The Bedouins Annual General Meeting is fast approaching. Tuesday November 3rd  is the date, and we will meet as usual in the Fox at Stourton at 7.30pm for a prompt 8.00pm start. This is your chance to have a say in the running of the club so don’t miss out. Let’s see if we can get a few extra faces this year.

The Agenda is as follows:

1.  Apologies for absence
2.  Fixtures
3.  Treasurer’s report
4.  Subscriptions and match fees
5.  Officers
6.  Duck Supper
7.  Nets
8.  Date of next meeting
9.  Any other business

The Fox are kind enough to put on some plates of chips for us so if that’s not an incentive (Austin) then what is?

It’s that time of year when we start to think about the Annual General Meeting and the Duck Supper. Dates (as yet to be confirmed) are likely to be Tuesday 3rd of November for the AGM and Friday 27th for the Duck Supper. The AGM is expected to be at The Fox at Stourton and the Duck Supper at The Cat at Enville. Please get these dates in your diary and we will confirm them as soon as possible.

HELD 4th NOVEMBER 2014  2000 HRS

Chairman, Brian Susman

In attendance: A Susman, A Hill, R Spratley, A Gregory, J Branch, P Lippitt, L Bywater.

APOLOGIES
Apologies received from George, Currie, Howells, J Hill and Hancock

1.     FIXTURES
BS confirmed with the agreement of those in attendance that we will look to maintain all fixtures from 2014 season.

LB confirmed that Prosperity were keen to participate and proposed alternate year tea arrangements going forward.

BS also raised the question of whether the club could take on more fixtures. BS suggested that a home Wednesday game with Beacon and a Home Fossils Sunday fixture may be possible.

LB/PL raised concerns at the availability of the squad on a Sunday but supported both these fixtures. AS stated that last season availability had been much improved. It was agreed that BS would approach both teams to gauge interest.

2.    TREASURER’S REPORT
Unfortunately the Treasurer was absent from the meeting owing to illness. This item on the agenda will be revisited at the Duck Supper.

A copy of the report was distributed among those present. Club funds are currently healthy, showing a small surplus for the year of £87.45. However we are still awaiting a refund from the nets sessions which should give us a total surplus of £125.25 for the year. Total balance at present is £2349.37.

LB reminded the meeting that the 2015 home Halifax fixture will account for some of the surplus.

3.    SUBSCRIPTIONS
BS proposed that, as the club was financially healthy, subscriptions should be maintained at the current rate of £40 per year. All in attendance agreed.

BS also sought to clarify subscription costs for junior members. He confirmed, on reference to the club constitution, that junior members’ annual subscriptions are £15.

Junior members will not be requested to pay match fees.

4.    OFFICERS
All officers agreed to stand for another year. None opposed.

5.    DUCK SUPPER
BS confirmed that the annual Duck Supper would take place on 28th November 2014, meeting at 19.15hrs ready to sit at 20.00hrs.

LB requested that all remaining Bedouins who had not already forwarded their menu choices and cheques should do so as soon as possible. LB would provide AS with a list of those still outstanding and reminders sent out accordingly.

LB also requested clarification of the number of ladies attending the supper, as a result of which he will book a table for eight.

LB also confirmed that numbers for the Duck Supper are looking good this year but that final numbers and menus must be received by 14th November.

BS also requested that LB investigate the possibility of vegetarian option for those not wishing for a meat/fish meal, which he agreed to do if required.

6.    NETS
BS asked if Bedouins would like to continue nets practice. LB/RS indicated that they would and those present in general were in agreement.

LB/AS/JB all suggested that the nets at Summerhill School were not well attended and were not suitable for Bedouins purposes. Lighting was poor and equipment not up to standard. Bedouins had incurred an extra cost at the nets when a set of stumps was broken. The school had charged what had appreared an inflated fee to replace the stumps. All agreed that an alternate venue be sought.
PL/AG both indicated that Monday nights were not suitable due to late working. It was agreed that midweek would be more appealing.

LB agreed to approach MG about booking nets at either King Edward VI or Edgecliff School.

7.    NEXT AGM
The next Bedouins AGM will be held on Tuesday 3rd November 2015.

8.    ANY OTHER BUSINESS

New members
RS indicated he may know an interested party. BS suggested that he pass on contact details to AS.
JB also suggested speaking with Jon Stanier who may wish to turn out for the Bedouins.  AS agreed to approach him.

Teas
AH confirmed that, as far as he is aware, the ladies are happy to continue to supply the teas for next season.

Golf Day
BS confirmed that he had approached J Davidson about arranging the Bedouins Golf Day 2015. Feeling was mixed in the group as to where to hold the day. Both Astbury Hall and Sapey Golf Club were popular choices. BS stated that he would ask JD to investigate the best packages. E-mail to follow.

Dogs
BS asked if the membership would be interested in having a ten-pin bowling night instead of another evening at the greyhound racing. LB/AH both indicated that they would prefer the dogs evening as extended family may not be so keen on the bowling. PL suggested holding both events, with a ten-pin bowling evening being arranged for the end of the season in September. All agreed that this would be a good idea, and PL said he would look into an evening at Dudley.

BS will look at arranging the Dogs evening around April. It was suggested by BS that this should be done as soon as possible to give us the best opportunity of sitting together.

Rearranged Fixtures
PL asked if rained off fixtures could possibly be rearranged on the second pitch at Kinver, should Enville not be available. JB stated that this was possible. All agreed that David Thomas does a fantastic job providing us with available dates and that we should continue to use Enville’s facilities where possible.

No other business raised, BS closed the meeting at 21.25hrs.

Minutes L Bywater

Your Chairman reports:

Following the success of last year’s first such outing, the Bedouins made a return visit to Monmore Green stadium on April 18th for a night of good food, good company, and a bit – no less than 14 races – of greyhound racing.  Few of us got out without losing money.

The restaurant at Monmore Green is an unbeatable location for watching the racing from the warmth and comfort of your own dining table.  The ranks of tables are steeply banked, so that everyone gets a good view.  There are TV screens everywhere, so that you can keep up to date with the state of the betting, as well as watching interminable re-runs of previous races.  The fine food is served to your table, and the tote representatives are there to take your bets and – very occasionally – to pay your winnings.

No fewer than 18 made the trip this time.  As well as the chairman and Mrs Chairman, there was Adrian Susman, Andy Hill, Lee Bywater, Mike George, Austin Gregory, John Branch and Richard Spratley, plus their various wives, partners, families and friends.  Mrs Susman Junior had to miss out on a night at the dogs, having gone down with a late attack of kennel cough.

The first race was at 6.33 – yes, as precisely as that – and Mrs Susman senior continued her winning streak of last year by picking the first winner, then following it up with the second race winner as well.  Her form became a bit patchy after that, but she still managed to finish the evening on the right side of break-even.

Her poor old son had to wait until the eighth race for his first winner, then was unwise enough to miss out on the big winner of the evening, Bob’s Best Babes, electing not to take note of the fact that his father-in-law is Bob.  Some of us did much better on that one!

Also at the chairman’s table, the Hills were alive to the sound of … tote machines swallowing up their cash.  Mrs H started the evening well, when she decided, in light of Mrs Chairman’s sparkling performance in the first race, to follow her choice in the second – a winner.  She soon lost confidence in that approach, however, and went her own way, losing the occasional £1 coin in the process.  Andy was adopting the cerebral approach, choosing carefully and succeeding rarely.

At other tables, Austin was likewise choosing all the wrong dogs until the eighth race.  He then took his chances with the jackpot races, investing no less than £1 to win over £9,000, which would have been his had he had the winners of the last six races of the evening.  He managed to contain his excitement as his first two proved to be winners, but he went awfully quiet afterwards, from which we drew our own conclusions.

Mr Mackay Bywater’s party of four were likewise having some difficulty in locating winners, but there seemed to be plenty of good humour around, with the somewhat excitable George Michael for company. The latter quickly got the hang of dog selection, going for any hound – and there were plenty of them – who stopped during the pre-race parade to relieve himself.  The man with the bucket, who followed them around, had a busy evening, prompting those of us with long memories to speculate how he might have got on as a contestant on “What’s my line?”, particularly when asked to mime his work.

At the last of the Beds tables, Messrs Branch and Spratley, and their wives, were pretty quiet too, offering a noticeably glum response when asked how their evening’s betting was going.  The skipper had completed his own race earlier, having made the run back from the Welsh valleys just in time to collect Mrs B and head for the track.  He was seen to be casting admiring glances at the water bowser that was dragged around the course from time to time, speculating on what he couldn’t do to the Enville pitch with a machine like that.

All in all, it was another very successful social evening and, when it is repeated next year, those who missed out are strongly recommended to take part.  What’s that?  You want to know how your beloved chairman got on with his bets, do you?  Well, I ain’t going to tell you.  So there!