Minutes of the meeting of Coleraine Probus Club
Held in Portstewart Golf Club on Tuesday 9th September 2014

Attendance: 36 members were present

Apologies: Gordon Ward, Jim Archer, Jim Foote, Ian Murray, Cecil Leitch and Mervyn Patterson (6)

Club Vice President John Graham, welcomed members to the meeting on a lovely sunny day and explained that our President was taking a short break, and would be back in two weeks. The Vice President then went on to Introduce our speaker for the morning Mr John Roberts. John went on to give a detailed talk and PowerPoint presentation about the Aberfan Disaster of 1966. His talk focused on the geological conditions of the area and the misplaced positioning of the mine spoil tips. A brief summary of this talk is available in the Speakers Record Book, and also on the club web site. A vote of thanks was proposed by Nigel Semple and was passed on by the Vice President. The members showed their appreciation.

Minutes: The minutes of the 2nd May 2014 were taken as read due to lack of time.

Matters arising: None not covered by the agenda.

Correspondence: None.

Social: The Vice President said that before Jim Gordon talked about the September Lunch, he wanted to ask members to start to think about something for a later club discussion. That 'something' was the monthly club lunches. The club committee were concerned that the numbers for the lunches were steadily falling. Was this due to the food? the costs? the venue? or is it that the lunches were of no interest anyway? It is proposed to have a full discussion on this topic in October, so please be thinking about your ideas for that meeting.
Jim Gordon said that he had (and was distributing) the Menus and booking forms for the next lunch on 30th September. Unfortunately he would be away for the next three meeting and sadly his usual 'deputy' Jim Foote was currently in hospital. Please return your food choices to Mike Turner for him to collate the order for the Golf Club catering.

Welfare: Cecil Spotten reported that (as Jim mentioned) Jim Foote was in hospital and recovering well from a serious operation, and hoped to be returning home fairly soon. Norman Austin was now in 'The Cottage' (by the Lodge Hotel), should members wish to visit him. Finally, Cecil Leitch recently 'took a turn', but thankfully is now getting on well and hopes to be back with us soon.

Treasurer: Nigel Semple said that the accounts were in order and had nothing to report.

A O B: 1. Trip out? The Vice President said the our President wanted to ask members, if they would be interested in a members trip out to Bushmills Distillery, especially after all the help Bushmills had given to the Rally and reception. This would possibly be in November and we could do a 'car share' transport there; have a tour, try a tasting and then either have lunch or just a 'tea and bun' snack. Around 16 members showed interest in this.
2. Badges. The Secretary asked members to please have a look in their various jacket pockets to see if they had accidentally taken home their club badges, and to ware them at the meetings then return them to the badge box at the end.

Next Speakers Meeting: Would be on 16th September, where the guest speaker would be Ms. Rachel Bain talking about 'Biodiversity in Coleraine'

The Vice President thanked members for attending hoping everyone would also along next week.

Meeting closed at 12.23am

SIGNED: John Graham
DATE: 16th September 2014