General Meeting - Live

ROTARY CLUB OF CHESTFIELD

Breakfast club meeting 07.25am Thursday 10^th February 2022 @ the Plough

Present:               Dave C, Lesley, Nick, David M, Spyros, Pippa, Iain, Robert, Sue, David K, Godfrey, Hilary, Andrew B, Pat.  (Not sure if anyone trying to attend on Zoom – it didn’t appear to be working)

Apologies:           Andrew & Jean M, Elaine, Maureen, Jackie, Kathryn, Myfanwy, Margaret, Marian, Paul, Pete, Reggie, Trevor, David B.

Guest:                  (For the last time!)  Chris

Grace:                   Iain

BREAKFAST

Chris’ Induction:  Godfrey read out the Objectives of Rotary.  Spyros, as Chris’ sponsor, said a few words; he and Chris came to know each other as fellow volunteer drivers for Red Zebra.  Lesley welcomed Chris as a fully-fledged member of the club and Rotary in general.  She is sure his many skills will be a welcome addition to the club.  Chris was adjured to wear his badge with pride (Andrew B gave him a spare one for when the first one gets lost!)  The club then toasted Chris in welcome.

Lesley said she has been given two tickets to go and see the London Welsh Choir in concert by Ron Benning.  Would anyone like these?  Let her know.

Upcoming Events:            Theevening social meeting on 24^th February will go ahead at the golf club.  However watch this space; they have problems again with holding on to a chef.

                                                Sue confirmed the Spring Quiz Night on 2^nd April is now sold out.  What she does need is raffle prizes.  Sue would rather have 4 or 5 big prizes than lots of little ones.  People get bored waiting through a long raffle, and there are always prizes left at the end which no-one really wants.  What is needed are prizes worth maybe £20 approx donated by local businesses.  All members, please come up with ideas.

                                                On 12^th March there will be an Open Day for community groups at the Herne & Broomfield community centre.  Lesley, Andrew B and Hilary will represent the club. 

                                                Volunteers to act as marshals are still needed for Walk4Water on 25^th March.  Please let Andrew B know.

                                                Members are asked to note the Barn Dance on 21^st May.  We need members to sell tickets for this.

Attendance:       Lesley said there was a discussion at Board on Tuesday about members who don’t attend breakfast meetings.  Some don’t attend on zoom either.  Not attending breakfast meetings means that those that do attend are the only ones contributing to the money raised by the raffle and the money raised by the Master-at-Arms.  There is a proposal on the table that if a member doesn’t attend then they should be asked to contribute to our charity account (£5 per month). They would be entered in the weekly raffle and the rest would be the dues to Master at Arms. David M suggested that at the end of each month we would look at attendance and if a member attends at least one meeting in a month, including evening socials, then they wouldn’t need to pay the levy. Individual circumstances would also be taken into account.

The members present were broadly in favour of the idea.  Lesley asked those members not present to please respond with their reaction to the suggestion.

                                During discussion, it was pointed out that our agreement with the golf club is that we will pay for at least 15 covers each week (to make it worth while for the golf club to open up early just for us) so if less than 15 members attend for breakfast, then the club in effect has to pay a fine. 

                The timing of meetings was also discussed. The golf club staff have to come in specially to cook our breakfasts – which makes it a very long day for them.  Also, some of our members have commented that a slightly later time would make it easier to get up for breakfast meetings.  This might disadvantage potential younger members who still have to work. It was agreed we would deal with this if the situation arose.  The proposal on the table is that we move the timing of breakfast meetings back half-an-hour i.e., 7.30am for an 8.00am start. Views on a later start are requested by the end of this week.

 Lesley and Godfrey are seeking a meeting with the Golf Club next week and will raise the issue of a later start with them, as well as other matters that need to be discussed i.e., whether they want us to continue meeting there, would a break help them whilst they sort out their staffing issues.

We need as a Club to look at helping out those members who don’t drive to ensure we offer lifts to them – some kind of rota could be used.

                Finally, it has been proposed that once a month, perhaps when it is a longer month, we have one meeting as a social gathering over mid-morning coffee.  This might be something to think about when we have sorted out the other two issues above.

Any Other Business:        Pippa reported that Jean still has some complications following her operation.  The club send their best wishes. 

Raffle:                                   Was won by Godfrey

Master-at-Arms:              Nick informed that today is Plimsoll Day (i.e., the Plimsoll line on ships) and also Second-hand Wardrobe Week.

Final Toast:                         Given by David K

Date of Next Meeting:

07.30am 17^th February Business Meeting at the Golf Club