Newsletter
February 2010
Newsletter
February 2010
Just
to make sure we all know who has been doing what the present office bearers are
as follows
Chairman;
John Hyman
Secretary;
Treasurer;
Ian Coull
Events;
George Peddie
Agenda
Minutes
from last AGM
Chairman's Report
Secretary’s
Report
Treasurer’s
Report
Election
of Office Bearers
AOCB
Moves afoot at the AGM
Hopefully
you will all have read the new proposed constitution sent out with the last
Roadholder, boring it may be but in my opinion much needs to be debated to
ensure the club goes forward as a democratic and fair organisation where the
members are the important people and the Committee’s listen!
Some
examples I can share with you, I received the summary EC minutes this week and
was less than impressed with some of the content.
For
example;
Dear Branch Secretary
I attach EC Summary Minutes from
the last two meetings for your information. The contents are there to
help you inform your Branch and you are welcome to discuss them within the
Branch Committee. Although I remove
sensitive information and boring bits you should still regard them as not
being public news. I have however left in substantial detail that affects
Branches.
If you do not read them then you need to
report the following extracts to your Branch Committee. Please take these
as official instructions issued today:
“at a NOC National or International Rally an excess fee
equivalent to the current full subscription (currently being £17.00) shall be
added to the rally or camping charge for any motorcycle rider or car driver
attending, where that person is not a Member. This excess fee shall not
being applied to any pillion rider or car passenger who shall pay only the
normal rally charge irrespective of whether they are a Member”
Now this to me (maybe
because I’m a sensitive soul) smacks of a dictatorship and so I replied to all
with this;
Hi All
The minutes of the EC seldom wind me up but on this occasion they have,
firstly can I say that the club is in my opinion moving more and more towards a dictatorship,
not a good sign!
Amongst other issues
(which I shall raise in time for the AGM)
the biggest wind up is this statement
(the £17 surcharge statement above)
I have organised two Internationals and a National rally as well as several other events for Norton enthusiasts
and if this rule is applied I shall organise no more
(I'm sure some of you will be glad of that)
We have a wonderful nucleus of people who attend
these rallies and most will be members of the NOC,
however friends of mine have attended who are not
members but who have come along and enjoyed it so
much they have gone on to buy a Norton and then
subsequently joined the NOC.
The International and the National Rallies should break even if the business plan is properly done so why do
we need the extra money or are we becoming an elitist organisation?
The International rally is excellent as you meet people
from other European countries on their home turf and
once again they could be encouraged to join the NOC.
I know several Dutch and Belgian people who may not be members of the NOC but who belong to their home organisation,
will they be charged the extra £17? hardly encouraging people is it?
If someone from the former colonies appears at a
International will they be charged if not a member of
the NOC? if so how will the international rally in
because they aren't NOC members,
indeed will the
organisers of this years Spain International be charged extra as I suspect many of those helping will not be
NOC members.
Finally if the good woman (as most pillions will be women)
turns up on pillon
then its fine but if she turns up on her own bike at a
meeting then she will have to pay the
£17 extra, a trifle sexist? And finally if someone turns up in a
car with 3 passengers then they all avoid paying the
extra?
or dare I say it a Motorhome?
So we've managed to turn this dictatorship into a Racist,
sexist and anti motorcycling club as well?
I consider this to be an ill conceived and thought out
rule and I for one would like to have it overturned
before it harms the NOC further.
All those who agree please say aye!
Regards
Gino Rondelli
So far I’ve had some support which is
positive so lets hope we can bring some sense into this club again. I’m really
not happy with the statement I outlined in red (or in italics for you black and
white guys) , as far as I’m concerned what secrets should be kept from anyone
who pays their membership?
As I often point out, what makes this club
unique is the genuine camaraderie of the people I meet at these meetings, the
committee in general do a good job of keeping the business part of this club
together, with over 4000 members and 6 magazines to get out a year plus the
spares scheme and other extras then its sensible to run it as a commercial
organisation but lets not forget what it is , a bike club, here to bring like
minded people together and enjoy the time we have together on our Nortons (or
whatever you decide to turn up on)
I
do think that this years AGM will be pivotal for the club, I have seen other
clubs destroyed by internal politics and do not want that to happen here so
will do anything I can to stop it happening.
Norton Factory News
None
yet, still no word of anyone taking delivery that I know of, let me know if you
know different
Most of the Scots guys have already decided
their ferry of choice for the
Capper Rally
I
attended my first camping weekend of the year two weeks ago and must admit
despite the difficult weather it was great to be back doing the motorcycling /
camping thing, an excellent meeting once again and funnily enough the bar was
warm and dry and because I enjoyed the warmth so much I never left to go to the
tent till around 3am, suffice to say I felt no pain
Apologies
for such a boring newsletter this month, normal service will be resumed in
March!!
The Small Print
The views and opinions contained within this
publication are not necessarily those of the NOC or of the branch but are
probably mine as I wrote it.
No one accepts any responsibility for
anything, if you have a good time don't say I didn't warn you.
Gino Rondelli