Page 4 - PBCOctober2013

Pickwick Bicycle Club Magazine. Volume 10 No.3 October 2013

Should we alter the requirements for membership?

This is a subject that has been discussed by your committee on several occasions and it is
probable that a proposal will be placed before the Annual General Meeting in December. At the
same time, a decision will be taken as to whether or not to open the membership list which has
been closed for some time.

The concern of some members is that the club is drifting away from some of the requirements
from membership that currently reads …

“ gentlemen desirous of joining the club should as a rule, possess some cycling or
Dickensian association”….

The suggestion is that instead of having the words “should as a rule” ought we consider
removing these words. Similarly, it may be proposed that instead of the current position whereby
prospective members are nominated and seconded and there is then several years wait before
they are interviewed a year or so before being accepted as a member that there be some
verification of applications by the Executive when applications are first received. This does not
mean that individuals who have no cycling or Dickensian associations will be automatically
precluded but these requirements will normally be paramount.

Also at the annual general meeting, members will have had the opportunity of election of officers.
I would remind members that any proposals for nomination of candidates for office, who must be
members of not less than 12 months standing, must be notified and properly seconded to the
Honorary Secretary at least 21 days before the date fixed for the Annual General Meeting. For
th
everyone’s diary, the AGM will precede The Garden Party on the 5 December starting promptly
at 11.00am. Formal notice and an agenda together with the wording of any potential rule changes
will be sent out well in advance of that date but at this stage I am merely giving the members
warning of an important discussion that may take place so that those wishing to attend have as
much notice as possible.

On the question of attendance, I do hope that as many of you as possible can attend the cycle
day at the beginning of October. (more details in this publication)There will be a variety of
distances to be cycled for the energetic and not so energetic and also a shorter route for
veteran/vintage cycles. There is a good lunch afterwards and the usual Pickwickian conviviality
is guaranteed.