So here we are another year has passed and a new year begins.
I hope this newsletter finds you and your families fit and well. I had the very timely COVID (again) which kindly started on the 22nd December, put a bit of a downer on Christmas but in the grand scale of things a slight inconvenience.
I said to myself that this year I would not moan about the wind and rain but come on !!! for goodness sake its day after day wind, rain occasional blue sky and then more wind and rain. The weather is certainly changing, on the news recently the snow storm in the USA and now flooding in California just a couple of examples.
The club received some sad news recently regarding one of our founding club members Les Childs who passed away aged 94. Les had been suffering from Alzheimer’s. Personally I had not seen Les for at least six years. Les mainly flew mid week in the afternoons and the last time I saw him he asked me to stand with him as he told me that ‘The model is faster than my reactions and brain’ we had a good laugh about this and he reminded me that one day I would be the same.
Les was instrumental in the forming of our club many years ago along with Gordon ‘Nobby’ Clarke, Dave Swarbrick and I think John Kirby.
I have enclosed a photo of Les (far right) taken from a press clipping, yes it is a model boat in the photo because thats how the club initially started.
Unfortunately many of the members who would of remembered Les from years gone buy are no longer with us so any information we have regarding Les has long gone.
Club AGM
The clubs annual AGM took place on the 7th December.
Considering the weather the turn out was not bad at all.
At the beginning of the evening Paul Cusworth our club chairman announced he was stepping down after being in office for many years. Paul has done a fantastic job whilst in office and I would personally like to thank him for his help over the years.
Secondly our secretary of many years Steve Warburton decided it was time for him to step down again after many years service, again I would like to thank Steve for his help over the years and look forward to tasting some of his home distilled Gin and home brewed beer.
So due to the above announcements and other committee members stepping down. There are some new names on the committee and some names taking different posts.
The 2023 Committee and other officers are as follows :
Mr Jason Reid – Club Chairman
Mr Mark Conlin – Club Vice Chairman
Mr Dave Hindley – Club Secretary
Mr Anthony Ollerton – Club Safety Officer
Committee Members:
Mr Andrew Harrison – Membership Secretary
Mr Jake Reid – Events Officer
Mr Andrew Moore – Officer
Mr Duncan Melville – Officer
Mr Stephen Warburton – Officer
Mr J Higgins – Club President
Annual Quiz Night and Hot Pot Supper
The Quiz night and hot pot supper took place on the 14th December and great night was had buy all.
This was my first event as the quiz master and I think it went well with only the normal culprits causing up rest with regard to the answers.
We will see if I get asked again to do it.
Before the event I had convinced myself that I did not need to consume two portions of hot pot and apple pie and cream, it did not take to much convincing otherwise !!!
Annual Club Membership Fee’s
If you have not yet paid the annual club membership fee you need to be getting on with it.
The new automated method of paying is a quick and easy way of doing this and feedback has in the main been positive about this method.
Trainers
Below is the list of current trainers for the club. Get to know these people if you are learning to fly. Ask them for their phone numbers so that you can ring them to check availability. This save’s wasted journeys which can lead to frustration for trainees.
Jason Reid, Mark Conlin, John Higgins, Brian Holdsworth, Chris Vernon, Andy Harrison, Jim Sheldon, Paul Cusworth, Justin Goldstone and Kevin Watson.
The vast majority of these trainers are in employment so their availability is governed by their work. Please bear this in mind when arranging a flying session.
Don’t forget the main training session during the summer is Wednesday nights, weather dependant of course.
Hers’s hoping for better weather soon.
Chris V