Chairman's Report 2019/2020

I didn’t think my first year as your chairman would be quite so enjoyable and eventful; it has certainly had its highs and lows.

We have held 10 exceedingly well-attended lecture meetings, 4 at Ysgol y Castell, 5 at the library, and 1 at the Community Centre, the last being in March, and the committee have held their regular monthly committee meetings on the last Tuesday of each month until February.
Family commitments meant that our secretary had to retire from the committee, changes had to be made and Barbara was co-opted back to the committee as membership secretary, and all other members of the committee had or assumed at least one responsibility.
My thanks therefore must go to Isobel for looking after meeting refreshments, Haydyn for doing such an efficient job with the monthly raffle, Barbara membership secretary, and looking after the planter at the church gate, Sarah our researcher and also doing most of the Christmas lunch arrangements, Ted and his helpers for their technical wizardry, Pauline who produces meeting minutes and writes the article for the parish magazine, Stephen who looks after the societies photo collection, Reg the man with the artefacts, treasurer Ann who keeps us on the straight and narrow financially & keeps us up to date with our social media successes, and Mike the Vice Chair who keeps me on the straight and narrow, and has given two lectures in the last year.
To our President Dai who did most of the donkey work for the society’s calendar, also for the lectures he gave at our August event, and at the Dementia Coffee morning, and for other lectures he gives to other organisations in the area about the history of Rhuddlan, and donates his fee to the society.
To Charlotte our liaison person for the website, and also our social media champion, this has proved a huge success.
I would also like to add my thanks to that of the treasurers to our honorary auditor Tony Rainford for kindly continuing to audit the accounts.
And finally to the chair gang who turn up and prepare the room for our monthly lectures & ensure everything is left as it was found.
So a quick canter the year:
In July I attended Ysgol y Castell to present the society’s cup for the school’s history project, the winner was Jazmine Mollatt with a very professional entry.
August we had a sell-out crowd for Dai’s ‘Rhuddlan’ lecture
In September we got back into our new season’s stride at Ysgol y Castell with a new gym club in the main hall, which caused restricted parking & disruption, so in November we moved to the library, with the move came teething problems, these were mostly overcome with the help of the library manager Matt.
December, the Christmas lunch at St Melyd Golf Club was enjoyed by 40 members, as were the chocolates which were won at the St Mary’s Christmas tree competition, the ladies of the committee produced a Christmas tree from books mostly donated by members, there was also a monetary prize which the society donated back to the church. We must not forget the December meeting quiz; as usual Reg came up with the unusual to test our knowledge
And so into 2020, a new year with unknown challenges, in which we held three very successful lectures in January, February and March, and almost immediately after the March lecture the country, was thrown into turmoil not knowing what the future would hold.
Sarah & I, along with society member Naomi have attended several meetings to assist with a new St Mary’s Church guide.
The cancelled speakers have all promised to fulfil their slots when we finally get going again, in the meantime on behalf of myself and the committee I thank each and every one of our growing number of members for their stalwart and continued support.
Richard Polden
Chairman