Minutes of the 17^thAGM

The meeting was opened by our Chairman Jim Husband at 1135 hrs; the Chairman welcomed the members and introduced the committee.

The Chairman then read out the list of departed members and the Act of Remembrance was read out by Gerry Kane to the lowering of the Langeleben standard by bearer John Plaskitt.

 First to speak was the Secretary who gave the apologies of those members who for various reasons could not attend. The minutes of the 2009 AGM which had previously been published and distributed were deemed to be a true record of the meeting, proposed by Paul Croxson, seconded by Tom Perkin and accepted unanimously by the floor.

The Chairman then introduced our Assistant Secretary John Richardson who read out messages from our President Major General Peter Baldwin and also the Bürgermeister of Königslutter Herr Ottomar Lippelt.

The Chairman introduced our treasurer Gerry Kane who gave a detailed account of the association’s income and expenditure, which while showing a healthy balance was slightly diminished because of the unexpected costs incurred over the commemorative stone weekend.

Gerry advised the floor that he would be collecting monies at the end of the meeting for the cost of the evening buffet. The acceptance of the accounts proposed by Rod Goddard and seconded by Dave Thomas was again unanimous.

Secretaries Report: See separate account below.

Election of officers: All the committee members agreed to serve for the following year and were unanimously returned.

Any other business:  Member Steve Vaughan thanked members for the generous donations received in sponsoring him for his 100 mile charity walk in aid of the MacMillan nurses that he participated in last July. (Over £1000 collected.)

Member Jud Charlesworth queried the lateness of this year’s reunion; the Secretary explained that Burleigh Court was fully booked for the usual May bank holiday weekend and also for the two weekends following.

Member Paul Croxson proposed that for future UK reunions we could perhaps extend an invitation to local members who could not otherwise afford the time or expense to attend the full reunion but would like to pop in just for the AGM or for a drink and a chat with fellow members. The Secretary replied that this would not be a problem as the hotel was open to non residents and all members would be advised accordingly for the next UK reunion in 2012.

2011 Reunion: It was agreed that we should return to the Königshof Hotel in Königslutter, ideally to coincide with the town Schützenfest; we are hoping that Schützengilde can agree to revert to the end of May/early June timetable. Assistant Secretary JR will keep us informed on the arrangements.

Dave Thomas informed the meeting that he was looking into the possibility of hiring a coach in the UK for making the five day return trip to Germany an economical proposition for our members. He has received quotes that dependant on interest could bring costs down immeasurably. He is still looking into the logistics and would keep us informed.

The meeting closed at 1250 hrs.

Secretary’s Report:

Because of the clash with the Dannenberg reunion a few members have had to miss out being with us this year and offer their apologies...

Tom Neal, (who misses his first ever Langeleben reunion). Ray Armstrong, Denis Weir, Steve Jarvis & Steve Yates.

Others who for various reasons could not make it and offer their apologies are Neil Mapp, Jim Coglan, Colin Knapman, John Ralphs, Ted Vert, Bill Lloyd, Bob Ridley John Gant, Dave Liddell and our esteemed newsletter Editor Marlene Brooks, who as some of you may know is recovering from major surgery. Never-the-less Marlene has asked me to remind you all that we need lots of photos and articles from you for our next issue of the “Listening Post”.

I welcome you all to our 17^th AGM and reunion. We were a little concerned that this year’s reunion would seem somewhat of an anticlimax after last years gathering in Königslutter, (how do we follow that), but we need not have worried as we have some 94 members and guests with us this weekend which is a very encouraging turnout.

I would especially like to welcome the newer members and those of you that are attending your first reunion, may it be the first of many. I have not yet heard any complaints regarding the accommodation and assume that you all find the rooms to your satisfaction.

It has been another good year for recruitment, 14 new members have joined us since the last AGM in Germany, and brings our live membership in total, to 420.

Sales of the DVD of last year’s memorial reunion have been slightly disappointing, (75 only sold so far) and we have yet to recover the production costs, I have brought plenty of copies with me and they are available to all at £5 per copy.

Any raffle prizes that you are generously donating should be given to our Chairman Jim Husband sometime this afternoon.

 I hope that you all enjoy the weekend, especially this evening’s function.