News
Dance held at St Pats Hall Dumbarton 29th April 2022
Dance Held at St. Patrick's Church Hall, Dumbarton on 29 April 2022
Due to the ongoing works at the Commodore Hotel in Helensburgh (of which more later) the first
post covid dance was relocated to St. Pat's Church Hall in Dumbarton, an excellent substitute with a
large floor ideal for dancing. Playing on the night was the Stuart McKeown Band with Stuart's
inimitable brand of lively music starting the evening with the Gay Gordons Two Step. Attendance
on the (reasonably clement) night was encouraging with 54 members and 17 non members dancing
to a selection of old favourites with most attendees staying to the end of the evening at midnight.
Tea/coffee and biscuits were served at half time by the hall staff (who also manned the bar) and the
proceeds from the usual £1 charge for refreshments (£48) were, in this instance, donated to the staff
as a token of appreciation.
The usual raffle took place at half time and raised a total of £219 which, it had been decided, is to
be donated to the Ukraine appeal. The committee has subsequently resolved to round up this
amount to £300. Many thanks to those who donated prizes for the raffle. Profit for the night after
expenses and donations amounted to £217.
For reasons outlined below there will be no dance in May, but due to a recent fortuitous cancellation
at St. Pat's we are now able to hold the next dance at that location on 24 June, subject to the
availability of a band on that date. Regrettably no dates have yet been able to be ascertained for any
following dances due to uncertainty as to when the function suite at the Commodore might be
available. Works there are currently under way to replace the floor after it collapsed and the
management has thus far been reluctant to confirm a completion date. In any event the charge
proposed for the hall has doubled, which raises concern as to the feasibility of the venue for the
future given the falloff in numbers attending over the last couple of years. St. Pat's unfortunately is
fully booked for the foreseeable future and no other venue of comparable size (and at reasonable
cost) is immediately obvious. Suggestions welcome from members, Any updates will be posted as
available.
Finally – a plea (and a warning). The mandated number of committee members per the constitution
is 14. there are currently 12 members of whom 5 have expressed the intention to stand down at the
next AGM. Without at least the same number of new members stepping forward the position for the
future is unsustainable and the Association is in imminent danger of being wound up after an
existence of some 112 years. In that light we would ask any members of the Association (or indeed
any current non members) willing to participate in the committee to make themselves known to the
Secretary or any other committee member as soon as possible.
