Just like a rainy Tuesday practice the turnout was modest at last night’s AGM, with all the usual suspects being present. Now that Will & Grace is in syndication it appears that it is even harder for some of you to pry yourselves off the couch, so it was left to those stalwarts present to continue the task of keeping the club out of bankruptcy and off the bottom of Division II.
Thanks to the streamlined numbers the incumbent President, James Hendrix, was able to move quickly on to New Business, although soon hit a snag when he brought up a proposal to amend the By-Laws to expand the size of the Club’s Executive Committee. Since a quorum of (paid up) members is required to amend the By-Laws, the motion was tabled until such a rare alignment of the planets should occur. Some alcoholic inducements may be required to pull this off.
Moving on, and demonstrating uncharacteristic geniality towards its fellow man, the Club agreed to closer ties to both the Maine Quad Rugby Team and the Portland Youth Rugby Team. Although details of what this would actually entail were a little sketchy, it was felt neither group could possibly be doing this to get their hands on our money (or lack of), and that both relationships could only strengthen the organization as a whole. As I said, details of next steps were a little vague, but there was some talk about writing down “how we do this in Ireland” and offering that up for review.
Mad props go to Matt Winch for handlin’ tha scratch. Our income statement showed modest progress in the right direction, and while our coffers aren’t exactly swelling, some minor puffiness has been observed. Of course things could have been a lot rosier but for the wealth of dues that are still unpaid. Ah well, as they say in Lewiston, plus ce change, plus ce même chose.
On the subject of scratch, an update of our non-profit status was given, which didn’t take all that long. Our two pronged strategy of hitting up rich people and holding fundraisers has stalled on both fronts, and much wailing and gnashing of teeth followed. Nuff said about that, we’re all hoping that an injection of new blood can get this rolling again, and we’ll all be rolling in it by this time next year. Or rolling in something, anyway.
Last, but by no means least, came the election of new officers, which was again made simpler by the meager numbers. While at times it took a while to find a willing victim, all votes went through uncontested, and there was pretty much a job for anyone who wanted one. True democracy in action – those Iraqis could learn a thing or two from us. New officers were as follows:
Club President – Jim Gooch
Secretary – Tom Lovering
Treasurer – Matt Winch
Captain – Jason Willey
Vice-Captain – Andy Nelson
Coach – Mike Quinlan
Social Chairman – Mark Fournier
Match Secretary – CB Brady
Recruitment Nazi – Fred Haymen
Fred’s Henchmen – Bernie & Marcos
Non-Profit Committee Director – Jimmy Hendrix
Fundraising Director – Mike DeSalle
Big ups go to those departing officers for all their hard work this year. Jimmy Hendrix has suffered his duties manfully, and Al “Proxy” Parks has even made a few meetings, or so I heard. Andy Nelson aged 15 years and is looking forward to his retirement, Matt Winch kept a tight fist on his purse strings, and ours (oh, it’s a “man wallet”), and CB Brady gave us something to do each weekend. If I’ve missed anyone, I apologize. Get used to it.
The next Club meeting will be held on Thursday, March 4th, hopefully after some kind of practice. All hail the New Order, long may they reign!
Yer everlovin' sec.
