Opening remarks for the Club Forum from John Yonwin
Welcome to the 2021 Club Forum
Thank you for zooming into this important Club Event:
First off….a THANK YOU to the vast majority of members that have supported all the bulletins of dos and donts that have been issued over the last 11 months, necessitated by the Covid pandemic…it seems like a life time….As you can imagine, the Covid Group and your General Committee took no pleasure at all in having to put in place such draconian measures.
Whist in thank you mode, the hours put in by the Covid Group and other committees over the last year has been fantastic and we members do owe a big vote of thanks to those members for the all the time put in, also to our great band of Night Watch Team Member Volunteers. Thank you to our team of staff colleagues for all their efforts during the last year.
Past Commodores briefed me by saying “Being Commodore is easy peasy, just don’t drink too much at the round of Cocktail Parties you and Pat will attend….” Well, the first year has turned out slightly different than that, not so easy peasy and not a cocktail party in sight!
But let us hope that we may be beginning to turn the corner with this retched virus and we can, just may be, start to see our lives return to some form of new normality and the our Club can fire up again in the not too distant future.
So, now to the Club Forum:
Those member new to the forum process…..It is held at this time of year to give you, the members, the opportunity to ask questions to the panel.
Tonight we have Adam Deary, Vice Commodore Yard & Haven, Tracey Lee, Rear Commodore Sailing & On The Water Activities, Simon Philbrick, Rear Commodore House, Bar & Catering, Kate Mellor, Honorary Treasurer, Tim Edom, Chair of the Membership Sub Committee and Mark Fulton, General Manager.
Some questions have been submitted already and thank you for those.
There will be an opportunity for you to submit your questions live via the zoom chat box and this evening’s Zoom Administrator, Kate Macgregor, will help us through the zoom process. Lorna Whitehead is also assisting with the handling of the questions.
To start….The Flag Officers will each speak for a few minutes on their respective areas of responsibility and interest within the Club; looking at the recent past and turning to look towards the future.
We can learn from the former and work on the later. We will do our upmost to answer the questions as fully as possible during the Forum. If we need to research to give the answer, we will get back to however raised the question, after the Forum.
As in previous Forums, we do not keep minutes of the Forum, by Mark does keep notes so that we can capture these and raise them at General Committee for consideration or / and review.
Our Annual General Meeting is approaching:
I am very mindful that our AGM lead-in is almost upon us. I am sure that in recent years, as a result of the Forum, some members have decided to put in a proposition to the AGM for the membership to consider a Rule or Policy change. Will this year see the same?
Additionally, you may feel the time is right for you to consider standing for General Committee and / or one of the Flag and Officer positions. All Officers and Flag Officers have to be voted in annually.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my years on General Committee and the various volunteering jobs I have undertaken, and if you feel the time is right for you to stand, why not put your name forward?
Finally:
I have been proud and pleased to have been elected as your Commodore and I know that our Club is one of the best around. When asked, especially by prospective members, why I feel that; it just seems to work so well with all the various classes, events, members, the volunteering, fantastic club house, our team of staff colleagues and great access to one of the best stretches of water anywhere….
Whilst being your Commodore, I will do my utmost to ensure that the objects and traditions of our great Club are protected and nurtured and we will journey into the future with confidence.
