1979

1979

1979 was once again full of social activities there was some progress with the land, the Gardening Section was formed, and at the end of the year a conflict between some of the sections and the Main Club Committee, this showed that disagreements could happen, and did, which is really a healthy sign as the members were always determined to work things out for the good of the Club as a whole.

The “all inclusive” discos in March, July and October at £3.50 continued to be a success and the Main Committee ran a bar for the Cricket Section and also for Sittingbourne Swimming Club. There was a stag trip to France a coach trip for the children to Heathrow Airport and then on to Windsor Castle, 50 members had a great time when they went to see Rod Hull and Emu at Margate, and the Car Rally at £1 per car once again took place in September thanks to Peter and Maggie Scales. At the last minute Stevie Lock entered a Woodcoombe team in the Beer Race in aid of the Christmas Lights which had been organised by Colin Gunn and the A.P.C.M.

The Presentation Dance came under criticism as the presentation part was too long with all the sections involved in presenting trophies as well as the Main Club trophies. The Burgin Cup was presented by the Chairman to: Peter Scales and the Club Personality of the Year was Bob Parry. A new trophy for Lady of the Year was presented to the Club by Wendy Roberts and was won by Margaret Scales.

It is interesting to see what Committee members at the time were expected to do, and following requests for this information the General Secretary, Keith Baldock, in his A.G.M. report set the information out: “He or She is expected to attend possibly twelve meetings a year where decisions effecting the Club as a whole are taken, help where necessary at dances and discos, look after the interests of approximately 20 members i.e. deliver newsletters, sell tickets for functions etc., listen to praise and criticism, so helping us to correct mistakes we may make. A Section Representative apart from being involved with the section and it's committee, has the added responsibility of giving a monthly report to the Main Club Committee on how his or her section is fairing.”

At the A.G.M. Messrs Pilgrim, Baldock and Scales were re-elected as Club Officers, Mrs Sylvia Baldock became 1000 Club Secretary and others elected were Mike Beney, Bob Parry, Brian Roalf, Mike Ingram and Sandra Tapp. Membership stood at 146 plus 4 honorary, there was £1,525.21 in the bank and the 1000 Club stood at 124 shares, this was very low. Once again Rule Changes were made, these had been discussed at great length by the Committee prior to the Annual General Meeting.

On 26 June 1979 Eddie Pilgrim at a committee meeting with the section representatives present said that he felt it was the right time to approach the Council with reference to the leasing of Rectory Playing Fields or Murston Playing Fields; it was agreed to act on Murston Playing Fields and the General Secretary Keith Baldock wrote to Swale District Council with copies to our Councillors and Roger Moate MP. Approaches were also made to Messrs Doubleday, Boucher, Gasgoine and Jennings. On 29 August there was informal meeting between the Club's Officers Councillors and the Chief Executive of Swale Borough Council which resulted in the possible agreement to a lease if the legal problems could be overcome. A glimmer of hope?

The Youth Section continued to flourish with the U.16 team winning the Cup final and finishing the season top of the league, the U.14 team finished runners-up and the U.12 team were high up in the league table; the girls had done well with their netball and learnt a lot and Pat Bartlett and Eve Smith hoped to take them into a league in 1980. The U.14 and U.16 teams were also off to Wales for friendlies. Keith Baldock and Eddie Pilgrim started taking the U.10 youngsters over the park on a Sunday morning, although nothing to do with the youth section at the time, they were given a grant to buy armbands so the youngsters could distinguish who was playing for which team.

Cricket reported how impressed they had been with the performances of Roy Horne and Brian Eustace with bat and ball, they had introduced younger players and had found a fine wicket keeper in the form of Shaun Burgin and a prospective future captain in Paul Jackson. The section continued to enjoy all it's activities. Cricketer of the year was Michael Hawkins.

The Gardening Section was formed on 2 September 1979 with 19 members, Ray Oddy was Chairman, Monica Baker Secretary, and Dave Ristow Treasurer.

The Minutes of the Main Club Committee meeting on the 19 November show some conflicts within the Club. The Football Section representative during the 1978/79 season had been Glen Byrne but no messages were passed on to him after the start of the 1979/80 season as notification was given to Bob Murphy, consequently a representative did not attend any meetings after March and a letter from the Main Club Chairman Eddie Pilgrim to the Chairman of the Football Section Ernie Pope was sent in November. In his apologetic reply Ernie Pope questioned whether 95% of the members of the Football Section were not members of the Main Club and the General Secretary was asked for a list of names, John Rees the Treasurer of the Football Section, attended the meeting in December to clarify the situation.

Also at the meeting the Cricket Section's request for a fund raising disco in March 1980 was turned down by the Main Committee under Rule 29, and the General Secretary wrote to all the Sections on the 27 November pointing out that Social Functions of the Club shall remain the sole responsibility of the Main Club Committee as laid down in Club Rules, on request consideration would be given by the committee to one social function a year for fund raising or as a Presentation Evening, efforts being made to avoid the chosen date with Main Club functions.

On the 12 December a conflict between the Main Club Committee and the sections on social events was discussed at great length. A proposal by Peter Scales seconded Eve Smith to hold an E.G.M. were agreed, the Chairman Eddie Pilgrim had stated that he could see the problems the Sections had with fund raising but it was the duty of the Main Club Committee to run the Club for the membership as a whole and re-iterated Rule 29. However, after the meeting Sandra Tapp wrote to the Chairman pointing out that four Club Rules were being questioned and the committee was not fulfilling it's function, in January 1980 the E.G.M. was unanimously deferred, and the officers of the sections were invited to discuss with the Main Club committee methods of fund raising, this meeting took place on 13 February 1980.

1979 saw the search for land continue. In May the Club's Officers Eddie Pilgrim, Keith Baldock and Peter Scales had an on site meeting with E. Brown and two officers from the Council's Technical Department re: Rectory Playing Fields Pavilion. It was learned that only £2,700 was available for repairs and this was not enough, an outline for a new pavilion was represented costing between £20,000 and £30,000, the Council officials thoughts were that such a plan would take 2 to 3 years if ever, but the plans would be presented to the full council.

In December 1979 the Club's membership stood at 147, there was £1,258.73p in the bank and since May the 1000 Club, the main Club fund raiser had increased it's shares from 124 to 147. The Christmas Dance at £2 per head including Chicken and Chips supper was supported by 200 members and their friends and was very successful.