New venue, slightly different format. This year we took over the ground floor of The Square and held the whole event in one room. The meeting got through the accounts and elections swiftly and efficiently – the new committee, which bears a remarkable resemblance to the old committee, was unanimously elected as follows:
President: Dan Unwin
Treasurer: Richard Spraggett
Secretary: Andrew McLay
Committee: Sarah Davies (Webmaster), Martin Butler, Marion Foster, Keyna Garner, Dave Hall, Bob Hotchkis, Richard North, Andrea Postles, Claire White
The meeting included discussion of the best methods for Club communications, after which the formalities were declared complete and dinner was served.
After dinner there was no President’s speech, as the President was away on a ski trip. Instead Sarah, Andrew and Richard presented the following awards, with a few photographic highlights (thanks to Mike for the projector):
Absolute Altitude Award: Lee Farmer, who summited Everest in May 2008.
NMC Altitude Award (highest point reached on a Club trip): Dan Unwin and Andrea Postles, for the Vignemale in the Pyrenees (3298m).
Mountaineering Achievement: Pam Westgate, for summiting Ama Dablam and Denali, and also logging at least 60,000m of altitude during 2008.
Most Improved Climber: Steve Collard.
Best Trip: Dan Unwin, for the Pyrenees.
Miss Popularity Trip Award (for consistently running well-attended trips): Rhoda Bashford.
Sartorial Elegance Award: Bob Hotchkis, for his attire in Ireland and the Gower.
Golden Underpants (temporarily renamed Human Poohstick Award): Keyna Garner, for her plunge on the Christmas walk.
Most Trips Award (for most meets attended during the year): Sarah Davies (yes, Bruce came second for once).
St Bernard Award (for courageous rescue): Dave Hall, for getting Keyna out of the raging torrent.
The evening continued with a slide show of some of the year’s photos, and a DJ. Nearly everyone was spotted on the dance floor, and rumour has it some of the hangovers the next morning were as epic as the dancing…
Sarah Davies
