News
December 2011... from the President
It's been a tough year but I'm proud of what we have accomplished together. Some clubs and associations haven't been able to do what we have done. We'll be going into the New Year with a new clubroom and facilities to look forward to. To all the members that have approached me and offered their support and have aired their opinions and suggestions, once again, I can only offer my thanks.
Thanks to all that have trusted in me to do the job and guide the Branch in rather challenging times and to do it in a way that I thought it needed doing. I can honestly say I have enjoyed my time as President. I know I have a huge amount of support, and with what I'm about to say, this will probably disappoint some of you, and for that I'm truly sorry. I have chosen to step down as President.
Moving forward, if I could give you all one piece of advice that would be to build on the Branch's accomplishments over the past year and let's celebrate that, it is a gift to be grateful for. With that said it is time for me to take my leave.
I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
Kind regards,
Paul Mainwaring
Special Committee Meeting
What is left of your committee held a special meeting on the 14 Dec to sort out some of the issues that have beset us over the last couple of months.
JD advised he had uplifted all the items from Brian Foote except for a Router, all records and correspondence is now in the container at the range. It was noted that the Minute Book is not up to date. There is no Profit/Loss for the September Auction. From the discussion it was concluded that a future Secretary/Treasurer would have to be computer literate (the task was bigger than Brian had anticipated) and have time to devote to the task. Scott gave a run down of the duties of a secretary and treasurer of our branch. After long discussion, Scott has agreed to take on the role of Sec/Treas until the end of March to reconcile all the accounts and send out the annual subscription accounts for an honorarium of $25 per hour to a maximum of 100 hours.
Mike has agreed to take on the role of President in a temporary role until the AGM. These were formally moved and voted on. The Branch requires a president, vice-president, secretary/treasurer and new members on the committee. No one on the current committee was prepared or capable of taking on the job of Sec/Treas. Perhaps there is someone in the Branch who could do this. Perhaps a wife or partner could do this for an honorarium (attend meetings both monthly and committee, do the accounts). The bottom line gentlemen is that we desperately need you to fill some key positions on the management committee of your Branch.
Temp-President Pen
It can only be said that this has had to have been one of the most tumultuous years in living memory for all Cantabrians. Many of our own members have suffered personal losses, injuries and emotional strain as a result of the quakes. The effects of which will remain with us all for many years to come as we pull together and rebuild our lives and homes.
We are all very fortunate to be involved in an organisation where we can gather for a few hours a month and meet with like minded individuals, share our knowledge and experience in a unique and historically significant hobby. We have all made life time friends through the Association and in times like these it is reassuring to be involved and surrounded with the friendship and support that a club like the Antique Arms can provide.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all that have helped in the running of the Association and also to those who helped with organising our major events held throughout the year. It can sometimes be a thankless and laborious job, but without these volunteers and their level of dedication and commitment we wouldn't have the successful organisation that we have today.
From myself and on behalf of the Committee, we would all like to wish you and your families a safe and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and look forward to seeing you all in 2012 at the January meeting.
Kind Regards,
Mike Harris
Temp President
Special General Meeting
We need to call a Special General Meeting. Such meeting has to be held within 6 weeks of being called. (Rule 12b of our Constitution allows us to do this). This meeting will be the January monthly meeting. The purpose of this meeting is to elect a replacement President, VP & Secretary/treasurer.
We need a quorum of 6 management committee members and 25% of members entitled to vote.
The first item at the meeting will be to elect a Chairman of the meeting i.e. Mike Harris. Then the vote for replacement President (Mike again) and then hopefully a Vice President and a Secretary/treasurer.
Meetings
October monthly meeting. As would be expected we are in a fairly healthy financial position, however once payments have been made to vendors we may not look quite so healthy. There are still a few postal bidders who still have make their payments.
As Branch Rrep, Graeme pushed the Assn calendars explaining that the quality of the photos wasn’t all that good but in an effort to get the calendar out they used what photos they had and therfore the qulity of the photos reflects those photos submitted. Please support the Assn by purchasing a calendar.
David advised that there was a new Armourer in the library.
The Lithgow books have arrived so if you have ordered a set, contact President Paul.
The current holder of the Ballinger Belt, Richard Rowlands, who lives in Kirwee, has been invited to our next meeting. Rod advised the meetng of three things; 1, Ian MacDonald passed away about three months ago, Ian used to be an Arms Officer, 3, On the previous Tuesday one of the local sports shops was broken into, however the owner was working out the back and caught the offender, however while next door phoning the police his back was turned and the offender (who up until then had been a blubbering baby) wacked him from behind with something and knocked him out! Moral: if someone breaks into your place don’t turn your back on them. 2, Canterbury Museum contacted Rod regarding some projectiles found by a member of the public who was going over Nth Hagley Park with a metal detector, these dated from possible the 1870’s. (The reason this was last is because Rod had a minor lapse of memory.)
The meeting observed a moments silence to mark the passing of a long standing member of the Branch, Geoff Oliver.
November monthly meeting was held in the new venue, thanks to John Stockman’s long association with one of the people who works at Riccarton Park Raceway. Now the bad news is that our Sec/Treas Brian Foote has resigned, President Paul gave a long detailed explanation of the circumstances that lead to Brian’s resignation, this was followed be lots of questions and explanations.
David advised hat yet another Armourer had arrived and that he had donated a copy of “The Encyclopaedia of Pistols and Revolvers”, thanks David.
Auction is almost sorted, after Thursday’s meeting both JD and Scott have put in a massive effort and sorted the payments and also who has paid what and who needs paying missing committee members!!
There was no Branch Report as Graeme Barber wasn’t at the meeting. Phil Moore advised that he Branch Christmas Shoot would be on 11 December starting at 9:30am sharp! Andy from Shooters Supplies has sponsored many of the prizes for this shoot, so PLEASE support him with your next purchases.
In General Business Paul reiterated that we are now in a desperate position in that we need a new Secretary and a new Treasurer or someone who is prepared to take on the duel role of Secretary/ Treasurer, as a bonus you don’t have to pay annual subs! Please put some thought into this matter. The member taking this on needs to be computer literate and have an organised mentality.
The theme for the evening instead of a MOA was to bring along something from your collection and what an amazing number of items were brought along. The evening concluded with a buffet (which Anders didn’t have to cook) and the Bar open, all prepared and staffed by the Riccarton Race Course staff (we did have to pay for it) so if you came along you will have received value for your annual subscription. Thanks to everybody who brought along items from their collections and put them on display. Thanks to those who travelled distances to get to the ―new venue and brought items along.