeting notices for the next two months. He shall solicit ads for the bulletin.
    • `

The following committees are responsible directly to the Board of Directors:

Section 5 - ZOO - This Committee will act as liaison between the society and the Louisville Zoological Gardens to help coordinate society activities there.

Section 6 - Other committees may be activated by the Board of Directors as required.

All committees shall be approved or selected by the Board as standing or continuing committees subject to review annually or at other times desired by the Board.

Article VII - Meetings

Section 1 - The regular meetings shall be held on the first Monday of each month and shall be opened at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise designated due to holiday or other conflict.

Section 2 - Special meetings may be called by the President or by written request of ten (10) members in good standing. No business shall be transacted except that for which such meeting was called. The membership must receive notice of such special meeting.

Article VIII - Dues and Membership

Section 1 - Annual dues shall be established by the Board of Directors with the approval of the general membership. A special junior membership will extend to members under 18 years of age. Initial dues are pro-rated to one-half of full membership to members enrolled after the August meeting. New members paying full dues after October 1st will be enrolled for the following year.

Section 2 - Annual dues shall be payable as of the November meeting and will be considered delinquent if not paid by the December meeting date.

Section 3 - Anyone becoming delinquent in membership dues shall be dropped from the membership list.

Section 4 - Dues are payable only to the Membership Officer.

Article IX - Amendments

Section 1 - To revise or amend the CONSTITUTION and BY-LAWS a committee shall be appointed by the Board of Directors to construct such revisions or proposed amendments which shall be first submitted to the Board of Directors and then read at one regular meeting of the Louisville Tropical Fish Fanciers, Inc. and passed by two-thirds of the members present. A copy of the proposed changes shall be mailed to all members in good standing prior to the meeting.

Article X - Dissolution

Section 1 - In the event of dissolution of the Louisville Tropical Fish Fanciers, Inc. after all obligations have been fulfilled, all funds having accrued shall be donated to the Louisville Zoological Gardens.

The above Constitution and By-Laws submitted to the Board of Directors on February 14, 1977, subject to acceptance at the March 7, 1977 general meeting of the LOUISVILLE TROPICAL FISH FANCIERS, INC.