75th AGM Saturday 1 October 2016, Holiday Inn, Glasgow
1. Present: Hugh Anderson, Pat Barron, Jim Brown, Brian Caulfield, Mike Cipolato, Kevin Deady, Gerry Devine, Tony Duncan, Ralph Giulianotti, Neil Godfrey, Nigel Guthrie, Owen Halloran, Erich Harrison, Martin Harrison, Laurence Hogarth, Vinnie Igoe, Vic Macari, Angus Mackinnon, Paddy Mulligan, Tom Murphy, James O’Hey, Tom O’Hey, Dermot O’Reilly, Colin Peteranna, Maurice Taylor, Ian Traquair, Mike Turnbull
2. Apologies: Mark Dunn, Ian Dunn, Chris Stephenson, Alasdair Macdonald, George Campbell, Fr. Stephen Dunn, Ralph & Mark Giulianotti, Colin Bryce, and Fr. Benedict our president who sent his good wishes to all.
3. Opening Prayer: Vice President Owen Halloran read the prayer as Fr. Stephen Dunn our chaplain was on holiday in Ireland.
4. Minutes of the 2015 AGM: Having been circulated were passed as an accurate record – proposed for adoption by Maurice Taylor, seconded by Neil Godfrey.
5. Matters Arising: Fr. Benedict; after a hearing in the sheriff court in September, a report on the charges appeared in the Press and Journal and the date for the case was set for the 23rd January 2017 in Inverness. Copies of the article were circulated to those present. The Chairman suggested that it was for individual OBs to send letters of support to his Lawyer Ms Claire Russell, Craig Wood, 16, Union St., Inverness IV 1Pl. We have been advised by lawyer OB George Campbell that individual letters would carry more weight from those who knew him at school in the period 1973-88. The chairman is also sending a letter of support on behalf of the FAOBA.
6 . The Website: Webmaster Colin Bryce sent a report saying, “It is planned to redevelop the site on a different platform using Word Press, probably the world’s most common platform (over 75m websites have been created using WordPress).”Hopefully we will see the return of the photo gallery and the forum. The OBs recorded their thanks for his time and work on the website.
7. Committee Report: Last year’s dinner was a great success. Our speaker Fr. Beattie OSB from Ampleforth and former pupil of Carlekemp sent a letter of thanks for our donation of £400 which he donated to SCIAF. In April three of the committee went to F.A. as usual to send out the Newsletters from OB Chris Stephenson’s Caledonian Hotel. We inspected the monk’s graveyard, the grass was cut and the crosses legible, as we had instructed Abbot President Richard Yeo to paint them a year ago.
Kevin Deady had been asked by the FAOBA to look into the possibility of having a plaque placed under the bronze statue of St Benedict with two kilted schoolboys by Dr Arthur Fleishmann. The statue graced the Calder wing at FA. and is now at Ampleforth Abbey. He had spoken to their Abbot and was referred to the Trustees. The price quoted of £11,000 is far too high and the wording is not to our liking as they said the statue adorned the hospice at FA. He is continuing his research, however it is not looking too good.
8. Treasurer’s Report: Mark Dunn CA who sent in his apologies as he was attending a wedding had prepared a statement of income and expenditure for the year to 31st August 2016. We are still solvent, cash in the bank stood at £4,841. Many thanks Mark.
9. Elections: The current officials were all re-elected en bloc, proposed by Pat Barron and seconded by Maurice Taylor. However our chairman pointed out that he had been in the chair for over 20 years and next year would be 75 and although he was prepared to run for another year wondered if there was some one younger and fitter out there to take over.
10. Deaths: Canon James Rae aged 88; Vincent Kronka Kinross aged 48; John Brown, brother of Jim Brown (1960s); Peter Barry aged 93, our oldest OB (1935-45); Major Selby Macduff-Duncan MBE aged 64. Our chaplain will remember all our deceased members in his masses. RIP
11. AOCB: Kevin Deady noted that in September Fr. Francis Davidson had celebrated the 60th anniversary of his clothing as a monk. It was decided to send a Mass card for his intentions with our congratulations and best wishes. Unfortunately Fr. Francis has heart problems and is not keeping too well. Maurice Taylor was congratulated for being awarded a CBE for his services to the Hospitality industry.
12. Date of next AGM and Dinner: Saturday 7th October 2017 at the Holiday Inn, West Nile Street, Glasgow, with the AGM at 7.00 followed by dinner at 7.45pm.