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The GDVBS is, as our slogan says, a bullmastiff-centric social club. Decisions,
such as they may be, are made by consensus. Among the first decisions made
by consensus were that the GDVBS would not have a Constitution, nor have
Official Officers or a Board of Directors, nor be at all interested in Sanctioning.
The GDVBS has a Scribe who writes a letter about each meeting, keeps the
member list, reminds all of upcoming meetings, and records brags.
A second position, the Keeper of the Tin, collects the annual dues, accepts
brags, and maintains a tally. Between meetings the Tin, a cookie
tin no less, is kept on a shelf in the Keeper's kitchen. (And, as has already
happened, if the Tin is left at the Chair's after a meeting, there is a
new Keeper.)
The third, our Chair pro tem (for a time) rotates among the members as
each hosts one of our meetings. The Chair has no official duties nor powers.
We do not view this mode of operation as an experiment. Our members have
had decades of experience in a Philadelphia bullmastiff club that used to operate
in this manner; thus our slogan concludes, "keeping the Philly tradition alive".
The GDVBS meets quarterly, and irregularly, throughout the year. Among our first
year's highlights were a summer lawn party and a regular meeting at which enthusiastic
bullmastiffs were evaluated against the breed standard. They await our return, tails
wagging. Another delight was sporting our new buttons at the ABA's National
in September.
So, the GDVBS is new, holding its first meeting January 23, 2000. And so, the GDVBS
is old, it's the oldest bullmastiff club formed in the new millennium. The GDVBS is old
in another way -- its members have, on average, 21 years' experience with this wonderful
breed of dogs. Which leads us to our second slogan: Bullmastiffs are cool.
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