The Annual General Meeting of the West Tyrone Ramblers was held in the Silverbirch Hotel on Friday, 2nd November 2018 with 34 members present. Club Chairperson, Anne McGarvey, welcomed everyone and began by thanking the Committee [photo above] for all their hard work over the past year. Following the reading of the minutes of the 2017 AGM Anne reported on a good year for the club. With 85 paid-up members [62 ladies and 23 men] the club was one of the most vibrant in the UFRC [Ulster Federation of Rambling Clubs]. Our programme of 52 walks in the year – one a week – is unrivalled, and numbers are good with an average of 20 persons on each “C” walk and 12 on each “B” walk. Anne looked back at some of the successful events in 2018 including the Walking Weekend in the Mournes in May, the Club Barbecue in June and the Ulster Federation AGM hosted by the West Tyrone Ramblers at An Creagan in October.
She looked forward to forthcoming events including the Christmas Walk on 22 December with mulled wine and Mince Pies, the Annual Dinner on 25th January and Walking weekend in May 2019 in Galway. Appreciation to those who maintained the Club website and Facebook Page was also expressed. Club Treasurer, Michael Holland gave a positive report on the healthy state of the Club finances, before standing down at the end of his three-year spell on the Committee. 2018 also marked the end of Anne McGarvey’s term as Chairperson and Tricia Rowan-Quinn’s time as Programme Manager. In the election which followed Tricia was re-elected to the post in which she had done an excellent job and further identified as the club webmaster. Rita Fox and Alan Robinson were elected to serve and warmly applauded for their willingness to join the Committee. The evening ended with a slide show recalling club highlights, followed by light refreshments and lively conversation.
Club Committee 2018 [L – R] Maggie McGurk, Database Administrator, Mary Coyle, Secretary, Anne McGarvey, Chairperson, Kathleen Beggs, Special Events Coordinator, Tricia Rowan-Quinn, Walks Schedule and Website. Missing from the line-up Michael Holland, Treasurer