Annual General meeting 13th March 2012

The District Society held its 13^th Annual General Meeting on13th March in Foxearth Village Hall when 17 members were present and, as has become traditional, cheese and wine were served.

In the unavoidable absence of Alan Fitch the Chair was taken by Justine Corney who read a report prepared by him. Alan began by paying tribute to Tom Hastie whose contribution to the Society had been immense leaving an enormous archive of research which had now been placed on the Society’s web site. Reviewing the past year’s activity, Alan mentioned the visit to Bletchley Park as being especially memorable and enjoyable. He expressed thanks to the President, the Secretary and Committee for their work, to Mrs Corney – Treasurer since the beginning and now retiring – and to those who manage the web site, provide the tea and coffee, organise the raffle and write up the proceedings.John Geddes was welcomed  and thanked for assuming the role of Treasurer.

Mrs Corney presented the financial statement for the year ended 28^th February. The Committee had recommended that the annual membership subscription should remain at £10 but that the occasional visitor fee should be increased to £2; these were agreed. The Committee was re-elected en bloc.

In general discussion the need for membership figures to be boosted was raised with various suggestions for more publicity. Reference was made to Tom Hastie’s regular contributions to the Parish News in the Pages Past form. The Editor hoped that this feature could be continued, possibly under a different heading, and wondered whether the Society might be prepared to take this on. There was support for the idea which the Committee will consider.

The President then addressed the meeting firstly expressing his own tremendous admiration and thanks for Tom’s work and the personal debt he owed him. Ashley explained that any talk he gave always included material that Tom had unearthed. It was a wonderful achievement that so much was now available world-wide via the Society’s web site. Ashley pointed out that this month saw the 100^th anniversary of Captain Scott’s courageous but ill-fated expedition to the South Pole – a successful attempt that saw the Norwegian Amundsen beat Scott to it by barely a month. Extracts from Scott’s diary were read describing in harrowing detail the cruel conditions brought on by weather and frostbite which led to the death of these heroic men.

Next meeting:  April 10^th 8pm Foxearth Village Hall  Talk on Oriental carpets – their care and cleaning