MINUTES OF THE BILO BAR CLUB ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD IN DAVUI HALL ON THURSDAY, 6 NOVEMBER 2008 AT 10.00AM
Present : David Hopcroft - General Manager/Grand Bilo
Graeme Harvey – Imperial Bilo
Ray Louis – Trustee
Allan Steel – Trustee
Edna Whiting Christine Maddison
Ken Curnow Betty Curnow
Keith McPhee Michael Gildea
Mat Harvey Sean McEvoy
Val Large Fran Bromage
Mal Harvey Judy Steel
Ron Williams Lynne Williams
Barry Hancock Laurel Louis
Erin Dillimore-Muir Sue Brett
Kevin Brett Neil Robinson
Claire Robinson Allan McCudden
Terry Large Lyall Bailey
Noelene Bailey David Miller
Mike Mulcahy Vicki Mulcahy
Alana Hancock
Damian O’Donnell – Resident Manager
Peter Zimmerman – Chief Engineer
Gavin Weightman – Director of Sales & Marketing
Rudolf Kunkel – Executive Chef
Sai Makutu – Front Office Manager
Kathy Anthony – Secretary in attendance
Apologies : Kim Shoesmith
Lorraine Hancock
John & Patricia Bartosh
Gordon & Margaret Latham
Noelene Hogan
The meeting opened at 10.10 am and members were welcomed by David Hopcroft and Graeme Harvey. The minutes of the 8th November 2007 AGM were confirmed as a true and accurate record of the meeting. Moved by Alan McCudden and seconded by Laurel Louis.
Trustee Appointment
A requirement at each AGM is the stepping down of one of the Trustees. Allan Steel is due to stand down this year and as there were no nominations received, he was re-elected for a further term.
2009 Reunion Dates
Dates for next year’s reunion are :
10th May – 23rd May
25th October – 7th November
General Manager – Grand Bilo’s Report
Mr Hopcroft mentioned it has been an interesting year with some projects completed.
- A new addition is the Putt Putt which was built in house and designed by our Chief Engineer, Peter Zimmerman.
- Air conditioned the Black Marlin Bar
- Main kitchen has been fully renovated. We are going for HACCP accreditation and it is audited by an external company; we are the first Resort to have this in Fiji.
- We’ve had quite a number of conference groups this year eg ING, Compass Pools, Toshiba who have done a lot of community work; painting of schools, improved roads and installed water tanks for the surrounding community.
- BMI Medical Team (Eye Doctors/Nurses) are currently in house. We provide them with complimentary accommodation annually and they donate their time by providing free clinics, surgery and eye glasses to the staff and general public. Next year they are sending a second smaller group to perform cataract surgery on 120 + patients.
- We also have a heart team in house.
- Few of our senior staff have been transferred: Sunil Singh as Financial Controller at Shangri-La, Cairns, Marsha Eyre as Events Manager at Shangri-La Muscat, Oman and Losalini Menon to Shangri-La Sydney. 5 staff are going on cross exposure to China later this month. This was initiated by Mr Robert Kuok on his last visit.
- Bilibili Races – Fijian Resort was again the overall winner and won both the main Bilibili events (men/ladies). We are also looking at participating in the Marathon held in Suva.
- Coral Gardens Project by Austin Bowden-Kerby who is a Marine Biologist. Coral is being planted about 20 metres out from the Sacred Point and later these corals will be replanted in the lagoon.
- Bilo Bar Reunion functions - members who have suggestions on activities/functions during the reunions, please submit to Mereaia in the Business Centre.
- Melbourne Cup – Mr Hopcroft thanked the organizing team for their efforts. Our Director of Food & Beverage has suggested that next year we do a TAB apart from the sweep stakes. Several members mentioned that this may divert money from our own efforts to raise funds for the trust fund. Also, that members now, if they wish to use the TAB, travel into Sigatoka, so we will try this out in 2009.
- Gala Dinner – only 39 attended and we had 66 members in house. To break even we would require a minimum of 50 pax. This will be stipulated for functions in future that we will require a minimum of 50 pax to go ahead.
Financial Report
Allan Steel reported on the financial status of the club for the year 1st October 2007 to 30 September 2008 with comparative figures for 2007. Teacher’s wages has decreased compared to 2007 figures due to closure of Cuvu Kindergarten. It has since been reopened.
Financial Summary (copy attached) was circulated at the meeting. A motion to accept it was moved by Barry Hancock and seconded by Ken Curnow.
Monies raised during the reunion :
Melbourne Cup Calcutta $1237.00
Melbourne Cup Sweeps $ 422.00
Betty’s Bears $ 610.00
Coconut 1st week $ 705.00
Coconut 2nd week $ 275.00
Total $3,249.00
General Business
Imperial Bilo mentioned a letter has been received from the President of the PTA of St Joan of Arc School which is a multi-racial school with classes of 1-8 comprising 350 students. They are requesting contributions to their library. After discussion it was decided that the Club is not in a position to assist but members wishing to bring in books when they visit may do so.
Mr Hopcroft highlighted a few cases whereby donated equipment/items have disappeared. It was agreed that in future items brought in for the kindergartens are to be more carefully scrutinized.
Ray Louis mentioned he has recently visited Shangri-La Muscat and said it is a magnificent resort and worth a visit. He also visited Penang and met up with former GM,
Desmond Hatton who asked to be remembered at the reunion and met John Rice at a World Fair in Beijing.
Ray Louis thanked the Executive Chef, Rudolf Kunkel for an excellent Gala dinner last night.
Several visits to the Kindergartens were made :
Cuvu Kindergarten was closed for a while and reopened when the number of students increased. The two bedroom unit for the teachers is almost completed. Sigatoka kindergarten is doing very well with 34 children in attendance and 44 on their roll. They have a second teacher assisting who is being paid by the villagers.
Few months ago the Rukurukulevu Kindergarten was closed down due to poor attendance. It was agreed at a meeting that if the attendance improves we may consider reopening the Rukurukulevu Kindergarten in January 2009.
Invoice received for $9,736.26 for renovation work to the kindergartens. Allan Steel moved a motion to pay this amount seconded by Neil Robinson and Ken Curnow. We will be expecting additional invoices of $2 to $3,000 for kindergarten works and it was agreed that payment be made on receipt of these invoices.
Jim Bulivorovo’s Daughter – Keith McPhee mentioned he has received a letter from Gordon and Margaret Latham who were only able to stay for the first 3 days of the reunion because of family commitments. He briefly outlined the contents of the letter. Prior to their departure Gordon and Margaret were deeply saddened to hear of the medical condition of Jim Bulivorovo’s 11 year old daughter who has been diagnosed with bone cancer. Jim currently works at the Takali towel bure, but for many years he worked around the Lagoon pool. As Bilo Bar members of nearly 30 years, Jim spent many hours looking after our (Lathams) children as well as those of many other Bilo Bar members and guests.
We feel that it is now appropriate for the Bilo Bar club to return Jim’s love and care by supporting him and his family emotionally, medically and financially during their time of need.
After discussion, it was proposed that a Trust Account be set up by Sai Makutu, for Jim’s daughter where members who wish to contribute towards her medical expenses, may do so and deposit their donation at the front desk.
Bilo Bar Newsletter – the issue regarding the decision to discontinue with the mailing out to members of quarterly newsletters was discussed. Mr Hopcroft highlighted that the printing and mailing out of newsletters to members has become a very expensive exercise so it was decided that instead we put all the information on the Bilo Bar website and have it updated on a regular basis.
Points raised by members :
- the Bilo Bar website is not being updated regularly
- some members and retired members do not have access to a computer or do not have an
email address
Bilo Bar Club Membership- It was agreed that guests who return to the Resort for their 3rd visit is entitled to become a member of the Bilo Bar Club. This will become effective from the 1st December, 2008. Currently the entitlement eligibility is 4 visits.
Bilo Bar T-shirt and Bilo Bar Certificate – Ray Louis mentioned that they were looking at t-shirts and would get costings. The Resort will provide certificates for new members.
With no further business, the meeting closed at 11.10am
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