Annual Secretaries Report February 2, 2009
This is the tenth annual report that I have written and as I have said before on all those occasions, anyone who is interested can have it free of charge. However, I shall continue in this capacity, with the help of our committee, to the best of my aging ability. The last three years Barrie has been a great help in sourcing most of the speakers while I have been doing just the clerical. I would like to thank him very much for his efforts. Much appreciated. Anyone interested in joining our committee please say so now as this is the time to join.
We are continuing to have good results in this venue with attendances staying very regular despite falling membership. The total attendances for 2008 were 706 while the total for 2007 was 755 down by 49. I thank you the membership for your faithfulness to our club.
The highest attendance was on March 3rd when 40 persons turned up to hear Ray Jaensch talk about Railway History. The poorest attendance was on April 28 when just 19 persons attended for the presentation of Glen Dix and his involvement in the motor sport. The best-attended day-tour was on August 1 to Prospect Hill, which filled the coach to its capacity. So unexpectedly full that the hostess had to sit on the floor. Therefore, it would be very advisable to let me know in advance of your attendance so this can be avoided in the future. Our usual Christmas Lunch attracted 32 diners.
Regarding our membership, we lost 15 members for the year that passed away while just one new member has joined us for the year. Our current membership now stands at 239 members.
Mr Fitch who will be 99 in June this year is now our oldest member. Of the 239 members, 115 are over 80 years and 21 of those are over 90. That is almost half of our membership. Makes you think.
Since our last meeting, I have sent out another 50 letters and programs to members who have not attended for a while. If anyone has an email address that we don’t know about, please let me know, as that is a much cheaper and quicker way to communicate than the ordinary snail mail. We currently have 18 members with email addresses.
Lastly, I hope all of you will continue to support our Club in the coming year. This will be the 77th year since our Club was began in 1932 and it would seem a pity if it was to fold up now after such a lengthy time.
Thank you all.
