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Bylaws of the MidWest Color Guard
Circuit, Inc.
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ARTICLE I – OBJECT
A. The object of this association is to promote color guard
contests, thereby perpetuating the pageantry and effectiveness of
the member units for charitable and educational purposes. The
Midwest Color Guard Circuit (Circuit) is organized and operated
exclusively to support or benefit organizations, which engage in or
support youth activities in the performing arts, which include
elements of music, choreography, and theater.
ARTICLE II – MEMBERSHIP
A. Any bona fide color guard of a competitive nature is eligible
for membership to the Circuit. Deadline for application shall be
March 1 to qualify for the current competitive season.
B. Any new unit admitted to the membership shall be granted
voting privileges after their first competitive performance.
C. All units shall retain their voting rights for the following
competitive season, provided they remain a member in “Good
Standing”. To be a member in “Good Standing”, a unit must have
competed during the current contest season in a Midwest Color Guard
Circuit contest. As of the Championship contest, those units who did
not fulfill the above requirement will no longer be considered a
member in “Good Standing” and will lose their voting privileges.
Units whose membership lapse will be considered for future
membership as a new member.
ARTICLE III – SURETY BOND
A. An initial one hundred dollar ($100.00) surety bond shall be
posted prior to the acceptance of competition. This bond stays in
effect year after year so as long as a unit continues to compete. In
the event a unit discontinues existence, return of the surety bond
may be requested. Any circuit member unit not having competed for
one (1) full year and has not requested return of their surety bond,
said surety bond will be forfeited and transferred to the working
fund of the Midwest Color Guard Circuit.
ARTICLE IV – DUES
A. Dues in the total amount of three hundred dollars ($300.00)
per year shall be assessed each unit. For current members one
hundred dollars ($100.00) is due on or before September 30th or a
twenty-five dollar ($25.00) per month late fee will be assessed.
Late fees are not applicable to scholastic units until after
November 30th. The remaining two hundred dollars ($200.00) is due on
or before January 1st or prior to the first performance (or unit
will not be able to compete). Units, who have paid any portion of
their dues for the upcoming season and find prior to their first competition
they cannot compete that season, will be reimbursed all but a
fifty-dollar ($50.00) service fee.
ARTICLE V – ADMINISTRATION
A. The administration of the association shall be vested in the
President, who shall have a staff of six (6) officers to be elected
by the membership.
B. The staff of officers shall be President, Vice President,
Secretary, Treasurer, Contest Director, Public Relations Director,
and Judges Liaison.
C. The President will appoint a Director of Training and other
positions as needed. The majority of the Board voting members will
have to approve these appointments. All appointments will be
non-voting positions.
D. All officers shall be at least twenty-one (21) years of age
prior to the date of their election.
E. Elections shall be held each year at the May meeting of the
Circuit.
F. Any Circuit Officer absent three (3) consecutive Circuit or
Executive Board meetings shall be removed from office and another
elected to fill the vacancy at the next meeting.
G. All officers shall serve concurrent terms as Directors of the
Midwest Color Guard Circuit, Incorporated.
H. In the event of death, resignation or incapacity in the office
of President, the Vice President shall advance to the office of
President. A special election shall be held within thirty (30) days
to fill the office of Vice President. In the event of death,
resignation or incapacity of the Vice President, Secretary,
Treasurer, Contest Director, Public Relations Director, or Judges
Liaison, a special election shall be held within thirty (30) days to
fill the vacated office.
I. The President shall appoint a nominating committee prior to
the membership meeting held in the month in which the Circuit
championships are held. The committee will make its recommendations
at the meeting in the month in which the Circuit championships are
held.
J. The majority of all committees appointed must be non-board
members.
ARTICLE VI – DUTIES OF THE STAFF
A. The President shall supervise and control all the business and
affairs of the Circuit, and shall preside at all meetings of the
Circuit.
B. The Vice President shall, in the absence of the President,
perform the duties of the President. He/She shall be responsible for
initiating and maintaining liaisons with similar and interested
parties and circuits, seek out and recruit other possible members,
and perform such other duties as may be assigned by the
President.
C. The Secretary shall keep the minutes of the meetings, mail the
minutes to the members as well as any other notices, be custodian of
the Circuit records, and shall sign all records and correspondence.
He/She shall keep the register of the members and their addresses
and, in general, perform all duties as may be assigned by the
President.
D. The Treasurer shall have charge of, and control of, and be
responsible for all funds of the Circuit. He/She shall receive and
give receipts for all monies due and payable to the Circuit from any
source and deposit all such monies in the name of the Circuit in
such banks as may be selected by the staff and, in general, perform
all duties as may be assigned by the President.
E. The Contest Director shall handle all details and phases of
running a contest sanctioned by the Circuit, and will have complete
charge of all arrangements. The Contest Director will be responsible
to the Circuit membership through the President and, in general,
perform all duties as may be assigned by the President. The Contest
Director may appoint a Contest Coordinator to be approved by the
Board of Directors. The Contest Coordinator will be responsible for
the administration and management of all on-site aspects of running
Circuit contests and shall perform all duties as may be assigned by
the Contest Director. A fee per contest will be paid to the Contest
Coordinator.
F. The Public Relations Director shall publicize the Circuit and
make publicity information available to all Circuit members and, in
general, perform all duties as may be assigned by the President.
G. The Judges Liaison shall work within the MWCGC Judges Guild
regarding judges’ assignments and quality control. He/She shall
communicate the opinions, desires, and protests of the Midwest Color
Guard Circuit member units to the judges association relative to
judging and, in general, perform all duties as may be assigned by
the President.
H. The Director of Training shall be responsible for any and all
educational needs for the Circuit. He/She will administrate the
Circuit Educational Workshop and any additional clinics. He/She will
be available for consultations and will administrate additional
personnel to help in these efforts.
ARTICLE VII – MEETINGS
A. Meetings shall be held in the months of September, in the
month in which the Circuit Championships are held, and May, and at
the direction of the President and his/her staff. All Executive
Board meetings shall be held directly prior to each general meeting,
or at the discretion of the President.
B. A quorum is not necessary to conduct a vote. Those units
wishing to vote must be present or appoint a proxy in writing to the
President prior to the meeting. Bylaw changes must be published in
the minutes prior to being voted upon.
ARTICLE VIII – DELEGATES
A. Each member unit shall be allowed one (1) current delegate or
an alternate whose name shall b e registered at the time of
application and acceptance. A change in the name of the registered
delegate or alternate must be presented, in writing, to the
President prior to a regularly scheduled meeting.
B. The President shall cast a vote only in the case of a tie
vote, with the exception of the election.
C. Delegates may represent one (1) unit only.
D. All members of the Midwest Color Guard Circuit Executive Board
have one (1) vote whether they are unit connected or not. Should
they be unit connected, they will have the additional vote for the
unit as well.
E. Nominating Committee recommendations and nominations from the
floor shall be made at the meeting in the month in which the Circuit
Championship is held.
F. For the election of officers vote, an official ballot made
with space provided for write-in candidates signed by the President
with the Circuit seal affixed. These ballots shall be handed out at
the elections meeting to the named delegate or the alternate
delegate.
ARTICLE IX – BYLAWS
A. The bylaws shall be reviewed every two years.
B. The President and Secretary shall co-chair a Bylaws Review
Committee. The President shall appoint three circuit members to
assist the President and Secretary in the bylaws review.
C. The President shall report on the review at the September
meeting of the year of the review.
D. These bylaws may be amended by a majority of the members
present and voting at any regular meeting of the Circuit, provided
that the changes have been published in the minutes.
SUPERVISION:
All Circuit contests shall be supervised by the Midwest Color Guard
Circuit, Incorporated, under the competitive rules of Winter Guard
International except as noted herein.
1.0 REQUIREMENTS FOR COMPETITION IN THE MIDWEST COLOR GUARD
CIRCUIT:
1.1 Paid current
membership dues, fines, and posted one hundred dollar ($100.00)
surety bond.
1.2 A unit must submit a current roster and
certificate of insurance indicating underlying limits of
$1,000,000.00 minimum for General Liability
prior to their first performance of the current year. Any unit not
adhering to this rule may not perform.
1.3 At any contest, a member of a unit may not compete in more
than one unit.
1.4 All units appearing in finals competition shall compete in
preliminary competition, except for sponsoring unit giving an
exhibition (not in competition).
1.5 In all classes, it will be the defending Midwest Circuit
Champion unit’s prerogative to appear last at the Championship
finals, provided they qualify for finals competition in that
class.
1.6 Competition season shall be no longer than 14 weeks
including the WGI Championships.
2.0 CONTEST APPROVAL (omitted)
3.0 DIVISION SELECTION
3.1 Competitive classes
for Independent and Scholastic divisions will be offered as per
Winter Guard International Rules. Additional
approved divisions: Senior Division – Color guard composed
of one or more members over the age of 23 as of 12:01 AM of the
date of their respective competitive class finals at the Circuit
Championships. B Class – Consisting of all members eighth grade or
under as of 12:01 AM of the date of their respective competitive
class finals at Circuit Championships.
3.2 It is the intent that the units compete in the same class
as they would at WGI Regional and Championship contests. MWCGC
also reserves the right to add classes as necessary.
3.3 A unit must declare their class at the beginning of the
season with the option of switching classes once until March 1st
and must compete in at least one contest in that new class prior
to Circuit Championships.
3.4 Prior to March 1st, units wanting to move from one class to
another may do so, but must remain in that class throughout the
rest of the season, including the Championship show.
3.5 Any unit determined to be misclassified, could be
reclassified by Board decision.
3.6 A Senior Class unit must declare its intentions at the
beginning of the season and cannot change division during the
season.
4.0 REQUIREMENTS FOR ENTERING MIDWEST COLOR GUARD CHAMPIONSHIP
SHOW:
4.1 The point system: each unit will be awarded two (2) points
for each appearance on the first weekend of competition and one
point for each appearance thereafter, including the WGI Midwest
Regional.
4.2 Contest sponsors who do not compete at their own contest
but do perform in exhibition earn one appearance point.
4.3 A prelim/finals contest is considered one appearance and
receives only one appearance point.
4.4 All units, regardless of distance, must compete in a total of four (4) contests to qualify to compete in the circuit championships with the following requirement or exceptions: any one WGI Regional hosted by a
MidWest Color Guard Circuit unit is included as one of the competitions.
1. Units must compete in one (1) of the contests in the first
weekend. Scholastic
units may request exemption from this requirement if school
policies or conflicts prohibit a unit from doing so. Such
request shall be made in writing to the Contest Director for
consideration by the Board of Directors. Such requests must be
received by the Contest Director no later than January 1 of the
contest season year.
2. (Omitted)
3. First year units must compete in at least two (2) circuit
shows prior to championships.
4. Units from other home circuits can accumulate eligibility
for championships at their own home circuit shows by earning one
half credit per contest they appear in their own circuit. They
still must appear in at least three (3) Circuit shows.
5. Extenuating circumstances regarding all
exemptions must
be submitted through the
Contest Director for approval by the Board of
Directors.
6. Circuit Board of Directors will have the final decision
regarding Championship eligibility of unit unable to meet the
above requirements. Petitions are to be made to the Board in
writing to the Contest Director or in person at the Board
meeting.
5.0 ORDER OF APPEARANCE IN CHAMPIONSHIP PRELIMS
5.1 The order of appearance in the Championship preliminary
show will be determined by the point system. Units with more
points will appear late in the Championship preliminary show. In
case of ties, those units will be drawn for their respective
positions.
5.2 (Omitted)
6.0 CONTEST ENTRY, WITHDRAWAL, AND SURETY BOND
FORFEITURES
6.1 Entries for a Competition must be received by the Contest
Director no later
than December 15 of the calendar year prior to the calendar
year of the actual contest season. Units not meeting this deadline
may not be scheduled for their requested contest at the discretion
of the Contest Director. Assuming a contest schedule can
accommodate a late entry, a unit may request late entry to a
contest until Noon C.S.T. the Thursday nine (9) days prior to the
Saturday of the requested contest weekend. No points will be
earned if entries are received after December 15 as defined in
5.1.
6.2 Units that withdraw from a contest to which they have been
accepted shall forfeit the posted one hundred dollar ($100.00)
surety bond which shall go
to the show sponsor. The penalized unit will not be allowed
to compete in any contest until the one hundred dollar ($100.00)
surety bond has been reposted. Only emergencies that the Contest
Director considers an Act of God will exempt units from penalties
and surety bond forfeitures.
6.3 Any unit that fails to meet their appearance time will be
afforded their first penalty waived but will be penalized each
infraction thereafter according to the current rules. Waiver of
penalty does not apply to any WGI Regionals or Circuit
Championships.
7.0 MEETING OF REPRESENTATIVES
7.1 At the discretion of the Contest Director and at a time,
prior to the contest, and at a place designated by the Contest
Director, one (1) representative of each competing unit shall meet
with the Contest Director and/or Chief Judge, to
receive instructions and transact any business which may properly
come before such a meeting.
8.0 (Omitted)
9.0
TIES (Omitted)
10.0
SUSPENSION (Omitted)
11.0 RULES OF ORDER
11.1 These Rules and Regulations of the Midwest Color Guard
Circuit, Incorporated, shall be known as Rules of Order as defined
in Robert’s Rule.
11.2 It is the standard policy that the Contest Rules and
Regulations of the Midwest Color Guard Circuit be completed not later than the
September meeting. Any
rule changes passed after that date would not be effective until
the next contest season.
(revised 9/17/07)
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