SECRETARY' S NOTES
JOHN PEARLE, 1 ELDON CLOSE COLCHESTER ESSEX CO4 3HA 01206 861604 thepearles@compuserve.com
First off, a bit about the RUNNING of YOUR CLUB. In the last issue of the News (No 98) I said that a summary of your replies to the Questionnaire was there too. As it turned out it wasn't, but it is here now. The comments that go with it are in the last issue of this column so I won't write them all out again. I have sent the full results to Area Co- ordinators. The revised Central Fund accounts that we promised at the AGM are also in this issue. They will be presented for your acceptance at the 2001 AGM.
The minutes of the last Committee meeting have been sent to Area Co-ordinators, so if you want to find out what's going on, get in touch. The position of Auditor was one item for discussion, our present Constitution calls for our accounts to be audited. To do this we need an auditor, short of paying (probably a lot) for professional services this means a volunteer from the membership - which includes you, dear reader. As with all the people who help run things, volunteers are needed. Thus it will come to pass that if nobody has offered to act as CRC Auditor by the next AGM, the Committee will propose that the Constitution be amended to remove the requirement for audited accounts to be presented.
THE 2001 AGM is now getting a bit of thought. Area 9, in the persons of Sandra and Kevin Craske, have kindly offered to host the event at Briston in Norfolk, the planned date is Saturday, April 28th, 2001. It will be the Club's 30th anniversary year, and we would like to mount as big a display of Members' work as we can. This will cover all things photographic. Pictures in all their photographic forms, gadgets, displays, AV presentations, whatever. Please let us have your ideas and any special requirements you have. Sandra and Kevin promise excellent facilities at Briston (I think there's even rumours of a blackout!). Kevin has ideas for publicity material so pencil the date in your diaries, get thinking about showing your ideas and watch out for more details.
A few IDEAS TO HELP PEOPLE GET STARTED. First, I have asked Bill if he could do a For Sale and Wanted column as a regular item in the News. There are, sadly, several Club members who no longer do their own processing but may still have some of the things needed, others just don't use all the things they've got. In the hope that there are also members who would like to process their own work, but don't have the things they need, this could enable the two to get together. Go and rummage through those boxes of stuff and sort out the things that you don't use anymore, put an advertisement in the News and make someone happy. Remember, no ads, no column, no help.
Some more sprang from Roy Salmons' Area 3+ News, which he was kind enough to send me. He wanted to make up some bleach or whatever - real W&M stuff. The mixing was OK, but how to do the weighing now that the scales were gone. You can read about a couple of practical ideas in this issue.
PETROL, or the lack of it, is the main topic of conversation here as in most places. The shortage of the stuff doesn't seem to have stopped the Mondeo Men of Essex from belting around in as fast and inconsiderate a manner as usual, at least not yet. There are fewer lorries though, so things are quieter. I daresay that by the time you read this it will all be over, but for many of us the need to get around has got us back to walking - you remember, put one foot in front of the other and lean in the direction you want to go. The steady two or three miles per hour that this gives is just right for seeing the things around you. So,
take your camera. The hedgerows are full of all sorts of colourful berries, the light is often good enough to let you get away without a tripod and the blackberries look as if they have been polished. There are insects and spiders, too, most of them will stay still while you compose yourself and the picture. All good subjects for unusual photographs - in black and white, too.Process them yourself and you will be able to bask in double the usual glow of self pride. A good projected transparency will make you think you can taste the blackberries or feel the bloom on the sloes. If you haven't got the wherewithal, look around in this issue of the News, the ideas are there. Oh dear, it's started to rain, and the door's fallen off the cupboard in the darkroom...
nothing changes.