Dear Members.
For those of you who don’t know - or had perhaps forgotten - to day (1st April 2007) is the first day of a new era in the Club’s history.
From today, we have formally separated from the licensed club at Mosman Bay and have established a new, unlicensed rowing club. The old club (which will soon change its name to “Mosman Rowers”) will continue to exist and will continue to own and operate the licensed premises at Mosman Bay. However, that club no longer owns or has any interest in our rowing facilities at Pearl Bay or at Killarney. We are on our own!!!
Now…to answer a few questions…
What exactly is the new club, and what is it called?
The new rowing club has been established under the Associations Incorporation Act (this is legislation designed to regulate non-profit clubs and associations like ours). The proper legal name of the new club is “Mosman Rowing Club, Inc” but it will generally be known as “Mosman Rowing Club” and no doubt abbreviated to “MRC”.
Who are the Members of the new Club?
You are all members of the new club. If you were a life member or a rowing member or a junior of the former club, you are now a life member or a rowing member or a junior member of the new club. We do not at this stage have any associate members.
What about membership subscriptions?
If you were a financial member of the old club, your membership was transferred across and you will be a financial member of the new club. For most members, this will mean that you are paid up until 30 September this year.
Who is running the club now?
In accordance with the Associations Incorporation Act, the new club is governed by a Committee. The Committee comprises the following 6 people:
Bryan Weir (President)
Mark Williams (Vice President)
John Dollisson (Club Captain)
Graeme Farrell (Treasurer)
Anne Taylor (Secretary)
Steve Evans (Ordinary Member)
This initial Committee has been “selected” rather than “elected”, and we all realise that there may be other club members who would like to nominate for committee positions in due course. Later in the year, at the Club’s inaugural Annual General Meeting, all committee positions will be opened up for election.
How will we manage financially?
As from today, the new club owns the boat shed, rowing equipment and facilities at Pearl Bay and Killarney and has $945,000 in the bank.
With most members’ subscriptions and rack fees not due until October this year, we will probably have to dip into the bank account for a little while to keep ourselves afloat. However, we have a financial plan which shows that the income we will earn from members’ subscriptions and rack fees, together with revenues from our school tenants, the Commonwealth Bank Corporate Rowing Program and fund raising efforts such as a Henley Night will be adequate to keep us financially viable.
Obviously, though, we will need as much support from members as we can get, and we will definitely be looking to rowing members of all ages and stages to get behind the club in its fund raising.
Am I still a member of the licensed club?
Yes, you are. You will remain a paid up member of Mosman Rowers until 30 September this year. In addition, the new board of directors of Mosman Rowers has indicated that it intends to provide for reciprocal membership between their club and ours, so that all members of MRC can continue to visit the licensed club in the future.
What about the new Pearl Bay Rowing Facility?
Now that the Club separation has been completed, the financing and construction of the new boatshed (including unlicensed clubhouse facilities) will become the Committee’s most important task.
We have had discussions over the past month with all of the schools who had previously expressed interest in “partnering” with us to get the new facilities built (i.e. our existing tenants - Ascham, Loreto and Queenwood - and SCECGS Redlands) and all have confirmed their commitment to the project. We are well along the way to obtaining a construction certificate which could see us commence construction in the next month or two. If that were achieved, there is every prospect we could have a new 3-bay boatshed substantially completed by the end of the year.
Having said that, there is much to do, and I’m sure we will meet with our share of obstacles along the way. Fingers crossed…
Is there anything I can do to help the Club at the moment?
Well…yes, there is. And it’s nothing very onerous.
First and foremost, stay in touch. We need to able to communicate with everyone by email and we need to know that you are reading our messages. If you need to check or revise your contact details with us, please get in touch with our Club Secretary, Anne Taylor by email at annejt [at] bigpond.com.
Second, if you owe the club money at any time (overdue subs, rack fees etc), please pay it promptly. We are trying to manage our cash flow and we don’t want to be chasing people for money - we have enough to do already.
Third, we’re likely to organize the occasional working bee at the boatshed - perhaps on a Sunday morning - and we would like to use these gatherings as an opportunity for everyone to get to know each other better. Please, if you are available, come along to these.
Finally, be aware of what we are trying to achieve with the Pearl Bay development. This is a very large and sensitive development in a public park and we are going to be looking for council, state and federal government funding support. While we have already obtained a DA, it is important that we maintain community goodwill. Let’s all make sure we are good ambassadors for the club and that we foster good relations with local residents, park users and Council officers. Let’s also remember that our widest source of community support is the group of school parents who bring their children to our boatshed throughout the school rowing season.
How do I contact Committee Members?
If you have any questions or want to raise any issues with me or any of the Committee members, please feel free to do so.
The Club’s website has been updated to include all of our contact details. You can find them on the contact page.
This will be a big year for Mosman Rowing Club, and you are all going to be a part of it. On behalf of the Committee, I thank you for all of your support to date, and I look forward to seeing all of you down at Pearl Bay.
Yours sincerely,
Bryan Weir
President
1 April 2007
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...Other Posts you may like:
- No Similar Posts