As many of you may already know, Austin Barnes decided that he would stand down from the Committee at the time of the Annual General Meeting. This was after serving many years as a Committee Member, ten years as President and the last three years as Immediate Past President. As you will know after having to cancel the original Meeting due to the Club closure, the AGM was finally held last night, albeit by virtual on-line meeting.
At the meeting Duncan Ault announced Austin’s retirement and said that the Committee wished to mark the event in a very special way that would show how much the Committee and indeed the whole Club valued Austin’s contribution.
So in recognition of the many years and huge amount of work that Austin has done he was awarded Honorary Life Membership of the Club. However it was felt that we wanted to do something more for Austin and so, despite his reluctance, we are renaming the Spring Ladder, the Austin Barnes Trophy. A new trophy and Honour Board will be acquired.
If it had been normal times we would have asked Austin to attend the meeting to be personally presented, with as many people as possible able to attend. But in view of the strange circumstances we are currently in, that was not possible. It is therefore our intention that once we are all back together again we will hold a special event to mark his achievements.
In the meantime we hope you will all join us in thanking Austin for everything he has done.
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