Please find enclosed the official notification of the Annual General Meeting to be held on Wednesday, 21st May, 1980.

Appropriate officers who have served during the last year will, of course, give their normal address at the Annual General Meeting. In view of items 10 and 11 on the Agenda, it is considered appropriate to include with these papers a report from your EBU representative, John Hudson, and an interim report from our retiring Treasurer, Sheila Green. It is hoped that as many of you as possible will be able to attend the AGM.

The calendar of events for the 1980-81 bridge season will be sent to members during August, 1980. Meanwhile, your particular attention is drawn to the Summer Pairs League which is played on the second and fourth Wednesdays each month starting at 7.15pm from May to August inclusive. Please note, however, that there is no bridge on 28th May as a result of the unavailability of the Bridge Rooms because of the County Agricultural Show.

The competition will be run on similar lines to the Winter Pairs Trial league, with some small amendments.

1. The competition will run from May to August inclusive, on the second and fourth Wednesdays (seven sessions in total, as no heat on the 28th May);
2. The scoring will continue to be imp'd on the Butler method;
3. To qualify for a place in the final league table the best four scores only will count. To qualify for a place in the final league table, you only need therefore, to play in four sessions. Furthermore, it will be possible to count towards these four sessions one occasion when one half of the partnership does not play with his/her regular partner.
4. Prize money will be as follows:-
   • 1st Prize £20 per pair
   • 2nd Prize £15 per pair
   • 3rd Prize £10 per pair
   • 4th Prize £5 per pair
   • The Pairs League Sub-Committee reserve the right to revise this prize money if there is not an average of eight tables per session;
5. Prize money of £2 per pair will be paid to the winners of each individual heat. And so, if your commitments do not allow you to play in four sessions, to qualify for a place in the final league table, why not come along for the occasional evening, for what is one of the most enjoyable and best evenings bridge in the County's calendar?
6. Table money will be 50p per session, with an additional 50p competition entrance fee for those players wishing to enter the actual league.

This "Bulletin" does not include the usual reports from your officers, as the normal addresses will be given at the AGM.

Unfortunately the Bulletin seems to have lapsed into repetitive reports from your officers. Although these reports are very well intentioned, with the usual exhortations to play in as many competitions as possible, in my view a bridge bulletin ceases to be a bridge bulletin unless there are reports of various hands and problems encountered in play. It is hoped that the 1980-81 season will see a flood of letters reaching me (G. C. Davies, Fernwood, Nursery Gardens, Stafford.), to provide copy for next year's bulletins. As an incentive, your committee has agreed a prize of £5 to the member submitting the most amusing or informative article. At last, the opportunity to put pen to paper á la Rixi Markus or Terrance Reece!

REPORT OF YOUR DELEGATE TO THE COUNCIL OF THE ENGLISH BRIDGE UNION

I have attended three of the four Council meetings this year. I am sorry to have to report that the main topic at all three has been inflation and how to cope with it. It is effecting bridge at all levels and in all ways.

Firstly, a 15% VAT rate, on top of swinging increases in hotel charges, has made table money at all venues much more expensive. Secondly staff salaries have had to be substantially increased, and this, together with rent, rates, heating, telephone and postal charges showing large increases, has meant a massive 60% rise in the running costs of Thame headquarters over the last 2 yrs. A massive rise in printing costs and postal charges has meant that the quarterly magazine costs 45% more to print and distribute. You know exactly what comes next - everyone is very sorry but subscription rates will need to go up. You will see from the Agenda that the E.B.U. part of your subscription will go up to £2 this April and £3 in 1981.
All county delegates to Council have checked and double checked the activities of the central administration at Thame and we all agree that there is no significant waste and that the new executive secretary is working like a beaver to keep overheads down. We therefore all agreed to recommend these rates be accepted by counties. I will he pleased to answer any specific queries about costs at the AGM. Just one example of how costs have overtaken us; the Quarterly, which incidentally I fee1 has been greatly improved, costs £1 to print, for every four copies you receive. It costs 14p to post each copy, including labour to pack it, and put in any inclusions. Up to this year the E.B.U. subscription has been £1. So you can see for this year the E.B.U. has lost 58p on every member receiving the quarterly. With 26,000 members this comes to a staggering loss of £14,080 and you have not yet started to pay for all the other services you get. All very sad.

There have been a number of suggestions as to how we can have a two or three tier system of membership and in June you will receive a questionnaire in your quarterly about subscription rates. PLEASE, PLEASE cooperate by filling it in and sending it back to the new executive secretary.

Your County representatives are at last making, an impression on the board of directors that ordinary members must be involved in decision making - don't let us down by showing disinterest.

County Closed Championship Events

Since the advent of "Green Points" there is no doubt that County events have lost status. Staffordshire have been foremost in demanding that the Tournament Committee of the E.B.U. take steps to remedy this. Some counties wish to see the county events carry "Green Point" awards. However, your committee feel that the standards from county to county vary so much this would not be sensible. We have suggested that all county championship events should be heats of a NATIONAL EVENT leading to a low rated "Green Pointed" ONE DAY regional semi-final and a highly rated "Green Point" final; that this should include the Championship pairs, Mixed pairs Mens and Ladies pairs; the latter three events should carry much lower "Green Point" rating to the Championship pairs. There is a good chance that this will get a good reception in council. However, it would assist me if when you return your subscription questionnaire you put a note in to say you support this idea.

Staffordshire, along with several other counties, have also asked that Inter-county matches should have status restored to them. It has been suggested that "Green Points" should be awarded to them at a rate that would make them substantially above a win in a six board Swiss Teams match. That they should carry less status than a six board Swiss Teams at the top end of the field is silly; that they should have less status than a six board match among the "also rans" at the bottom end of the field is utterly stupid; that they should have less status than a match in the first or second round of the Gold Cup or Hubert Phillips is also not sensible. Nor do we support the principle that "Green Points" should not be awarded in events where players have to be selected to play. These are the main items I have been involved in this year as your delegate.

John Hudson

TREASURER'S REPORT

With only the Bearn left to be settled we can look back with satisfaction at this year's competition entries. Because of your fine support the county has managed to pay its way, although suffering like everyone else from raging inflation.

The present state of finance is:

• Credit in Building Society: £920.59
• Credit in Bank £347.90

Although I must point out that the prize money for the 1979-80 competitions has still to be paid out.

As subs-secretary, I am pleased to announce that our EBU membership has increased by 30 this year, bringing county and E.B.U. membership to 254 at present. Would members please note that due to circumstances beyond our control the committee cannot at present take subs for the EBU for 1980-81 until after the AGM. Therefore would you please not send any money to me at present, but pay your club representative as soon as possible after the AGM. Thank you.

Sheila Green

STAFFORDSHIRE CONTRACT BRIDGE ASSOCIATION

Annual General Meeting 1980

Notice is hereby Piven that the Annual General Meeting will be held at Stafford Bridge Club, County Showground, on Wednesday, 21st May 1980 at 7.00 p.m.

AGENDA

1. Apologies
2. Minutes of the 1979 AGM
3. Matters Arising
4. Secretary's Report
5. Treasurer's Report
6. Ceptain's Report
7. Chairman's Report
8. Presentation of Trophies and Prizes
9. Election of Officers

   	Nominations of the Management Committee
   Chairman	to be notified at AGM
   Vice -Chairman	to be notified at AGM
   Secretary	Mr A Bloxham
   Treasurer	to be notified at AGM
   Captain	Mr A Bloxham
   Bulletin Editor	Mr G.C. Davies
   Master Points Secretary	Mr R Martin
   E.B.U. Representative	Mr J. Hudson
   Other nominations should be made in writing, with a seconder to the Secretary atThe Meadows Salt, Stafford, at least seven days before the meeting.

10. To consider the following recommendations by the Committee:-
    • a) Subscription shall be:
      • 1980-81 £3.50 per person (£6.50 husband and wife). £2 to the E.B.U. and £1.50 retained by the County.
    • b) Subscription shall be:
      • 1981-82 £5 per person (£9.50 husband and wife). £3 to the E.B.U. and £2 retained by the County.
11. To discuss the following items to assist our National reprentatives:
    • a) Two-tier subscriptions
    • b) Extension of method of using County events as qualifying rounds for National competitions.
12. Any Other Business

It is anticipated that bridge will be played when the AGM has closed.