Article I – Purpose

Section 1:  To establish a sports hall of fame to honor significant contributions by past, present, and future Calhoun and Gordon County residents in his/her sport; which has resulted in positive recognition of Calhoun and Gordon County.  Honorees can be a participant, coach, official, promoter, administrator, organizer or person otherwise that has made a significant contribution; and must live or have at one time lived in Calhoun or Gordon County.

Section 2:  The Calhoun/Gordon County Sports Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization, and any revenues is collects of disburses shall be used for the sole purpose of the stated purpose.  It was establishedas a corporation on March 24, 2014, and has established our 501c3 status.

Article II – Governing Board

Section 1:  The Board of Directors shall consist of up to 15 members who each serve a three year term.  Board members may serve more than one term if nominated, voted on and elected by the current Board of Directors.

Section 2:  The “FoundingBoard” consit of six individuals who will be members of the first Board of Directors.  A “Founding Board” member will retain voting rights as long as the organization operates in order to assure the spirit of its founding continues.  These members are Dewayne Bowen, Andrea Brumlow, Jeff Clements, Scott Fletcher, Jimmy Palmer and Chuck Ruth, respectively.  These rights shall be non-transferable.

Section 3:  The first Board of Directors may be split into two and three year staggered terms, as decided by the Board.

Section 4:  The Board of Directors annually shall elect a President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary.  This shall be done at the annual meeting in December.

Section 5: The President, at his or her discretion, may appoint committees as needed.

Section 6:  The Board may appoint members to more than one three year term, but there must be a unanimous vote by the Board of Directors to re-elect anyone for another three year term after they have served two consecutive three year terms.

Section 7:  A Board member who is absent for two consecutive meetings without advance notification and reasonable excuse may be considered to have resigned his or her post.  At the Board’s discretion, there will be an ‘automatic resignation’ policy applied to any member missing two meetings without a valid reason and notification.

Section 8:  Eight votes shall be required to elect new board members.  Officers shall be elected by a simple majority of those present.

Section 9:  A quorum for conducting business shall consist of simple majority of the total voting membership.

Section 10:  The Board shall meet at least two times per year.

Article III – Officers

Each of the officers will be selected by a vote of the Board of Directors for a term of one year, which will begin on December 1st and will end on November 30th of the following year.  Except in the event of resignation, each officer will remain in office until suitable replacement for that office has been selected and qualified.  If an office becomes available prior to a regular meeting, the Board of Directors shall appoint an officer to fill the vacancy of said office until the next scheduled election of said officer.

In any election of officers, the Board of Directors may elect a single person to any two offices simultaneously, except that of the offices of President and Treasurer which must be held by separate individuals.

        President – The Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation, subject to the control of the Board of Directors of Directional Committees, will supervise and control the affairs of the Corporation and conduct Board meetings.

        Vice President – Will perform duties and exercise all powers of the President when the President is absent or is otherwise unable to act.  The Vice President will perform such other duties as may be prescribed from time to time by the Board of Directors.

        Secretary – Will keep minutes of all meetings of Members of the Board of Directors, will be the custodian of the corporate records, will give all notices as required by law or by these By Laws, and generally will perform all duties of the office of Secretary and such other duties as may be required by law, by Articles of Incorporation of by the by-laws, or which may be assigned by the Board of Directors.

        Treasurer – The Treasurer will have charge and custody of all funds of this corporation, will deposit funds as required by the Board of Directors, will keep and maintain adequate and correct accounts of the Corporation’s properties and business transactions, will render reports and accountings to the Board of Directors and to Members as requiredby the Board of Directors or Members or by-law, and will perform in general all duties incident to the office of Treasurer and such other duties as may be required by lay, by the Articles of Incorporation, or by the by-laws, or which may be assigned from time to time by the Board of Directors.

Removal of Officers

Any officer elected or appointed to office may be removed by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the Board of Directors, whenever in their judgment the best interest of the Corporation will be served.

Article IV – Membership

The member of the corporation are those persons, corporations or other entities having membership rights in accordance with the provisions of the by-laws.  Hall of Fame members will be invited to an annual meeting to vote on current year nominees.  Each member will have one vote.  The six “Founding Board Members” shall retain voting rights as members to be exercised at their discretion.  These “Founding Members” shall be included in future communications by the corporation.

Article V – Nomination Process

Section 1:  Nominations will be taken from anyone submitting an official Calhoun/Gordon County Sports Hall of Fame nomination form, along with a $25.00 non-refundable nomination fee.  The nominator shall be required to provide any and all documentation related to the candidate; to include awards, press releases, witness statements, school records, etc.  Statistics of nominee, information about teams, etc. shall be in written summary form as indicated on the Calhoun/Gordon County Sports Hall of Fame nomination form.  Accuracy and verification is the responsibility of the nominator.  Incomplete and unverifiable information may cause a rejection of the nomination.

Section 2:  A nomination will be good for three years.  After that, a new nomination form and fee must be submitted to continue the candidate’s consideration.

Section 3:  Nomination forms will be available on the organization website.  Nominations will be solicited by the Board of Directors using any available media or outlet the Boad of Directors thinks necessary.

Section 4:  Nominations will be taken during the calender year for the following year induction.  For example, for the 2015 class, nominations will be taken until March 31, 2015.

Article VI – Selection Process

Section 1:  A nominee must be a native or have been a resident of Calhoun or Gordon County, or have attended school, coached or worked within the city or county.  Nominees may be or have been athletes, coaches, administators, officials, team doctors, media, or any similiar position that have made significant contributions to athletics in their respective communities.

Section 2:  A nominee must be at least 40 years of age at the time of induction or inactive in the athletic category at the local level for at least five (5) years.  (Note: The intent of this rule is to allow a current coach, for example, to be inducted while still in his/her position, if so qualified and nominated.)

Section 3:  Each year, the Board of Directors, or appointed Selection Committee, shall select six (6) to ten (10) inductees.  At least one (1) inductee shall be an “Old Timer” (Pre 1970)  group.  The Board reserves the right to halt nominations with a two-thirds (2/3) vote of those present.

Section 4:  All nominees and their accomplishments will be screened intensively and thoroughly vetted and verified.  Statistics, old record books, scrapbooks, newpaper and magazine stories or clippings, etc. will be considered when possible.  Interviews about nominees may be sought by members of the Board of Directors when considered necessary.

Section 5:  While each nominee’s athletic achievements or contributions will be of primary importance and consideration, his or her post-athletic record, as a citizen, will be weighed.  A person must have also proven worthy as a citizen by carrying the ideals of athletics forward into his/her occupational endeavors and community service.

Section 6:  Each year, the Board of Directors will select and honor at least one athletic team for recognition.  Effort will be made to select teams from various sports across all city and county schools.  Eight affirmative votes from the Board of Directors will be required for this selection.  The team nominations come from the Board members and does not require the nomination fee.

Section 7:  The “Charter Class” of inductees will include 14, as decided by the Board of Directors on May 5, 2015.

Section 8:  The inductees shall be announced once each year and shall be honored each year at a banquet hosted by the Board of Directors; and financed through ticket sales, corporate sponsors, table sponsors, advertisements, and other ways decided by the Board of Directors.

Section 9:  Induction shall be held annually in the fall at a time and place to be selected by the Board of Directors.

HISTORICAL NOTE:  The original by-laws were drafted by the six member Hall of Fame founding committee consisting of: Dewayne Bowen, Andrea Brumlow, Jeff Clements, Scott Fletcher, Jimmy Palmer and Chuck Ruth.

By-laws approved unanimously by Calhoun/Gordon County Board of Directors on May 6th, 2014, as noted in meeting minutes.

By-laws revised: May 5, 2014