HEMEL HEMPSTEAD BRIDGE CLUB

Minutes of 54th AGM held on Thursday 27June 2013

Attendance     27 members

1          Apologies for Absence   
Tom Banks, David Blasebalk, Susie Bond, Jacky Davies, Gill Fisher, Owen Frith, Sue Fleming, David & Margaret Goodwin, Derek Gowlett,  Pat Henry, Pat Hobson, John Jeffery, Paul & Fiona Littlewood, Tony & Barbara Neal, Sita Piggott, Walter Russell,  Anne Short, Julie Snell, Jean and Clive Walters, Cynthia Wheatley,

2          Minutes of Last Meeting    

Copies had been available on the website and these were accepted as a true record. There were no matters arising.

3          Chairman’s Report   

David Stimson reported that during the past year we have continued to run Duplicate Bridge nights on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays (including Bank Holiday Mondays).  All evenings use duplimated boards and David again thanked David Blasebalk for running the Duplimate machine.

The club’s membership was slightly down on last year and the average number of tables per week was down by about half a table. We purchased new sets of cards in February in readiness for the Club’s Swiss pairs. We will be running this event again in Februay 2014. We also purchased new sets of bidding box cards. We went for the higher quality ones which should eventually become less slippery.

The Christmas party had the same turn out as the previous year.  Susie organised the food and she, the committee members and Pat Henry brought specific items. The chairman thanked all those who contributed. Again we managed to hold the ticket price at £9; I think that’s pretty good value for food and wine plus the hire of the hall.

This coming year we will not be running a heat of the Herts Humble cup due to poor turnouts in recent years. We will be running the Herts pairs qualifier on the first Monday in September 2013. This evening will be a normal Monday night pairs, counting toward the Ladder, but the top 50% will be eligible for the Herts pairs semi-final. From now onwards all Sim.Pairs events and the Marjorie Lukyn will count toward the Ladder. The only competitions which will not count are club competitions.

The rules of both the Janet Fitzgerald Trophy and the Hudson Salver will be amended to avoid any ambiguity in close situations.

David reported the sad loss of Anne & John Hart who both passed away last year within six months of each other. Both had been regular players on a Tuesday night. They  will be sadly missed.

David thanked all those who have served on the Committee;  Cliff Short,  Paula Morton, Lesley Peers,  Susie Bond, David Blasebalk,Tim Cooper, Martyn McDonald and  Pat Jacobs. He also thanked  Derek Gowlett for organising  Tuesday’s bridge;  all our Directors;  Roger Edmonds for the web site;  Anne Short as our membership secretary;  Margaret Goodwin for acquiring our provisions and Cynthia Wheatley for bringing the milk each week. Margaret has had to relinquish her responsibility and she was thanked for her work over the past  couple of years.  Martyn MacDonald had volunteered to take over this responsibility.

In response to a question the chair stated that originally Sim Pairs had been excludedfrom the ladder  as it was thought there would be a number of external entrants but this had been proved not to be the case.

4          Treasurer’s Report
Cliff Short reported that the accounts had no surprises.  Income and expenditure were in line with forecasts .  The biggest item of expenditure was the cost of the hall and this had only risen by 1% for a few years and for the forthcoming year – this helped us keep our costs down. Subscriptions and table money for the coming year would be the same as last year although P2P had gone up.  We had taken more money in season tickets but table money was slightly down.

It was proposed by Vic Symons and seconded by John Jackson that the meeting should accept the Accounts and this was agreed. 

5          Appointment of Auditor
Brian Carroll was proposed as Auditor for the coming year by Martin MacDonald, seconded by Lesley Peers, and approved by the meeting.   

6          Election of Officers and Committee

Proposed Chairman:      David Stimson.

Proposed Treasurer:      Cliff Short.

Other committee members who had agreed to serve for 2013/2014 were :
David Blasebalk, Pat Jacobs, Susie Bond, Paula Morton, Lesley Peers, Martyn MacDonald and Tim Cooper. 

It was proposed from the floor by Roger Edmonds, and seconded by Helen Robinson , that the existing Chairman (DS), Treasurer (CS) and Committee Members (DB, PJ, SB, PM, LP and TC) should be re-elected en bloc. This proposal was carried unanimously, and those listed above were duly elected to serve for the coming year. 

Pat  Hogger thanked the Chairman and the committee for all their work on behalf of the Club and its members.

7          Any Other Business

There was a suggestion that future AGMs should be held on a Monday as this was the club’s most popular night.  The Chairman replied that this was tried unsuccessfully (due to noise from another event in the hall) a number of years ago but the committee would relook at this.

There was a question as to whether the committee had considered using Bridgemates.  David replied that the committee were keeping a watching brief and were hoping the technology developed. He outlined some of the main advantages and disadvantages. There was a lively discussion and a non-binding indicative vote of those present was taken.  This gave similar numbers of people in favour, opposed or neutral.

It was agreed by those present that before any decision to adopt Bridgemates – at a cost of approximately £2,000 – was made, there would be a vote of the club membership. In the meantime the committee would regularly look at any developments.
9          Presentation of Prizes

TUESDAY TROPHY                                          Des Whitelock & Martyn MacDonald

CHAIRMAN’S CUP                                            Pat Hogger & George Summers

SMITH CUP                                                       Simon Chilton & Peter McRoberts

HOBSON BOWL                                                Jackie Davies & Maggie Moore

      Derek Gowlett & Walter Russell

FELDENWOOD TROPHY                                  Pat Hogger & John Jackson

SUTCLIFFE PLATE                                            June Ball & Brian Smith

  Helen Robinson & John Eyre

TUESDAY BOWL                                              Jean Wilding & Andrew Horton

BYRON CUP                                                     Naomi Gibbs & Brian Carroll

      Derek Gowlett & Walter Russell

HUDSON SALVER                                            Margaret & David Goodwin

Pat Hogger & John Jackson joint winners

CARPENTER CUP (Married Couple)                   Fiona & Paul Littlewood

TONY WEATHERLEY (Monday Ladder)              David Stimson

TUESDAY TANKARD (Tuesday Ladder)             Margaret & David Goodwin

WENDY COTTON (Thursday Ladder)                  Roger Edmonds

NEAL VASE                                                      David Stimson

HEMMINGS INDIVIDUAL                                   Walter Russell

JANET FITZGERALD TROPHY                           Lesley & Derek Peers