The club was
established in 1976 by Canadian Slovenians, post Second War
immigrants. We were all about the same age with growing families.
Our interests were similar. We wanted a piece of land which we can
call our own. The rolling topography around Bancroft was the
closest in appearance to our beloved Slovenia and within a reasonable distance from Toronto. We wanted to create a
place where we can enjoy all kinds of outdoor sports. The
name Planica was chosen
to remind us of Slovenia. Planica represents a world class
winter sports center. Some of you may know that Planica is
the cradle of ski jumping and the first to carry man beyond the
magic 100 meters, recently also over 200 meters.
Other
groups organized themselves as "Trusts",
"Associations" or "Farms" for the same basic purpose
- outdoor recreation for their members and families. Twelve of our
members belonged to such a group. It was run by a small group of men in an
autocratic - almost dictatorial manner. Rather than argue, we went
our separate ways and to this day we are very grateful for that decision.
Our achievements are a testimonial to the wisdom of the proper
kind of organisational structure. The democratic way!
Planica is registered
as a 'not-for-profit corporation' according to the laws of
Ontario. The Corporations Act provides a legal structure for an
organization and ensures a democratic operation. Each member has
one vote and exercises this right at the Annual General Meeting.
The Board of Directors consists of 12 members, who are elected at
the annual meeting for a term of two years. They are responsible
for the well being of the organization. There is a three member
Supervisory Committee whose responsibility is to audit the
financial books and the minutes of the board meetings and
generally ensures that the resolutions and policies established
are followed.
The membership is
limited to 80. The family members automatically become Associate
members until they leave school. Counting the second and
in some cases third generation, the number of people regularly using Planica
facilities is well over 300.
