Annual General Meeting of the Old Glasgow Club held in the Council Chamber of the City Chambers on Thursday13th May 2010 at 7.00pm

Attendance

41

Chair

President Gordon welcomed all members to the meeting and conducted a fire safety announcement.

Apologies

There were apologies from Sallie Marshall, Murray Blair, Joy Blair, John McKnight, Sheila Kelly, Bob Dunlop, Terry Liddell, Linda Muir, Hope Logue, Jim Gibson, Maida Gibson, Christina Bowie, Gordon Kerr, John McGuigan and Mrs Reid.

Minutes

The minutes of the 2009 AGM were circulated and approved on the motion of Mr Woodhouse and seconded by George Kerr.

Matters Arising

Mr Gordon clarified a point raised by Mr Murray Blair regarding spare copies of club transactions currently stored in the Trades House. Once the club Librarian has had a chance to catalogue such transactions and the Director’s have agreed on an appropriate disposal strategy, then Club members would be offered first refusal if deemed suitable.

Presidents Report

President Gordon reported that 2009-2010 has been a most enjoyable first year in office. He has hoped he has been a suitable ambassador within the club and when attending other events and groups.

Membership of the club has continued to remain strong and regularly stands at 150-160 members. Mr Gordon reflected on the members we have sadly lost this session.

Finally Mr Gordon encouraged members to take advantage of the many heritage trails around Glasgow areas. He had recently been on the Govan Heritage Trail and thoroughly recommended it.

Secretarys report

Mrs McNae provided the following report

• Summer events began with the Tappit Hen Bowling Tournament on 21^st May. Enthusiastic, if not necessarily proficient bowlers, watched by a lively audience, enjoyed a very pleasant evening, rounded off with supper at the Drawing Room.
• In early June, Peter Mortimer led the J.A.S. Wilson Memorial Walk around the Gorbals telling the history of both the buildings and local characters. A good number of the walkers finished with tea in the local sports complex.
• The venue for the summer outing on 13^th June was Traquair House, via Biggar ending the day with High Tea in Peebles.
• A small party of Club members visited the set of BBC drama River City on 4^th July. We even sat in the wee dookets in the Oyster Café!
• Enrolment night in September at Adelaide’s was a lively affair with members old and new “catching up” during tea and coffee at the start of the meeting. Peter Mortimer kicked off the new session with a talk about Old Glasgow Advertisments and Posters.
• “The Road, Ruin and the Railway” was the intriguing title of the talk by Sally White and Mark Baines at the October meeting. We heard of the Alexander “Greek” Thomson Society’s exciting regeneration plans for the currently derelict Caledonian Road Church.
• In November, Gavin McLelland, Head of Development at the Glasgow Riverside Museum project gave us a look into the exciting future of the museum.
• Due to the high demand for tickets we were only able to send a small party to the BBC Headquarters tour at Pacific Quay on 27^th November. This was recommended by all who attended.
• We were entertained in December by Julie and Irene Birkett on the history of Glickmans Confectionary established in 1903, the oldest sweetie shop in the heart of Glasgow. Most of the audience left with one if not two bags of sweets.
• Club members and friends attended the pantomime Robin Hood and Babes in the Wood at Eastwood Theatre in December. Oh Yes We Did!
• Severe weather conditions caused us to postpone the Member’s night in January. The decision was taken the week before and the intention was to reschedule the evening during the spring. On reflection, it was felt that we would lose the atmosphere of “A Night at the Pictures” on a lighter evening and this event has been carried over to the new session. We have taken the precaution of moving Member’s Night to February for a number of reasons- mainly the hope of better weather.
• We never did find “The Real No 1 Lady Detective” but Roddy McPherson had us on the edge of our seats until the end of his witty and informative talk in February. He is returning next session to tell us about the Citizens Theatre.
• At our March meeting Jim Mearns of the Glasgow Archaeological Society gave us a fascinating talk on the use of archaeology.
• The following evening some of the directors manned an Old Glasgow Club stall at “Heritage Matters” an information event held in Queens Park Church on the south side of the city.
• A visit to Orkney Street Police Station in Govan was attended by a number of Club members on 27^th March.
• Flt Lt. Gerry Traynor told us the history of 602 (City of Glasgow) Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force and of the museum in Sauchiehall Street.
• A large party of club members and friends were given a very interesting and informative tour of the Necropolis on Sunday 25^th April. Our original guide found herself detained in Australia due to volcanic ash problems. A frantic phone call from one of our directors was kindly answered by Ruth Johnston, Deputy Chair of the Friends of Glasgow Necropolis and author of “Glasgow Necropolis Afterlives, Tales of Internments”. Ruth stepped in and conducted a very interesting and informative tour. Tea and cakes in the Cathedral Hotel finished the afternoon nicely.
• It has been a varied and enjoyable session with extra events such as theatre outings, visits and walks. We look forward to welcoming members old and new for the 2010-2011 session.
• The Directors take the opportunity of acknowledging the kind services of speakers and also of thanking those who assisted the work of the Club in many capacities during the year.
• Summer events lined up for this year include

Tappit Hen Bowling Tournament in Kelvingrove Park on Thursday 27^th May at 6.30pm. A buffet supper will be available afterwards at the Drawing Room, 1055 Sauchiehall St. A charge of £7.50 will be charged for the supper.

The J.A.S. Wilson Memorial Walk around Glasgow Green hosted by Peter Mortimer. Meet at 6.30pm at the Saltmarket entrance to the Green, across from the High Court on Thursday 17^th June.

Summer Outing to the Secret Bunker in Anstruther then to St Andrews on Sat 12^th June. Coach leaves Mount Florida Bowling Club at 9.30am and Cochrane St at 10.00am. Option of bringing lunch or purchasing lunch at the bunker. No booking has been made for high tea in order to keep down the ticket price to £16.

• Session 2010-2011 enrolment will take place on Thursday 9^th September at 7.00pm for 7.30pm start at Adelaides, 209 Bath St, Glasgow.

Treasurers Report

Mrs Thom presented the Club accounts to the meeting. They were found to be in good order and vouched for by Mr Little and Mr Blair.

Mr G Smith asked how many members there are in the Old Glasgow Club. At present the club has 142.

The account report was proposed by Mr Jim Robertson and seconded by Mrs Alison Sannachan.

Q. The accounts mention a section for “outings”, what does this entail?

A. Mrs Thom replied that this section covers any extra monies required for The Tappit Hen, Pantomime Outings or the summer outing. This can cover more than one financial year.

Librarians Report

Mrs Forrest stated that she looked forward to officially taking up the Librarian position after her year in Cyprus. Mrs Forrest would like to concentrate on finding a suitable home for the Club’s external collections.

Mrs Forrest informed the members of the history of the Club’s association with the Trades House Library and how it is now difficult to rehome this collection, hence the importance of finding an alternative home for future donations. Currently we have collections dispersed around the Directorship. Mrs Forrest would like to concentrate on these matters in the coming session.

Q. Can we still access the collections?

A. Yes, by prior arrangement with the Trades House (contact number is on our membership card).

Q. Can we trace any books that might have ended up on Ebay?

A. No.

Q. Is the Trades House responsible for their insurance and can we claim for missing items?

A. Yes the Trades House is insured but they don’t necessarily view the books as missing if they have let them go.

Previous Hon Librarian Bob Dunlop meticulously catalogued all the Clubs property within the Trades House but this has been superseded by their own system.

Election of Office Bearers

Past President Mr Brian Henderson proceeded with the election of the following Office Bearers.

President                      Sam Gordon               Proposed: Brian Henderson                                                                                         Seconded: Suzanne Halliday

Vice President              Alison Sannachan       Proposed: Sam Gordon

                                                                        Seconded: Margaret Thom

Hon. Secretary             Joyce McNae              Proposed: Margaret Thom

                                                                        Seconded: Jim Robertson

Hon. Treasurer             Margaret Thom          Proposed: Joyce McNae

                                                                        Seconded: Graeme Smith

Recording Secretary     Jim Gibson &             Proposed: Stuart Little

(joint role)                    Petrina Cairns                        Seconded: Alison Sannachan

Librarian                      Anna Forrest              Proposed: Joyce McNae

                                                                        Seconded: Margaret Thom

Membership Secretary             Sam Gordon               Proposed: Joyce McNae

                                                                        Seconded: Margaret Thom

Directors

Continuing                   Petrina Cairns                        Proposed: Alison Sannachan

                                    Graeme Smith                         Seconded: Sharon Macys        

Re-election                  Sallie Marshall                        Proposed: Margaret Thom

                                    Jim Robertson                        Seconded: Alison Sannachan

Alison Sannachan is moving from Director to Vice President and Terry Liddell has stood down as a Director therefore there are 2 Director positions free.

Nomination                  Stuart Little                Proposed: Graeme Smith

                                                                        Seconded: Petrina Cairns

                                    Isabel Haddow                        Proposed: Joyce McNae

                                                                        Seconded: Margaret Thom

Examiners                    Christina Bowie          Proposed: Graeme Smith

                                    Gillian McGuigan       Seconded: Marian McNeillie

Registering the Club as a charity

Mr Graeme Smith proposed that members of the Old Glasgow Club consider the option of registering the club as a charity and pointed out the many advantages of doing so in a report. The Directors have been considering this and would like to put the motion to a members vote. The motion was seconded by Mr Woodhouse.

Q. Would there be any changes to the constitution?

A. None Foreseeable.

Vote:    35 For, 3 Against, 3 Abstentions.

AOCB

Mr Henderson gave a short talk on the area of Tradeston and asked members to view the photo and message board he had set up at the entrance to the room.

At the Ordinary meeting in March a proposal was made to donate any monies made from the tea/coffee table to the Alexander “Greek” Thomson Society. The total was £48.78. It was decided the Club would donate £150 to the Society, a motion proposed by Mrs McNae and seconded by Mr Tom Woodhouse. Members votes 32 For, 0 against with 9 abstentions therefore the vote was carried.

The Old Glasgow Club aim to have a stall at the Hub of this year’s Open Doors Day, which is usually in St Andrews in the Green at Saltmarket. If anyone would like to volunteer to help man the stall please put your name forward.

There will also be a presence at the South Side Festival on 22^nd May.

If anyone can help with leaflet drops again make your name known. We shall have leaflets ready this year for the West End Festival.

Mr Gordon commented that he is often amazed at how far these leaflets travel, for example we had enquiries from Inverness this year.

Mr Gordon finished by thanking Brian Henderson for his assistance and his interesting talk. He reminded members of the summer events lined up and advised members to keep an eye on the website for notices.

President Gordon wished all an enjoyable summer and a safe journey home.

Petrina Cairns