22nd CDWS AGM on Friday 20th May 2022
People started arriving from about 7pm and in total there were 31 members in attendance.
Chairman Colin Picton started meeting at 7:30 with apologies for absence. There were 16 in total including committee members Ann Evans, Ann Lawrence and Kay Day. Colin expressed the feelings of all members in sending best wishes for a speedy recovery to Ann Lawrence who is in hospital.
The approval of the Minutes of the 21st AGM was proposed by Barrie Reece and seconded by Sue Jones.
Chairman’s Report
Colin gave his Chairman’s report, starting with saying how good is was to be able to greet everyone personally this year rather than having to rely on a Zoom meeting as occurred in the previous 2 years.
Colin then introduced a slide show of photographs illustrating the history of the society over the past 22 years, with almost 900 photos, which continued to roll over the whole evening. It was a little disconcerting to some to see themselves age by 22 years over the course of one night!
Colin reviewed the events of the past year, starting with the Summer Lunch, which in 2021 occurred twice. The first occasion was held in July at Peter and Beth Sykes-Johnston’s home in Gerrards Cross, but due to Covid restrictions, the numbers were limited. So, in order to give more people a chance to attend, a second lunch was held in September at Ernest Morris’s house in Chesham Bois. We have to thank the generosity of our hosts in letting their home be used for these occasions.
At the end of August, Gwyndaf John and Rob Britton organized the annual golf day at Oaklands Park, won this year by Pam Britton.
In December Ralph and Margaret Broomby hosted our Christmas Drinks event at their home in Chesham Bois. Again, due to Covid, we were not sure that this event would go ahead, but in the end, it was a convivial and cheering event with canapes provided by ‘To Dine For’.
January saw a return of Jonathan Pegler’s Quiz Evening. Unfortunately, due to a rise in Covid numbers, this had to be another Zoom based event, without the usual food, but it was still up to the usual standard in terms of fun and difficulty.
This was Jonathan’s last quiz as he is stepping down from the committee to concentrate on his musical pursuits. Colin thanked Jonathan for the preparation and hard work he has put into his quizzes and trips over the years.
March saw a return to normal with our St David’s Day Dinner being held at Gerrards Cross Golf Club. Over 70 members enjoyed a delightful dinner in the refurbished venue, followed by a great selection of operatic and Welsh songs performed by the first-class mezzo soprano Angharad Rowlands.
In April Gwyndaf and Janet John led our Spring Walk to explore the wild flowers around Coleshill. As they are such experts in the matter, we learnt a lot and finished the morning with a pub lunch at The Red Lion.
Colin then said that the next event will be the 2022 Summer Lunch, returning to the kind hospitality of Diane and Colin Thomas in Gerrards Cross.
Barrie Reece proposed the acceptance of The Chairman’s Report, seconded by Kate Picton.
Membership
Colin said that Membership numbers stand at 110, a slight drop over last year.
Financial Report
Jonathan Pegler presented the Financial Report for the last time. For the year ending 31st March 2022, assets were approximately £3,000. Jonathan explained that annual income from subscriptions comes to between £1,100 and £1,200 and that our main costs are for about £800 in insurance, printing and the web site, leaving about £400 to be used as subsidies for our events, but, as a whole, events are self-funded. He concluded that the Society is financially sound.
Colin appealed to the membership for a person to fill the role as our new treasurer, with Jonathan explaining that the work was not onerous and no financial qualification was necessary. In the meantime, David Powell will stand in for the role.
Election of Officers
Colin then came to the election of officers to the Society. Ann Evans is Life President and as such is not elected. Election of the other officials was as follows:
| Position | Name | ||
| Chairman | |||
| Vice Chairman | |||
| Minutes Secretary | Merle Davies | ||
| Treasurer | Vacancy | ||
| Membership Secretary | Ann Lawrence | ||
| Secretary | |||
| Committee Members | Kay Day David Powell Ruth Huckle |
Colin presented a bottle of wine to Jonathan. Sue Jones proposed a vote of thanks for all the work that Jonathan has contributed over the years. Colin said that Jonathan has contributed an awful lot to the Society, not only as Treasurer, but compiling and hosting quizzes, the organization of trips to Wales and other places, and his stint as past Chairman.
As Colin brought the formal part of the evening to a close, Ann Tennant appeared through the serving hatch to announce that the evening’s supper was ready.
There was a choice of cooked ham & broad beans or chicken & mushroom as the main course followed by a selection of deserts: rhubarb fool, orange tart, chocolate mousse or a plate of cheeses. As usual, Ann’s food was delicious and generous.
Throughout the meal we were entertained by the continuing backdrop of photographs of events through the years.
The evening concluded with Barrie Reece taking to the piano to play some well-known Welsh songs and to lead the singing.
The evening finished at around 10pm.
Well done to those who helped organize the event, especially to Kay and Ann who could not attend in person.
No-one was absolutely sure whether our 2021 drinks party would go ahead, due to rising numbers of Covid.
Bright blue matching chairs and, cheerful garden flowers adorned the crisp white tablecloths. At this juncture, our thanks to the ‘flower girls’ as they were referred to. The guests had come laden with their own wine, fruit juice, beer and fizzy water and people on the tables introduced themselves. I maintain that Welsh is my first language and, was fortunate enough to be educated through the medium of Welsh from the age of 3 to 21. I was especially pleased to catch up with a few people who spoke Welsh and spent a while chatting to Bill Jones about the delights of Amlwch and Anglesey in particular!
Table by table, we were invited to the serving area, where the To Dine For ladies had set up a veritable spread. Our food had been pre-ordered, I had salmon, others had chicken and there was a vegetarian option, all adorned by a variety of salads, I have to say it was very tasty. We had olive and chilli bread, which you could wash down with the drink of your choice. Extra food was available if you wanted a top up. Chatter, covering a multiple of varied subjects, was constant. David Powell managed to pop round each group to photograph everybody deep in conversation. For dessert there was fruit salad, tiramisu, chocolate tart with lashings of cream, should you want it. To round off the meal tea and coffee were served with some lovely chocolate mints. All in all, I would say the afternoon was a massive success, everybody was pleased to catch up, after such a long time of being at home.
I would like to give a special mention to Ernest Morris, whose delightful garden we enjoyed and for the loan of the gazebos by Alan Longshaw. Thanks too to David, Gwyndaf, Alan, Peter Johnston and Colin Thomas for erecting these and, getting the furniture in situ; hopefully it was dismantled a bit quicker than it went up. Thank you very much to Kay for her organisational skills and making the afternoon such a success, we all know that these events, don’t ‘just’ happen.
A fine selection of able-bodied chaps gathered at Peter & Beth’s home on Saturday morning to put up the gazebos for Sunday’s Summer Lunch. The garden looked like a team of gardeners had been at work, but Beth assured us that they did all the work themselves.
discussion about positioning of the gazebos in the garden. It didn’t take too long, and by midday, we were able to sit under the canvas to enjoy a well-earned drink and biscuit.
