AGM 2009

	March 12, 2010

AGM 2009
Walking Club of Bermuda
December 9, 2009
Minutes to the Annual General Meeting
at Poinciana, 19D Pomander Road, Paget

Minutes

1) Minutes to the last AGM – Regrets from Ouida Bean, Secretary – summary in President’s report. Matters arising dealt with in subsequent reports.

2) Annual report from the President. Attached, and posted on web site.

3) Election of Officers. Sandra Burrowes joined the Public Relations committee with Laura Gorham. All others remained the same:
Current Officers:

• President: Laura Gorham
• Vice President: Eugene Smith
• 2nd Vice President: Louise Thivierge
• Immediate Past President: Terri Durrant
• Treasurer: Gloria Williams
• Assistant Treasurer: Margaret Powers
• Secretary: Ouida Bean
• Member at Large: Clevelyn Critchlow
• Route Committee: Eugene Smith, Keith James
• Public Relations contact, Schedule, distribution, web site: Laura Gorham, Sandra Burrowes

4) Juice Roster 2010
Thanks to everyone for “stepping up”!!! The following will be posted on the web site.
• January – Patricia Dill
• February – Starla Williams
• March – Helen Ann Chisholm
• April – Louise Thivierge
• May – Ed Forbes
• June – Sandra & Steve Burrowes
• July – Louise Thivierge
• August – Margaret Powers
• September – Heather Corbett, Debbie Butterfield
• October – Louise Thivierge
• November – Clevelyn Crichlow
• December –Clevelyn Crichlow

5) Treasurer's Report - Gloria Williams, Margaret Powers
• Balance totals: $2,549.38 ($2,387.98 in bank + $161.40 cash)
• Expenses: (juice, Fairmont Breakfast, bus tokens) total: $405.20
• Income: (25 paid up members + t-shirt sales)
• Membership dues. Currently $50 ($20 plus $30 for juice)

6) Donation to a charity this year. Decision to give $150 each to the following 5 Charities. Starla Williams to research contact names/addresses for donation, Laura Gorham will do letters, Gloria Williams will arrange 5 bank drafts.
o Family Centre
o Bermuda Sloop Foundation
o Salvation Army
o Menuhin Foundation
o KBB

7) Logo Clothing - Inventory discussed, some shopped, some placed orders for specific items/sizes. A new order will be placed for January. Laura will arrange with Terri Durrant.

8) General Discussion – Do we do anything differently next year?
• KBB CLEAN UP WALK: Sandra Burrowes suggested we do a KBB clean up walk as one of our regular walks. It was also suggested that the club participate in the next KBB clean up day. Sandra will research which area is in most need of clean up and coordinate with the club as to which walk will be the clean up walk. All agreed.
• WALKING TRAVEL PARTNERSHIPS: Ed Forbes is interested in partnering with overseas walking clubs for a possible travel opportunity. He will research ideas and bring to club. Suggested that “London Branch” might assist in this planning. Members Julie Woodward, Andrew York and Nigel Hickson are all currently in London. All agreed.

9) As usual the Club excelled in their enthusiasm for singing, their amazing cooking skills, and also got an A+ in Eating. Thanks to all for contributing their gifts to make the evening an all out success – singing, santa hats, bells, great food, drink aplenty, kind hearts, community spirit, and loving friendship. Thank you to all, and to all a good night. ;-)

Walking Club of Bermuda
Annual Report for AGM 2009
Laura T. Gorham, President

Minutes from 2008:
Ouida Bean, our Secretary has sent regrets for the AGM, so here are highlights from last year’s meeting.

At last year’s AGM:
• Election of Officers: Margaret Powers was elected Deputy Treasurer to assist Gloria Williams, who cannot walk regularly but was happy to remain Treasurer. Keith James replaced Cindy & Martin Law on the Route Committee. Other officers remained the same.
• Treasurer’s Report: The Treasurer reported we had $2,532.15 in the bank as of Oct 31, 2008.
• Annual Charity Donation: We made a Club donation of $500 to the Sunshine League.
• Dues: Membership Dues remained the same: $20 membership plus $30 juice levy = $50 per year. Membership Dues are renewable annually, as of the AGM. Hint, hint.
• Juice Roster: Continued concern about the same small number of people consistently doing the Juice Roster – new faces please step up!! (I think that concern is ongoing!)
• Breakfasts:
o Thanks to all who hosted a breakfast.
o Keith, Suzie & Deryck repeated their offer to organise a breakfast at the Fairmont Southampton with their employee discount. (we did this in June!)
• Caroling: We did not walk, but sang Christmas Carols at Poinciana instead, to the delight of many, and with the recommendation we do so in future… ! ;-)
• Dinner: A great pot luck meal was provided and consumed by all. Thank you from your President!

Looking back on 2009:
Another year has passed, and once again we have had a great year of walking in Bermuda. Thanks to all our “Regulars” for making it a rewarding, stress-free weekly event that we all enjoy doing every Sunday. The only way for this to be the case is for a core group to take shared responsibility for coordinating the walk each Sunday. I thank everyone for taking charge so that we all know that rain or shine, there will be an organised walk, no matter who shows up, 52 weeks a year. Particular thanks go to ”Regulars”: Clevelyn Critchlow, Eugene Bean, Ouida Bean, Margaret Powers and Louise Thivierge for being there almost every week and making it happen.

Congratulations are in order to Anne Martin & Tudor Smith, met at the Walking Club last year, and have just announced their engagement for an October 2010 wedding.

Breakfasts:
“We Walk to Eat” is our favourite motto, and as always, we had great breakfasts. Thank you to all who hosted, and to all who organised – particularly the Fairmont Southampton breakfast which required a lot of planning. (Apologies if I have missed you in this this!)
• March: Mark Whayman hosted our pre-Easter traditional Codfish Breakfast in St. David’s
• June: Goodbye to Julie Woodward breakfast at the Southampton Princess
• August: Hosted by Margaret & Frank Powers in Paget
• September: Birthdays and Goodbye John Swain at my house in Paget
• October: One way to St. George’s with coffee hosted by E. Michael Jones at Caffe Latte
• December: AGM Xmas Party at my house – as usual.

Logo Clothing:
Terri Durrant, our Past President kindly oversaw a new order of Walking Club Logo clothing, and a few new items were added to the list, including a hoodie, a long sleeved T and a fleece. Terri had the logo re-done for the order, and we ordered through Mark Cordeiro who is based at the Fairmont Southampton Tennis Shop. We ordered in small numbers to ensure we liked the quality, and to not have too much stock to store. Inventory Pending, there will be a new order for 2010. We have had requests for more items in Medium. We also never sell the XXL, so if anyone has a creative way to sell, donate, etc., please speak up!

Outreach and Awareness:
We have had a number of organizations ask to “Partner” with us, or to simply share our schedule in organisations’ newsletters. We are happy to do so as long as there are no costs on the part of the Walking Club. Our contribution to the “Partnering” is to allow these organizations to use the WCoB walks as part of their training schedule. We will welcome their participants free of charge. (ok, we are free anyway, but we won’t require they become members!). This all works well for us, because we believe in encouraging a culture of healthy fitness, and these partnerships create awareness of the Walking Club.

• End to End: as in previous years, the End to End Charity Walk will advertise our schedule as recommended training walks for their event on the first Saturday of May. In 2010 it falls on May 1st. Contact: Starla Williams.
• Argus Challenge 2010: In 2009 the Walking Club partnered with the Argus 400 Year Challenge to help people train for the Marathon Derby on May 24. Argus has once again requested that we partner for this year’s Challenge. The purpose of the CHALLENGE is to encourage the development of a culture of physical fitness in Bermuda by providing support in terms of information and training sessions for people in interested in preparing for the Bermuda Marathon Derby or the End-to-End/Middle-to-End/Fun Walk. Challenge participants interested in preparing for the End-to-End/Middle-to-End/Fun Walk will be invited to attend Power Hour training sessions to prepare for the event. The Bermuda Physiotherapy Association (BPA) will run these sessions. As done last year, they will be encouraging participants to join the Walking Club of Bermuda for support, and to participate in local organized walks in preparation for the End-to-End/Middle-to-End/Fun Walk. As such, they will provide Challenge participants with the Walking Club of Bermuda’s – i) Schedule of Walks for 2009-10; ii) Route Archive; and iii) Other Walking Activities, as attached. In addition, they will post these documents on their Web-site under the Argus Challenge tab. We will post the End-toEnd brochure on the Web-site as well, once it is available. Contact: Brenda Dale at Argus.
• Duke of Edinburgh Awards in Bermuda: Each summer, the National Award Authority of The DofE Award in Bermuda takes young Bermudians overseas for their Silver or Gold DofE Expeditions. In preparation for these expeditions, they offer practical and theoretical training to them on a weekly or bi-weekly basis beginning in January. As part of this training, They have decided to incorporate an optional weekly or bi-weekly walking regime to help them build the stamina and fitness necessary for their 50+ miles expeditions, or to use as part of their Physical Recreation requirement for their Bronze, Silver or Gold Award. In 2010 they will ‘advertise’ The Walking Club of Bermuda as a partner programme, adding your Club’s information (facebook and website pages) to their facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Duke-of-Edinburghs-Award-in-Bermuda/64910196992) website (http://www.theaward.bm – still under construction) and email our Award Leaders about the opportunity to join us. Contact: Tina Nash, National Director.
• PR, Media Calendars: As the Club PR officer, I update the schedule twice a year, and ensure our information is distributed to as many publications’ Calendar of Events as possible including:
o The Royal Gazette
o The Bermuda Sun
o Bermudian
o RG Magazine
o This Week in Bermuda
o Bermuda.com
o ExperienceBermuda.com
o Bermuda Tourism
o American Consulate: Brenda Myers, the community liaison officer for the US Consulate will be including our schedule in their newsletter.
o Walking Club of Bermuda Web Site – http://walk.free.bm. Our web site is free, and updated regularly.
o E-Mail and telephone contact – currently both the club email (ltgorham@ibl.bm) , and the contact telephone number (441 737-0437) are my personal contacts. Until further notice, this can remain the case. It means that I am responsible for all calls or emails requesting information.
o Walking Club E-Newsletter – currently distributes information to almost 70 people, far more than ever walk with us. All these people seem to like knowing about Walking Club far more than actually walking – but that’s ok! I have faith they will join us sometime soon! This is also a great way to keep in touch with our members who have moved overseas. “London Branch” for example, which now counts Nigel Hickson, Julie Woodward and Andrew York in their numbers.
o Facebook (new this year – Bermuda Walking is now a “Group”, and info is distributed through the social internet site, Facebook. At the moment we have 17 members of this group on Facebook. Not all our members are internet savvy or Facebook friendly, so this is not a successful solution to communication with members. (That, and the fact I am not very clever at it yet) The WCoB E-News will continue to be the primary method of communication with our members.

Thanks to all you Walkers for making this year another great year of Walking and 2010 looks to continue this fine trradition. There are a lot more out there who think about walking, but you – you just do it. Every week. And it looks good on you! ;-)

Laura T. Gorham
President
Walking Club of Bermuda

“Walking for the health of it”
…
“We walk to Eat!”