THE NEW HERTFORD BRIDGE CLUB
MINUTES of the 38th Annual general meeting held at 19:00 on 10 May 2016 at Waterford Hall.
PRESENT: 40 members (including 3 committee members). Apologies received from Michael Payne, Dennis Spruce, Glen Parry, Kathryn Judd and Christine Vickers,
The Minutes of last year’s AGM were agreed, proposed by Patrick Holden and seconded by Ken Monk. There were no matters arising from the minutes.
The minutes of the EGM held in February were agreed, proposed by Michael Carne and seconded by Margaret Wright. There were no matters arising.
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
The Chairman, Mark Wadsworth, welcomed attendees. The club has maintained the attendance levels of last year and membership has remained stable with those leaving being replaced by new members. We now enjoy predealt hands every week supplied free of charge by Hatfield Heath bridge club. Bridgemate has been introduced after receiving a lottery grant. The Chairman thanked Christine Vickers and Pam McAllister for supplying refreshments, Barbara Hollick for supervising the Duty Officer system, the Tournament Directors for their work with a special vote of thanks to Gila Tiplady who has given up the role after many years, committee members Dennis Spruce who organised the lottery grant, Glen Parry who has organised members representing the club in tournaments and Mike Sint for his duties as Treasurer. A special vote of thanks was given to Ken Monk who is stepping down as Auditor after many years. He is to be presented with a gift at a later date and Ray Cole has taken over his duties, having been proposed by Don Olsen and seconded by Amanda Barnes.
Club members have enjoyed considerable success in external events as follows:
Heath Cup Swiss Teams
Amanda Barnes, John Hirons, Mike Sint and Berwyn Aston came second
HBA AGM Swiss Pairs
Gila Tiplady and Kate Howland came first
Senior Pairs
Mike Robson came first playing with Jill Mumford for the second year in succession.
EBU Easter Festival Swiss Pairs B
Amanda Barnes and John Hirons came 64th
There have also been some good results in national SIMS competitions: Fiona and Paul Littlewood came 10th in summer 2015, Gila Tiplady and Mike Robson 11th in the autumn and Glen Parry and Pam McAllister 4th in the winter SIMS..
The club had less success in external team events. In particular, it was unable to field a team for the Cadets competition, largely due to the lack of members of cadet status. Any suggestions of how to attract new members and particularly in this category would be welcome.
The Chairman asked for volunteers to join the locking up rota (Amanda Barnes did so afterwards) and reminded members to help clearing up refreshments in the kitchen at the end of the evening.
He thanked the members for making it a friendly club.
TREASURER’S REPORT
The Treasurer, Mike Sint, produced the annual accounts indicating that the club was in good financial health but said that the committee was suggesting an increase of 50p in table money, bringing it to £2:50p per person. This was so that the club could build reserves for replacing Bridgemate when it becomes necessary and also for the purchase of a dealing machine which would cost £3000 or more. This was proposed by Ken Farraway, seconded by Ian Greig and agreed by a large majority of members.
ELECTION OF OFFICERS
All members retired and offered themselves for re-election. Margaret Wright is to join the committee, proposed by Dawn Clark and seconded by Sue May. The Chairmen asked for volunteers to act as custodians to the club. Ken Monk is the only existing member in the role at present and its exact duties are vague, involving financial security but seem not to require any work.
COMPETITION WINNERS 2015 - 2016
The Chairman congratulated the winners and presented trophies to those present.
Club Championship Pairs Winners: Fiona and Paul Littlewood (trophy)(£25 each)
Runners up: Gila Tiplady and Mike Robson (£10 each)
Individual Ladder Winner: Mike Robson (£15)
Runner up: Gila Tiplady (£10)
Skillman Cup Winners: Gila Tiplady and Mike Robson (lge cup £7:50 each)
Runners up: J Morgan/M Wadsworth(s.rose bowl £5 each)
Ladies’ Invitation Winners: Glen Parry and Michael Payne (£7:50 each) Runners up: Pauline McCarthy Dennis Spruce(£5 each)
Gentlemen’s Invitation Winners: Don Olsen and Pam McAllister (£7:50 each)
Runners up: Dennis Spruce & Pauline McCarthy (£5 each)
Most Improved Player Winner: P and F Littlewood jointly (£10)
Club Teams Winners:G Tiplady/M Robson/A Blanchard and
B McKinnon (trophy) (£7:50 each)
Runners up: D Hill/D Nice/K Judd/J Fagan (£5 each)
Individual Competition Winner: Mike Robson (bottle of wine already presented)
Runner up: Paul Quayle
Most of the trophies won last year were not taken by the winners but left in the club cupboard. The members were asked to consider abolishing trophies to save storage space and engraving costs. This was proposed by Michael Carne, seconded by Sue May and agreed by a majority of members, although with reservations from some, expressed by Kate Howland, that a small number be retained. This is under consideration.
The meeting closed at 7:20pm