Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Bonnyrigg & Lasswade Local History Society held in the Pitcairn Centre, High Street, Bonnyrigg on Wednesday 18th April 2007. 1. Introduction. Mr Dryden opened the meeting and welcomed those present. He said that that this was the 25th AGM of the Society. He asked everyone to ensure that they had signed the members’ attendance book prior to the start of the meeting. He also intimated that this would be his last meeting as Chairman of the Society. 2. Apologies. Apologies were recorded on behalf of Mr & Mrs Turner, Mr & Mrs Masterton, Mrs Renwick, Mr Adams, Mr Murray, Mr Waugh, Mrs Anderson, Mr & Mrs Cochrane, Mrs Grieve, Mrs Gardiner & Mrs Donaldson. 3. Minutes of the last Annual General Meeting. These were formally approved by the meeting, proposed by Mrs Brown and seconded by Mrs Bett. 4. Treasurer's Report. This was delivered on Mr Turner’s behalf by Mr Dryden. Mr Dryden recorded thanks to Mr Turner for his preparation of the accounts and asked for them to be approved and adopted and these were proposed by Mr Sharp and seconded by Mrs Sharp. Thanks were also recorded to Mrs Muirhead for auditing the accounts. Mrs Muirhead was re-appointed as auditor for the following year, proposed by Mrs Brown and seconded by Miss Simpson. 5. Chairman's Report In this his last report as Chairman, Mr Dryden was pleased to advise that we have had another very successful year and that attendances at our meetings have again exceeded our expectations. Although the committee of the Society has retained some concern regarding our ability to accommodate large attendances at meetings held in the Pitcairn Centre, High Street, Bonnyrigg, a decision has been made to continue using the premises for the foreseeable future. We celebrated our Silver Jubilee on 21st March 2007 marking the occasion with an excellent dinner at the Laird & Dog Hotel in Lasswade. As the Society’s committee is appointed by the members at the annual general meeting, which is held in April each year, Mr Dryden advised the meeting that the retiring committee were as follows: Herbert Dryden, Howard Turner, Christine Cunningham, Margaret Waugh, Margaret Hamilton, Catherine Simpson, Christine Elliot, Betty Stoddart, Jeanette Kidd and Alison Ferguson. Thanks were again extended to the Kirk Session of Bonnyrigg Parish Church for allowing us to meet in the Pitcairn Centre. Mr Dryden expressed his thanks to the committee of the Society and to the members for their support over the past year and also to Mr Stewart for his continued support including taking the minutes for the AGM and administering the website. Mr Dryden then retired from the chair and handed over the proceedings to Mr Stewart. 6. Election of Office Bearers and Committee. Mr Stewart advised the meeting of the process for electing Office Bearers and Committee in accordance with the Constitution of the Society. During the year, Mrs Johnson had resigned as Secretary for health reasons and thanks were recorded for all that she had done for the Society. We were delighted to accept an offer from Mrs Cunningham to become our new Secretary and her appointment was approved by the Committee. Five remaining places required to be filled following the retirals of Mrs Ferguson, Mrs Hamilton, Miss Simpson, Mrs Kidd and Mrs Stoddart. Three nominations had been received from Mrs Forsyth, Mrs Stewart and Mr Murray. These were duly accepted by the meeting as follows: Mrs Forsyth was proposed by Mrs Waugh and seconded by Mr Sharp. Mrs Stewart was proposed by Mrs Finlayson and seconded by Mrs MacDonald. Mr Murray was proposed by Mrs Cunningham and seconded by Mrs Dryden. The appointment of Office Bearers then followed. Mrs Cunningham was re-appointed as Secretary, proposed by Mrs Adams and seconded by Mrs Forsyth. Mr Turner was re-appointed as Treasurer, proposed by Miss Simpson and seconded by Mrs Bett. No nominations were received for the positions of Chair and Vice Chair and these remained unfilled. Mr Stewart commented that it was important that these positions be filled but that he respected the views of the meeting. He also explained how a rotating Chair could work but also mentioned that there had some unease in the retiring committee about the effect that this might have on the Society. Mr Turner had recorded his concerns on this, prior to the meeting and these were intimated on his behalf. The new committee appointed by the members, was confirmed, namely Howard Turner (Treasurer), Christine Cunningham (Secretary), Margaret Waugh, Christine Elliot, Helen Stewart, Jane Forsyth and James Murray. The committee and members then unanimously accepted an offer made at the meeting by Neil Stewart (Honorary President) to provide the Society with temporary leadership during 2007-2008 until a new Chairman and Vice Chairman could be appointed. Mr Stewart stressed that he could only provide this for the coming year and was unable to fulfil any further term due to other commitments. 7. Any Other Competent Business. Mr Stewart reminded the meeting of the forthcoming outing on 1st September 2007 to Durham and asked that those members wishing to go should contact the Secretary, Mrs Cunningham, as soon as possible, to confirm their places. As there were no further items of business Mr Stewart closed the meeting and thanked the members for their attendance.