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Last night I attended La Pétanque Marinière’s Annual Business Meeting at the Villa Inn (courtesy of Mireille Di Maio) … with mixed emotions. I was pleased and disappointed at the same time.
I was pleased by the smooth organization of the event and disappointed by the low attendance. A club is only thriving if all the members pull in the same direction. In our group, we seem to have too many passive individuals. One way or the other (and according to their ability) every member should strive to help our association and attend this particular meeting. If you have grievances or suggestions, this is the place to voice your concerns.
On the plus side, a very nice cold spread was offered by Donna Von Edelkrantz. She has a cooking background and did an excellent job of showcasing her talents.
Mark Shirkey operated behind the bar and Sandra and Lynn McCloskey acted as usherettes.
After everybody had their fill of goodies, perennial president Christine Cragg offered a summary of what happened in the club, and what to expect.
First of all, I was very pleased to hear that Lynn McCloskey joined the Board of Directors. She is pleasant and looks like a very capable person; I am sure that she will do a good job.
Christine then recognized the people who contributed their time and labor to benefit the club. Mark and Sandra are at the forefront of this group. Without fanfare, they do a lot to benefit our club. Then there is Mike O’Leary who quietly does some heavy lifting. A real asset for our organization.
Lately, our field has been spruced regularly by indefatigable Charlie D, Jacques Gautier, and Mark and Sandra. I tip my hats to these dedicated workers.
Recently Martin Ressinger (who just came back from his French “chateau”) joined the crew and helped to collect the innumerable quantity of dead leaves inundating our ground.
Christine will remain president for another year or until a worthwhile candidate applies for the job. The club’s membership fees were increased to $40.00 a year. Still a bargain.
There was a small contentious exchange about the Federation, but frankly, I don’t think that too many people care about this. We should be more concerned about the club than far away Federation. One of our main challenges is to attract new members and everybody should give a thought to this issue.
My suggestion is to offer a bounty fee for each new catch… and a bonus for an exceptional haul.
At the end of the evening, there was a little raffle and a few lucky people took home a little gift offered by the house.
I took a few pictures of the event with my iPhone, but due to the poor lighting conditions, the results were not very successful. Sorry, but still worth looking at.
See you soon in the trenches.
Alain