Event Report

AGM

8th November 2007

The Club held its Annual General Meeting on Thursday, 8th November. As usual we had a good turnout. We have had an overall increase of 17 members during the year bringing the membership total up to 190. The finances of the club are healthy. It is proposed to buy some extra ‘bikini’ exhibition vases for displaying the flowers at our shows, and also to check the gazebos next year to see if these need replacement. This is a timely opportunity to remind members that they can hire our gazebos for their private use.

Our treasurer, David Gutteridge ***, has had to stand down due to ill health. He has been an excellent treasurer for many years and we are really sorry that he has had to retire, and we wish him well and thank him very much. The thought of finding a new treasurer was keeping me awake at night, but Bob and Corinne Solen agreed to take over the duties, jointly, and I know that they will be a totally satisfactory replacement. Three other members of the committee wanted to stand down. Stuart Attrill volunteered to join the committee, and other club members agreed to take on specific roles for the club, although not as committee members – Ruth Davies to run the plant sales, Mike Camp to oversee our Web site, Lyn Gutteridge to jointly (with Janet Searle) run the raffles, Beryl Owen to be the welfare secretary and Ann Petheram to help with membership duties. We have received compliments on our Web site, so thanks were made to Mike Camp. Having members who are prepared to commit to undertake the various tasks needed to run the Club is a great relief, and does mean that the committee does not have to do everything. The evening ended with sociable wine, nibbles, and a slide show from our president, David Green.

***Since preparing the AGM report for the web site, and prior to its inclusion, the following Obituary has been received.

Sadly David died on the 13th December 2007. He had been suffering from a very rare immune deficiency disease for several years. Despite a range of treatments and drugs, often with unpleasant side effects, he gradually deteriorated and this accelerated over the last few months and lead to his final death. In all that time David never complained or made anything of his illness. He had been Treasurer of the Garden Club for many years and had been an excellent officer for it. Despite difficulties, he continued to carry out these duties until a few weeks ago. Even when really ill, he was still anxious to pass things over and explain things to his successors.