Ending the year in true 2020 fashion, Black Rocks Rowing Club’s Annual General Meeting was held on the 3rd December, courtesy of Zoom! It was attended by over half of our (admittedly small) club, so many thanks to everyone that was able to make it. If truth be told, the date rather snuck up on us; it’s been a peculiar year for all of us but not a completely unproductive one for the club.
The year has, of course, been defined by the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. After a great start to our boat build at the end of 2019, we suddenly found our project stalled and it sadly remained that way until fairly recently. Of course, the health and safety of our members and communities have had to take precedence in these challenging times. The silver lining is that our build is in the process of remobilising, albeit with a number of new rules. All club members are welcome to participate (regardless of experience) as long as they’re able to do so within the constraints of government and club rules.
Our build has, of course, been made possible thanks to a number of fundraising efforts. The club held a successful wine tasting event at the start of year (pre-COVID!); thanks must go to Bill Rollo and the Bowling Club for making this possible. We’re also grateful for a number of grants that we’ve received in the past year from Burntisland & Kinghorn Rotary Club, Fife Council, and the Edinburgh Airport Community Fund.
Looking ahead to 2021, we are pleased to welcome our newly elected Committee. Office bearers Martin Blankenstein and Ron Smith have agreed to stay on as Treasurer and Secretary respectively. Elisa Robertson has been voted in as our new Chair, replacing Joel Houck who has decided to step down from this position. Many thanks are owed to Joel for his efforts over the past year, and we are grateful to him for agreeing to continue within the Committee. The full list of Committee members is as follows:
- Adam Arnott
- Martin Birrell
- Martin Blankenstein (Treasurer)
- Joel Houck
- Chris Mitchell
- Denise Richmond
- Elisa Robertson (Chair)
- Finlay Robertson
- David Roy
- Ron Smith (Secretary)
The new committee will convene for the first time on Thursday 7th January, 2021. We can look ahead to the new year in the hope that a steady drumbeat towards normality may be sounding from somewhere just over the horizon. In the meantime, be sure to watch out for news as our boat build gathers some headway.
Best wishes of the season to everyone; stay safe, stay healthy, and we look forward to seeing you all again in 2021!
