Last month’s club night marked 40 years since Bournemouth and Poole MGOC was first formed and the evening featured a look back at some of the highlights of the last four decades in the company of the the club’s three area secretaries: Nigel Hedges, Graham Lowe and Chris Adamson.
The slide show of over 200 photographs ranged from the very early days when the club met at the Mountbatten Arms through to some of the club’s most recent activities and featured road runs, car shows, charity fund-raising ventures, celebrity guests, coach trips and social activities.
Nigel spoke enthusiastically about how the club was created and the fun that everyone had in the early days with some memorable moments shared with long-standing club members, many of them still active in the club and there on the evening.
Graham took up the story when Nigel finally handed over the leadership of the club to a committee and he paid his tribute to the other members of that committee who supported him and his late wife Danni as they maintained and expanded the club’s activities. The anniversary celebration included the cutting of a birthday cake by the three Area Secretaries (see home page).
In his chairman’s address during the Annual General Meeting, current chairman Chris Adamson spoke about the many successful events of the past year and the plans the current committee has for 2025.
CHARITY CHEQUE PRESENTATIONS
The evening began with the presentation of the annual cheques, this year for £1,500 each, to the club’s two nominated charities. The cheques were presented by club treasurer Ursula Bonner.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The formal part of the Annual General Meeting included the election of the committee. Alistair Reid and Alasdair Wellwood were welcomed as new members to the committee while Anna Webster, who was stepping down, was thanked for her support over the years.
Ursula Bonner presented the annual accounts which showed that the finances are in a healthy position with a surplus of just over £3,500 being recorded for the 12 months.
The annual membership draw (with a £25 cash prize) was won to popular acclaim by Colin Sexton.
CLUB MEMBER OF THE YEAR
Equally popular was the announcement that Stefan Morawiec had been selected by the committee as the Club Member of the Year – he was presented with the Charlton Shield by vice-chairman Pip Bonner.
The committee said they wanted to recognise the work Stefan had done during the year in not only organising one of the highly successful seasonal road runs but also for running single-handedly the blind auction at Athelhampton which produced a substantial amount for the charity fund.