Last night, a healthy number of members attended the AGM (quorum satisfied). Was nice to see you there, and definitely missed the ones who couldn't make it.
There was discussion around a couple of topics, including:
1) Financial report: we are in a healthy position, with a net-positive year end for 2020. This is a result of more incoming new members' fees than we projected (39% increase over last year), and some limited spending due to less social events (29% decrease). We have continued to waive the 'initiation fee' for new members, which over the years has allowed for a 'slush fund' that we currently have in the bank. We've used that fund to make up for declining membership numbers from year to year, but with hopes of sustained and growing membership now, we hope to replenish that fund, or budget more $$ for prizes and social events in the future! We have not re-instituted the initiation fee this year, but there was some discussion that we might do that in the future if we continue to get inquiries about membership, and want to either establish a 'cap on the numbers, or simply continue to grow. If we continue to grow, concern was for availability of tee times to accommodate for those numbers. We will keep an eye on this, moving forward.
2) It was suggested that we consider implementing a re-brand/re-name for the men's club. With the popularity of our website and its online presence, we get a lot of members of the public confusing our club with the McCleery golf course. The Club captain had to spend a considerable amount of time redirecting and re-routing inquiries that are meant for the Golf Course. (aka: a big 'pain in the ass'). Mike Mallen and Mike Ebner volunteered to take on this task of designing a potential new logo, and they welcome comments and suggestions from all members regarding a potential new name/look. They understand that this would be a pretty involved undertaking, as it would require a considerable amount of administration to do so (officially registering the new name, etc.), but there seemed to be support and appreciation from the members that they would do it.
3) Dues for next year are staying put at the same as last year - yay! That's great news for all our wives. However, in order for the Match Committee to do a good job at putting together a budget for next year, it is imperative that we have members pay their dues by the end of December, 2020. Brian Montpellier (our Treasurer) has sent out the invoices for next year's memberships already. Please take a moment to pay the invoice online, and show us your commitment to make next year an even better season than this one!
4) Club Captain change-over. Christian Guenette (me) is stepping down from his role as Club Captain. Served for 2 years, and is very grateful for the show of appreciation from the membership that his club dues will be waived for next year -- that was a very unexpected surprise. Thank you! Any members who would like to contribute to the Match Committee, or serve as Club Captain next year, please step forward and volunteer by sending along an email to this address, or to Ty Gilbertson -- MGC's president. Responsibilities are being shared by a 'committee', so it's not as daunting a task as I've made it out to be moving forward, and I will be handing over a shit-ton of templates that have been created over the past 2 years -- so copying and pasting will make things a lot easier!
5) Contact list update. Please take a moment to go to the contact list and make sure that your information is up to date and correct. We've added a column for a birthdate as well (month/day/year). The link to the contact list was sent out in an email this morning. If you didn’t get it, contact the club directly at mccleerygolfclub@gmail.com.
Overall, I'd like to say thanks for making my job, and the job of the Match Committee, an easy one in 2020. It was a pleasure and an honour to serve you all, and I'm looking forward to teeing it up with you guys in 2021. Fore!!
Dr. Christian Guenette (retired)
