The Annual General Meeting
- Details
- Published on Thursday, 02 August 2012 13:35
- Written by Bruce Sandison
I was digging around recently in my memories of season's past when I came across the minutes of an angling association meeting held three decades ago. I sat down to read:
"The Annual General Meeting of the Sandison Family Fishing Association was held in the Dining Room, Mossbank, Louisburgh Street, Wick, Caithness at 8.00pm on 23rd October 1977.
Present: Mr Bruce Sandison (Chairman); Mrs Ann Sandison (Secretary); Mr Blair Sandison (Treasurer); Ms Lewis-Ann Sandison (Social Affairs Secretary); Mr Charles Sandison (Catering Clerk); Miss Jean Sandison and Associate Member, Horace Cat.
The minutes of the last meeting were approved and the Chairman welcomed the newest member, Miss Jean Sandison, aged two-and-a-half. He hoped Miss Sandison would enjoy her time with the Association and asked the Secretary to restrain her from eating agenda papers.
The Chairman reported that the catch for the year showed a significant increase on previous years, due to his untiring efforts. He commented that perhaps other members should try harder.
Ms Lewis-Ann Sandison said that if other members fished as often as the Chairman, the figures would have been considerably higher. However, someone had to wash dishes, do the ironing, cook meals and look after the house, she said.
The Secretary thanked Ms Lewis-Ann Sandison for her kind remarks.
Ms Lewis-Ann Sandison replied that she was talking about herself, not the Secretary, who had been fishing much more often than some other members of the Association.
Mr Blair Sandison raised the question of "missed fish" and asked what action the Chairman proposed to take to improve his casting technique?
The Chairman said he was more concerned by the difficulty some members had using a landing net, particularly whilst landing the Chairman's trout.
Mr Blair Sandison commented that if members were expected to work with second-rate equipment, accidents would happen. Whilst he regretted losing the Chairman's 1lb trout, he felt bound to add it was unreasonable to expect members to hang out of boats in force-five gales as the Chairman allowed a small fish to run rings round him.
The Chairman said the trout in question had weighed at least 4lb and that Mr Blair Sandison's failure to land the fish was, to say the least, suspicious. It was agreed the Secretary investigate the purchase of a new net for next season.
Miss Jean Sandison said she wanted to go fishing. The Secretary explained it was dark and that all the fish had gone to their beds. Miss Jean Sandison began to cry.
Mr Charles Sandison proposed a short adjournment for lemonade, warm sweet tea, chocolate biscuits or anything else that happened to be going.
The Chairman said he would prefer a large whisky with a little water and Mr Blair Sandison said he would too.
The meeting adjourned to the kitchen for refreshments.
Due to the rising cost of electricity and the expense of keeping the dining room fire going the chairman proposed the meeting be continued in the kitchen. Ms Lewis-Ann Sandison said it was only because some people wanted to be nearer the drinks cabinet.
Upon being put to the vote the motion was carried and the meeting continued in the kitchen.
Mr Charles Sandison reminded the meeting that there were only fifty-one shopping days left until Christmas and could he have a fishing rod of his own. Miss Jean Sandison said that she wanted one too.
The Secretary was instructed to raise the matter with Mr Claus but the chairman told the meeting that funds were limited as his rod would require to be refurbished after falling into Loch Watten.
Mr Blair Sandison said that whilst he sympathised with the Chairman's predicament this expense should be borne by the Chairman alone since it had been due to the Chairman's own stupidity the rod had been lost.
Whilst agreeing with Mr Blair Sandison the Chairman pointed out that the cost of hiring a frogman for the day had been not inconsiderable. He hoped the Association might agree to help with these costs.
Ms Lewis-Ann Sandison said she agreed with Mr Blair Sandison and that people should pay for their own silliness.
The Secretary reminded members it was customary to be polite and asked Miss Lewis-Ann Sandison and Mr Blair Sandison to withdraw their remarks and apologise to the Chairman.
The Secretary said the cost of recovering and repairing the Chairman's rod was far cheaper than buying a new rod and that members should be glad the Chairman's rod had been found.
It was agreed the Association pay 50% of the cost of having the Chairman's rod refurbished if he agreed to stop hiding his fly boxes.
At this point Horace Cat left the meeting to attend to urgent business in the garden.
The following year's holiday was discussed. It was proposed by Ms Lewis-Ann Sandison and seconded by Mr Blair Sandison that the Chairman and Secretary curtail smoking and drinking in order to defray costs and thus provide better equipment with the money saved.
The Chairman and Secretary suggested a subcommittee be appointed to investigate this possibility, reporting back to the Association at their next Annual General Meeting.
Ms Lewis-Ann Sandison demanded a named vote. Three members, Mr Blair Sandison, Ms Lewis-Ann Sandison and Mr Charles Sandison opposed the motion. Mr Bruce Sandison, Mrs Ann Sandison and Miss Jean Sandison supported the motion.
The Chairman used his casting vote to decide the issue in favour of a sub-committee report, reminding Miss Lewis-Ann Sandison that this was an excellent example of the democratic process in action.
The Sandison Cup for the heaviest trout of the season was awarded to the Chairman. There was some desultory clapping and Miss Jean Sandison said she wanted one too.
It was unanimously agreed the Chairman and Secretary be reappointed for the following year. The Chairman thanked the members of the Association for their continued support and said that he felt privileged to belong to one of the best angling clubs in the world.
Miss Jean Sandison having fallen asleep and there being no further business, the meeting ended at 11.00pm."
As I finished reading, I wondered what the now-scattered members of The Sandison Family Fishing Association, and their children, were doing to celebrate the start of the new season? What unforgettable memories they have given me. But I can still catch more trout than the lot of them put together, so there.
Bruce Sandison is a writer and journalist and author of nine books, including the definite anglers' guide, 'The Rivers and Lochs of Scotland' which is being revised and updated prior to republishing.
He contributed to 'Trout & Salmon' for 25 years and was angling correspondent for 'The Scotsman' for 20 years. Sandison writes for the magazine 'Fly Fishing and Fly Tying' and provides a weekly angling column in the 'Aberdeen Press & Journal'.
His work, on angling, Scottish history and environmental subjects, has appeared in most UK national papers, including 'The Sunday Times', 'The Telegraph', 'The Daily Mail', 'The Herald', 'Private Eye', 'The Field' and in a number of USA publications.
Sandison has worked extensively on BBC Radio. His series 'Tales of the Loch' ran for 5 years on Radio Scotland and was also broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and on BBC World Service. His series, 'The Sporting Gentleman's Gentleman' and his programme 'The River of a Thousand Tears', about Strathnaver, established his reputation as a broadcaster.
Sandison has had extensive coverage on television. He wrote and presented two series for the BBC TV Landward programme and has given a number of interviews over the years on factory-forestry, peat extraction, wild fish conservation and fish farming.
Sandison is founding chairman of 'The Salmon Farm Protest Group', an organisation that campaigns for the removal of fish farms from Scottish coastal and freshwater lochs where disease and pollution from these farms is driving wild salmonid populations to extinction.
Bruce Sandison won 'Feature Writer of the Year' in the Highlands and Islands Press Awards in 2000 and in 2002, and was highly commended in 2005. Bruce lives near Tongue in Sutherland with his wife Ann.