BRIDGEWATER DUPLICATE BRIDGE CLUB ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2014 The Annual General Meeting of the Bridgewater Duplicate Bridge Club was held at The Lunenburg County Lifestyle Centre, Bridgewater on Thursday 27 th November 2014. 1. Call to order: The meeting was called to order at 6:02 pm by Louis Tousignant, President. There were 18 members present. Apologies for absence were received from Bernie Swain and Marjorie Wandler. 2. Minute of Silence: The meeting began with a one minute silence for recently deceased or sick members of the club. 3. Minutes of the 2013 Annual General Meeting: The minutes of the annual meeting held on November 28 th 2013 were circulated for the membership to read. Motion for acceptance of the 2012 AGM minutes: Edgar Blinn Seconded: Carole Nixon Motion carried. 4. Matters Arising From the Minutes: There were no matters arising. ` 5. President's Report: The President's report was given by Louis Tousignant. The highlight of the year was of course engineering the move from the Masonic Hall to the Lunenburg County Lifestyle Centre. We have negotiated a 5 year arrangement and I do not foresee any difficulty in extending it to a longer time frame, at a reasonable cost. All the comments we have received from you about our new venue are all extremely positive. Financially, as you will hear from the Treasurer and the Auditor, our Club has a short term cash flow problem. There is no immediate need to raise the game fees. Bunny Levy is standing down as Treasurer; special thanks go to him for his contribution as Treasurer over the years. Also thanks to Bill Davidson, not only for auditing our books, but for taking care of the more important task of supplying our coffee bar. We are open to constructive suggestions to improve our programs and services so don't hesitate to provide us with ideas for new and better things. The AGM is an opportunity to recognize and thank people for their contribution to the club. First and foremost, I would like us to give a big round of applause in appreciation of the work Bob does, week in, week out. By the way, don't forget to show up well in advance of games to help set the room up.
The tournament at the Best Western last May was a resounding success, which was confirmed by scores of people from all over the Maritimes, and we are all looking forward to next May. Our thanks go to Dan Regimbal and his team who, I am sure, will better themselves in 2015 There are a few new faces around this room and we are all extremely happy to welcome new members, this is mostly because of the work and dedication of Marjorie Wandler. We should also thank Marjorie for once again bringing Barbara Seagram to the Club. New member recruitment is our ongoing and very serious challenge. One way for each of you to do something for the club, beyond providing the occasional carrot cake, is to actively try to bring in new people to play or to take lessons when scheduled. I would be remiss not to thank Fred for his continuing role as partnership coordinator. Motion for acceptance of the Presidents report: Charles Maginley Seconded: Mike Anderssen Motion carried. 5. Treasurer's Report: Bunny Levy stated to date there is $309 in the Club current account. The total amount in the bank is $4644. With $309 in the current account, $3335 in the GIC and $1000 in the Tournament account. A breakdown of the Clubs finances is in the Auditors report that follows. 6. Auditor's Report: The Auditors report to 1 st September 2013 to August 31 st 2014 was presented by Bill Davidson. A revenue and expenses sheet is attached. I have completed an audit of the books and financial records of the Bridgewater Duplicate Bridge Club for the period of September 1 st 2013 to August 2014. In my opinion these records fairly and materially represent the financial transactions of the Club Bill stated that the Club had run at a loss over the financial year. Charles Maginley queried the cost of the name tags and was informed by Bill the cost was approximately $500. year. Bill Davidson commented on the greatly increased cost of special and STaC games over the (see New Business) Please note that the dates on the Comparative Income Statement are incorrect. The column headed 9/1/2011 to 8/30/2012 should read 9/1/2012 to 8/30/2013 And the column headed 8/1/2010 to 8/31/2010 to 8/31/2011 should read 8/1/2011 to 8/31/2012 Motion for acceptance of the Treasurers/ Auditors report: Fred Struve Seconded Rick Sheppard Motion Carried.
7. Manager's Report: The Managers report was given by Bob Chase: I wish to start with the statistics of attendance comparing number of tables for 2013 and 2014 to date. 2013 2014 Monday 5.4 8.4 Thursday 8.1 7.5 Special 6.5 6.9 Sun/Wed 4.3 4.1 We had 870.5 in 2012 and 881 in 2013. In 2014 we had 862 tables. The change to Wed afternoon did not help the average number of tables for the extra day. Perhaps we should look at cancelling the third day and just go with Monday afternoon and Thursday evening. We have lost a few members over the year and the total number of tables is the lowest in three years. I want to thank everyone for supporting the club and to keep up the good work. Attendance could be improved if every member would strive to introduce a new person to the wonderful world of bridge. With our ageing membership getting new members will be a priority in the years to come. We did get some new members from Marjorie's lessons. The dealing machine is a success and it is nice to see what contracts can be made with the hand records I look forward to better attendance next year. Also, I would like to thank everyone who helps set up and clean up. Thanks to you my job is a little easier. I would also like to thank the directors, as it is nice to have a night off. Motion for acceptance of the Managers report: George Hogg Seconded: Edgar Blinn Motion carried. 8. Unit Representatives Report/ Tournament Chairman s report: Bilgin Batman is President of Unit 194 for the next two years. Tournament Chairman s report: Dan Regimbal was not at the AGM, the following is the report given to the Executive Committee: This year the tournament was at a new venue The Best Western Hotel, Bridgewater. I received many positive comments relating to the new location. We reached our room target of 60 rooms to get the maximum discount on the convention room. Based on the number of points awarded and number of tables I believe it was our biggest tournament ever. We awarded 953 points to 231 players (795 to 200 players in 2013) and there were 242 tables compared to 209 in 2013. There were 51 tables for Sunday Swiss (42 in 2013). The tournament ran at a loss of $175, which the Club have agreed to cover, maintaining the tournament account for 2015 at $1000.
General Notes: The tournament brochure was bigger than before and printing cost higher, due to the increased number of advertisers. Door prizes, discounts and coupons were well received (Swiss Chalet discount coupons were the most used) There were many positive comments on the snacks available. Very few of our club members attended the hospitality suite. The Saturday evening Swiss game was mainly attended by those who stay at the hotel This was my first year as Chair, and having experience from this years tournament there are a few improvements and changes I would like to make for future tournaments. The Executive Committee have asked me to be Chair for the 2015 tournament, and I have agreed. I would like to thank the many helpers that made the 2014 tournament such a success. Motion for acceptance of the Tournament Chairman s report: Rick Sheppard Seconded: Christine Hogg Motion carried. 9. Election of Officers: Per our bylaws, the past President, Bernie Swain, formed a nomination committee to provide a committee for 2015. Bernie gave his apologies for not being at the AGM, and Mike Anderssen carried out the duty of election of officers. Bilgin Batman and Bill Davidson withdrew their nominations to allow new members onto the Committee. Further nominations were called for from the floor three times. There being no further nominations, the election was declared closed and Mike declared the following as the 2015 committee: President: Vice President: Past President: Secretary: Treasurer Manager: Members at large: Louis Tousignant Michael Anderssen Bernie Swain George Hogg Rick Sheppard Bob Chase Bunny Levy Marjorie Wandler John Olsen Carole Nixon Motion for acceptance of election of Officers: Mike Anderssen Seconded: Christine Hogg Motion carried Louis thanked Bill and Bilgin for their excellent work over the years they were on the Committee, and welcomed Carole and John to the 2015 Committee. 10. New Business:
Bilgin stated that during the course of 2015, as an incentive to new members, he will implement Pro/Am games, and the pairs will be randomly picked at the bridge session. This will be at a normal game and hands can be discussed afterwards using the hand records for the session. As Unit 194 President he will also try to organise Split Regional tournaments during 2015. Louis then stated that the Club has a short term cash flow problem and suggested that members should pay $10.00 towards the cost of the Christmas dinner. After some discussion it was decided by a vote of 13 to 5 that, as the meal was advertised as free to members, that this should remain free to members this year and be reviewed during 2015 for the next Christmas dinner. Richard Barclay recommended that the Committee should agree on an amount in the Club account below which members should contribute to the dinner. Carole Nixon suggested that, in order to encourage new members, the Club should hold promotional sessions at certain venues. The local library was quoted as an example. Carole volunteered to run these sessions. Following on from comments of the high cost of STaC and special games, as detailed in the Financial Report, the Committee will ask the members whether we should reduce the number of such games, or increase the table fees for those games only. An increase in table fees for STaC and special games is not uncommon in other clubs. Louis answered a comment from a member on the cost of the Christmas dinner. The comment was made at a bridge session and not at the AGM. The member stated that Dan Wile was catering a Christmas dinner for another organisation for $15.00. Mike discussed this with Dan Wile and there were many differences between the catering offered to us and to the other organisation. They will be using paper plates and have a limited choice of menu whereas we will be using china plates and have a greater choice of menu. Mike has renegotiated the price, and the price is now $18.17 per meal. 11. Adjournment: There being no other business, Rick Sheppard moved for adjournment and the meeting closed at 7:00 PM. George Hogg. Secretary BDBC