The Royal Caledonian Curling Club's Annual General Meeting will be held at the Erskine Bridge Hotel on Saturday (June 19) at 14.00. This will be a milestone in the history of the sport's governing body. It will be the first time that individual members will have the opportunity to vote. If you intend to vote at the AGM in person, you will have to produce your membership card at the meeting as proof of membership. It will be interesting to see how many attend the meeting, and how many have cast postal votes, or indeed given their proxy to another to vote for them.One of the votes that will take place is to elect two new directors, from a list of three, Trevor Dodds, Kay Gibb and Bill Marshall. Another is to approve an increase in subscription from £17 to £18.
Special Resolution No. 1 is interesting. It is "To approve the proposal by Dalbeattie Ladies CC and supported by Dalbeattie CC and Craigie CC to change Bye-Law 1.6 as set out in the Notice of AGM." The current bye-law requires local clubs to purchase at least two copies of the RCCC Annual each year, the actual number depending on the size of the membership. Dalbeattie Ladies CC wants this requirement to be removed.
The future of a printed Annual has been discussed over a number of years. I wonder if this Resolution will be approved, and if so what it will mean for the publication of the Annual in the future.
Actually it is something that has been missing from the Annual in recent years that is a particular concern to me. The Royal Club's Memorandum and Articles - 5.15 (g) - indicates that the Annual should include a 'list of Paintings, Books, Artefacts and Records held by the Royal Club'. It was pointed out some years ago that the list in the Annual of the time was not up to date. Efforts were made to find out just what the Royal Club owned in respect of historical artifacts, and where they were stored. At the 2008 AGM at Cumbernauld, the Chairman of the Board (Mike Ferguson then) said, "Work is nearing completion on the registration of publications and artefacts. It is fair to say that the project has turned out to be far more expansive and complex than originally thought. In terms of publications alone, we own more than 500 and a full list will extend to several thousand items. One factor which has arisen is whether it is wise for these to be published in the Annual as previously indicated. That said, the good news is that the register is nearing completion after which the Board can decide how best to publish it."
Two years later, the Board has indeed decided! It has made the decision that we should not be told what the Club owns!
The proposal buried within Special Resolution 2 is the suggestion that clause 5.15 (g) should be "Deleted for security reasons. The Royal Club does not think it is wise to publish a list of valuable artefacts. Members can apply to the Royal Club for information on specific items. It is also proving impractical to publish a list of the many items donated to the Royal Club each year."
What nonsense is this!
If there is no published list of things that the Club owns, how can members ask about specific items? And surely it should be possible to record items donated to the Club each year. I would suggest that recognising the donors of such items is an imperative! Hopefully someone at the meeting on Saturday will ask for this point to be clarified.
I have attended many RCCC AGMs in my nearly fifty years association with the sport. Many times I have said, "Never again" given how long and drawn out, uncomfortable and boring, the meetings can sometimes be. On the surface of it, this year's AGM looks not to be a controversial one. I shall be there, if only to exercise my right to vote for the first time, and I trust it will be an enjoyable afternoon.
Now, where have I hidden my membership card?
