AGM 2001

Present:	D. St K. Anderson, President
	H. Teed, Hon. Sec.
	Jane Salkeld, Hon. Membership Sec.
	N. J. Zelle, Hon Editor, Newsletter
	H. G. Thompson Hon. Assistant Editor. Newsletter
	R. H. Mitchell
	H. Dow
	Roughly 40+ 0Cs present

Apologies for absence:	Robert Mash, Chairman
	Karen French, Hon Treasurer

1	Minutes of the previous meeting
2	Report of Hon. Secretary
3	Report of Hon. Treasurer
4	Report of Hon. Editor
5	Election of Hon Treasurer
6	Election of Hon. Secretary
7	Election of Hon Membership Secretary
8	Election of Honorary OCs
9	A.O.B

1. Minutes of the previous AGM on 29th Jan 2000 read by the Hon. Sec. Approved by the Meeting and signed by the President. The minutes of this meeting appear in the OC Newsletter. It is assumed that all will have read these and that there being no dissent from the floor nor the readership, they are hereby adopted.

2. Report from the Hon. Sec. The Millennium Dinner last year was a great success with 136 dining. Tonight's affair is less ambitious as to numbers yet with 80+ sitting down we are enough to make a 'Dinner' of it yet.

In the 'lost & found' we have lost one Headmaster and found another to mind the shop. David Beeby has retired after fourteen years; Martin Cooke has stepped in from the Prep School. David Beeby has been a friend to the OC Society second to none. David and Anne's welcome at OC events has been memorable, wherefore they will be remembered. We wish Martin Cooke a tight ship and a happy one.

Your Society has subsidised golf and Cormorants cricket last year. The golf event was on the 23rd June at the Temple Golf Club with eighteen OCs taking part. The Cormorants Cricket Club fixtures last year looked well enough with two wins, a draw and one lost. Accounts of these can be found on page 7 of the Newsletter. this also includes an account of the fortieth anniversary dinner of the Cormorants club. This was at the Crown at Blandford when eighty turned up. Consider the Cormorants a 'fact of life'.

The OC Website is another 'fact of life' in the hands of Mark Farrand. For all the general information, there is an increasing picture library of all things OC - awaiting access.

Deaths. Some improvement on last year when the average age was 54. This year it's 64 but still not old enough to collect one's pension! Well below the national average.

G.H. Drummond, Clayesmore's WW1 VC has been very well written up in Newsletter 2000; a scholarly piece of research by Hugh Thompson, who has also suggested a Drummond Cup to be awarded. Having read the article OCs might like to offer ideas.

A final reference to the Newsletter has to be made as yet another first rate product from N J Zelle; the more impressive for having had his computer stolen during the gestation of this edition.

OC Days in 2000; The February was cold and quiet perhaps too near the dinner to make a mark. The May OC Day was fine and hot; in addition a good game of cricket held centre stage with a first rate lunch between the acts. The September weekend was still born at twenty-four hours notice because of the Fuel Protest. The impressive line-up of events is in the Newsletter: a choral event, a dinner, an art exhibition and a veteran car rally with an engraved tankard for best car (wrong date now!). It has been decided to run this event next September 15th. Sixty booked the Dinner last time. A chance to benefit from hindsight; book again and bring a friend. As so often the case Nick Zelle is the man to contact if you want to sing. Other enquiries to me or my successor if I have one.

The Lamb & Flag events on the first Monday of each month have proved more successful than might have been hoped. At times we have had over a dozen OCs of all generations including one from pre-war days. The Address is Rose Street WC2, not half a mile from Simpson's. As a rule there is always a committee member present to pass on your views.

3. Report from Hon Treasure takes the form of well-presented accounts on the blackboard at the back of the room. Your society seems to have funds circa Ł12,000+ after a busy year assisting golf, cricket, pianist, Newsletter and divers other good causes. Proposed: D R W Thornbery. Seconded: J G Packett.

4. Report of Hon Editor of the Newsletter: None appears to have surfaced at the meeting, and from this, assume he is comfortable with his style of midwifery as is his readership.

5. Election of Hon Treasurer: Karen Ripper has agreed to take over. Not present at this meeting. Proposed: N Zelle. Seconded: R H Mitchell. Passed on show of hands.

6. Election of Hon. Sec: Singular lack of competition for this post. H T remains seized, but with help promised from Hamish Dow as assistant to Hon. Sec.

7. Election of Hon. Membership Sec: Another silence! Jane Salkeld has carried this post for the at least six years. Not as onerous since John Grant came to the scene and set up an OC Office Register at the School. In the event the name of Tony Coe was mentioned. (To be followed up)

8. Election of Honorary OCs: Martin Muirhead of Kingston Smith, the City Accountants, has handled the School accounts since an audit junior, and the OC accounts for a similar time. Proposed: R M Denning. Seconded: D R W Thornbery. Our outgoing Headmaster, David Beeby proposed amid general acclaim, having been a great friend of the OC Society. Proposed: R H Mitchell. Seconded: H G Thompson.

9. Message from the OC Soc. Chairman. As luck would have it, my first AGM as Hon.Chairman is also the first AGM (and Dinner) that I have missed for about 30 years. I am therefore particularly sorry not to be here. The reason is this: An old research colleague of Oxford Days is having a 60th Birthday party and particularly asked me to be there. He lives in Nairobi, and I have agreed to be part of a round of celebratory duties involving an all-night party in Langata, followed by a yacht race on Lake Naivasha, a few days in the Masai Mara viewing big game from a hot air balloon followed by some days on the coast at Watamu, investigating the wild-life from a dhow. At this very moment I am at a dinner party in Langata surrounded by beautiful and wealthy women. All very tedious, I know, but I am a slave of duty.

More importantly, I should like to underline a few of the points which our Hon. Sec.will probably be making. Once again Nick Zelle & Hugh Thompson are to be congratulated on yet another stunning Newsletter: for those who have cast it aside after looking at the pictures, may I commend in particular Hugh's article on Clayesmore's V.C., and excellent example of research and eloquence. Henry Teed has worked tirelessly as Hon. Sec. in spite of his expressed desire to be left to graze alone. Karen French has been such an effective Treasurer that it is difficult to consider any replacement who is not called Karen. The Website under the sure guidance of Mark Farrand has germinated and blossomed to form an extremely powerful means of OC intercommunication. Our membership secretary, Jane, has been hard at work at the thankless task of reconciling the membership lists with the bank statements. Finally, after a tentative start, the First Monday in the Month sessions at the Lamb & Flag have become fixed and friendly opportunities for meeting OCs and others. On nearly every occasion a Committee Member is present. there is no structure and no agenda: come along, alone or accompanied, and have a few drinks.

So to summarise: I apologise for being absent this evening: I hope you all have a very enjoyable evening, even if I'm having to put up with a dull time in Kenya.

3a. All school leavers to be eligible for membership. Those expelled, subject to review by the committee.

3b. Staff OCs. A new category of membership to cover the teaching staff of both schools. Proposed: W H C Wright. Seconded: R M Denning.

13a. Cheques may be signed by any two of: President, Chair, Hon. Sec., Hon .Treas., Hon. Membership Sec. Proposed: D R W Thornbery. Seconded: Russell Harding.

Note: The rules quoted above are a condensation of those printed in the Notice of AGM on 5th December 2000 where they appeared in full.- Rules (pdf) / Rules (Word Download)