Minutes of Committee Meeting no 75 held at the Michael Sobell Centre on Saturday 2 July, 2011,

PresentDoug Edmonds (DE)Chairman

Sheena Edgar (SE)Club Secretary

Ken Short (KS)Vice Chairman

Lynne Mathis (LM)Treasurer

George Howlett (GH)President

Daphne Santon (DS)Vice President

Rob Pyburn (RP)Webmaster

Michael Tucker (MT)Assistant Treasurer

Terry Butfield (TB)Playing Secretary

Neil Frais (NF)Session Manager

Martin Isham (MI)Weekend Organiser

Joanna May (JM)Weekend Secretary

Jackie North (JN)Session Manager

Apologies for absence Liz Crook; Adrienne Finch

1 / The minutes of the previous meeting, no. 74, held on 16 April, 2011 were approved.
2 / Matters arising:
None discussed
3 / Chairman’s report
Nothing for discussion.
4 / AGM-review
i) Committee agreed that bridge session after AGM should remain free as this will encourage members to attend the meeting.
ii) DE confirmed that there will be a vote on whether the Club should remain in the EBU at next year’s AGM.
5 / Treasurer’s report
i)Table fees were down in April due to bank holidays.
ii)Attendance is excellent on Thursday evenings but down on Fridays afternoon sessions. The Committee felt that it was still worth continuing with Friday afternoons as one session a month pays off the rent.
iii)DE suggested publicising Friday afternoon bridge, perhaps with a flyer in Croxley library.
iv)DS advised that management of large table numbers on Friday afternoon would be difficult.
v)LM reported that the Club was in a position to transfer £7,000 to Sobell Hospice and the Committee agreed with this.
vi)MI requested that hotels for week-ends can be paid via banks / JN
LM
LM
6 / Secretary’s report
i) SE has completed and returned details of Club Officers to the EBU.
ii) SE has received HBA Competition details which TB will discuss. / TB
7 / Web Master’s report
i)RP has replaced all the keypads on the Bridge Mates; however, no invoice has been received as yet.
8 / Playing matters
i)TB advised that there will be a heat for HBA’s Humble Cup on Wednesday 14th September 2011 at Sobell House: this is a teams event. Other teams from Herts will be able to attend. Pairs can enter and will be matched with pairs. The Humble Cup is a Green Point event.
ii)Cadet Pairs heats will also take place as part of a normal eveningat Sobell House with no surcharge (Thursday 8th December 2011). This competition is for players with less than 5,000 Master Points. The top 50% of pairs will qualify for the Herts event.
iii)Eccles Cup will take placeon Friday 25th November 2011.
iv)Top pairs may enter Club Winners Cup on Friday 28th October 2011.
v)TB advised that Sobell Bridge Club will be taking part in HBA’s Simultaneous Pairs Event on Tuesday 21st February 2012
vi)TB will send email to RP concerning the above events.
TB will inform GW of Cadet Pairs taking place on a Thursday evening.
TB will ask LC to book hall for Humble Cup / TB
9 / Social matters
i)The bridge supper on Saturday, June 25 raised £388.73. DE and AE were congratulated and thanked for their hard work. DE would like volunteers to organise a bridge supper on Saturday 28th January 2012 and he asked RP to advertise for helpers via the web-site.
ii)The Christmas bridge supper (10th December 2011) will be designated as a Charity Evening and, as such, “pay to play” does not have to be deducted. / RP
10 / Bridge weekends
i)The Cambridge week-end in May was enjoyable and in a nice location. The surplus was £500. However, the hotel was not the best and the Club would not be returning.
ii)The Bournmouth week-end (2nd -5th September 2011) will have 38 attendees and the 2 Bournmouth ex-members will be asked to make up numbers for the teams event.
iii)The Warwick week-end is 28th-30th October 2011 and the application forms are now available.
iv)MI and JM are looking for a new location for 20th -22nd April 2012. One possibility is Q Hotel Norton Park at Winchester which will be £195 (£215 to members). Other possibilities are
1. Q Hotel at Oxford although this is £15 more expensive or 2. Regency Park Hotel at Newbury which quotes £185 for 2 nights. / JM
MI, JM
12 / Any Other Business
i)After demonstration of Play Bridge Dealing machine, together with the report from the EBU,
it was decided that the Club should purchase the Play Bridge Dealer.
ii)TB will order 200packs of cards from EBU and 32 x 6 boards possibly from Jannerstens although Bridge Partners are currently developing a cheaper board.
iii) MI, with help with software from RP, agreed to organise the use of the dealing machine. / DE
TB
MI, RP
11 / DONM. Saturday, 15th October, 2011 at 10am.

The meeting closed at 12.00 pm.