Seventh THACS   Annual General Meeting held on 21st January 2008 in the Tewin Memorial Hall

 

Chairman’s Report: THACS   have had another eventful year with the committee taking on their new roles and also helping each other when needed. These roles included the organisation and management of the shows, events, newsletters, publicity, website and catering. It hasn’t always been easy, but I hope we’ve been able to share many of the responsibilities that fell upon Anna previously and at the same time give each member of the committee a sense of purpose.

 

Our THACS year began with over forty people enjoying a trip to The Royal Academy for the ‘Citizens and Kings Exhibition’. At the end of February we held a ‘Creative Writing’ workshop to stimulate the would-be authors, which was led by our show judge, Frances Wilson.

In April, THACS Spring show was upon us, with all the preparation and hard work which that involved.  It was a lovely day, with more people than ever exhibiting and well supported by a friendly crowd to appreciate the talented entries.

In May, Chris Haden, the leader from our local walking group, kindly agreed to guide us on the ‘Tewin Nature Trail’ and later that month, several of our THACS members went along to a ‘Countryside Day’ to sell their arts, crafts and horticultural goods in aid of the Commons Nature Reserve in WGC. 

 

We were blessed by another sunny day in June for the trip to Myddelton Gardens, with an interesting tour by Bryan Hewitt, one of the gardeners, who gave us a good mixture of historical and horticultural information.

Then we held a flower arranging workshop, with demonstrations by Margaret Brett from the Stevenage Floral Art Society, enabling members to create their own attractive designs.

Again in June, THACS manned a plant stall for the Tewin village fete, raising money for Tewin Memorial Hall.

In July we joined with the Tewin Society for a special visit to Firle Place in Lewes, Sussex. We were given a private tour of the house, where the Cowper family treasures had been transferred from Panshanger House in Tewin in the 1950s, when it was demolished.

 

THACS then helped with the Family Day at Upper Green, run by the Friends of Tewin and had a very successful plant stall, featuring a horticultural quiz for the children, which also tested the adults.

There was a painting and photographic day in and around St. Peter’s church and Tewin Bury, thanks to Ivor Williams, and Terry Brand was there to offer his help when needed. 

We were back at St. Peter’s in August to hear an excellent talk by Peter Walters on the history of the church, which dates back to pre-Christian times. The evening ended with a delicious meal at the Rose and Crown in Tewin.

We held another extremely well supported Autumn show in September, with a record number of entries, despite poor weather in the summer.

 

There was some confusion regarding the age of entrants to the show categories and the committee have now clarified the age bands, which will be clearly stated in the rules in future.

 

We unfortunately had to cancel the visit to Buckingham Palace and ‘The Phantom of the Opera’, due to lack of support, but the Quiz evening in December, run so professionally by Andrew Whawell, was very popular and great fun.  This completed another year of varied and successful events.

 

I am not going to single anyone out, but my thanks go to everyone on THACS  committee, for their hard work and commitment. Also to those people outside the committee, who rally round and give their valuable assistance at all the local events. As you know, everything that goes into making the society a continuing success comes from these good people, on and off the committee, who freely volunteer their time and expertise for THACS.

And so to all of you, many, many thanks for a great year.  Gay Cates

 

Treasurer’s Report: Peter Burleigh, reported on the accounts, membership and expenditure for 2007.  There had been a small increase of £235.38 in the Society’s overall funds, mostly due to deposits for 2008 events, which needed to be paid for in advance. The costs of running the two annual shows are now controlled, by not circulating entries to the whole village. Advertising income had greatly helped to finance the shows, and it was hoped that this revenue would continue. Outings generally, broke even. In 2007 there was a rise in membership to 180, the highest since the start of the society. To date, 169 members had paid for 2008, 146 by standing order. However, only 1/3 of members who do not pay through standing order have replied to their personal reminder, and 22 members have not yet renewed their membership. Ray Keppler proposed and Linda Adams seconded that the report be accepted, and this was carried.

 

Election of Officers and Committee for 2008:

The following were elected unanimously by members present:

 

Chairman – Gay Cates, proposed by Patricia Fulford and seconded by Ray Keppler;

Vice-Chairman – Ray Keppler, proposed by Gay Cates and seconded by Michael Cates;

Treasurer – Patricia Fulford, proposed by Gay Cates and seconded by Anna Clark;

Secretary – Doreen Lloyd, proposed by Gay Cates and seconded by Ray Keppler.

The remaining members of the committee,

Terry Brand, Peter Burleigh, Anna Clark, Alfred Fulford, Menna Searle and Kate Stott were proposed by Michael Cates and seconded by Alison Burleigh.

 

The Chairman thanked the outgoing Treasurer and Secretary for their work during the past three years.

Committee members Lynne Powell, Dagmar Brook and Marie St Pier had stood down, and the Chairman thanked them for their various contributions whilst on the committee. Kate Stott had been co-opted on to the committee and was standing in 2008.

 

Gay Cates went on to express her thanks to Anna Clark and proposed that she be made an honorary life member of THACS; this was seconded by Ray Keppler and carried.

 

Events for 2008: Ray Keppler introduced the programme of events for 2008, including two very popular exhibitions, the Terracotta Army at the British Museum, and the Tutankhamun exhibition at the O2 Dome. Both these exhibitions are fully booked. Other events include a talk at Riverside Nursery by the owner, Russell Jeffrey, the Spring and Autumn Shows, Open Gardens in Tewin, a visit to see the Copped Hall gardens and an Arts and Crafts show and sale at Burnham Green Hall.

 

Date and time of next AGM:  19 January 2009 at 8.00pm at the Tewin Memorial Hall.

 

The Talk: The Chairman then introduced the speaker for the evening, Barry Dodge, who has lectured on

Art History at North Hertfordshire College since the early 1990s. He gave a well illustrated and fascinating talk on the History of Modern Art, from Pointillism, Fauvism and Cubism through to Surrealism, Dada, Pop Art and the Celebrity Art of today, and explained how all these and many more movements he described have linked and influenced each other.

 

The evening ended with refreshments and a chance for a chat.