The 91st Annual General Meeting took place on Wednesday 2nd November from 8:30 pm at Chester Road Sports and Social Club, hosted by President John Booth.
President John Booth reviewed his year in office, and said that it had been a great honour 37 years since the last time. Was he the oldest President the Association had ever had? Looking back at 1968, he commented that discussions were then being held on the future of the School and the difficulties in education – how little had changed! He had enjoyed the experience and the visits to other Associations' dinners, generally very different from ours, which he still preferred. The social events had been successful, and the Committee Dinner had worked well. He had tried hard to increase the membership and, in recent years, it had increased from 440 to more than 640. There were still areas to be improved, but links with the School were good and he was hopeful. He thanked Headmaster Tim Gulliver for his support, and said that he valued the School's cooperation. He was grateful for the backing of the Committee and said that he had been on that same body for more than 40 years and a member for more than 50. He felt as though it were time to take a little more of a backseat.
Treasurer Peter Picken reported that the social events had covered their costs and added to the funds, and so we remained financially sound. Funds for school-leavers were available, and support for students would be ongoing. Martin Easton reported in a similar vein on the Harry Train and Old Carolians Leaving Scholarship Funds, but it was decided that the current year-end was making distribution and control of the funds more difficult than was necessary and the meeting decided to change the year-end for these funds to March, so that the 2006 'year' would be 15 months, running into 2007.
David 'Daz' Slater was unanimously elected President by the meeting and took the chair. He reported on his own credentials for the role – his father became an Old Carolian in the 1920s, and many other members of his family had good connections. His wife was an old girl of Kidderminster High School, and he looked forward to an interesting year. Keith Bowkett was elected Vice-President. He had been fly-half to Daz's scrum-half at School – he had received the ball, and, in the future, he would be receiving the Presidency.
Martin Humphries said that the role of Secretary was becoming more complex and he could not carry on beyond the next year. Perhaps the responsibilities could be distributed among other Committee members? This was to be discussed in the first meeting of the new Committee.
Martin Easton proposed a vote of thanks to John Booth on behalf of the Committee and Association, and said that he felt as though John had done a marvellous job during his year in office and, indeed, for many years before that. The proposal was supported warmly and unanimously.