The 95th Annual General Meeting took place on Wednesday 4th November from 8:30 pm at Chester Road Sports and Social Club, hosted by President Colin Lloyd.
The evening was cold and wet, but that didn't stop the usual gallant band, the faithful few, from turning up for the meeting to hear the retiring President, Colin Lloyd, report on his year in office.
He said that it had been a very enjoyable period, and listed the various functions with which he had been involved. The highlights included Founder's Day, the Choral Evensong at St Mary's Church (although he was concerned at the very small print when it came to reading the lesson), the King's Anniversary wreath-laying at the Town Hall, and the Speech Day.
The now annual fixture of the snooker tournament at the Old Edwardians' Club in Stourbridge had also been very enjoyable, but he added that the standard of play from the OCs was 'dreadful', as the highest break achieved was around the 12 mark! The team simply didn't play regularly enough nowadays.
The opening of the new building on the Comberton Road site in the name of Dr Nigel Collins had also been a notable event. He regretted that there had been a downside in that some of the complementary invitations to other organisations' dinners, which were described in gushing detail by the previous President, Peter Vaughan, failed to materialise for various reasons. Having said that, he had enjoyed the Old Elizabethans' dinner, but that of the Old Wolvernians had collapsed owing to lack of support.
The barbecue this year was again held in the School's Rose Garden, and was thoroughly enjoyed by some 80 attendees, thanks to some fine weather and first-class catering supplied by Messrs Humphries, Picken and Garbett, plus their willing helpers. He thanked them all. The Autumn Event, which took the form of a 'race night', however, was not very successful owing to low numbers, and it is now questioned whether there is any point in organising events of this kind.
On a more upbeat note, the President was pleased to note that membership during his year in office had increased from 612 to 628, and he concluded by thanking his fellow Committee members for their support throughout the year. John Booth proposed a vote of thanks to Colin, saying that it had been an excellent Presidential year. The Association had benefited from his 'promotional and pushy style; the meeting concurred.
Treasurer Peter Picken presented his report for the year ending 31st August 2009. There had been a profit of £447, which was well received by the meeting. There had been total receipts for the year of £4249.52. We had put £1600 into the Scholarship Funds and had a fairly healthy bank balance at the end of the year, but payment for the Magazine was outstanding. Ken Garbett was again thanked for his contribution towards Magazine postal costs.
Accounts for the Harry Train Exhibition and the Old Carolians Leaving Scholarship Funds were presented by Martin Easton; they showed a total of £450 paid in grants during the year. The 5¾% Treasury Stock would be redeemed in December and the decision was made to take the money and discuss placement of it at the next Committee meeting in January, when, it is hoped, market conditions might have improved.
Acceptance of these accounts was proposed by Martin Hobson, seconded by Peter Guy and carried unanimously. Thanks were recorded to Peter Picken and Tony Kidd for the auditing of the reports.
The Rules' change proposed by John Longmore and listed in the 2008 Magazine were considered. No one had any objection to the two proposals, namely the establishment of the new position of Website Administrator and the abolition of Life Membership. John Longmore recommended that the amended Rules should now be combined in a new document and distributed with the next magazine. This was agreed by those present.
Officers were all unanimously elected:
President Pat Yarnold
Senior Vice-President Joe Kerrigan
Junior Vice-President Andy Moule
Association Secretary Colin Lloyd
Treasurer Peter Picken
Membership Secretary Peter Guy
Magazine Editor Norman Broadfield
Website Administrator David Slater
Pat Yarnold took the chair and thanked the meeting. He was honoured to be President and hoped to live up to all the Committee's expectations during his year of office.
At this point, the President presented retiring Association Secretary Martin Humphries with a cut-glass decanter, inscribed with the School's coat of arms and motto, in recognition of his service to the Association; the cost of the present had been shared among his fellow Committee members. In reply, Martin thanked the Committee and explained that it would be nice to take a back seat for a change, but that he still intended to remain an active Committee member.
Other existing members of the Committee were elected en bloc:
John Booth, Keith Bowkett, Martin Easton, Ken Garbett, Tim Gulliver (ex officio), Martin Hobson, Martin Humphries, Ian Sandall and Peter Vaughan.
A new Committee Member, Roger Perrin, nominated previously by the Committee, was elected unanimously.
Tony Kidd was also re-appointed as Auditor.
The President thanked the retiring John Longmore for his remarkable 52 years as a member and 37 years as a member of the Committee, a sentiment endorsed enthusiastically by all present.
The President then closed what had been a generally good-humoured event.