RECENT NEWS
AGM 2019 : Margot steps down after 23 years as Chair!
2019 AGM
09/03/2019
It was with mixed feelings that members gathered on Thursday night for the Society’s Annual General Meeting in the absence of long time Chair Margot Witcombe. She is standing down this year pending medical treatment to improve a mobility problem that has increasingly limited her activities over the past year. Hers will be big shoes to fill, but Jenny Short was duly elected to the vacant position, and is looking forward to working with the new Committee in what will be a whole new era for the Society. Margot’s husband Mike, who stood down as Secretary in 2018, was re-elected to the Committee, and Jill Toman and Diana Walker remain in post as Secretary and Treasurer for the coming year.
Margot’s father, Albie Seymour, was the Society’s first elected Chairperson, taking office in 1974 and continuing in the role until the mid-90s. Margot became Vice Chair in 1994, assuming more responsibilities as Albie’s increasing age necessitated. She was elected as Chair in 1996-23 years ago and has remained in post ever since! Working with husband Mike throughout the years, Margot has always proudly supported and promoted the NRPS. She loves the opportunities to meet with other clubs socially and in competitions, and her local knowledge of judges, speakers and the WCPF is second to none. This will continue to be invaluable in the coming months and years as we plan our programme and try and attract new members.
For Margot, the club’s Annual Exhibition in Midsomer Norton has always been a highlight of the year, and her home the hub around which meetings were planned, equipment stored, and from where all things travelled to local fetes and festivals.
A keen photographer herself, Margot has taken a variety of images over the years and been successful in her efforts. She won the Seymour Millenium Cup in 2016 with her “Barn Owl”, and notable for her sense of fun, she has had more than a few successes with a well captured image featuring a sharp reflection in the sunglasses (worn by a fellow club member at the time) on an outing to Clevedon! She was also apparently equally enthusiastic as a model dressed in fur and adorned with hats and gloves, posing atop a classic car on another summer jaunt to Ammerdown. Now that is a hard act to follow, and would have been worth seeing!
Both Mike and Margot have given freely of their time over the years, steering the Society through lean times to be the increasingly popular centre for local enthusiasts it now is. Margot’s thanks to all for their support and help over the years was communicated at the meeting, but members were generous in their appreciation of her, and keen to mark her dedication appropriately. They voted unanimously to offer her the opportunity to continue to serve in the role of Honorary President. If she accepts, we know that her invaluable knowledge and wisdom will still be available to those taking the Society forward, but that she will be able to relax the reins and hand over with confidence the responsibilities she has carried for so long.
Jenny Short 08.03.19
Margot’s father, Albie Seymour, was the Society’s first elected Chairperson, taking office in 1974 and continuing in the role until the mid-90s. Margot became Vice Chair in 1994, assuming more responsibilities as Albie’s increasing age necessitated. She was elected as Chair in 1996-23 years ago and has remained in post ever since! Working with husband Mike throughout the years, Margot has always proudly supported and promoted the NRPS. She loves the opportunities to meet with other clubs socially and in competitions, and her local knowledge of judges, speakers and the WCPF is second to none. This will continue to be invaluable in the coming months and years as we plan our programme and try and attract new members.
For Margot, the club’s Annual Exhibition in Midsomer Norton has always been a highlight of the year, and her home the hub around which meetings were planned, equipment stored, and from where all things travelled to local fetes and festivals.
A keen photographer herself, Margot has taken a variety of images over the years and been successful in her efforts. She won the Seymour Millenium Cup in 2016 with her “Barn Owl”, and notable for her sense of fun, she has had more than a few successes with a well captured image featuring a sharp reflection in the sunglasses (worn by a fellow club member at the time) on an outing to Clevedon! She was also apparently equally enthusiastic as a model dressed in fur and adorned with hats and gloves, posing atop a classic car on another summer jaunt to Ammerdown. Now that is a hard act to follow, and would have been worth seeing!
Both Mike and Margot have given freely of their time over the years, steering the Society through lean times to be the increasingly popular centre for local enthusiasts it now is. Margot’s thanks to all for their support and help over the years was communicated at the meeting, but members were generous in their appreciation of her, and keen to mark her dedication appropriately. They voted unanimously to offer her the opportunity to continue to serve in the role of Honorary President. If she accepts, we know that her invaluable knowledge and wisdom will still be available to those taking the Society forward, but that she will be able to relax the reins and hand over with confidence the responsibilities she has carried for so long.
Jenny Short 08.03.19