MEMBERS OF THE BOARD ELECTED - Part 02

It is interesting to read some of the comments made by James Saunders in his book entitled, “Times of My Life”. Mr. Saunders wrote: “Other problems such as inappropriate personal involvements, conflicting church rules introduced by Dositej head of the Holy Synod, conflicting by-laws called for limited membership and other matters sometimes got in the way. These problems were dealt with one by one as the church committee continued to gain experience.” In my opinion, having little experience was not the problem. The problem was the executive board pushing its own agenda to have St. Clement of Ohrid become independent of the Macedonian Holy Synod Church. Anti-Synod propaganda was used in order to boost the executive board’s arguments regarding the church by-laws. The executive board, through lawyer Bill Andrews, introduced politics into the debate.

Andrews made this obvious when he said:

“Our church was conceived with the intent of being a non-political organization.

We can no longer say that we are a non-political organization when we do not have the power to pass our by-laws without the approval of the church in Skopje.

If that church receives assistance from the government of Yugoslavia, (I assume that it does), there is, therefore, a connection between the Yugoslav government and this church no matter how indirect it may be.” When he made this statement, Bill Andrews must have forgotten that, regardless of his fear-mongering, the vast majority of the membership desired much closer relations with our Mother Church and the Macedonian Synod in Skopje. As a result, the membership lost confidence in the board of directors and with it, its patience, and in September of 1965 put an end to it by dismissing the executive board. This also put an end to the anti-Synod propaganda. Mr. Saunders on the other hand, as he believed then and still believes today, is telling us that all the problems were caused by Dositej, Archbishop of Macedonia. Nothing is further from the truth than the above statement.

Yes, some members on the board of directors may have been against everything that Archbishop Dositej stood for, but at the core of the anti-Synod propaganda stood a small faction of people determined to discredit the Holy Synod of the Macedonian Orthodox Church. This faction was headed by Mr. Van Petroff and his closest friends and supporters. Mr. Van Petroff was complaining that new immigrants from Macedonia were coming to Toronto and even before going home they came first to the church with their suitcases. Mr. Saunders was echoing the same propaganda by saying that: “When we created the Macedonian Orthodox Church, new immigrants from Macedonia were surprised that it existed. They would see the name of the church and say, ‘we don’t have that at home’ so they would flock to our church.” Of course, where else should the new Macedonian immigrants have gone to, Mr. Saunders? The Bulgarian or the Greek Church?

Now let us further analyze Mr. Saunders’ remarks starting with the comment:

‘conflicting church rules’.

The first rule proposed by the archbishop was: “The Holy Synod of the Macedonian Orthodox Church in Skopje was the only body that had the right to appoint the clergy in the St. Clement of Ohrid Macedonian Orthodox Church in Toronto”, as was the rule with every other Macedonian Orthodox Church. Is this the rule to which Mr. Saunders was referring as conflicting or was the “by-law calling for limited membership” conflicting for Mr. Saunders? Even if it was, it had nothing to do with the Archbishop of Macedonia!

This rule, covered in article eight of our by-laws, was simply there to state that regular members of our church had to be Macedonians of the Orthodox faith. This rule had absolutely nothing to do with the Archbishop of Macedonia! What exactly was “conflicting” for Mr. Saunders?

The real question here is, “why speak of a prominent personality in the Macedonian church in such a negative way?” After all, was Dositej not the father of the renewed Archbishopric of Ohrid and the first Archbishop of Macedonia? Who gave Mr. Saunders the right to make negative comments about such a great Macedonian figure as the archbishop? I would also like to take issue with Mr. Saunders for writing; “To compensate for the lost support, especially from those who pulled out their pledges, the church committee turned to the United Macedonians.” I would like to remind my friend Jimmy Saunders that the people who he is trying to discredit here were the very people who made him president of the United Macedonians and performed most of the work for him. I would also like to remind him that, all these people were leading members of the United Macedonians before and after the construction of the St. Clement Church.

Furthermore, I would like to remind Mr. Saunders that the minutes of the church executive meeting, held on August 19th, 1964, in part, stated the following:

“Chris Neshkov informed the meeting of a request by the United Macedonians Committee to undertake to decorate a meeting room complete with tables and chairs. The majority were pleased with the news. However, as a formality, the United Macedonians Committee was asked to write a letter requesting permission. The letter was to state that this undertaking would not place the church under any obligation.” What exactly did the board of directors mean, Mr. Saunders, when it said: “The undertaking would not place the church under any obligation?” Yes, you can do it but don’t think that you can move in. That, Mr. Saunders, more or less summarizes the kind of relations that existed between the United Macedonians and the church executive at the time.

Mr. Saunders, what are you trying to tell us by writing: “…so they flocked to our church?” I am asking you again: “Where should the new Macedonian immigrants have gone if not to the Macedonian Church?” It is difficult to understand Mr. Saunders, what exactly you meant when you said; “We don’t have that at home?” Do you not know that Macedonia has the most churches in the Balkans? Macedonia of course is well-known for having the most churches in the entire Balkans.

I would also disagree with my friend Mr. Saunders, why do you refer to the Macedonian Church as “our” church and not as the “Macedonian” church?

From our history As a member of the board of directors of our church and president of the United Macedonians Canadian Committee for 1965, I had the opportunity, and at the same time the responsibility, to oppose the executive members' plans of the board of our church, regarding their stand towards the Holy Synod of the Macedonian Church. I also needed to expose them to the membership of the church and the members of the United Macedonians Canadian Committee, thereby making sure people understood the seriousness of their intentions regarding the Holy Synod's jurisdiction over the St.

Clement of Ohrid Church. Keep in mind that the United Macedonians Canadian Committee membership was a good portion of the church membership. United, at that time, was a force no one could afford to overlook. That is why the United Macedonians was not only an eye irritant but, to some board members of the church, its enemy. At a board meeting on June 17th, 1965, the question of the United Macedonians Canadian Committee was discussed. Here is what the minutes of that meeting state: "The chairman read a letter from the United Macedonians committee asking for a room in the church and for permission to use the address of the church as its head office. After long discussions, it was decided that the church should not be used as the head office of a political organization and that, in any event, all of the rooms and the halls of the church would be required for the church organization. Louis George, Chris Neshkov, James Saunders, Very Rev. Atanas Popov, and Mr. Andrews were appointed to advise the United Macedonians of the director's decision." What was most irritating to me, as president of the United Macedonians Canadian Committee, was the fact that James Saunders, the first president, also accepted to talk to the United Macedonians Canadian Committee. This was not the only disappointment with my friend James Saunders. As I remember, back in August, 1965, Mr. Saunders was speaking to Van Petroff, the arch proponent of the United Macedonians Canadian Committee, in the church office. He was telling Van Petroff that the people attending the Ilinden picnic were not there because they loved the United Macedonians, but that they were coming to the picnic to have a good time and meet their friends. I was surprised and angered to hear Mr. Saunders' comment. If that was correct, there were two other picnics of the opposition; the Greek Pan-Makedoniki and the pro-Bulgarian MPO on the same day. In that case, why did people opt to attend the United Macedonians Canadian Committee picnic? Since that time, my opinion has changed towards my good friend, James Saunders. I am friendly but reserved. For Mr.

Saunders, it was hard to accept that everyone was replaceable. Even today, Mr. Saunders still claims that he was the president of the United Macedonians Canadian Committee for the year 1965, which is absolutely untrue. The members of the United Macedonians Canadian Committee thinking, at the time, was that if the United Macedonians were inside the church premises they would have a better chance to react and oppose the policies of the board of directors of the church. They knew, very well, that the church premises were not the ideal solution for both of the organizations and of course the church. Due to the unpleasant events that took place during the consecration of the church and the treatment of the Holy Synod, the members of the United Macedonians believed there was the need to get inside the church premises. After the church elections of September 25, 1965, when the old board of directors was dismissed, except for my re- election as treasurer of the church, the situation was tense. Many people were dissatisfied with what had happened on election day. The leaders of the board and their followers, temporarily withdrew their support of the church. Some of them stopped coming to the church services and all other cultural events. It wasn't a happy situation. The withdrawal of their support towards the church was felt in the newly elected board of directors.

People were worried with all the mortgage owed to the bank and a large sum of money owed to the members of the church. The question was whether or not we could succeed to carry on. The first casualty was the secretary of the church, Mr. John Argyris, who submitted his resignation as the secretary and as board member, only three months after he accepted his duty as secretary.

After the election of September 26, 1965 and the change of the board of directors of the church, United Macedonians Canadian Committee held its own elections. Mr. George Loukras took over the presidency of the United Macedonians, and I was elected secretary of the organization. The president, George Loukras, and I spoke to the president of the church, Mr. James Jugloff, about renting an office for the United Macedonians Canadian Committee on the church premises. This time, the board of directors approved our request to rent a small office on the church premises. I'm submitting the document signed by the president of St. Clement Church, James Jugloff, the president of the United Macedonians, George Loukras and myself, as secretary of the United Macedonians Canadian Committee. Although this document was signed on November 17, 1966, we had not attempted to set up an office for the United Macedonians Canadian Committee, knowing very well that it was not a wise move to do so. As we will see later, the United Macedonians of North America passed a resolution on the same subject, which resolution I am presenting for the reader. The resolution spelled the kind of relations that should be between the church and the organization. The need for a resolution back in May 17, 1970, before the United Macedonians of North America convention was a necessity. This is due to the fact that some members of the organization were promoting the idea that since the United Macedonians Canadian Committee initiated the idea of building the Macedonian Church, the church was a branch of the United Macedonians. One of the biggest promoters of this idea was no one else but Telly Morihovitis. The elections of the new board of directors on September 25, 1965, brought about the worst division among the members of the church.

Nevertheless, the vast majority of the membership of the church remained loyal to our mother church and the position that was taken by the newly elected board of directors;

that our ties and loyalty towards our mother church and the Holy Synod of the Macedonian Orthodox Church remain unbreakable. In all of this, I had been one of the biggest campaigners against the board of which I was a member. I wanted to bring down those who were promoting the anti-synod propaganda. I had been verbally abused by some members of the board, but I knew what I wanted and persisted until I got it. I remember Mrs. Luba Neshevich, crying and shouting against me in the hallway of the church, telling me, "I don't care about your Holy Synod, I want an Orthodox Church." My response was; "There are other Orthodox Churches in Toronto. Why don't you go there?" Luba had another chance to express her frustrations and hatred towards me at the general election meeting when, together with Mrs. Angie Costantine, threw ashtrays on the stage, from the floor, after I addressed the general meeting. To date, after 52 years, only two people remain of whom I have never forgiven or forgot or made good and that is Luba Neshevich and the late Van Petroff. Most likely we shared or share the same opinion of each other. In all of my work in the Macedonian community, I consider this to be one of my greatest achievements, promoting the Macedonian cause. For some, I was the biggest instigator for which I do not apologize. On the contrary, I'm proud of what I have achieved together with all the others who believed and shared my stand on the problems that surfaced during and after the consecration of St. Clement of Ohrid Macedonian Orthodox Church, during 1965. In order to achieve all this, there was lots of work to be done in order to arrive at the results of the September 25, 1965 elections. The question at the time was who would replace the old executive and the board of directors. I had many discussions with many members of the church and members of the United Macedonians Canadian Committee about putting together the next executive and board of directors. As I remember, in the small hall under the church, I was discussing with Vangel Jugloff, finding a suitable and able person to take over the presidency. He suggested to me that I should talk to his son, Jimmy. Vangel was sure that Jimmy would accept to run, that he would stand for the election of president. I heard what I was hoping to hear. A short time later I met with Jimmy and after a short discussion Jimmy agreed to run for the presidency. I also knew Dr. Alexander Georgievski, who was not involved very much in the church at that time. I promised Jimmy that I would try to convince Dr.

Aleksander Georgievski to run as his vice-president. Shortly after, I met with Dr.

Georgievski, at which time I told him about Professor James Jugloff's acceptance to run for president. Dr. Georgievski agreed to run for the position of first vice-president. By fulfilling those two positions, at the next meeting with Jimmy we decided to call a meeting of all our supporters to select the rest of the executive and the board members.

While the nominations started for the rest of the board, Mr. Jugloff turned towards me and said, "Johnny, you have to fill the position of the secretary-treasurer." At that moment, I found myself in a position unable to say no. Deep down I wanted to avoid that position at all costs. How could I say no? After all, I was pushing Mr. Jugloff to run for the top job. I had no choice but to accept the treasurer's job. Finally, we succeeded in filling the candidate list although there were some people in our group who were not satisfied with the slate. However, and most importantly, in the end, we were united on election day. In the meantime we had to force the old executive board to call an election.

One of our demands from the board of directors was the overdue financial statement for the last 2 1/2 years. At a board meeting on June 17, 1965, it was decided that a financial meeting for the members would be held on July 11, 1965. On June 29th, 1965, a petition was started to make sure the board of directors would follow through with their decision.

This petition was signed, by more members required by the law, to call a general meeting of the church members. I was one of those people who signed the petition. Here are some of the names who signed the petition: John Chervenkov, George Loukras, my father Mike Givens, Louis Opasini, Bill Dundas, my brother-in-law Chris Bilkovski, Bill Clechoff, Simo Temovski, Kite Andonovski, Aristotelis Morihovitis, T. Opashinov, Norman Arnandoff, George Angelevski, Denny Giouchos, Thomas Opasini, Bill Foster and others. All together, 76 members signed the petition. The board of directors had no choice but to call the meeting.

Relations between the St. Clement Church Board and the United Macedonians (1963-1965)

As an active member of both organizations, during the formation of our church congregation and later during the construction of St. Clement Church, I was very enthusiastic about being able to contribute towards achieving our goal of having our own Macedonian church in Toronto. At the same time, as president of the United Macedonians Canadian Committee for 1965, I was duty bound to follow through and ensure the organization was not neglected and its interests in the Macedonian community were protected. Therefore, I was an insider, in both organizations.

Understanding the work involved and the problems in both organizations allowed me the opportunity, first-hand, to know what was the way of thinking in both organizations.

I, therefore, became familiar with the direction the board of directors of our church was trying to project for the future of the church. It took me a long time to realize that things were not rosy but, in the end, it was clear to me that some of the board members had ideas contrary to my liking.

My realization came just before the consecration of the church. I was insightful of the intent of some main players in our congregation, which I may say was an anachronism because the large majority of our congregation did not share their thinking. Knowing all of this, I had the opportunity as a member of the church board of directors and president of the United Macedonians Canadian Committee for 1965, not just to oppose their plans but to expose them to the membership of the church and to the members of the United Macedonians Canadian Committee. I wanted to make sure people understood the seriousness of their intentions regarding the Holy Synod and also to mobilize all those who were opposed to their plans.

Keeping in mind that the United Macedonians Canadian Committee membership was a good portion of the church membership, united as they were at that time, it was a force no one could afford to overlook. This is why the United Macedonians organization was not only an eye irritant to some board members of the church, but its enemy. At a board meeting, on June 17, 1965, questions about the United Macedonians Canadian Committee were discussed. Here is part of what the minutes of that meeting stated: “The chairman read a letter from the United Macedonians Committee asking for a room in the church and for permission to use the address of the church as its head office.” After much discussion, it was decided that the church should not be used as the head office of a “quasi-political” organization and that, in any event, all of the rooms in the halls and church would be required for use by the church organizations. Louis George, Chris Neshkov, James Saunders, Reverend Atanas Popov and Bill Andrews were appointed to advise the United Macedonians of the directors’ decision.

What was most irritating to me about this, as president of the United Macedonians Canadian Committee, was the fact that James Saunders also accepted to speak to the United Macedonians Canadian Committee! As I remember back in August 1965, Saunders, while in the church office, was speaking to Van Petroff, the arch opponent of the United Macedonians. He told Petroff that people attended the Ilinden picnic not because they loved the United Macedonians but because it was a picnic and they were going to have a good time and meet their friends.

I was surprised and angered to hear Saunders’s comments. If that was correct, then why did people opt to attend the United Macedonians Canadian Committee picnic when there were two other picnics that same day, namely the Pan-Makedoniki and the MPO;

both organizations being our opposition?

Since that time, my opinion changed towards my friend James Saunders. I hold a reserved, yet friendly opinion of him. Saunders found it difficult to accept the fact that everyone was replaceable. Even today Saunders still claims that he was the president of the United Macedonians Canadian Committee for the year 1965, which is absolutely false.

Members of the United Macedonians Organization, at that time, had a mindset that if the United Macedonians were inside the church premises, they would have a better chance of reacting to and opposing the policies of the church board of directors, knowing full well that the church premises was not an ideal solution for both organizations to occupy. Due to the unpleasant events that took place during the church consecration and the treatment of the Holy Synod delegation, members of the United Macedonians believed that there was a strong need to get inside the church premises.

After the church elections in September 1965, when the old board of directors was released, except for my re-election as treasurer of the church, the situation was tense.

Many people were dissatisfied with what had happened on election day. The leaders of the board and their followers temporarily withdrew their support of the church. Some even stopped coming to church services and cultural events. It wasn’t a happy situation.

Withdrawal of their support for the church was felt in the newly elected board of directors. People were worried and concerned over the mortgage owed to the bank and the large sum of money owed to various members of the church. The question at the time was whether or not we could succeed in carrying on with the business of running the church. Our first casualty occurred when John Argiris, secretary of the church, submitted his resignation. This occurred after only three months in office. He also resigned as a member of the board.

After September 26, 1965, with a change in the church board, the United Macedonians Canadian Committee held its own elections. George Loukras took over the organization’s presidency and I was elected secretary of the organization. George Loukras and I spoke to the church president, James Jugloff, about renting an office for the United Macedonians Canadian Committee on the church premises. This time the church board approved our request and gave us a small office in the church.

A document, to that effect, was signed by the St. Clement church president, the United Macedonians president, George Loukras and myself, as secretary of the organization.

Although this document was signed on November 17, 1966, we never made an attempt to set up a United Macedonians Canadian Committee office in the church, knowing very well that this was not a wise move.

As we will see later, the United Macedonians of North America passed a resolution on the same subject. I would like to present this resolution to the reader, which spells out the kind of relations that existed between the church and the United Macedonians Organization.

The necessity for such a resolution, back in May 17, 1970, before the United Macedonians of North America convention, was due to the fact that some members of the organization were promoting the idea that, since the United Macedonians Canadian Committee initiated the idea of the establishment of the church, the church was a branch of the United Macedonians.

One of the main promoters of this idea was Teli Moriovche (Aristotelis Morihovitis).

The fact that the old executive and their supporters had lost the elections resulted in the worst division between the church membership and United Macedonians Organization.

Nevertheless, the vast majority of the membership remained loyal to our Mother Church;

that was the position taken by the newly elected board of directors (elected in September

1965).

The position taken was that our ties and loyalty towards our Macedonian Mother Church and the Holy Synod in Macedonia should remain unbreakable.

I was one of the greatest supporters of this and adamantly opposed the board and all those members who were against the Synod and promoted anti-Synod propaganda. I had been verbally abused by members of the board but I knew what I wanted and I insisted until I got it. I remember Luba Neshevich crying and shouting at me in the hallway of the church, telling me that she did not care about the “Holy Synod” and all that she wanted was an Orthodox Church. My response to her was that there were “all kinds” of Orthodox churches in Toronto that she could attend but there was only one Macedonian Church.

Luba took this opportunity to express more hatred towards me at the September 1965 election meeting when she, together with Angie Konstantin, threw ashtrays onto the podium at me while I was addressing the general meeting. After the passing of 48 years, two people remain on my list with whom I have not made amends and they are Luba Neshevich and Van Petroff. I am sure we share similar opinions of each other.

In all of the work that I have done for the Macedonian community, I consider this to be one of my greatest achievements; promoting the Macedonian cause. Some people, who did not understand my motives, considered me to be a “big instigator” for which I do not apologize. On the contrary, I am proud of what I have achieved, together with those who shared my vision in solving the problems that surfaced during and after the consecration of our church in 1965.

There was a lot of work that had to be done in order to arrive at the results of the September 25, 1965 elections. The question at the time was, “Who would replace the old church executive and the board of directors?" I had many discussions with many church and United Macedonians Canadian Committee members about putting together the next executive and board of directors. As I remember, we were discussing in the small hall under the church, who might be the best suited and able candidate to take over the presidency. Vangel Jugloff told me that I should talk to his son Jimmy. Vangel was sure that Jimmy would accept to run for the position of president. He told me what I was hoping to hear and, a short time later, I met with Jimmy and, after having a short discussion with him, he agreed to run for president.

I also knew Dr. Georgievski who, at the time, was barely involved in church affairs. I promised Jimmy that I would try to convince Dr. Aleksander Georgievski to run as his vice-president. After meeting with Dr. Georgievski, I informed him that Jimmy Jugloff was going to run for president and that he wanted Dr. Georgievski to run with him. Dr.

Georgievski agreed and accepted to run for first vice-president.

After deciding the two most important positions, at the next meeting Jimmy Jugloff and I decided to call a meeting with our supporters in order to select the rest of the executive committee and board members. While nominations were being called out, he turned to me and said: “John I want you to run as secretary- treasurer.” At that moment I found myself in a position where I was unable to say no, knowing full well that I wanted to avoid that position at all costs but under the circumstances, how could I say no?

I had no choice but to accept the job. Finally we succeeded in filling the entire candidate list, although there were some people, within our group, who were not satisfied with the slate. In the end, we were united on election day. One of our demands from the old board of directors was the overdue financial statement for the last 2 1/2 years.

During a prior board meeting, we decided to hold a membership meeting on July 11, 1965, to provide our membership with a financial report. This was decided because our membership had petitioned to call a general meeting. I was one of those people who signed the petition, along with John Tsarvenkov, George Loukras, my father Mike Givens, Louis Opasini, Bill Dundas, my brother-in-law Chris Bilkovski, Bill Clechoff, Simo Temovski, Kite Andonovski, Aristotelis Morihovitis, T. Opashinov, Norman Arnandoff, George Angelevski, Denny Giouchos, Thomas Opasini, Bill Foster and others. Altogether, 76 members had signed the petition. The board of directors had no choice but to call a membership meeting.

A general membership meeting was finally held on July 28, 1965. Here are some highlights of the meeting:

• President Kosta Andrews introduced Van Petroff as chairman of the meeting.

• Mike Givens moved that a chairman for the meeting be elected from the floor.

Norman Arnandoff was nominated and appointed chairman. Arnandoff read the agenda which called for the reading of the financial report. The treasurer presented a summary of all receipts and payments from the time the church was organized to March 31, 1965.

• Van Petroff reported on behalf of the cont rol committee. He explained that due to the fact that some control committee members worked only during the evening, they did not have enough time to double check the books. However, with the time they did have, they found no irregularities with the books.

• John Givens, as a member of the contro l committee, reported that everything, except the membership book, had been checked and balanced. The control committee was ordered to check the membership book and double check the rest of the books before a final report could be made. A motion was passed by John Argiris to give the control committee 4 more months to check the books thoroughly and call another general meeting, at which time the control committee was to present its final report. In other words, the financial statement was not accepted by the membership during this general meeting.

• The Very Reverend Popov then read a letter from the Metropolitan who informed the membership that he had not yet received a copy of the constitution mailed to him for approval and translated to the Macedonian language. Very Reverend Popov suggested that we defer discussing the By-Laws until we heard further from the Metropolitan.

• The President reported that a constitu tion had been unexpectedly presented to him which he was then asked to sign during a going away party for the delegates, after the consecration of our church. He explained that he was unable to sign the papers without majority membership approval and without holding a membership meeting. The president was also critical of the delegates for taking the disk money for the consecration of the church. He was especially critical of George Angelevski for demanding rent money for housing the delegates after volunteering to let them stay at his house for free if the church paid for their food. The president also made mention that he was not happy with the rumours spread that if Angelevski had not volunteered his house, the committee would not have been able to find or afford living quarters for the delegates.

General meeting of members Minutes of a general meeting of the members of the Macedonian Orthodox congregation, St. Clement of Ohrid, Toronto, Canada, held at 76 Overlea Boulevard, Leaside, on Sunday, September 19th, 1965, at the hour of 3:00 in the afternoon, Toronto time.

The chairman, Kosta R. Andrews, and the president of the corporation, took the chair and requested that Very Rev. Atanas Popov commence the meeting with a prayer. After that prayer and the singing of the national anthem of Canada and other songs by the choir, the Very Rev. Atanas Popov briefly addressed the meeting.

The president then addressed the meeting briefly.

The president then called for nominations from the floor for chairman of the meeting.

Upon motion, duly seconded, it was resolved and carried unanimously that, John Argyris be appointed the chairman of the annual meeting of members. Mr. Argiris then took the chair.

Mr. Argyris then asked for nominations from the floor, for secretary of the meeting.

Upon motion, duly seconded, it was resolved and carried unanimously that, Vlado Markovski be appointed the secretary of the meeting, to take the minutes, thereof, in the Macedonian language and William Andrews be appointed secretary of the meeting to take the minutes, thereof, in the English language.

Notice of meeting At the request of the chairman, Mr. Andrews read the notice calling the meeting and stated that notice had been mailed at least 10 days before the meeting to all of the registered members. The chairman then declared that a quorum being present, the meeting was properly constituted.

Scrutinizers Upon motion, duly seconded, it was resolved and carried unanimously that the following persons be appointed scrutinizers for the purposes of the election of officers and directors of the corporation: Pando Papailia, Lubco Spasevski, Stojan Jakovlevski, Louis Markoulis and Peter Markovski.

Election of president and a director The chairman then asked the meeting for nominations for the office of president and a director. James Jugloff was nominated by Mike Givens and seconded by Norman Arnadoff. There were several objections from the floor about the nomination of Mr.

Jugloff on the grounds that it was a requirement passed by the directors that a person must be a member of the corporation, six months prior to qualifying for nomination or election, as president. Back in September of 1963, Bill Andrews was admitted as a member and at the same time, appointed to hold office as a director of the corporation.

The chairman was required to call for order several times during the discussions which followed. The chairman asked for a motion in favour of or contra to the 6 month requirement. After much discussion, the chairman declared that the nomination of Mr.

Jugloff would stand. Tommy Pascoss was nominated by Chris Dimoff for the office of president and a director and seconded by Chris Neshkov.

There being no further nominations, the chairman declared that nominations for the office of president and a director be closed.

Election of vice-president and a director Dr. Alexander Georgievski was nominated by Simo Temovski and seconded by John Givens for the office of first vice-president and a director.

Chris Dimoff was nominated by George Neshevich and seconded by George Dronoff for the office of first vice-president and a director.

There being no further nominations, the chairman declared that nominations for the office of first vice-president and a director be closed.

Election of second vice-president Louis Opashinov was nominated by and seconded by James Pascoff for the office of second vice-president and a director.

Tommy Trentos was nominated for the position but declined the nomination.

Election of treasurer and a director Bill Brown was nominated by Elsie Brown and seconded by George Dronoff. Mr.

Brown declined the nomination.

Kosta Harbov nominated John Givens for the office of treasurer and a director. That nomination was seconded by Spiro Talevski.

Chris Bozanin was nominated by George Neshevich for the office of treasurer and a director. That nomination was seconded by Nick Tomcheff.

There being no further nominations, the chairman declared that nominations be closed.

Election of secretary and a director William Mangos nominated John Argiris for the office of secretary and a director and the nomination was seconded by James Trentos.

Steve Neshevich was nominated by Elsie Brown and seconded by Nick Tomcheff for that office. Mr. Neshevich declined the nomination.

Sam Andrews was nominated by Tommy Trentos and seconded by Nick Tomcheff for the office of secretary and a director.

There being no further nominations, the chairman declared that nominations be closed. Discussion then arose as to whether or not Tommy Trentos was standing for the office of second vice-president. The chairman declared that Mr. Trentos was properly nominated for the office of second vice-president. The members then cast their ballots for the above-mentioned officers.

Election of directors While the ballots for the offices of president, first vice-president, second vice-president, treasurer and secretary were being counted, the chairman called for nominations for the remaining 12 directors.

The following persons were properly nominated:

Peter Papailia, Bill Brown, Jim Vuchkov, Peter Alousis, Vlado Markovski, Chris Evans, Angelo Argiro, George Stojanovski, Chris Andonovski, Alex Shappas, Chris Bilkovski, John Nikolovski, Norman Arnandoff, Spiro Talevski, Steve Neshevich, Aristotelis Morihovitis, Peter Markovski, Joseph Petrovski, James Trentos, Steve Todorovski, John Tsarvengos, Stoyan Yakovlevski, Alex Neshevski, Paul Costandinou, Kire Dimevski, Sime Georgievski, Peter Stoyanovski.

Results of election The results of the voting by the members was as follows:

For president: James Jugloff 183 votes Tommy Pascos 51 votes First vice-president: Dr. Alexander Georgievski 170 votes Chris Dimoff 46 votes For second vice-president: Louis Opashinov 196 votes Tommy Trentos (Declined) 9 votes For secretary: John Argiris 125 votes Sam Andrews 48 votes For treasurer: John Givens 126 votes Chris Bozanin 54 votes The chairman then declared the following persons to be the officers and directors of the corporation for the coming year:

President: James Jugloff First vice-president: Dr. Alexander Georgievski Second vice-president: Louis Opashinov Secretary: John Argiris Treasurer: John Givens Directors:

James Jugloff Dr., Alexander Georgievski, Louis Opashinov, John Argiris, John Givens, Peter Alousis, Alexander Shappas, Angelo Argiro, Peter Papailia, Aristotelis Morihovitis, Vlado Markovski, John Nikolovski, James Vuchkov, Kitse Andonovski, Spiro Talevski, John Tsarvengos, Norman Arnandoff There being no further business, the meeting then adjourned.

Signed by chairman, James Jugloff and secretary, John Argiris.

This is only an overview of the events that transpired during the initiation of our church congregation and the building of our first Macedonian Orthodox Church in Canada. I'm sure that it does not cover all the happenings during and after the consecration of our church. My aim here is to mention as many people as possible who were involved in shaping and building our Macedonian community in Toronto, Canada.

My main sources of information are what I can recall and the board of directors' and the executive committee's minutes of St. Clement Macedonian Orthodox Church, both of which I was a member.

Мојот Учител и драг пријател отец Атанас Попов По расцепот во црковната општина 1965 година и доаѓањето на отец Атанас Попов, он стана мета на сите оние кои беа против Св. Синод. Сите фрустрации и незадоволство од Св. Синод се префирлија против поп Танас.

Поп Танас човек со 3 факултети и со долгогодишно искуство во неговата работа, беше повеќе од способен да го преставува Св. Синод и го брани интересот на Македонската Православна Црква и нејзиниот Св. Синод.

Во кусо време се најде под притисок на анти - синодската пропаганда во Св.

Климент Охридски. Поп Танас знаеше како да се брани кога се соочуваше со напаѓачите но, му беше тешко да се брани кога во нокните часови се јавуваа по телефон со закани, нарекувајки го Сталин и претендирајки дека го бараше RCMP.

Поп Танас му беше познат и на RCMP, имаше и визитации од RCMP.

Поп Танас ми кажуваше многупати: Дека знаеше зашто полицијата е во контакт со него. Знам и кои ја испраќа по неговите прашања но, знам како да му одговорам.

Мојата лубов кон црквата и лубовта кон својот народ, за мене не беше тешко да се бранам без разлика од дека нападите и клеветите доаѓаат.

Поп Танас беше награден со многу поволности, тој беше преставителен човек.

Кога градот East York празнуваше, се чуствував горд да го слушам Поп Атанас Попов на трибината на градскиот плоштад да се обрати кон присутните на плоштадот на градот East York во која општина се наоѓа нашата црква.

Неговите беседи после секоја служба беа многу интересни, полни со совети и примероци за подобар христиански живот. Тој не знаеше да мрази и ако имаше што го мразеа само затоа што тој беше човекот кој ја бранеше својата црква и неговиот Св. Синод.

Ми беше голема чест и привилегија не само да соработувам со него но, тој беше и остана почитуван мој драг пријател и учител. Пријателството продолжи и по неговото заминување од Торонто. Одржувавме блиски контакти, се допишувавме.

Поп Танас по 7 години служба во Св. Климент, се интересираше за целокупниот живот во нашата црковна општина. Во 1980 година го посетивме со Цена во Битола. Кинисавме да си одиме, отец Танас дојде да не проводи до жележничка станица. Возот киниса а поп Танас трчаше по возот, слика која ќе остане во сеќавање до кога сме живи.

Едно од многуте писма од Отец Атанас Попов Март 8, 1972 г.