January 2012

Dear Presidents and Sisters in the League:

It is with great pleasure that I invite you to the 92nd Annual Diocesan Convention of The Catholic Women's League of Canada at The Delta Guelph Hotel and Conference Centre, 50 Stone Road West, Guelph Ontario N1G 0A9 (519-780-3700) commencing Friday, May 25th to Sunday, May 27th, 2012. Our Convention Chairwomen are Georgina Bourke and Pat Crawford.

The convention theme this year is being carried over from last year: "Centred on Faith and Justice – Focused on Love."

You will find a brochure with a tentative agenda included with this letter. Please mail your registration, meal and transportation forms to Pat Crawford by Friday, May 11th the deadline date. It is very important that you follow the instructions when completing the forms. Please use a separate form for each person. Accommodations are booked directly with the hotel by May 1st to receive the special room rates. This year we have imposed a late fee charge of $10.00 per person on registrations and meals/transportation received after the deadline date of Friday, May 11th (postmarked).

This is our Annual General Meeting and as the Constitution and Bylaws mandates it is vital that you, as the parish president, be present at this meeting to appropriately represent your council. I encourage you to bring as many of your sister executive and general members with you to experience this convention. We have been working with the Delta Hotel to keep our expenses down as much as possible. As a result of this we have decided to eliminate the Hospitality Room for this weekend. The reasoning behind it is that the room itself is actually only used for a mere 6 hours over the course of the weekend. The cost of renting this room alone is over $900 for two days which does not include the cost of providing refreshments.

As many of you stay at the hotel over the course of the weekend and often bring in your own refreshments for the evening, consider doing the same for the off time; i.e., breakfast on Saturday and prior to Saturday night's dinner. Perhaps you may even be willing to open your door to sister members that do not have a room to stay between sessions to freshen up!

Voting and Accredited Delegates

Each council is required to have one voting delegate at convention. The parish president is the voting delegate for all votes taken at the convention. If the parish president is unable to attend the convention, she may designate another member from her executive as the voting delegate in her absence. Voting delegates shall sit at the designated tables reserved for presidents.

Each council is encouraged to have two accredited delegates at the convention in addition to the voting delegate. It is customary to offer this responsibility to the members on your executive in the order of their position on the executive. These delegates are entitled to vote on all issues except the election of officers, amendments to the Constitution and Bylaws and an increase in per capita fees. Voting and accredited delegates will be given a delegate card at registration and are required to wear it show it to vote on all issues.

Registration

Each parish council has received a $75.00 statement of Annual Administration Fee. Payment of this fee enables all members of your council to attend the convention free of any other registration charges. Please note that this administration fee must be paid before your council registers for the convention.

Presidents, please ensure that your Organization Chairwoman and Treasurer have submitted your council's membership fees to the National Office in Winnipeg prior to registering for the convention.

Prior to the opening liturgy there will be a President and Spiritual Advisors' Dinner Meeting at 4:30 p.m. Personally invite your Spiritual Advisor to join us for dinner at the Delta Hotel. Following dinner we invite your Spiritual Advisor to concelebrate the Opening Mass with Bishop Emeritus Anthony F. Tonnos at St. Joseph Church in Guelph at 7:30 p.m. And as we have done in the past, please wear red to show our support of our Canadian troops!

Many of the Spiritual Advisors like to attend our closing mass and banquet and we encourage you to invite them to this event as well. The Closing Eucharistic Celebration will be held at Church of Our Lady Immaculate, Guelph. Bishop Douglas Crosby will be the main celebrant.

Saturday evening is our time for fun and our theme this year is "Disney". Anna Brady will inform us more about this at the Regional Meetings.

I am delighted to announce that Velma Harasen, National President and Marlene Pavletic, Provincial President will be with us this weekend. Please make them feel welcome and at home in our diocese.

Remember FAITH, FUN and FULFILLMENT. We will be capturing all three of these over the course of the weekend. Our FAITH throughout the weekend through our liturgies and prayer services; FUN on Saturday night and meeting up with old friends; and FULFILLMENT in the heart and soul of learning about the League!

Please do remember that this is a perfume free convention as many of our members suffer from allergies and respiratory problems. AND, don't forget to LUG-A-MUG!

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me at 905-560-4815 or Convention Co-Chairwomen Georgina Bourke (905-827-3856) and Pat Crawford (519-885-9593).

May Our Lady of Good Council guide us in all we do for God, Canada and The League!

Rosanne Sogan,
Hamilton Diocesan President