The 98th Annual General Meeting took place on Wednesday 31st October from 8:30 pm at Chester Road Sports and Social Club, hosted by President Andrew Moule.
The rain was pouring down on the night in keeping with Hallowe'en, 31st October, as a brave bunch of souls gathered at Chester Road to hold the Annual General Meeting. The rain kept a few away, it has to be recorded, but those who arrived made for the usual jolly meeting.
The President, Andy Moule, was in the Chair and the Minutes of the 98 Annual General Meeting were formally approved. To everyone's relief, there were no matters arising.
Andy went on to report on his year in office, and he was happy to record that he was pleased to attend the Founder's Day service once again, followed by his enjoyment of the Annual Dinner, the highlight of which was his friend Peter Hudson's response to his speech and the frequent references to his inability to come to terms with the game of rugby football.
Speech day had proved that the school was making excellent progress in both academic and sporting achievements, and the now yearly Choral Evensong at St Mary's Church was a spectacular success with no fewer than five choirs taking part.
He was impressed by the hospitality shown to him at the Old Elizabethans' Dinner, and the Summer Barbecue was again a success, but he was disappointed with the turn-out for the recent quiz, although he was satisfied that those who made it had had a good time.
He was concerned that he was unable to obtain a copy of the 1977 school film, as the director had been unable to devote enough time for its restoration, but he would keep 'on the case'. The same applied to the old School Honours Boards, the fate of which still hung in the balance.
He thanked the Committee for their support during the past twelve months, and, in particular, Peter Guy, Charlie Combes, Peter Picken, Ann Mullard and Joe Kerrigan.
The Treasurer's report showed the Association's accounts to be in good order. Peter Picken related that, although expenditure had exceeded income for this 12-month period, cash at the bank was still relatively healthy and Scholarship Funds of £1600 had been distributed to school-leavers.
Accounts for the Harry Train Exhibition and the Old Carolians Leaving Scholarship Funds were also presented by Martin Easton which showed a total of £450 paid in grants during the year.
The proposal for acceptance of all Association's accounts was carried unanimously, and thanks were recorded to Peter Picken and Martin Easton together with Tony Kidd for his auditing work.
The ELECTION OF OFFICERS resulted in the following persons in the following positions for 2012-2013:
President: Ann Mullard
Senior Vice-President: Charlie Combes
Junior Vice-President: Richard Woolley
Association Secretary: Colin Lloyd
Treasurer: Peter Picken
Membership Secretary: Peter Guy
Magazine Editor: Norman Broadfield
Website Administrator: David Slater
Auditor: Tony Kidd
ELECTION OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS
As well as the Officers of the Association, the following were elected en bloc as Committee Members:
Keith Bowkett, Martin Easton, Ken Garbett, Tim Gulliver (Headmaster, ex-officio), Martin Hobson, Martin Humphries, Joe Kerrigan, Andy Moule, Roger Perrin, Ian Sandall, Peter Vaughan and Pat Yarnold.
In 'any other business', the meeting was told that Annual Dinner applications were coming in but at a fairly slow pace. Peter Picken would see the Headmaster regarding the possibility of some musical entertainment by students before the meal.
There being no further business, the President closed the meeting at 9 pm.
Norman Broadfield, Home Affairs Correspondent