Page 154 - Friendships Through the Years

Within minutes of being inducted as President in March 1998, Martin had to deal
with the contentious matter of a change of venue for the Club and it was satisfactorily
settled. The last matter that Martin had to deal with was at the annual general meeting on
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Thursday 11 March 1999. Before he handed over to President Elect, Bert Milgate,
Martin presided over a Notice of Motion with regard to the Club’s Rules, which had been
given by Keith McLennan at the December meeting.
This matter had been an ongoing saga for a number of months in relation to
amendments to and additions to the Rules. Following advice from the Probus Association
of Victoria that a “Grievance” clause had to be added to the Rules of all Incorporated
Clubs, a sub-committee consisting of President Martin, Vice President Bert Milgate,
Public Officer Geoff Paul and the Club’s first Public Officer, Keith McLennan was
appointed to investigate the matter. After several meetings and after contact was made
with the Office of Fair Trading and Business Affairs, it was discovered that every
Victorian Club which was incorporated, would have to adopt a new set of Model Rules,
suitably amended for each Club’s individual purposes and requirements. These rules had
come into effect on the 1st. of July, 1998.
The Sub-committee made the necessary amendments etc. and the December
Notice of Motion was the end result. The motion to alter or add to the Model Rules
covered subscriptions, life and honorary memberships, financial year ending on the last
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day of February (instead of 30 June) and four Committee Members instead of two as in
the new Model Rules. Additionally, the new Rules had the obligatory section covering
the “Grievance” clause.
The motion to adopt the new Rules, plus the amendments, was carried
unanimously, and the Club then had a computer print-out of the rules, plus a “floppy
disc”, which is available to any member, and, of course, the rules can now be altered
much more easily on the computer than they formerly were.
Treasurer Jack Cockcroft presented his financial statement indicating a credit
balance of $1,412.96, an increase for the third year in a row, this time of $121.
Apart from the Club’s inaugural year, Martin had a larger number of new
members than in any other year. He started the year with 52 members and he inducted 15
new members; however there were 6 resignations and 3 deaths. The membership at the
end of Martin’s year was 58 (of whom three were Life Members and there were three
Honorary Members.)
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President Martin presented the 16 annual President’s Report - a very
comprehensive resume of his successful year in office, a year in which a great deal was
achieved. He commenced his report with:

“Prior to the commencement of my year as President, the Club held a re -
enactment of the Foundation of the Probus Club of Lilydale to celebrate 15 years
of activity. 15 past presidents assembled to commemorate the event. As the 16th
President I felt this ceremony opened the way for some new initiatives and
“direction that would take the Club into the new Millenium. This r eport covers
these endeavours.”