Forest
Players
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Forest Row Dramatic Society and Sackville Players merger
The Decision
At the beginning of 2007 both the Forest Row Dramatic Society (FRDS) and the Sackville Players (Sackville) held extraordinary general meetings (EGM) to discuss and decide upon a proposal to merge the two companies.
That Sackville Players and FRDS form a new drama society pulling together the best elements of each constitution. The new society will be funded from the existing assets of both Societies (both financial and physical) and managed by a Management Committee elected by the members of the new society. Membership of the new society shall be open to all existing members of the two societies. The new society will strive to present productions both in East Grinstead and Forest Row.
At both EGMs, the proposal was discussed, voted on and adopted. A 'merger committee' was subsequently created, which has met and discussed the details of a merger and proceeded to carry out the wishes of the memberships.
The New Group
Both FRDS and Sackville will cease to operate in August 2007. A new group will start up in August and all members of both previous groups are invited to join.
To get the new group started, some decisions had to be made (by the merger committee) so that it could get to the stage where it could gather members and hold a general meeting. This included giving it a name, rules and officers. All these will need to be discussed and addressed at the first meeting.
Name: Forest Players
Rules:
Acting officers: Acting Chairman Nick Watson Acting Treasurer John Freeman Acting Secretary Martin Stuart
Membership: All existing members of FRDS and Sackville are offered free and automatic membership of the Forest Players until the end of 2007. Membership of the Forest Players will then run annually from January to December.
The Meeting
Forest Players Inaugural AGM
8pm-10pm Tuesday 14th August 2007
The first Annual General Meeting of the Forest Players will take place on Tuesday 14th August at 8pm in the Forest Row Church Hall. Unfortunately the village hall is undergoing electrical work in August and is unavailable for this meeting. The church hall is behind the church, just over the road from the village hall.
The Agenda
1. Chairman's report 2. Treasurer's report 3. Adoption of rules Please read the attached rules. Proposals for amendments are invited from the membership. 4. Adoption of roles Please read the attached roles. Proposals for amendments are invited from the membership. 5. Other merger details Some details are given here; others will hopefully be presented at the meeting. Some issues will undoubtedly be raised that will not have been considered previously. 6. Election of officers and committee The acting officers have all indicated that they would be willing to stand for election to the posts they currently act in. Other proposals for officers and proposals for committee members are invited from the membership.
Proposals (duly seconded) can be in writing (that includes email) beforehand to the secretary, or verbally at the meeting.
The time available for the meeting is limited and so discussion may necessarily have to be limited if it continues for too long.
The Details
The name of the group has proved to be an emotive issue for some. Many different names have been put forward with varying degrees of interest. Some proposed names, including 'Forest Players' was put to the majority of active members of both FRDS and Sackville at the post-production meeting for Amy's View. After informal discussion the name 'Forest Players' was voted for at that time with almost unanimous approval.
The proposed rules for the new group are closer to the FRDS rules than the Sackville rules but incorporate aspects of both along with some (hopefully) improvements.
The proposed duties are for the various officers, committee members and anyone else active within the Forest Players. The merger committee felt that it was important for these were made explicit to try to avoid any misunderstandings.
The November production in the Forest Row Village Hall will be entirely operated by the Forest Players. Steve Hall will be directing The Happiest Days Of Your Life by John Dighton. Auditions will be held in the last week of August.
All assets from both former groups will be transferred to the Forest Players. This will probably have taken place before the inaugural AGM.
I'm sure other things will come up between now and the AGM. If you think of any, please let me know, I'm here to help.
Martin Stuart Acting Secretary Forest Players 19 July 2007 |
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