SEPTEMBER - AGM - ALBANIA
Updated: 2 hours ago
This year the members decided to go a bit off piste and try somewhere a bit more off the beaten track for a change. So we alighted on the idea of visiting Albania, Tirana to be precise. Looks nice, doesn't it............................
MINUTES OF THE AGM MEETING AT THE END OF THIS BLOG
One of the charms of travelling with GASS in days of yore was the pure stupidity evinced by our members. On the way out to our venue we could include literally forgetting passports, mislaying tickets, guns in luggage (admittedly fake, but a gun none the less to an X-ray machine), I could go on.
On the way back in the coach from the hotel to the airport we would award the Mannequin Pis, a small sculpture of the little boy having a Jimmy in Brussels. Awarded for the most stupid act by any member on the trip. And boy were there some stupid acts over the years. Some even death defying, some just plain bonkers.
But no more. Most groups as they get older start to lose the plot. This lot just seem to get wiser and craftier. No-one was late to the airport at awful o'clock in the morning, everyone made the gate (even if Len had to scamper the last 500 yards by dint of a slight lack of appreciate of how far the gate was - and if you have never seen Len scamper then trust me, it's a sight for sore eyes).
That just left the trip itself as a venue for things to go wrong, but we failed. Everything went right. Well apart from one row of very tolerant passengers not getting the luxury of extra legroom on the flight courtesy of Ryanair re configuring the plane to suit themselves, not us (Mannequin Pis alert 1).
Great hotel, The Rogner. Built in the early 90's when communism collapsed, it is still a lovely spot. City centre venue, beautiful tropical gardens round their pool and bar (a GASS must-have facility). Excellent food and top quality staff. A perfect base for four days rest and relaxation.
The first night we enjoyed a walking tour of the centre with Leku, our Albanian fixer. Leku walked us from bar to bar to restaurant where we tried out the value-for-money aspects of visiting Tirana. Cheap as chips!!! Leku regaled us with tales of just how much fun it was living under the communist regime her grew up in until the fall in 1992. How he and his mates would inform on their parents, happily starve most of the time, and generally live in a medieval time warp while the rest of the world (North Korea excepted) went about modernising. We pointed out that Tirana had modernised more in the 30 years since the communists gave up then the UK has modernised in three times the time. He blamed corruption for all any any ills. We blamed bureaucracy, liberal lawyers and nimbys for our problems. Personally if corruption gets the big projects completed that fast and impressively - I'll take corruption over bureaucrats!
The following day the more intrepid members had a really enjoyable cycling tour of the city, going further out and further round this time.
Before heading out to the sticks for a traditional Albanian dinner at an old army base in the countryside.
The following day was a beach day in Albanian's top end resort of Golem, a bit up from Benidorm. Albanian is quite 1970's in its development. We started with lunch (as ever) in a trendy beach club and enjoyed a really good lunch where we must have impressed the waiter with our ability to down vast quantities of their finest wines. I guess this because the waiter himself then suggested 'shots'. Bellie added to the impression we actually wanted shots, which most of us didn't (Mannequin Pis alert 2) So shots it was!
We started with a large Raki each, which everyone downed. Then unbidden, the waiter bought over another round of Vodka and somethings, which most of us downed. Then the bloody waiter, who was downing shots with us, went off and bought back a massive tray of large Jamisons Whiskey shots. Jamisons costs a fortune in the UK, and as the wine at this restaurant (Ayo Beach Club) was £80 a bottle my over-charge sensors were going crazy. Just how much was this lot going to cost?????
Tony seemed unconcerned by the cost as he was caught emptying high end whiskey shots onto the floor between his legs (Mannequin Pis alert 3). At this point we asked for our bill........................... Amazingly the shots, some 50 or so, which in the UK would have come to at least £5 a shot, £250-300, were on the house!!! Love those Albanians!!!
The next day was a range day followed by the AGM dinner (or late lunch as it ended up after an impassioned plea by Bellie, as he falls asleep around 8pm and so dinner is a stretch for him nowadays).
So off we trotted to the shooting range in a mordern complex near our hotel. Arrived, up to the desk, only to be told that we all needed passports or driving licences. Now I had done a recce weeks earlier and actually they had told me this, but as I always carry ID I had forgotten! (Mannequin Pis alert 4). Some members trotted off to get theirs from the hotel, then thought 'fuck it' and went to lie by the pool. Andy decided that he could charm the lady behind the till with photos of his passport on his phone. She said no!, he smiled beguilingly, she said no, he fluttered his Andy Burnham eyelashes, and she melted, and we were IN!
Great weapons, good shooting by all. But the star of the show was RON. The phrase of the day was 'don't fuck with the accountant!'.
Then it was on to ERA, our AGM venue. private room as, along with most restaurants in Tirana, they were packed even on a Monday!
We looked the part in our Albanian hats and had a great evening.
THE MINUTES OF THE AGM
This was a well conducted meeting
covering mainly the pressing issue of GASS OVERSPENDING.
ELECTION OF OFFICERS: This went pretty smoothly. The only hiccup was a mild attempt by Owen to wriggle out of the post of Chairman by suggesting the flip-flop nija for the post, but as Wayne was in no way volunteering we decided to stick with Owen, who graciously accepted the mantle for another year, as did Ron and Brian.
FINANCIAL REPORT: Due to both a reduction in members and last years AGM decision to increase spending on each meeting, these two factors combined to produce a loss of £1,917, reducing the cash fund to £3,972. Ron pointed out that at that rate we'd be broke in two years, not what the members wanted.
During the day a whole raft of daft, potentially unworkable, some downright unfair, some just insane, suggestions were floated to overcome the issue. I won't bother to list them here. Suffice it to say the most sensible came from Phil. For those members that were not present please just accept that a whole host of ideas were discussed, but that this one, and its back-up logic, got a unanimous vote in favour for 2026/7.
THE ISSUES NEEDING SOLVING ARE TWOFOLD.
ISSSUE 1: We are drawing to much money from the fund. Our income from 19 members is £9,100. Currently we pay out £11,900. A £2,800 annual overspend. We must reduce the physical amount of money Ron hands out each month.
ISSUE 2: Meetings cannot be funded from even the current budget. So we need to reduce the pressure on GASS funds at each meeting to make organisors jobs easier. The meetings allowance needs to be spent on less things.
Phil came up with two solutions.
ISSUE 1: Reduce the money allocated to each meeting to £900.
Meetings are still PUB, ENTERTAINMENT and AWAYDAY, but each get £900. The balance of any cost is made up from a surcharge as appropriate.
OUTCOME: The GASS fund pays out £9,900. Annual deficit £800, but we'd hope for some funds being returned from cheaper meetings, so we can live with that.
FAIRNESS: This means no increase in fees (which would have had to rise to £55-£60 a month) so the fee stays at £40 and is basically the cost of membership. It is NOT the full cost of meetings attendance. That means that those that attend the meetings pay more than those that can't make it.
ISSUE 2: Wine will no longer be paid for from GASS funds.
All beers, normal spirits (not sherry) and soft drinks are on the GASS bill all evening. If you want wine at the table you buy your own. By the glass, bottle or hogshead, YOU BUY YOUR OWN WINE. This will take a weight off the meetings bill.
OUTCOME: Organisers get £900 given to them. They have to estimate the meeting cost and put their guesstimate of a surcharge on the GASS Whatsapp beforehand. If you attend the meeting you pay the surcharge. Any funds left over go back to Ron, if there is a shortfall then a quick whip round is in order.
FAIRNESS: It will mean that those that don't drink are not subsidising those that do, and those that want decent wine can have it. Wine always makes up a disproportionate amount of the dinner bill and has been a regular source of discontent - this change kills two birds with one stone.
MEETING ORGANISERS 2026-27
OCTOBER - IAN/GARY - PUB
NOVEMBER - AND/WAYNE - ENTERTAINMENT
DECEMBER - OWEN/RON - XMAS
JANUARY - LEN/JOHN - PUB
FEBRUARY - STEVE/BRIAN - ENTERTAINMENT
MARCH - NICK/PHIL AWAYDAY
APRIL - HIGH/STUART - PUB
MAY - RAY/PETE - ENTERTAINMENT
JUNE - CHRIS/BRIAN - AWAYDAY
JULY - GRAHAM/BRIAN - ENTERTAINMENT
AUGUST - TONY - PUB
SEPTEMBER - AGM
Note: 19 names and 22 slots, so I have added myself in as helper where only one name for a month was drawn out of the hat.
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