in Cromarty Bowling GREEN ClubHouse

Present:

Apologies:

Alan Hunter – President

Maria Busby – Secretary

Sandy Thomson – Treasurer

Patsy Thomson – Youth Convener

Alex Davidson – Youth Convener

Rita Portway – Match Secretary

Steve Ellwood – Property Convener

Action

1

WELCOME

A Hunter welcomed everyone and opened the meeting by congratulating Allan and Andrew Munro who, along with Bill Gilmour, won the prestigious Avoch Triples – giving the club a tremendous boost and adding to our list of achievements in 2005.

2

APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF 3 AUGUST 2005

Approval proposed by S Thomson and seconded by A Davidson.

3

MATTERS ARISING

Committee members are attempting to locate an example of the Cromarty Bowling Club logo, to be used on Club Sweaters, T-Shirts, Caps etc.

2. b. Clubhouse Keys

There are still a few clubhouse keys available from the club treasurer at a nominal charge.

These have now been purchased and fitted in the clubhouse. It was noted that a wall mounted "First Aid Point" sticker would better identify the safety kit.

MB

Due to an increase in the clubs petrol driven machinery it has been necessary to purchase a 20 litre fuel can.

The club has purchased the following booklets :-

2 copies of the SBA Laws of the Sport of Bowls
8 copies of the SBA Bowls for the Beginner
2 copies of the SBA Improve your Bowls Skills

A club library will be established once cupboard security has been improved.

4

TREASURERS REPORT

S Thomson reported CBC has a Bank Balance of £2,417.34 with a current working figure of £2,327.00

A Hunter confirmed he had drawn up an income and expenditure projection for 2005/2006, which, if considered useful, he will type up and forward to S Thomson.

One issue to come out of this was the somewhat "grey areas" in terms of a breakdown of what finance was actually carried over from last year, what the club had taken in this year and how much the club has received to date in grants. It is calculated the club is bringing in approximately £1,600 per year in membership fees and fund raising, plus income from club competitions, raffles, Ladies Day and possibly a Hogmanay Dance.

G Price, Green keeper, is being paid an honorarium in 4 instalments of £220 each. He has now received the first of these. CBC have in addition purchased a set of bowls for him this year which will take his honorarium to £1,000 per annum.

R Portway to be reimbursed £4.00 for transporting junior members to Dingwall Bowling Club.

5

MATCH SECRETARY’S REPORT

In the absence of the Match Secretary A Hunter reported on the success of the 2 Bowl Pairs, played on Sunday 4th September, it was an excellent day - both in turnout and weather. The 4 Bowl Pairs are due to be played on 11th September and promises to be just as enjoyable and will include more junior players.

A Davidson to telephone all the junior members to remind them of the competition on 11^th September.

Following experience gained from the 2 Bowl Pairs, when not everyone who had signed up – turned up, it was unanimously agreed to make "the draw" for similar competitions on the day of the competition.

It was reported that Douglas Cooper and Rita Portway would be starting up the Indoor Bowling Club this winter, in the Victoria Hall.

This is seen as an excellent development and can only improve the quality of the game in Cromarty – it will be of particular benefit to junior bowlers and new adult members. The committee were unanimous in their support and good wishes for this venture.

AD

6

GREEN CONVENER/GREEN KEEPERS REPORT

It was decided to press on with acquiring additional Rink Marker brackets, this will allow the Green keeper to off-set the line of play, on the Rinks, giving more even wear over the whole green during the season.

It would be desirable for the club to have a back-up mower. The old CBC mower is currently lying at Frank Nicol’s, in Dingwall, and requiring £400 worth of repairs. This will be checked out – it may be more cost effective to wait and purchase a new machine.

The brackets at the base of the flagpole are a cause for concern. A further check on them is required to ascertain the life span remaining – in the brackets and the pole. If a replacement is required S Thomson has identified a supplier who can provide a 20 foot sectional anodised aluminium flagpole for around £99.00.

A Hunter gave thanks to :- G Price for his sterling works in dismantling the old shed, Carol and Howard Hunter for the generous use of their pick up truck, and P Thomson, S Thomson and A Davidson for shifting the redundant wood pile up to the car park (it will eventually go on the Cromarty bonfire in October). Hopefully our new shed will be in place by the middle of this month.

AH/GP

7

PROPERTY CONVENER’S REPORT

The Yale lock on the main door of the clubhouse is reported as unstable. A Hunter/S Ellwood to attend to its repair.

It was agreed to carry out an end of season ‘tidy up’ before winter sets in. This will ensure an optimum start

to the 2006 season. M Busby to provide the list of volunteers for maintenance tasks.

Best use is not being made of club lockers and too much space is taken up with individuals bowling bags lying around the clubhouse floor area. Improved utilisation of existing lockers could be made. Alternatively new lockers and racks could be installed along the back wall and the east gable. This would greatly improve the overall appearance of the clubhouse. Any chairs not in regular use could be stored in the new shed, coming out only when required.

8

YOUTH CONVENERS REPORT

Committee members were delighted that three of the clubs juniors had played in a recent away competition. Although they had found the standard of play of the other participants extremely high – they had all enjoyed the experience. The committee felt it was essential that CBC puts in place a training programme that ensures our juniors are encouraged to :- a) attend the club b) improve their bowling skills – and – c) learn the finer points of green etiquette.

The committee thanked A Davidson for his efforts and determination in working with the juniors; this is beginning to pay off and gives great prestige to the club.

Coaching is seen as an important issue in attracting and retaining members to CBC, to this end Margaret Farmer should be approached to provide further training for adults and juniors alike.

Following discussion the Youth Committee agreed to take up the project of drawing up a suitable training programme - that will also attract more juniors to CBC.

S Thomson requested clarification on the origin of the clubs current system of Singles Competitions "match play arrangements" by members - in relation to the order of names in competitions, i.e. 1^st name challenges 2^nd name, etc. He wondered whether or not CBC was following a Northern Bowling League Rule. It was agreed by the committee that this procedure should be investigated and if necessary changed for the 2006 season.

R Portway currently holds all of the club trophies, cleaned and ready for engraving.

Historically the club held its presentation dinner/dances in the Royal Hotel and P Thomson proposed that we should try to reintroduce this practice. M Busby will look into probable costs of a dinner at the Royal and members will be asked for their views.

From experience the general view was that the engraving of the trophies could take some time and the presentation evening should be held sometime in December.

9

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

a) CBC Constitution

S Thomson requested the club’s constitution be updated at the next AGM.

P Thomson congratulated the club secretary on the high standard of club minutes being produced and stated how lucky we were to have such a meticulous, organised and enthusiastic member on our team. The committee members unanimously acknowledged this.

10

DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The next meeting will be held on –

P and S Thomson extended their apologies for that meeting.