Ape and Apple, Jan 11th, 2020

 

Thanks to the 33 Members who attended last Saturday’s excellent Meeting. The attendance would have been far healthier had it not been for the fact that six Members who had intimated intention of attendance intimated at the last minute that they could not, after all, attend. Thanks to all six of the aforesaid non-attending Members for letting me know.

 

We welcomed a new friend and colleague, Mel Humphreys. For those who don’t know him, Mel worked nights in the Composing Room.

 

Our glorious FoC Gerry Dodd performed a fine and entertaining monologue, as is his wont, and managed to add 980 years to everybody’s age by declaring we were at the start of a new millenium! (Or, I suppose, we could all consider ourselves 20 years younger, depending on which millenium we are at the start of!!) Your Clerk was flabbergasted to find himself the recipient of a pint at the expense of our aforesaid FoC, cobwebs being plainly seen floating from his wallet when from which, with visibly shaking hands, he extracted a pristine ten pound note to pay for it.  The oration was, by Gerry’s standards, unusually brief (possibly due to the trauma caused by this unusual extravagance) and the disappointment at that was almost palpable.

 

The usual mark of respect was observed for Brian Sykes, ex-Wire Room and Roland Marsden, ex-Comps, who have recently deceased, with Gerry Bamford interceding into Gerry’s speech to say some nice words about Roland and also Roland’s old mate, the late Leo McHugh.

 

Notwithstanding my earnest pleas for replies to the Notice of Meeting, three Members failed to comply and they have now been deleted.

 

 

 

As usual, please do not intimate intentions of attendance or otherwise at this juncture, but wait until the notice for each Meeting is circulated.

 

Regards to all

 

SB, Chapel Clerk (unremunerated)