MINUTES OF ORDINARY MEETINGS
Ordinary Meeting 1,099 on Monday 12th Aug 2024
Opening: Ramon Gater, deputising for Roger Thomas, welcomed members.
Attendance: 16 members were present plus our guest speakers. 4 stayed for lunch.
Apologies/ Sickness Reports were received from Michael Pudell, Geoff Ashurst, Roger Thomas, Simon Jones, Phil Edwards, John Fletcher, Thomas Fawcett & Robert Youdell
Minutes: The Minutes of Previous Ordinary Meeting No 1,098 held on 22nd July 2024 were read and approval was proposed by Robert Holland and seconded by Chris Webb.
Matters Arising: - None
Speaker Finder: - Ivor Francis welcomed today’s speaker, Mike Bottomley who spoke about Henry V111’s 6 wives and their relationships and their eventual demise. He spoke at greater length about the life Katherine Parr, the 6th wife and her Christian faith evidenced by her letters and the prayers she wrote.
Ivor said that the 28 October speaker had cried off. He was looking for a replacement and would report at the next meeting.
Our speaker in 4 weeks’ time will be Paul Murphy on Charlie Chaplin Pt. 2.
Membership Secretary: Mike Bunston welcomed Peter Cook’s return.
Social Secretary: - Richard Harrison reminded the meeting that the next event would be the Ladies’ Lunch.
Treasurer: - The accounts are as expected; still awaiting invoice from The Swan.
Webmaster: - The website will be updated this week.
Chairman’s remarks: - Ramon Gater advised the meeting that local organisations were being invited to register on the ‘Parish Business Registry’ at a cost of £19. However, there is no such registry.
Next Meeting: Our next meeting will be on 9th September at 10:30. The meeting closed at 10:44 am.
Ordinary Meeting 1,098 on Monday 22nd July 2024
Opening: Roger Thomas welcomed members.
Attendance: 25 members were present plus our guest speakers. 8 stayed for lunch.
Apologies/ Sickness Reports were received from Michael Pudell, Alan Hartridge, Peter Cook, Mike Stanton, Rennie Simpson
Minutes: The Minutes of Previous Ordinary Meeting No 1,097 held on 8th July 2024 were read and approval was proposed by Mike Bunston and seconded by Ivor Frances.
Matters Arising: - Ramon Gater advised the meeting that members are welcome to visit Peter Cook in Esme Gardens Nursing Home.
Speaker Finder: - Ivor Francis welcomed today’s speaker, Muriel Pilkington who gave a fascinating talk into the background of the Gunpowder Plot from the time of Henry V111, the lives of the plotters and the effects of the plot on this country over the centuries.
Our speaker for 12th August will be Mike Bottomley speaking about Katherine Parr.
Membership Secretary: Mike Bunston advised the meeting, that there had been a lovely memorial service for Michael Banks and it was well attended.
Treasurer’ report presented by John Fletcher in Alan Hartridges absence: - Accounts in good order; still awaiting invoice for first half of year from The Swan.
Webmaster report also presented by John Fletcher: - There were 56 visits in the last 30 days, 44 from UK, 10 from Germany and 2 from USA (the Russians have clearly become bored with it). Within those visits, - and this is a new breakdown - the homepage was visited 60 times, meetings 51 times, events 18 times and members’ page 13 times. Even the constitution had 2 visits!
Next Meeting: Our next meeting will be on 12th August at 10:30. The meeting closed at 10:40
Ordinary Meeting 1,097 on Monday 08th July 2024
Opening: Ramon Gater, deputising for chairman, Roger Thomas, who was expected to arrive late, welcomed members.
Attendance: 17 members were present plus our guest speakers. 7 stayed for lunch.
Apologies/ Sickness Reports were received from Michael Pudell, Barry Peaston, Alan Hartridge, Peter Cook, Andrew Dow, Geoff Ashurst, Thomas Fawcett
Ramon Gater explained that Peter Cook is currently residing in Esme Garden Care Home.
Minutes: The Minutes of Previous Ordinary Meeting No 1,096 held on 24th June 2024 were read and approval was proposed by Ivor Frances and seconded by Chris Webb. There were no matters arising.
Speaker Finder: - Ivor Francis welcomed today’s speakers, Carole and Malcom Brown who gave a wonderful performance singing under the title, ‘We Sing for Your Pleasure’ including songs from Gershwin, Bizet and Rodgers & Hammerstein.
Our speaker for 22nd July will be Muriel Pilkington. Following the death of Tim Banton, our speaker for 14th October will be Peter Petrie on, ‘All at Sea’.
Social Secretary: - Richard Harrison advised the meeting that there are no events until the Ladies’ Lunch in September.
Membership Secretary: Mike Bunston advised the meeting, that Michael Banks’ memorial service is at 3.00 pm this afternoon at Evenlode Church.
Treasurer’ report presented by John Fletcher in Alan Hartridges absence: - Accounts are now up to date following the Chairman’s Tea Party, although we are still awaiting the invoice from The Swan for the first 6 months of the year.
Webmaster report also presented by John Fletcher: - The website has been updated and includes pictures of Kate Bellamy’s last meeting with us, and a picture she sent us of her and her new husband. The list of meetings for the rest of the year has also been changed to include the new speaker on October 14th.
Next Meeting: Roger advised that our next meeting will be on 22nd July 2024 at 10:30. The meeting closed at 10:42