Mess Rules and Traditions
1. By accepting the invitation to our annual nominating dinner, or any other Gold's Dragoons social event, members accept the authority of the officers of the Board of Directors in the execution of the program. Members are specifically responsible for the conduct of their guests. (All of us are guests of a private club for the Nominating and Guest Night dinners and must offer the highest standards of personal conduct to ensure that we are able to continue to celebrate our dinners at the club). We espouse the ethos of "An Officer and a Gentleman." Inappropriate behavior by members or their guests will not be tolerated.
2. All members should take their place card from the side table - together with that of any guest - and place it on the table position of their choice. All guests must have supplied their full name, mailing address and email address at the time of paying by Anedot.
3. Members who have not paid their annual dues of $25 will be struck from the muster rolls and may not attend any of our events.
4. All pre-dinner drinks ordered must be consumed on the veranda and may not be brought to the table.
5. At a signal from Mr. Vice, all members, except the high table, shall take their chair positions, but remain standing.
6. Led by the troop piper, and Mr. Vice with the troop guidon, the high table will enter and take their places. All members will remain standing until the saying of grace by the troop chaplain.
7. The first order of business is that there shall be "no strangers in the mess". Under the direction of the President or Mr. Vice, all members who are sponsoring prospective members will, in turn, be upstanding, ask their guest to be upstanding and give a brief summary of the qualifications of the guest. The key is brevity, as we frequently have in excess of 20 new inductees and proposers can be fined by Mr. Vice for verbosity. As a guest, the proposed new member does not address the mess. Both parties then sit down and the next prospective member is introduced. Upon completion Mr. Vice reports to the President that "there are no strangers in the mess".
8. Thereafter the dinner will follow the program described on the table menus.
9. Mr. Vice is responsible for the comfort of the members of the mess and and their guests and all complaints and suggestions should be directed to him. He is also required to taste the beef, the and port and render a report to the Mess President.
10. Members of the Mess may not address the Mess without the permission of Mr. Vice. Such permission shall not be unreasonably withheld.
11. Any member of the mess guilty of a breach of mess rules may be punished by Mr. Vice at his discretion. Such punishments may take the form of fines up to, and including, $2 (financing is available) or an embarrassing forfeit, such being upstanding and required to sing their unit's anthem or a patriotic song.
12. Members who believe a miscarriage of justice may result from the action of Mr. Vice can appeal to the Mess President. At the sole discretion of the Mess President, the perpetrator may be pardoned upon a convincing and original excuse.
13. In the event that the Mess President rejects the appeal, the charge returns to Mr. Vice who is empowered to double the fine or forfeit or devise whatever further humiliations he thinks proper.
14. Members of the high table are exempt from fines or forfeit, as are guests of the mess. However, guests breaching the mess rules may see their sponsoring member fined or humiliated instead.
15. At the conclusion of the meal the port will be circulated - always in a clockwise direction. With all glasses charged the Mess President will call on Mr. Vice to propose each toast in turn.
16. Immediately prior to the dinner break the pipe band will parade
17. After a ten minute break the mess reassembles to hear the guest speaker.
18. As a welcome action to the speaker all members are required to join the "sing along" of patriotic songs, directed by Mr. Vice. Members singing without sufficient gusto may be fined.
The last musical action of the evening is the pipe major's farewell round the dinner twice. At the conclusion of the solo the pipe major will halt at the Mess President, salute, and be offered a silver Quaich filled with the whiskey of his choice. The pipe major will thank the mess, drinking and inverting the Quaich to show that it is empty - by tradition, kissing it and responding in Gaelic: "slainte".
19. As the pipe major retires it is customary to strike the table with an open palm, rather than applaud - which has the advantage of permitting the other hand to hold a drink.
20. At the conclusion of the dinner, troop awards and trophies are presented and guests are formally inducted into the troop. Commission parchments are available for collection after the dinner. Carriages are called for ten o'clock, but members tend to withdraw to the bar for further serious discussions.
1. By accepting the invitation to our annual nominating dinner, or any other Gold's Dragoons social event, members accept the authority of the officers of the Board of Directors in the execution of the program. Members are specifically responsible for the conduct of their guests. (All of us are guests of a private club for the Nominating and Guest Night dinners and must offer the highest standards of personal conduct to ensure that we are able to continue to celebrate our dinners at the club). We espouse the ethos of "An Officer and a Gentleman." Inappropriate behavior by members or their guests will not be tolerated.
2. All members should take their place card from the side table - together with that of any guest - and place it on the table position of their choice. All guests must have supplied their full name, mailing address and email address at the time of paying by Anedot.
3. Members who have not paid their annual dues of $25 will be struck from the muster rolls and may not attend any of our events.
4. All pre-dinner drinks ordered must be consumed on the veranda and may not be brought to the table.
5. At a signal from Mr. Vice, all members, except the high table, shall take their chair positions, but remain standing.
6. Led by the troop piper, and Mr. Vice with the troop guidon, the high table will enter and take their places. All members will remain standing until the saying of grace by the troop chaplain.
7. The first order of business is that there shall be "no strangers in the mess". Under the direction of the President or Mr. Vice, all members who are sponsoring prospective members will, in turn, be upstanding, ask their guest to be upstanding and give a brief summary of the qualifications of the guest. The key is brevity, as we frequently have in excess of 20 new inductees and proposers can be fined by Mr. Vice for verbosity. As a guest, the proposed new member does not address the mess. Both parties then sit down and the next prospective member is introduced. Upon completion Mr. Vice reports to the President that "there are no strangers in the mess".
8. Thereafter the dinner will follow the program described on the table menus.
9. Mr. Vice is responsible for the comfort of the members of the mess and and their guests and all complaints and suggestions should be directed to him. He is also required to taste the beef, the and port and render a report to the Mess President.
10. Members of the Mess may not address the Mess without the permission of Mr. Vice. Such permission shall not be unreasonably withheld.
11. Any member of the mess guilty of a breach of mess rules may be punished by Mr. Vice at his discretion. Such punishments may take the form of fines up to, and including, $2 (financing is available) or an embarrassing forfeit, such being upstanding and required to sing their unit's anthem or a patriotic song.
12. Members who believe a miscarriage of justice may result from the action of Mr. Vice can appeal to the Mess President. At the sole discretion of the Mess President, the perpetrator may be pardoned upon a convincing and original excuse.
13. In the event that the Mess President rejects the appeal, the charge returns to Mr. Vice who is empowered to double the fine or forfeit or devise whatever further humiliations he thinks proper.
14. Members of the high table are exempt from fines or forfeit, as are guests of the mess. However, guests breaching the mess rules may see their sponsoring member fined or humiliated instead.
15. At the conclusion of the meal the port will be circulated - always in a clockwise direction. With all glasses charged the Mess President will call on Mr. Vice to propose each toast in turn.
16. Immediately prior to the dinner break the pipe band will parade
17. After a ten minute break the mess reassembles to hear the guest speaker.
18. As a welcome action to the speaker all members are required to join the "sing along" of patriotic songs, directed by Mr. Vice. Members singing without sufficient gusto may be fined.
The last musical action of the evening is the pipe major's farewell round the dinner twice. At the conclusion of the solo the pipe major will halt at the Mess President, salute, and be offered a silver Quaich filled with the whiskey of his choice. The pipe major will thank the mess, drinking and inverting the Quaich to show that it is empty - by tradition, kissing it and responding in Gaelic: "slainte".
19. As the pipe major retires it is customary to strike the table with an open palm, rather than applaud - which has the advantage of permitting the other hand to hold a drink.
20. At the conclusion of the dinner, troop awards and trophies are presented and guests are formally inducted into the troop. Commission parchments are available for collection after the dinner. Carriages are called for ten o'clock, but members tend to withdraw to the bar for further serious discussions.