Draft Minutes of the 15th Annual General Meeting of the Hardy Orchid Society

at Exeter Hall, Kidlington, Sunday 15th April 2007.

 

 

1.    Apologies for absence.   Neil Hubbard

 

2.  Minutes of the last Meeting.   These provoked no comment and were proposed by Norman  Heywood and seconded by Maren Talbot, the minutes were adopted,.

 

3.    Matters arising.   None.

 

4.  Chairman’s Report.   This was Tony Hughes’ last report as Chairman and he took the opportunity to review the progress of the Society since its inception in 1993, and thanked the Officers and Committee of the Society for their hard work in making it such a success over the years.   The full report (attached in minutes book) is available on the website.

 

5.      Treasurer’s Report.   Iain Wright presented his balance sheet for the year (copy also on the website) and reported an income of around £1000 over expenditure.   This was caused by lots of small items, such as a fall in the cost of printing; the new postal charges benefiting Journal distribution; an invoicing error by the printers (which was waived) brought us £100, and so on. Some members who accidentally paid double subscriptions donated the surplus rather than claim a refund.

 

The equipment fund has increased significantly by over £200.  

 

      Advertising income has risen because of the Membership Secretary’s diligence in back-tracking owed money and a slight increase in the number of advertisers.

 

Committee expenses are slightly up due to geography (more travel to meetings) and more members.

 

Subscriptions are adequate at the present level and should remain at the present level for the foreseeable future.

 

He thanked Tony Beresford for inspecting the accounts.

 

The Report and Balance Sheet were proposed by David Hughes, seconded by Rosemary Hill, and approved by all.

 

6.   Membership Secretary’s Report.  Celia Wright gave a written report (copy on the website) in which she thanked Maren Talbot for her work as previous Membership Secretary, which had greatly facilitated her own work in this past year.

 

Membership now stood at a total of 521 memberships, with total members at 632.

 

Adoption of the Report was proposed by Barry Tattersall, seconded by Mike Powell, and approved unanimously.

 

7.  Election of Officers and Committee.    Tony Hughes thanked the retiring members: Doreen and Eric Webster who had organised the plant and photographic Shows so effectively during the past six years; and our Publicity Officer Jim Hill.

 

The following officers were voted in for the coming year:

 

President:  Prof. Richard Bateman  (proposed Tony Hughes, seconded Phil Phillips)

Chairman: David Hughes (proposed Tony Hughes, seconded  Celia Wright)

Vice-Chairman: Vacant.

Secretary:  Richard Manuel (proposed Tony Hughes, seconded Maren Talbot)

Treasurer:  Iain Wright  (proposed Tony Hughes, seconded Richard Manuel)

Membership Secretary:  Celia Wright (proposed Tony Hughes, seconded Iain Wright)

 

The remaining members of Committee were proposed en bloc by Rosemary Hill, seconded by  Mike Powell, and voted in:

 

Journal Editor: Mike Gasson. 

Publicity, and Kidlington and Wisley Meetings Organiser: Maren Talbot.

Conservation and Website Officer: Bill Temple.

Seed and Fungus Bank:  Phil Seaton.

Journal Distribution: Barry Tattersall.

Harlow Carr Meeting Organiser: David Hughes.

 

8.      Election of Auditor.   Tony Hughes proposed Tony Beresford, explaining that he preferred to be call an Independent Examiner.   This was seconded by Maren Talbot and unanimously approved.

 

9.      Any Other Business.   David Hughes explained the status of the Field Trips for this coming year.   There were still vacancies for Norman Heywood’s Purbeck Trip; Alan Blackman’s Kent Safari; Martin Jackson’s Derbyshire Trip; and Nigel Johnson’s Visit to Noar Hill.   Alan Gendle’s two Cumbrian Excursions were fully booked but Brian Allen’s tour of Dundee was undersubscribed.

 

Philip Seaton apologised for the time taken in sorting out the Seed and Fungus bank.  A seed list will soon be put on the website, but the only fungus currently available is B1.   Phil appealed for more fungus from members.

 

Herbert Ober then stated that he regretted not having joined the HOS earlier!   He thanked the Society for its help and proposed a vote of thanks to the Committee for its efforts.

 

Maren Talbot is putting up a HOS stand at Raby Castle Show on May 5-7th this year.   She asked for help from anyone who will be there.

 

Richard Bateman stated that he seemed to have been President for ever.   He mentioned his involvement with numerous other societies and congratulated this society on its evolution as the “best run society with which he is involved”.

 

 

The Meeting closed at 11.22 a.m.