Trillium Awards Information and Guidelines

1. The original Trillium Merit Award was established in 1985 to officially recognize excellence, dedication and outstanding achievement in the advancement of the Square and Round Dance activity by dancers, Callers, and Leaders, of the Province of Ontario.  The first presentations were made in the Spring of 1985.  Two classes of the award are now authorized, the Trillium Merit Award and the Trillium Long Service Award.  The Trillium Merit Award recognizes those who have made an outstanding contribution beyond the scope of their normal regular activities.  The Trillium Long Service Award recognizes those whose who have devoted many years of faithful service to the dance community in Ontario.

Not more than twelve Award winners will be selected in any one year, of which not more than six shall be for Merit.  The decisions of the Board are final.
Nomination

2. Any individual, Club, or Association may originate nominations.  The maximum number of nominations that may be submitted to the Federation per year is two per category per Association, and one per Club where there is no Association.  These nominations are received by the Federation, following review and approval by the Regional Association (or Club where there is no Association).  No nomination should be forwarded to the Federation unless it has the support of the executive of the Regional Association (or Club where there is no Association).   Guidelines and nomination forms are available from the Federation or Federation web-site https://www.squaredance.on.ca.  The deadline for receipt of Nomination Forms by the Federation’s Secretary is April 30th.  This provides the time required to photocopy and mail the submissions to the Directors for their review before the summer meeting (usually August).

Eligibility

3. Nominees for the Trillium Merit Award must have been active in Square and Round Dancing for not less than five years.  Nominees may be current or no-longer-active Dancers, Callers, or Leaders, who qualify according to the criteria defined under 1. Purpose, above.  Nominations for posthumous awards will also be accepted, according to the same criteria.

4. Nominees whose contributions reflect a continuing dedication to the normal activities of their classification (i.e. dancer or Caller/Leader) for a period of at least 25 years shall receive the Trillium Long Service Award.  One or more periods of time may be added to meet the requirement for the Trillium Long Service Award.

5. Nominees, who are current dancers, Callers, or Leaders must be active members of the Canadian Square and Round Dance Society.  Unsuccessful nominees can be nominated again in subsequent years if additional supporting documentation is provided for consideration.

Criteria to be included in Supporting Documentation

6. When evaluating a nomination, the Board will consider activities such as:
7. a) Executive Member of Club/Association/Federation/Society or representative on such executive committees – dates and positions held;
8. b) Involvement in other dance-related committees;
9. c) Caller’s Clinic involvement – positions, dates, number of years, etc.;
10. e) Participation at Frosh Dances – other recruiting involvement;
11. f) Volunteer participant in dance demonstrations – locations such as hospitals, malls, nursing homes;
12. g) Actively promoting the Square and Round Dance movement – public demonstrations, recruiting of new dancers, acting as angels, developing innovating new methods of advertising and recruiting;
13. h) Family history – significant personal activities, when they started dancing, activities in other Clubs, churches, organizations, children, hobbies;
14. i) Any other factors illustrating the nominee participated noticeably different than other dancers/Callers.

Awards

7. The physical awards, provided by the Federation are:

Trillium Merit Award

1. a) Scroll of quality parchment paper, with decorative art work, inscribed “Achievement Award for Outstanding Contribution and Dedication to Square and Round Dancing” and including the date and the name(s) of the recipients.  The scroll is signed by the President of the Federation and of the Nominating Association (or Club);
2. b) Wooden wall plaque with the insignia of the Federation (white trillium on a blue background) inscribed as above; and
3. c) Gentleman’s bolo tie clip/scarf slide and/or lady’s pin, bearing the insignia of the Federation.

Trillium Long Service Award

1. a) Scroll of quality parchment paper, with decorative artwork, inscribed “Award for Long Service and Dedication to Square and Round Dancing” and including the date and name(s) of recipients.  The scroll is signed by the Presidents of the Federation and of the nominating Association (or Club); and
2. b) Lapel pin and/or small brooch for each recipient, bearing the insignia of the Federation.

Presentation

8. The place, time and event for the presentation of an Award is decided by the Executive of the Regional Association (or Club) to which the recipient belongs.  Whenever possible, award presentations are made by one of the regional delegates to the Federation’s Board of Directors.  When there are no such delegates available, the Federation appoints a couple to present it.  The Secretary sends the physical awards directly to the appropriate Federation delegates prior to the date of the presentation ceremony.

Ontario Trillium Award Board Procedures

1. This guideline details the internal administration of the Ontario Trillium Awards by the Board.  The Ontario Trillium Award Guidelines details the handling of nominations for the Award.  The guideline also establishes the maximum number of nominations that may be received and made each year.  Not more than twelve Awards winners will be selected in any one year, of which not more than six shall be for Merit.  The decisions of the Board are final.

After Receipt of Nominations

2. Nominations for the Award are received by the Secretary from the Associations, or from Clubs in areas without Associations.  The Secretary should review the nominations to ensure they are technically correct.  If they are not correct, the Secretary should try to have the corrections made prior to the approving Board summer meeting (usually August).  Prior to the meeting, the Secretary shall forward a copy of each nomination to the members of the Board.  Board members should study each nomination prior to the Board meeting and come to the meeting prepared to vote.  The Secretary shall ensure that the Awards are on the Agenda for the summer meeting (usually August).

Selection

3. The annual selection of Ontario Trillium Award Recipients is made by the Board of Directors of the Federation at the August meeting.  In the process of selecting the recipients, the Board will decide whether the nominee will receive the Trillium Merit Award or the Trillium Long Service Award.  Nominees whose accomplishments reflect extraordinary contributions of an innovative or improving nature shall receive the Trillium Merit Award.  Each nominee should be judged in the context of his/her Association (or Clubs).

Criteria to be included in Supporting Documentation

4. When evaluating a nomination, the Board will consider any activities, as well as those listed in above.

Voting Procedures

5. Each Director may speak for or against any nominee, based on their personal knowledge, however, the feelings of the Regional Association must be declared by their delegate, if it should be different from their own.  The selection will be made by secret ballot, after the discussion is complete and a motion to Approve has been made.  A simple majority is required.

Board Handling of Nominations

6. When the Ontario Trillium Award agenda item is reached, the President of the Board     meeting shall outline the procedure to be used as follows:
   • a) Only Board members shall be present for the discussion and voting.  Visitors to the meeting at which the Award selection is made will be asked to leave for the duration of the Awards discussion and voting part of the meeting;
   • b) Each nomination shall be dealt with separately, usually in the same order as they were sent out by the Secretary;
   • c) The President may ask if any Board member wishes the use of secret written ballot, or whether the voting can proceed by show of hands. If there is a request for secret ballot, the President ,with the consent of the Board, shall choose two scrutineers;
   • d) The President shall announce the prospective award winner(s) and request a motion of acceptance.  Members from the home area of the nominee should normally move and second the motion of acceptance, however any member may do so;
   • e) A discussion may then take place adding to any information contained in the nomination forms;
   • f) After the discussion has finished, the scrutineers shall pass out a blank piece of paper to each member.  The President shall vote at the same time as the rest of the Board.  Each voting member shall mark either “Yes” or “No” on the ballot, and if “Yes” then mark either “Merit” or “Long Service” on the ballot, then fold the ballot so the writing cannot be seen.  After voting is completed, the scrutineers shall collect and tally the ballots then pass the results to the President. The President shall declare the motion either carried or
     lost, and, if carried, the level of the Award.  The procedure shall be repeated until all the nominations have been processed; and
   • g. After voting is complete, the Secretary shall record in the minutes the successful results.  No mention of unsuccessful candidates shall be made. Actual vote counts shall not be recorded.  Board members shall not report any discussions or actual vote counts outside the Board meeting.  At the completion of the voting, the information about the successful candidates is unclassified.

Procedure After the Approving Meeting

7. As soon as practical after the meeting, the President shall write a suitable personal letter to each successful Award recipient, with an information copy to the nominator, and  to the Association or Club President and the Secretary expressing appreciation for their participation.  If needed, the President may request copies of previous letters from the Secretary.
8. As soon as practical after the meeting, the Secretary shall order the physical awards as described in the ONTARIO TRILLIUM AWARD GUIDELINES.  The Secretary shall also write officially to the Associations;
   • a) Informing them of the successful results;
   • b) Advising them that an awarding ceremony should be planned to give as much exposure as possible to the successful recipients, and that the Federation delegate from the area should normally be included in the award ceremony; and
   • c. No mention of the unsuccessful candidates shall be made.
9. The Chair of the Public Relations Committee shall prepare a press release with a lead-in about the Ontario Trillium Award, and about one paragraph for each successful Award recipient.  As a minimum, it should be sent to Ontario square dance publications, CDN, and American Square Dance.  It is usual to include the Awards in the Fall Ontario Federation Newsletter.
10. If an Association or Club desires, they may seek a private comment from the President as to why some nominee was unsuccessful.  The President should provide as much information as possible without compromising the secret ballot results.  Past history indicates that poor substantiation is the major cause of not approving a nomination.

Recording

11. A file has been set up to document the presentation of the Awards.  It includes the profiles of the recipients, names and addresses of the Regional Association (or Club) to which the recipients belong.  The Award file is the responsibility of the Federation Secretary for entries and safe-keeping. It is passed on to succeeding Secretaries.

Confidentiality

12. In order to make the award process as positive as possible and to reduce the possibility of generating negative feelings, no information relating to the discussion on voting will be disseminated beyond the Directors of the Federation.  It is recommended that the Regional Associations follow a similar practice.

Revenues

13. Funding for the ONTARIO TRILLIUM AWARDS is provided by the Ontario Square and Round Dance Federation