LEGION OF HONOR BYLAWS

Preamble

Section 1. The Legion of Honor of the Eastern Chapter, Historical Miniature Gaming Society (hereafter known as HMGS, Inc.) was established in 1995 by action of the Board of Directors of HMGS, Inc. The Legion is charged with the duties of drawing up its own bylaws, electing its own officers and inducting up to additional two members a year into its ranks. The Legion exists to recognize individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the hobby, thus qualifying them to serve as an electorate for naming a recipient of the Jack Scruby Award in odd numbered years. The Legion also serves as unofficial peer mentors to members of HMGS, Inc. and to the hobby as a whole.

Section 2. Members of the Legion shall receive a life membership in HMGS, Inc., a certificate and a miniature Napoleonic French Legion of Honor medal. Scruby recipients receive a plaque and will have their name placed on a consolidated Scruby plaque that lists all past Scruby award winners.

Article I. Selection of Legion of Honor Members

Section 1. Every year the Legion may every year select up to two new members into its ranks. The Legion may choose to select only one new member or none at all. Said new members must be living at the time that the election is held and will be chosen by the existing membership of the Legion on the basis of their significant contributions to the hobby of historical miniature wargaming.

Section 2. In the event that a person who has been awarded the Jack Scruby Award by the Legion membership is not a member of the Legion, the award of the Scruby will provide for an automatic membership in the Legion, and not more than one additional member will be selected for that year.

Section 3. Confirmation of all voting results will be done by the Commandant.

Article II. Nomination and Voting Process for New Legion Members

Section 1. Prior to calling for nominations, the Legion Adjutant shall conduct a poll of Legion members, preferably via Email, to determine if nominations should proceed normally or whether the Legion will decline to select new members that year. This poll will be announced not later than 10 September each calendar year. Assuming a majority of responding members concur, nominations will then proceed.

Section 2. The Legion Adjutant will call for nominations not later than 24 September of each calendar year. All members of the Legion may nominate up to two candidates for selection to the Legion. The nominating member shall provide the Legion Adjutant with not more than a one page statement, not to exceed 800 words, of the reasons that the person in question is being nominated for membership. No member of the Legion is required to make a nomination for new members. Nominations for Legion membership are not carried over from year to year but must be resubmitted each year.

Section 3. The Legion Adjutant will compile and submit the combined nominations to the membership of the Legion for their review and approval, normally via e-mail, by 31 October of the same year. Additionally, the same material will be provided to the HMGS, Inc. Board of Directors for their review and comment, if any. No mention will be made of the person submitting the nomination, but if more than one member of the Legion nominates the same person it will be so noted on the nomination form. When a vote by the Legion Membership favors it, more than one individual, as a result of their close ties amongst themselves in their service to the hobby, may be nominated as a single candidate for the Scruby Award. This motion will pass by a simple majority of those voting, with a minimum of 33% of the membership voting.

Section 4. To determine who will be selected for membership into the Legion, an order of merit voting system will be used. A ballot will be distributed with the names of all of the candidates to all members. Each member will then rank order the nominees with top position receiving the highest number of votes and those to follow with consecutively fewer votes. For example, in a year with four nominees the person placed in the top slot by a Legion voter would receive four votes, the second would receive three votes, etc. until all the candidates for whom they wish to vote have been given votes. Each Legion member may place a nominee into a slot on the order of merit list only once and no member of the Legion will be required to cast all or any of their votes in an election. For the purposes calculating the “winners” of the Legion and Scruby Award the term “Vote” refers to the total value of the number of votes placed by current Legion members and not the total number of different Legion members voting for the candidates.

Section 5. The Legion Adjutant will compile the votes and announce the winners to the Legion and the HMGS, Inc. Board of Directors. The two candidates who receive the two highest vote totals will be notified of their selection into the Legion by the Adjutant.

Section 6. In the event of a tie the Legion Adjutant will resubmit the names of those specific candidates who to the membership. The Legion membership will cast votes for these candidates using the format discussed in Section 4.

Article III. The Jack Scruby Award

Section 1. The Legion shall, in every even numbered year, select a living individual to be given the Jack Scruby Award at the Historicon Convention. This award shall be granted for the following:

“As a lifetime achievement award to an individual without whom the hobby of historical miniatures would not be the same.”

Section 2. In the event that the person selected for the Scruby Award is not a member of the Legion of Honor at the time of selection, they will be given membership in that organization as well. In such cases only one other new member will be inducted into the Legion that year.

Article IV. Nomination and Voting Procedure of the Jack Scruby Award

Section 1. When the Adjutant calls for membership nominations in even numbered years, members of the Legion may also nominate up to two candidates as possible recipients for the Jack Scruby Award. The nominating member shall provide for up to a one page statement of the reason that the person in question is being nominated for the award. No member of the Legion is required to make a nomination.

Section 2. The combined nomination list for the Jack Scruby Award will be submitted by the Adjutant to the membership of the Legion for their review and approval. Similarly, the Adjutant will provide identical documentation to the HMGS, Inc. Board of Directors for review and comment, if any. No mention will be made of the person submitting the nomination, but if more than one member of the Legion nominates the same person it will be so noted on the nomination form.

Section 3. Nominations for the Scruby Award will be accepted every odd numbered year. From 2017 and onward, all nominees and their statements will be maintained in a permanent pool of prospective candidates. New Scruby nominees will be requested at the same time as new Legion members. The maximum number of final Scruby candidates will never exceed four. In years where the number of potential candidates exceeds four, a preliminary vote will be requested by the Adjutant; the top four candidates will then be presented to the membership for the final vote. Both sets of voting will follow the standard voting format discussed in the Bylaws.

Section 4. To determine final candidacy for awarding the Scruby, an order of merit voting system will be used. A ballot will be distributed with the names of all of the candidates to all members. Each member will then rank order the nominees with top position receiving the highest number of votes and those to follow with consecutively fewer votes. For example, in a year with four nominees the person placed in the top slot by a Legion voter would receive four votes, the second would receive three votes, etc. until all the candidates for whom they wish to vote have been given votes. Each Legion member may place a nominee into a slot on the order of merit list only once and no member of the Legion will be required to cast all or any of their votes in an election.

Section 5. This vote will be held simultaneously with that for Legion inductees. In the event that no candidate has a majority, then there will be a runoff election between the two candidates who had the largest number of votes cast in their favor.

Section 6. The person winning the Jack Scruby Award for the year in question shall be honored at Historicon of that year, with drinks and food supplied for the recipient and his/her spouse gratis. A plaque noting their accomplishments shall be given after the Annual HMGS meeting on Friday evening.

Section 7. In special circumstances, lodging and transportation costs may also be funded for the winner and spouse, but this will occur only on a case by case basis at the request of the Legion to the HMGS, Inc. Awards Chair who will coordinate approval with the HMGS, Inc. Board of Directors. Funding for such costs is totally at the discretion of the Board of Directors.

Article V. Meetings of the Legion

Section 1. The Legion may hold an annual working breakfast at 8:00 am on the Friday morning at Historicon. Attendance is not required. Rather, this meeting is designed to allow members to address issues at a time that does not take away from their involvement in the hobby. Changes to the Bylaws of the Legion may be considered at this time and/or via communication via e-mail, but any changes must be ratified by a simple majority of the Legion membership with a minimum of 33% of the membership voting. The Adjutant of the Legion of Honor may from time call for a vote of the membership of the Legion of Honor to approve formal actions, outside of the annual business meeting or other special meetings as may be called, by various methods including electronic and postal mail, said actions to be approved by a simple majority of the Legion Membership with a minimum of 33% of the membership voting. Confirmation of all voting results will be done by the Commandant. Other policy changes, not related to the Bylaws, may be considered and approved by majority vote of the Legion members present.

Section 2. On the Friday evenings following the Annual HMGS meeting, the Legion will sponsor a gathering to recognize new members of the Legion as well as to present the Jack Scruby Award to its recipient. This function shall be organized by the Legion Adjutant with the HMGS, Inc. Awards Chair and shall be open to anyone wishing to attend. This event will serve drinks and food at no expense to the new Legion and Scruby award recipients and their spouses.

Section 3. The Commandant, Adjutant or their designated representative will also be given a permanent slot on the agenda of the Annual Membership Meeting held at Historicon each year. During this meeting the Legion representative will formally announce the new Legion inductees or Scruby recipient, brief the membership on their qualifications and then take questions from the floor as applicable.

Article VI. Officers of the Legion

Section 1. Officers of the Legion shall consist of an Honorary Commandant, an Adjutant, and an HMGS, Inc. Liaison Officer as well as any other positions determined by the membership of the Legion.

Section 2. The Honorary Commandant of the Legion shall preside over all formal meetings of the Legion, including the induction of new members and the presentation of the Scruby Award. This position shall be held by the senior member of the Legion, as determined by the muster roll of the Legion by date of induction. If the Commandant is unavailable to participate, the senior member present, as determined by induction date and then age, shall assume the role of Acting Commandant for that function.

Section 3. The Adjutant shall be in charge of maintaining the muster rolls of the organization and conducting all elections or votes held by the Legion. The Adjutant will also keep electronic and/or paper records of Legion activities to include biographies of all current members, and will make these available to the Board of Directors upon request. The Adjutant also maintains the repository of Legion property, to include medals and certificates. The Adjutant shall, commencing in 2015, be elected by a vote of the Legion at the business meeting to serve a term of four years.

Section 4. The HMGS, Inc. Legion Liaison Officer shall be selected by the membership of the Legion at the annual business meeting for a four year term. The Liaison Officer shall have the responsibility of coordinating the Legion with HMGS, Inc. especially regarding arranging all awards and induction banquets. It is permissible for the position of Adjutant and Liaison Officer to be held by the same individual if so voted at the business meeting.

Section 5. The President of the HMGS, Inc. Board of Directors is the Board liaison officer to the Legion, and is therefore welcome at all official meetings of the Legion. He is the single POC for the Legion into the Board and as such the Adjutant and/or Legion Liaison are charged with keeping him immediately apprised of all policy discussions, policy changes and normal correspondence flowing into and out of the Legion. The President, HMGS, Inc. is likewise tasked to reciprocate.

Section 6. The Awards Chair of HMGS, Inc. not only coordinates and funds the awards functions where Legion inductions and Scruby presentations are made, but said Chair also serves as the Legion of Honor Budget Manager, and is therefore welcome at all official meetings of the Legion.

Article VII. Legion Budget

Section 1. The Legion of Honor has no annual budget per se from HMGS, Inc. Instead Legion funding in its entirety is provided by the Awards Line of the HMGS, Inc. Annual Budget and is managed by the Awards Chair with coordination with the Legion Adjutant.

Section 2. The Legion Adjutant with input from the Legion membership will provide a recommended budget each year to the HMGS, Inc. Awards Chair by a suspense date so designated by the Chair. If the Adjutant fails to do so, the Awards Chair may submit a budget on the Legion’s behalf.

Section 3. Though not all inclusive, past items normally funded for the Legion by HMGS Inc. have included the Legion of Honor miniature medals, certificate paper, the Scruby recipient’s plaque, the consolidated Scruby plaque, Legion participation in HMGS, Inc. awards functions to include dinner for inductees and Scruby recipients as well as spouses, rental of a room with light breakfast at Historicon for the Legion’s Annual Business Meeting, and minor administrative costs such as postage, etc.

Article VIII. Legion of Honor Battlestar Rules

Section 1. From time to time and by discretion, the HMGS Inc. Awards Chair may request the Legion of Honor’s participation as judges for the recognition of outstanding gamemasters. Such recognition will be in the form of an appropriately designed Legion of Honor Battlestar, funded and provided by the Awards Chair, along with certificates that may be filled in on-site.

Section 2. In such cases each member of the Legion is issued one Battlestar to present to a gamemaster at Historicon as that member sees fit. A certificate stating the award of the Battlestar will likewise be awarded on the spot or will be sent to the winner after Historicon is over.

Section 3. No member is required to give a Battlestar. Multiple awards of a Battlestar can be made by different members of the Legion to the same gamemaster if so wished. Members of the Legion cannot be awarded Battlestars.

Article IX. Other Policy Decisions and Proxies

Section 1. Unless stated otherwise in these bylaws, other policy, administrative or financial decisions necessary and proper for the operation of the Legion of Honor shall be concluded by a majority vote of the members present at the Annual Business Meeting, or by majority vote electronically of all responding members if necessary at other times.

Section 2. The Adjutant retains primary responsibility for the administration, conclusion and recording of such votes, which may include such items as termination of membership, establishment of membership fees, as examples only.

Section 3. Proxy voting within the Legion is not allowed for any purpose.

Certified official:
Legion of Honor Adjutant
1 September 2018