President: Admiral Sir Raymond Lygo KCB Winter 2010 Edition No. 49 - hmsstvincentassoc.org “God bless us, every one” Letter from the President Admiral Sir Raymond Lygo KCB Association Officers President: Admiral Sir Raymond Lygo KCB Vice President: Lt. Alan Dobson RN Rtd Chairman: Ken Cast 01329 668464 Secretary: Vacant and awaiting a volunteer! Membership Secretary: Joe Cornish 01480 414152 Treasurer: Tony Dewhirst 02380 770555 Public Relations: David Coleman 01305 260761 Newsletter Editor: Phil (Darby) Allen MBE 02392 556810 AGM and Reunion Organiser: Vacant and awaiting a volunteer! Standard Bearer: Mick O'Keefe contact via the Chairman Padre: Phillip Hiscock 02392 346881 Slops Manager: Dave Hazlewood 02392 580218 Archivist: John Clifford 01329 282152 Almoners: Henry De Silva – Northern Area 01624 880863 Tony Hoare – Southern Area 01403 267833 Ray Churcher – Western Area 01275 543603 Raffle Organiser: Vacant and awaiting a volunteer! Webmaster: Roger Lyons contact via the Chairman A comprehensive stock of glorious goodies is organised and held by our Slops Manager, Dave Hazlewood, who will be happy to supply a list , to take your order and, of course, your money!. Dave can be contacted at 02392 580218, or [email protected] D.N. Hazlewood, 10 Weymouth Avenue, Gosport, Hampshire. PO12 4NR Nozzer (Elvis?) Reality (Ugh!) Tomorrow? Less hair maybe, but still all my own teeth! My dentist praises Pusser’s fillings, saying that they last a lifetime! I wonder if that is because they red leaded them! Hello my Hearties! Some of you that attended the AGM/Reunion noticed my table and back drop and have responded to my plea for material and as a result I have a few more members‟ articles in this issue, sincere thanks. One of the unforeseen pleasures of my task, in fact, now I come to think of it, probably the only one(!), is receiving informative letters, e-mails and telephone calls from nice people, so do keep „em coming, it will not be long before I run out of material and am able to indulge myself again! Incidentally the size (A5), and the thickness (max 28 pages) of recent editions, are dictated by cost. It means we can use the cheapest postage and keep our printing expenditure down. Including competitively priced printing, postage and envelopes etc, each copy posted to a UK address costs about £1:60p, considerably more abroad. Sadly less than 50 of our 280 e mail address holders opt for the e-mail version. It has been agreed that your “thrice” yearly Magazine will be published in mid December, mid April and mid August so if you haven‟t received them by the end of those months start screaming. E mail recipients will obviously receive them somewhat earlier. I felt privileged to march in our Cenotaph Platoon again this year, it really is a stirring occasion and the Princess Royal gave me a lovely smile when I gave her my “eyes right!” As a bonus we were on TV too! I have just attended a “Pickle Night” for the 1st time in a few years, this time in HMS Sultan, what a laugh! More about that in the next edition. Do have a happy Crimbo and do join me on New Year‟s Eve in raising a glass to all fellow “Vincentians” (any other name suggestions?), including those who have crossed the bar ahead of us. Stay Happy, Keep smiling and Carpe Deum. Darby Allen (Hawke 192 & 223, 1/59). Ed. P.W. ALLEN M.B.E, 23 Cambridge Road, Lee-on-the-Solent,Hants, PO13 9DH.Telephone 02392 556810. E mail; [email protected] Kenneth Cast (Duncan 540, 11/62) It was good to see you all at the AGM, and considering there wasn‟t to be a reunion dinner this year, the turnout was much higher than I could have anticipated. So well done to all those who made the effort, which was greatly appreciated by your Committee. As you all know, it was a fairly complex meeting with discussion on the Membership categories, subscriptions and the reunion dinner for next year. So again thank you for your understanding and input which has allowed us to widen participation and maintain the numbers joining the Association. It is an honour to become your elected Chairman. Thank you all. As you are now aware, we WILL be holding a reunion dinner in 2011, which will be held at the Royal Beach Hotel in Southsea (just opposite the entrance to the pier). So book your weekend for the 8th. October 2011!! The AGM will still be held at St. Vincent as usual with tea & coffee served all day plus a fish & chip luncheon with wine…..all included within the tariff. Booking forms will be distributed shortly. It also includes coaches to and from the hotel to keep you all out of mischief. This year we had thirty members attending the Remembrance Service and parade at the Cenotaph and it was a very proud moment for me to lead them all down Whitehall. We have also had Andy Poulton leading the West Country Members at the Bristol Remembrance service and parade and „Hookey‟ Walker leading our team for the parade at Gosport War Memorial. A special thank you to all those who took part, and especially to the area organisers, without whom this would be impossible. Well done. In late October I was able to represent the Association and accepted the invitation from the Mayor of Stone to attend their annual Trafalgar dinner. My good lady and I travelled to Stone, were made very welcome and had a wonderful evening as their guests. I was asked to propose the Loyal Toast which I duly did and we also had a speech from a member of the 1805 Club which was very entertaining. I am also delighted to announce that as of December, the office of the Mayor of Stone will become an Honorary Association Member, along with our office of President, Vice President and Association Padre. Another pleasurable moment for me was, on the behalf of the Committee and Association, to present Diane and Malcolm Smith with a decanter for their sterling work and dedication to the Association for these past eight years. Especially to Diane for the organisation of our Reunion and AGM functions. I‟m sure that you will all join me in wishing them well in their „retirement‟ and we hope to see them at the AGM Reunion next year. It has always been a pleasure working with them both. With regard to subscriptions (which are mentioned elsewhere in this journal), it would appear that a considerable number of you have yet to change your Standing Orders to £12.50. So bear with us and me when I ask you to double check your Standing Order and if necessary, make the required changes to the correct amount without delay please? Thank you all in advance and with your help we can maintain the sanity of our overworked Treasurer and Membership Secretary!! (If you have any queries, please don‟t hesitate to contact us and all will be explained.) Whilst some of the subscription difficulties are yet to be finally resolved, we have progressed considerably and I am pleased with our overall result of many changes and once again your Committee have provided their valuable time and huge effort to maintain the smooth running of the Association and I certainly look forward to its future and growth of membership. Their efforts on your behalf are greatly appreciated by me and I feel sure, they are with you all. To end on a high, Christmas is just around the corner once again so the season of goodwill and cheer will be with us shortly. A Happy Christmas to you all. May I wish you a safe and healthy New Year. I look forward to 2011 and to seeing you all once again at our AGM and Reunion next October. Booking forms for the 2011 AGM will be mailed out to you in January. Take care. Ken Joe Cornish (Duncan 111, 2/58) The past few weeks have been an interesting time, the changeover to a common payment date of the 1st October and an increase in our annual subs has had varied success. Some members have got it right and my thanks to all of you that have made the change successfully, in particular the use of your ships book numbers on the standing order mandate have been very helpful when trying to interpret the banks description of an individual. Unfortunately quite a few members did not get the changeover right, and with help from other committee members we are in the process of sending emails where possible or inserting a letter with this newsletter to those that need it. At the 2009 AGM it was agreed that we would change to a single payment date of the 1st October each year for all members, starting with 2010. It was also agreed that the subs would increase to £12.50. At some point there had to be a cut off date and the 1st May was felt to be the fairest, therefore all those with an old payment date before the end of April would be asked to pay their £10 as normal and then pay £12.50 on the first October, all those with an old payment date after the 1st May would not pay anything until the 1st October and then pay £12.50. Please bear with us as we contact those members that did not get it right and I apologise if the procedure was not made clear to you.