Manawatu Savage Club

8 May 2020.

Dear Savage Club friends, 

I trust everyone is still coping with all the difficulties and trials that our current situation has put in front of us. While it looks as if light is appearing at the end of the tunnel, one can only hope that it is not the headlights of an oncoming train (old joke). However it has obviously brought a lot of hardship to many, including club members, but hang in there - Kiwis have always been a resiliant bunch, although I imagine that most of us would never have thought that getting some bread and milk would have been so difficult. Something to be said for the old days of the milkman and home deliveries.

I thought it would be worthwhile bringing members up to date re the current situation about the club.There has been a bit of gossip circulating, so I need to make sure you are all kept abreast of things. As you know, we have had to cancel concerts for the last couple of months, and as things stand, July may be the month for a restart, but that of course is going to depend on how soon we get to level 1, as level 2 would not be appropriate. Meantime the general expenses of the club have been ongoing, with large bills for rates and insurance, as well as power, gas etc. plus loss of income from door charges and raffles. The club has finances enough to cope with these for the present, but it does show that we, like many businesses and organisations are affected by economic fluctuations. One possible solution that has been informally suggested, is that we sell the rooms, and rent a hall for our monthly concerts. This is not a new suggestion, as several years ago, the then committee looked at this idea before abandoning it. Your committee has had some informal discussions by phone and email, and at present has put further discussion on hold for 2 reasons. Firstly, given the current Covid-19 problem, it really isn’t the right time to have this discussion, although it will be taken up further when the committee can have it’s usual meetings. Secondly, and more importantly, I feel, we were just starting to look at ideas to bring in new members hopefully, under the ‘On Stage, Manawatu’ banner but the lock-down brought that to a grinding halt. The committee feels that we should proceed with a membership drive which would also involve liaising with other musical groups in the city, to try and find common ground with them.

Finally a note about subs. At this stage only some members have paid their subs, and had the usual concerts gone on, most if not all members would have paid by now. However, I image that some of you may be feeling that you will not be getting value for money so we should be looking at modifying this somehow. My own feeling however is that if you find value in an organisation, you support it through good and bad times, so I would ask members who have not paid their subs, to do so when possible. I would also ask that if any members have comments or objections concerning anything I have raised in this newsletter, then I would welcome feedback, both positive and negative, either to me or Nancy, our secretary. (My email address is d.fulton@inspire.net.nz).

I sincerely hope that you all continue to stay well. I also hope that you are continuing to practice your singing or playing, as we look towards the day when we all unite for our next concert.

Don Fulton.  (President).

MANAWATU SAVAGE CLUB ANNUAL PRESIDENTS REPORT. 2020

This year has been another relatively successful year for the club, although as with most clubs, the difficulty in finding new members, as well as the increasing age of current members continues to be of concern.

Our current membership is 62 financial members. We have had a recent drop off with some members moving away, and others resigning.

However the year went well with monthly concerts from Monday nights to Sunday afternoons, which the older and less mobile members found helpful.

We had an outward raid to Masterton, which was well received, and we welcomed an inward raid from Hastings Orphans club, which was very enjoyable.

The swing band gave 2 concerts – the first was the annual February outdoor concert

At Summerhill Retirement village. Then early in August the swing band were the guest performers at the Manawatu Jazz Club monthly concert. On both occasions they got good reviews.

Our annual Public Concert was held at the Globe theatre in October, which featured our young Performer Award winner vocalist Jake Bader, from St Peter’s College.

As the concert was not as successful this year with a down turn in numbers attending, it has been decided not to have one this year.

We have been invited to put 2 mini concerts at Olive Tree Retirement Village on Sunday 29^th and Sunday 30^th August, starting at 2.p.m. As we have a captive audience 

this will also contribute to our club funds.

The club also has a group of performers that regularly go around the retirement homes giving short concerts as a means of fundraising for the club. Thank you Gael Donoghue and your great band of merry makers. It is truly appreciated from the club.

As you know, we have become relatively informal at meetings and concerts over the last couple of years. It has become increasingly obvious that much of the old formal protocols are a big turn-off for potential young members. We are also in the process of considering a name change to something like “The Manawatu Entertainment Club.

This will be discussed at our A.G.M in February.                                                                        To all the council , my thanks for their contribution in keeping the club running smoothly.

 We have lost 3 members who died 2019. Cliff Jaques in February after being a member for 38 years, Shirley Crawford in Jun(9 years), and Puti Tipene in December.

Don Fulton:   Chairman Manawatu Savage Club.