1984 1984 was once again a very busy year for the Club which celebrated its 20 th year in September. Planning Permission for the erection of a Clubhouse parallel with the road in 3 phases was sought and submitted to the Council in April. At the end of the Club's financial year in May membership stood at 241 plus 11 honorary. A new cup was presented to the Club by Councillor Brian Austen which would be called the Murston Cup and would be awarded by the Main Committee in conjunction with the Land Committee, the first recipient of the cup was Colin Gunn . The presentation dinner had steak on the menu and Jock Weir was invited as guest speaker. The Club's other main awards were presented to Pat Bartlett Lady of the Year, Peter Scales Member of the Year and the Chairman's Award was presented to Brian Bartlett . At the Annual General Meeting Rule Changes were made whereby Associate Membership of the Club was granted to spouses and children of full members. Honorary membership was granted to the retired and would also be granted to members for services to the Club at the discretion of the Main Club Committee. At the Annual General Meeting the Chairman Rusty Burgin thanked Peter Scales who would not be standing as Treasurer again and also Maggie Scales for their great input into the Club. The new committee comprised: Rusty Burgin - Chairman, George Gibson - General Secretary, Colin Gunn -Treasurer, Brian Sherwood - Membership Secretary, Sandra Tapp - Editor, Pat Bartlett - 1000 Club Secretary, Terry Wellard, Guy Standing, Ray Oddy and Peter Wyeth General Committee Members; throughout the year the sections were usually represented by Cliff Clements Gardening, Len Bateman Youth, Keith Baldock Video, Bob Parry Badminton, Brian Bartlett Football with Guy Standing also representing Cricket. This was a very pro-active committee and at its first meeting Ray Oddy was once again elected to Chair the Land Committee. The Youth Section was extremely successful during the year, they visited Wembley and Hendon and four teams were entered into the Swale Economic League. £100 was raised at a jumble sale and City Windows came forward with £289 sponsorship which was used to purchase a set of kit. Len Bateman reported to the committee that the Tote evening raised £50 and the section had hired the hall at the Sports Centre for 5 a-side but had to work out a rota as 40 youngsters turned up, all the efforts proved successful as by the end of the year Len Bateman reported that Club teams were top of all the 5 a-side leagues and also 3 football teams were in the Swale League Cup semi finals The Youth Section was invited to participate in the Canary Cup, an International tournament run by Norwich City involving a weekend at Great Yarmouth. The Under 15 team went and did quite well! The Section also entered pairs in a competition at the sports centre and took first place in all age groups and won both the boy's and girl's awards for endeavour. In the Football Section the very successful Sunday side under Dave Matthews joined the Medway League and the Saturday side was promoted to Division 3; 3 Club Members played in the Swale Rep. Team which won the Kent Youth Games 6 a-side competition. On Friday 4 June the visiting Welsh footballers shared in the delights of the Stag Night with other Club Members! Video and Badminton seemed to go into a “lull” through the year just ticking over, and although not as well supported in previous years the Gardening Section's Make Bake and Grow Show was still a success and members enjoyed their monthly meetings. The cricket section enjoyed their new cricket square, had a good season and helped over the ground. Cliff Clements came into his own as a mechanic and helped keep the tractor in good order. On 2 July Sittingbourne Ladies Hockey Team showed an interest in joining the Club en mass and were invited to a Land Committee meeting, several meetings took place with them throughout the year; eventually this would come to nothing. Members enjoyed many functions throughout the year including a “small” and a “big” Car Rally organised by Bob Parry , but the main emphasis was on the 20th Anniversary celebrations on 9th September. The programme was as follows: 2.30 – 3.30 Youth Football Match organiser Eddie Pilgrim Ladies v Men Match organised by Pat Bartlett, Sandra Tapp, Keith Baldock, and Brian Sherwood. (Memories of Ladies being carried around the field by men in wellies trying to kick a ball spring to mind!) 4.20 The Chairman Rusty Burgin invited the first Club Chairman Ray Oddy to unveil the Woodcoombe sign at Murston Park. 4.30 – 6.00 Old v. New Football Match, Brian Bartlett organising the new and Rusty Burgin the old. 6.30 Buffet in the APCM plus DISCO and barbecue Needless to say the day was a great success and there were a lot of dirty knees around including ladies knees! Video, Badminton and Gardening also played their part by organising stalls alongside the pitch with Darts, Tombola, Books and Bric a Brac. In August the Club was offered an interest free loan of £1000 by the Council repayable over 3 years, at the same time a bill for £139 was received for grass cutting. On November 5th under the terms of the Lease the swings were finally erected after their move. . The Club was also looking at a quote of £750 for fencing and the mowers would have to be serviced, the Land Committee were also planning to lay a base for cricket nets. There was a lot of discussion that day August 6 1984 on money and the Treasurer Colin Gunn proposed a Land Fund be set up, this was seconded by Bob Parry and was passed unanimously. Colin suggested £1,000 be transferred from the savings account into the new fund and immediately Bob Parry handed over £20 donation from Badminton to boost the kitty. The Council also requested full detailed drawings in order to get Outline Planning Permission for the Clubhouse. There was so much going on that the committee meeting had to be reconvened on another day. 200 Club Badges went on sale at £5 for a dozen or 50p each, Colin Gunn had organised this at a cost of £74.57. In November there was a Barn Dance and Jumble Sale all to raise funds followed by another Stag Night . Len Bateman organised a Youth Disco and Una Burgin the Children's' Christmas Party, there was a Christmas Dance at Kemsley costing £4 including buffet, and once again Santa was out delivering presents on Christmas morning. On 29 November news came that the Council had approved phases 1 and 2 of the Clubhouse building with phase 3 to be discussed at a future date. At the same time rumours that the APCM may be on offer again prompted the committee to write to Blue Circle, a promising end to 1984 . |