| Smoky MountainsHiking Club |
Constitution and Bylaws |
Proposed Changes for 2026 Newly revised Constitution and Bylaws It has recently been decided to simplify our membership structure. The existing structure is somewhat cumbersome when looking at our Family membership levels. We are now proposing to collapse the 4 “Family” Memberships into a single “Household” Membership at an annual cost of $35:
A Household can be made of up to 5 family members (defined as those age 16 or older, living at the same household with the same address). The Board of Directors voted on October 5, 2026 to approve this change. Consequently, the SMHC Constitution & Bylaws (C&B’s) have been modified to reflect this new membership structure; we are also proposing other simplification changes to the C&B’s. These C&B changes will be voted on by the membership at the annual Holiday Installation Banquet on December 12, 2026. Please click HERE to view the modified Constitution & Bylaws (with all changes shown in red). If you currently have one of the Family memberships, you do not need to do anything. Your Family membership will automatically be converted to the new Household membership after the change is approved. Current Constitution and Bylaws In 2023, an extensive financial analysis was performed comparing our cost per membership to income per membership. The results demonstrated that for the last 2 years, our costs have exceeded our income. The buying power of our membership dues has been far less than it was 10 years ago, the last time dues for SMHC were raised. For these reasons, the BOD voted on October 2, 2023 to raise dues effective January 1, 2024. Consequently, the SMHC Constitution and Bylaws have been modified to reflect the new dues amounts (as well as for other clarifying changes). The dues increase and other changes were voted on and approved by the membership at the annual Holiday Installation Banquet on December 9, 2023. Please click here to view the modified Constitution and Bylaws. |
