FABAC name change discussion

To help with this healthy discussion, I thought it would be useful to give some background on our club's current name and how it relates to our constitution.

Membership: The Founders of our Club (a list is available) were wise in ensuring that our Club would be inclusive, hence the language in our Constitution that states that anyone "who owns or is interested in British automobiles may apply for membership". Since the beginning, we have not turned anyone away, We have had everything imaginable driving with us from a Maserati Chrysler to odds and ends of Japanese, German, French, NA and Italian vehicles. Interestingly, even 'Fredericton Area' shows the original plan for the club to be not too restrictive re membership. We even have members living in the Saint John area.

The part of the Constitution regarding name changes is quite interesting:

"The name 'Fredericton Area British Automobile Club' reflects the original mandate and must contain the word 'British' and shall not have any additional restrictive language applied." 

So, one cannot add Electric Vehicles or Vintage, or Internal Combustion Engines or Sports Cars. These appear to restrict membership and do not reflect the intent of the Founders.

So, a change like 'Fredericton Area Mostly British Automobile Club' would be allowed.

However, 'Fredericton Unique Cars Klub' would not be allowed by the guidelines.

Finally, any name that makes it to the final decision must be approved by either:

- a majority of the surviving Founders

or

- a majority of active members ('Active' is described in our constitution as any registered person who has participated in at least one Club activity in the past twelve months. This can be tours, runs, meetings, breakfasts, or posts on our site.

I hope this has been helpful.

Your faithful servant,

David N.