AGM 2010

	January 28, 2012

AGM 2010
Walking Club of Bermuda
President’s Report for AGM on December 13, 2011
Laura T. Gorham, President
December 8, 2011

Dear Walkers and Friends,

Another year has passed, and once again we have had a great year of walking in Bermuda. Walking is the best addiction that I know, and I look forward to early Sunday mornings to see all of your shining faces each week. We are just delighted to have had so many new members and guests walk with us this year - and sent a big thank you to those who are regular walkers who keep the club going month in and month out.

A special goodbye to long-time member and superhero Derrick Jones. Derrick has been with us for long enough to be the only one who remembers how long I’ve hosted the Xmas Party. I think it is 16 years now, but Derrick will correct me I’m sure. Our Xmas Party doubles as a goodbye to Derrick. This year you may remember he earned the distinction of “HERO” on the front page of the newspaper as he and several colleagues saved a poor woman driver and her two terrified kids from having their car go over the cliff across from the Southampton Princess where Derrick works as a security guard. He will be missed! He will be leaving Bermuda in the New Year, but we hope he will return occasionally to see his old friends.

Breakfast and Hosted Events 2011: Yes, clearly: “We Walk to Eat”!

A big Thank you to all who hosted an event this year. (Apologies if I have missed anyone!)
• February: Breakfast hosted by Brenda Lister after the Collector’s Hill walk at Kilderry Estates, Smith’s
• March: Breakfast hosted by John Swain after the Harrington Sound walk at The Grove, Town Hill Road, Smiths
• April: Traditional St. David’s Codfish Breakfast hosted by Mark Whayman on Palm Sunday after the Clearwater walk at the Narrows, St. David’s
• May: Breakfast by Ed Forbes after the Modern Mart walk at Cataract Hill, Paget
• July: Breakfast hosted by Laura Gorham after the Bridge Club walk at Pomander Road, Paget
• August: Evening Party hosted by Chris Williams with music by Chris Darrell at Strawberry Hill, Paget. Special thank you to the Supermart who catered this event as a donation to the club in support of an organization that promotes exercise and healthy living.
• July: Breakfast hosted by Laura Gorham after the Bridge Club walk at Pomander Road, Paget
• November: Breakfast after the one way walk to St. George’s at the Sweet SAAK Bakery and CV Café.
• December: AGM Xmas Party at my house – as usual. Again. ;-)

Before I do the Spring Schedule I will poll you all to see who would like to host something between now and July. There have already been some offers!

Outreach and Awareness:
Organizations regularly ask to “Partner” with us, or to share our schedule in their newsletters. We believe in encouraging a culture of fitness and healthy living, so if these partnerships create awareness with no cost to the Walking Club, we are very happy to partner. In most cases our contribution 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 unless they join us regularly!).

We have continuing partnerships with the Catlin End to End Charity Walk, Argus Challenge, Duke of Edinburgh Awards, and the Department of Health. It was good to see lots of young faces with the DoE students joining us as part of their training for their Challenges. We also encourage our members to participate in all charity walks – PALS, PartnerRe Womens 5k, etc.

Once again we participated with a booth at the Department of Health’s Cancer Forum, this year at City Hall on March 12th. Thanks to all who helped man the booth, handing out schedules and selling logo clothing: Heather Corbett, Margaret Powers, Lesley Mendes, Beverly Barton, John Swain and Brenda Lister. FYI: We just had a notification that they would not be doing this event in 2012.

PR, Media Calendars: The schedule is updated twice a year and 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 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 more than 100 people, far more than ever walk with us. Many like knowing about Walking Club far more than actually walking – but that’s ok! 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. Sandra and Steve can now have a branch in Minnesota and Louise Thivierge is in Barbados!
o Facebook - Bermuda Walking “Group”. Have to admit not as proficient at updating, and not sure how many members use. Would be delighted if someone wanted to take this on…
o Articles – quite often I am asked to write a short article for Bermuda.com or Experience Bermuda and I am always happy to feature the Walking Club as a healthy activity for our visitors as well as locals. The most recent mention is in my cover story article in the December 2011 Bermuda.com guide.

Thank you to all – new faces and old, for making our Sunday mornings a pleasure each week. Officially we “Walk for the health of it”, but really… “We walk to Eat!”

Laura

Laura T. Gorham
President
Walking Club of Bermuda

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Walking Club of Bermuda
Minutes from the Annual General Meeting
December 8, 2010
at Poinciana, 19D Pomander Road, Paget

1) Minutes were previously distributed and considered as read. Secretary Ouida Bean sends regrets, as does our Member at Large, Clevelyn Critchow.

2) The President’s report [see attached below] was also previously distributed and considered as read. We continue to partner with End to End, Argus, Duke of Edinburgh Awards and the Government Health Department. Laura Gorham thanked all hosts for breakfasts, and noted members who have left Bermuda this year – Steve & Sandra Burrows moved back to Minnesota in July. Louise Thivierge was with us for the AGM, but left Bermuda in the morning to relocate to Barbados. They will be missed!

3) Election of Officers: Louise Thivierge was replaced by Elizabeth Stoute as 2nd VP; Sandra Burrows was replaced by Brenda Lister on the PR committee. All other positions remained the same.
Officers:

• President: Laura Gorham
• Vice President: Eugene Smith
• 2nd Vice President: Elizabeth Stoute
• 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
• PR (Schedule, distribution, communications, web site): Laura Gorham, Brenda Lister

4) Juice Roster. Thanks to those who were responsible for a month in 2010: Patricia Dill, Starla Williams, Helen Ann Chisholm, Louise Thivierge, Ed Forbes, Sandra & Steve Burrowes, Margaret Powers, Heather Corbett, Debbie Butterfield, John Swain, Ouida Beam and Clevelyn Crichlow. The 2011 roster is below and will be posted on the web site. September/October are still open. Please contact Laura Gorham if you can volunteer. In their absence, Ouida & Clevelyn were assigned their usual months. Procedure: Each month, the Treasurer disperses $80 to the member responsible. That member buys supplies (juice, water, cups) and brings them to the walk meet along with the cooler and sign-in sheet, then is responsible for passing the cooler/clip board to the next person.
• January – Brenda Lister
• February – Deborah Butterfield, Heather Corbett & Starla Williams
• March – Renee Minks
• April – Chris Williams
• May – Naomi Buckley
• June – Ed Forbes
• July – Verde Pineda
• August – Margaret Powers
• September – open
• October – open
• November – Ouida Bean
• December – Clevelyn Critchlow

5) Gloria Williams and Margaret Powers gave the Treasurer's Report. We have $2,603.63 in the bank, and $409.53 cash. Total: $3,013.16. Plus assets of logo clothing stock. They recommended a policy of making a donation of 20 to 25% to charity. All agreed. The balance in the bank is used for juice supplies, occasional catering costs and clothing orders.

6) Membership dues remain at $50. Many people renewed, and others promised to do so online with a direct transfer.

7) Charitable donation: Our Treasurer and Assistant Treasurer recommended we donate $600. Two Charities were selected: The Coalition for the Protection of Children, and Big Brothers and Sisters of Bermuda. $300 each. Laura Gorham will write the letters, Gloria Williams will draw the bank drafts. [Margaret has suggested for next year that we consider setting aside the money each year to sponsor some of our walkers for the walks they do. PALS, End to End, Partner Re. Breast cancer awareness etc. That way we are promoting our participation rather than just picking charities at random. Great idea Margaret!]

8) Logo Clothing. Everyone loves the one style we don’t have in stock – the black ribbed cotton knit zip front jacket. We need to order enough quantity to get a reasonable selling price. Contact Laura with requests/sizes. She will contact Mark Cordeiro to see if the style is still available and put in an order.

9) Any other business: Looks like everyone is happy with the club, and particularly like the “we walk to eat” motto. A number of members offered breakfasts in 2011 – John Swain, Ed Forbes, Chris Williams and Brenda Lister. Mark Whayman invited everyone to St. David’s for his Traditional Bermuda Codfish Breakfast after the Clearwater walk. Laura will work with members to fit the 2011 Walking Schedule. Also, there was talk of an evening event other than the AGM/Xmas party.

10) Once again the Club outdid itself with amazing food, drink, stellar carol singing, fun and even a capable clean up crew! As Deryck Jones pointed out, this is the 15th year the Xmas Party has been hosted at Laura’s house. She thanks everyone for making the Walking Club such a pleasure to host – you all get an A+ in entertaining. Looking forward to a great 2011.

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President's Report below:
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Walking Club of Bermuda
President’s Report for AGM 2010
Laura T. Gorham, President

I just read the report from 2009, and feel like all I need to do is say: ditto! Quite a few faces have changed, but the report is very similar: another year has passed, and once again we have had a great year of walking in Bermuda! Welcome to all our new members, and a big thanks to those who are regular walkers who keep the club going month in and month out.

Congratulations to Anne Martin & Tudor Smith, who met at the Walking Club in 2008, and married in October 2010. A fairy tale ending to our first Walking Club romance. Of course we don’t see much of them these days, but they will always be part of the club!

Breakfasts 2010:
A big Thank you to all who hosted or organized a breakfast. (Apologies if I have missed anyone!)
• February: Hosted by Sandra & Steve Burrows in Hamilton Parish
• May: Goodbye breakfast for Sandra & Steve Burrows hosted by Ed Forbes in Paget
• July: Hosted by Laura Gorham in Paget
• August: Almost Hosted by Margaret & Frank Powers in Paget [canceled due to hurricane]
• November: Goodbye breakfast for Louise Thivierge in St. George’s catered by Somer’s Supermart at Aunt Nea’s Inn. Thanks to hosts Delaey Robinson and Rachel Grant of Aunt Nea’s, and Tredick Gorham of Supermart.
• December: AGM Xmas Party at my house – as usual. Again. ;-)
Yes, “We Walk to Eat”!

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.

Continuing partnerships include End to End Charity Walk, Argus Challenge, Duke of Edinburgh Awards, the Department of Health.

PR, Media Calendars: The schedule is updated twice a year and 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 – *LTG wrote an article for Bermuda.com in January which was published for several months in the tourist magazine including great photos taken by their photographer.
o ExperienceBermuda.com
o Bermuda Tourism
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 more than 100 people, far more than ever walk with us. Many like knowing about Walking Club far more than actually walking – but that’s ok! 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. Sandra and Steve can now have a branch in Minnesota and Louise, if she ever actually departs, can start a branch in Barbados!
o Facebook - Bermuda Walking “Group”. Have to admit not as proficient at updating, and not sure how many members use. Would be delighted if someone wanted to take this on…

Thank you to all – new faces and old, for making our Sunday mornings a pleasure each week. Officially we “Walk for the health of it”, but really… “We walk to Eat!”

Laura

Laura T. Gorham
President
Walking Club of Bermuda