Burquest elected Maggie Karpilovski as its new president at its 2022 Annual General Meeting, held 27 Feb. She succeeds Rudy Rozanski, who stepped down after serving for the past two and half years. For the first time in its history, two directors volunteered to take on this responsibility: Maggie and Grigori Khaskin. Both candidates published their qualifications and thoughts about Burquest’s future directions, circulated to the membership prior to voting. At a hybrid in person and online meeting, 75% of eligible members voted. Maggie was elected and gave a short speech. Grigori expressed his interest in working on membership development, and reminded folks that either outcome would have resulted in a president with roots in Kiev, which was on the meeting’s mind that evening. The meeting acknowledged the efforts of nominations chair Gideon Stuhler in running what turned out to be a more complex and dramatic nominations process than he had signed up for.
In addition to the presidential contest, new board members Yossi Degen, Noa Barak, and Miriam Hoolahan (Berger) were acclaimed, along with Dov Lank, Sandra Hochstein, Gabriela Slade, Grigori Khaskin and Heather Liberman. Inna Shlafman, Anna Litvak and Laura Zitron continued terms on the board. Zanna Linskaia and Jelena Fuks steped down from the board. Zanna will continue in her role of Seniors Program Coordinator. We also acknowledged the passing of director Mary Lynn Schliefer z”l during the past year.
President Rudy Rozanski opened the meeting reviewing the state of Burquest when he assumed office 2 ½ years ago. Much has changed. The membership has diversified and increased. A school was re-established at the BJCC, and other new family-centered programming developed. The community has gone from being nearly in debt to having a healthy bank balance. With both internal and external support, we have weathered the covid-driven disruptions and look forward to joining together in person. The formal meeting closed with BJCA vice-president Dov Lank presenting Rudy with a certificate of appreciation for his service and contributions to the community during his time as president.
Following the meeting, Bill Grunenthal, a founding Burquest member and past president, presented Burquest with a copy of the Jewish Historical Societies’ newly published ‘Looking Back, Moving Forward: 160 Years of Jewish Life in BC’.