From the Chair by John Wilkinson, Chairman
I write this having just returned from a very successful, friendly and positive Summer School. It is heartening to see that the number of 12–15 year old attendees continues to increase, and I am grateful to the Management Board for agreeing to further subsidise the cost of attendance for these youngsters. Back by popular demand were the Friday afternoon Garden Parties; as a tribute to the late John Drewry, a staff team performed some of his dances each week. At any event which I have attended over the last year, I have appealed for suggestions to help take the Society forward. Thank you to Trevor for being the only person to respond! I also challenged every member to find one new member. The issue of finding new members is of sufficient importance that it will be the only topic for the Open Forum at the AGM & Annual Conference Weekend in November. We have continued down the path towards becoming a Company Limited by Guarantee, a slow and at times difficult
process. However, I am pleased to report that this proposal will be presented to delegates at AGM 2014.
has given me huge support for the past four years. Both will be greatly missed and I wish them both well for the future.
One of the highlights of the year was the Commonwealth Ceilidh. A great deal of preparatory work was carried out to bring this project to fruition, and it was with no little apprehension that a great many branches and groups embarked on their contribution. We were delighted by the numbers involved throughout the world and by the positive reaction of most participants; do read the report on pages 16–17.
Our website has continued to develop and many of the original problems have been resolved, although new ones appear from time to time. I want to make clear that this is, and will remain, an ongoing project, introducing new facilities and functions to keep us up to date, particularly in streamlining the shop. Use of social media soared around the Commonwealth Ceilidh and has been continued, using an external contractor. Elspeth will be a hard act to follow but we must look to the future and to that end we aim to recruit a person who will be responsible for social media and other website content maintenance.
Many of you have already agreed to contribute to the Archive project and I would recommend that every branch and group get in touch to offer what they can in terms of information, and perhaps set up ‘Dance Trails’. In this, my final magazine report, I must take the opportunity to thank all those at HQ who have worked so hard on your behalf, sometimes under extremely difficult circumstances. As you know, we are about to lose the services of Elspeth Gray, who has been a stalwart for over 14 years. In 2015 we will lose the services of Elizabeth Foster, with whom I have worked closely and who
Thank you to all HQ staff, branches, groups and members who have continued to maintain the traditions of SCD and who have given me great support over the last four years. I hope you will continue to offer the same support to Jim Healy, who takes over from me as Chairman. It has been an honour to have served you and I now look forward to a return to the ‘quiet life’ if there was ever such a thing!
Membership Services Committee by Philip Whitley, Convenor
A busy eight months concluded in July with the publication of four books and three CDs, and it is a credit to everyone involved – MS Committee members, especially Linda Gaul and Helen McGinley for leading on the Book 48 and Third Graded Book projects; George Meikle; David Cunningham; HQ staff; and everyone involved in proofreading – that we met the Summer School deadlines. Special thanks to George Meikle for finding suitable tunes where none were submitted and for arranging all the music. The effort involved in finding and arranging 29 tunes and co-ordinating the recording of three CDs should not be underestimated. It is to his credit that George achieved an excellent balance of traditional and modern tunes, perfectly fitting the dances. George has been an
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invaluable help as Music Director, and I look forward to working with Ian Muir (Craigellachie Band) who succeeds George in November. Similarly, thanks are due to David Cunningham, as recording, mixing and editing three CDs in three months is a considerable undertaking. The list of publications for the next two years or so will be: • Combined A5 book (including Leaflet Dances) for the 2014 AGM & Conference Weekend; • Book 49 and the second volume of the Imperial Dances for the 2015 Summer School; • Combined A5 Books 25–30 for the 2015 AGM & Conference Weekend; • Hopefully, a collection of dances from the Spring Fling competition (subject to further discussion), to be published in 2016. I offer apologies for the delay in electronic
versions of Society publications; at the time of writing (August 2014), digital rights management is proving a tougher nut to crack than was anticipated, but we will continue to work on this issue to seek a positive outcome. I would like to conclude by showing my appreciation to the outgoing Chairman, John Wilkinson, and to Elspeth Gray who retires in December. It has been a pleasure to work with them, and I am sure that I will have similar relationships with Jim Healy, who succeeds John, and with Elspeth’s replacement.
John Laurie, Bobby Crowe, and Alice Mann We are sorry to inform members that Bobby Crowe (long-time band leader), John Laurie (stalwart of the London Branch), and Alice Mann (dance pianist) died in September. Obituaries for them will appear in the April 2015 issue.
