Annual General Meeting

It's just eleven days to the AGM and the rule in the old constitution was that all members had to be notified ten days beforehand - ten days being seen as the ideal time because three or four did not give folk time to re-arrange what they were doing in order to attend and any longer would give it a bigger chance of being forgotten. And believe it or not people did come along and, an even bigger 'believe-it-or-not', there were no recommendations by the Committee for posts. Nominations were made on the night and votes taken: there were certainly ideas floating around about who was suitable and it was assumed that unless something drastic happened any office bearer would be there for at least three years and the Treasurer and Secretary for longer with the treasurers having the edge in terms of longevity. In the 80's it was decided that although turn-out at the AGM was usually good, there were often gaps in the list of office-bearers that had to be filled at the next Committee Meeting so it was agreed that the Committee would put forward suggested office-bearers but these were up for discussion and other nominations were encouraged. There was never ever any animosity between two folk put up for the same position.
My own comments on the upcoming AGM are as follows. Withe Yvonne stepping down and Kath Scott not being available then there will be new Secretary and Assistant Secretary required. The Assistant Secretary does the Minutes and keeps the offficial copy of the Club Minutes: it is a very responsible but not very onerous job and does not require much in the way of work between meetings. The Secretary is the real power centre of the club in terms of keeping it going and needs someone who will give it time between meetings - the work is mostly done between meetings - receiving and sending correspondence, sending notificaations to club members, etc. Yvonne was doing it well and efficiently - and better every year too. But both need replacing this year. The treasurer is a very important member of Committee and the club has had some great treasurers in the past with Jim Wright being the present incumbent. It is a very responsible job and experience only makes you better at it - we really need Jim to stay on. I don't know how many years he has been doing it but he's not yet caught up with David Bowman!
I don't know of any others leaving or giving up their post but the Captain and Vice Captain are doing an excellent job as the performance at Livingston indicated and they should be retained (if they are willing and I hope they are). The selection of Ladies Captain and Vice Captain is a matter for the women themselves and I'm too much of a fearty to dabble in it!
Peter the President has done the club a real service over the past few years. The club needs continuity and there had been four Presidents in four years and not one of us has stayed on the Committee to pass on advice. Alistair Meikle was really a Gala Harrier at heart but did a good stint before stepping down as President, then Cliff Brown was a very good president with lots of initiatives (he attended the DALAP committee meetings and so on) before stepping down after only a year. Aileen Scott was next up but couldn't move in for another year so I stood in as president and carried on where Cliff left off with representing the club at various committees until Aileen was available. Aileen was a very dynamic President and again did many excellent things and took many initiatives on her own which were ratified by the committee and it was a shame when she stood down. Peter came in and has stabilised things over his four or five years as president. It used to be three years and David Bowman set a record after I joined the club when he did seven years - it was mainly because he was the only Committee Member with a car and since we had to collect trophies from the club jeweller (Edwards in Glasgow) and various other things, David held on to the job. The president's job is mainly to steer the club in the right direction - harder than might be thought - and keep the club moving. I don't know if Peter wants to stay as president or not although I suspect that he might be an ideal replacement for Yvonne in the engine-room that is the Secretary's job. Peter and Jim as Secretary and Treasurer? President? Several candidates present themselves - John Hanratty? Pamela McCrossan? Them's my thoughts, what's yours?