HEMEL HEMPSTEAD BRIDGE CLUB Minutes of 51st AGM on Thursday 24th June 2010 Attendance 40 members Apologies for absence Doreen Fletcher, Pat Jacobs, Brenda Baldock, Sita Pigott, Cynthia Wheatley, Terry & Barbara Neal, Owen Frith, John Jeffrey, Lys Irvine, Clive Walters, Ann & John Hart, John Jackson. Minutes of last meeting Copies were distributed at the meeting. These were accepted subject to correcting the heading date to 2009. Proposed by Roger Edmonds, seconded by Jane Farndon. Matters arising David reported that, in response to a suggestion by Ian Grant that winners of the main Monday and Tuesday night pairs competitions should be restricted to regular players for those respective nights, the rules been changed so that the winners must have attended half the normal sessions for that night to that date. Chairman’s Report David reported that the number of members had reduced this year, but the number of attendances had held up at a similar level to last year. The Club is fully affiliated to the EBU and its revised Pay To Play membership scheme. Table money is now £2.50 for members. Annual subscription, due from 1 June, is £10 for normal membership and £115 for Season Ticket members. All the Committee, night organisers and scorers were thanked for their hard work, with especial mention of David Blasebalk for preparing Duplimate boards and Lys Irvine for the catering. A full Chairman’s report is attached. Treasurer’s Report Though the accounts show a slight loss shows for the year this is not bad news, and is entirely in line with plan. Over the year some extra cost was taken replacing playing cards and paying the new P2P fee to the EBU before introducing our own higher table money rate. However there were gains from higher than expected profit from the Swiss Pairs and refunds for some cancelled hire fees of the Community Centre due to bad weather. Membership was just over 130. Because the new table money takes effect from 1 June, we expect to show a profit for the new financial year of up to £700. The level we achieve will depend on the rate at which we replace our stock of tables, some of which are in poor condition. In response to a question from Paul Littlewood, Derek clarified that the apparent drop in value of the Bond was due to transfers between accounts. The accounts had been audited and were accepted by the meeting. Proposed by David Goodwin, Seconded by June Ball. Any Other Business Patrick McIntyre said that a feeling was growing on a Tuesday night that more good hands were going to North / South, and this was influencing where people sat, with the North / South positions filling up first. There were a number of people who spoke on behalf of the case that the Duplimate machine truly was random, and that a similar effect had not been apparent on other nights even though the cards were selected randomly for each night. It was also pointed out that the Duplimate did bring benefits in both information and time. It was accepted, though, that this issue should be addressed before it started to aversely influence attendances. Cliff Short will do an analysis of 6 - 8 weeks of the boards actually played on a Tuesday and list the best contracts that can be achieved each way. This list should show if one orientation gets a better proportion of good hands. If after this there is still widespread concern, and there is agreement from the Tuesday nighters as a whole that dealing would be preferred, David Stimson confirmed that this would be OK with the committee.
Ian Grant expressed concern that Directors for Monday night were becoming too focussed on achieving 24 boards, even though there were 10 minutes less available for play on a Monday. This was sometimes making the evening seem rushed. Most comments from the floor were in support of maintaining momentum in the play by eliminating particularly slow play, so that 24 boards could be achieved where it was consistent with a suitable movement. On a show of hands there was little support for Ian’s concern. Points that arose in discussion were that coffee should be prepared when a person is dummy so as not to delay moves between rounds, and that we have booked the room to 10.45pm to allow for clearing up time. Election of Officers and Committee Chairman: David Stimson. Proposed Susie Bond, Seconded Helen Robinson. Carried unanimously. Treasurer: Derek Peers. Proposed June Ball, Seconded Pat Hobson. Carried unanimously. Other committee members who had agreed to serve for 2010 / 2011 were Cliff Short, David Blasebalk, Pat Jacobs, Fiona Littlewood, Jean Walters, and new members Susie Bond, Paula Morton, John Pelley. Brian Smith, Doreen Fletcher and Elham Williams were retiring from the committee. Proposed in bulk Roger Edmonds, Seconded Paul Littlewood. Carried unanimously. Presentation of prizes TUESDAY TROPHY Naomi Gibbs & Derek Hubbard CHAIRMAN’S CUP Naomi Gibbs & Brian Carroll SMITH CUP Lys Irvine & Murtaza Panju HOBSON BOWL June Ball & Helen Robinson, Fiona & Paul Littlewood SWISS PAIRS Barbara & Terry Neal FELDENWOOD TROPHY Penny & Roy Mauger SUTCLIFFE PLATE Anne & Cliff Short, Lesley & Derek Peers TUESDAY BOWL Meg Evans & David Blasebalk BYRON CUP Lesley & Derek Peers, Helen Robinson & Roger Edmonds HUDSON SALVER Lesley & Derek Peers CARPENTER CUP Fiona & Paul Littlewood TONY WEATHERLEY(Monday Ladder) Anne & Cliff Short TUESDAY TANKARD(Tuesday Ladder) David Goodwin WENDY COTTON (Thursday Ladder) Roger Edmonds NEAL VASE Roger Edmonds HEMMINGS Colin Sanders JANET FITZGERALD Jackie Davies & Naomi Gibbs |