(5)

A RELUCTANT FAREWELL

Until recently, I have had the distinction of being the longest continuous member on this circuit and in fact, one of the very few still active drivers who drove a radio mobile on the original Levy’s 8800 circuit.

As I have now gone into semi-retirement and am no longer mushing, I am of course not eligible to remain a member of this circuit. My successor for long membership is, I think, an old friend of mine whose speed in touching the button when a job is called is so fast, that no electronic device has yet been invented to time it. I refer of course, to Les Sherman, Dan 62, with whom I first worked on night shift many years ago at Cooks. In those days, we always did a twelve-hour shift because we could not get transport home during the night.

Unlike the famous playright John Osborne, I do not ‘Look back in anger’ at my long stay on Lords, but leave with a tinge of sadness and many pleasant memories. I have not the slightest doubt that my life was made much easier by being a subscriber and feel it was a lucky day for me when I joined the circuit.

I have for a very long time been of the opinion that too large a percentage of the membership do not realise their good fortune in having, without any difficulty, joined Lords after it had been built up by the majority of the earlier members plus the hard conscientious work of the past board of management. I have because of my long association with Lords, seen the ups and downs of the society, the balance sheets in the red and in the black. I clearly recall some years ago when we (I still use the pronoun of a participant) were in the red and at an AGM I asked, in a roundabout way, a legal financial question to the accountants representative which he could not answer, because he could not understand the question. At the time, this amazed me but looking back I’m glad he left the question, or it might have created a most uneasy feeling among the members. In fact a minor panic, which could well have resulted in a run on the bank and if my memory is right, Carey Street was a point in the blue book! At that time, Jack Taylor took over the Treasurership and under his guidance the Lord’s ship sailed out of stormy waters into a calm sea.

From that time on, it is my view that the society has gone from strength to strength, due in no small measure to Jack Taylor being followed by Aubrey Siteman, whose combination of natural intelligence, business understanding and dedication to the society has enabled it to reach its very strong and healthy position which is no mean feat, when one remembers that he has had to battle, like we all do but on a much bigger scale, against the western world’s disease of inflation. If you just consider for a moment what the subs were 20 years ago and work out the percentage increases of the present dues, it surely is a tribute to all the hard work of the boards of management of the past.  Offhand I cannot think of any item or service in daily use that has not gone up much more in percentage than the monthly payments you make for your radio.

Those members who have known me for some time will of course be aware that at AGMs of the past, I have on a number of occasions been angrily vocal with the board and have tried at times to oppose them by resolution, but always coming the loser. This of course is the price one has to pay when belonging to a democratic organisation and Lords certainly is when the rule of majority, even if the decision is a wrong one, has to obtain. I only mention this in case any newcomers think I am trying to ingratiate myself with the board when I take up so much space in praising their efforts on behalf of all of you. Because of the opening sentence of this farewell letter, I am able to write about the society with not only experience but with conviction, which same conviction provides me with justification in feeling disappointed with so many of you. For your general attitude to the society, of which NEVER FORGET, you are a shareholder and are directly affected by its’ success or failure. I have on countless occasions had a feeling of nausea when I have read the monthly number of scrubs, a matter which I fairly frequently discussed with the board members particularly Aubrey and Martin. The latter viewpoint is fairly summed up when he says, “ there will be a number of scrubs because of traffic and weather and if the day ever comes when we don’t have any scrubs, I’ll start to worry.” I agree with this BUT, only up to a point. My own personal philosophy in life has been to treat the other person as I would like them to treat me if the position was reversed.