Hello everyone, I trust that you have all had a good week and you are looking forward to an extra holiday this week with Australia Day.

 

This week we had the pleasure of having DG Assistant Anne to our meeting along with Kathryn also attending as she was still on leave. Our meeting was extremely well attended with 28 attendees, and what a great meeting we had, where we were able to listen to our special guest Mark Bladder who gave us an overview of the 2021 Jacaranda Festival. Not only is Mark the Jaca Event Manager, but one of our newest club members, thank you Mark for an informative talk on the festival.

 

We are certainly looking forward to the Australia Day event at See Park where we are assisting Chris & the Grafton club host the BBQ event. The event will also see the unveiling of our newest club asset being the 6m x 3m Marquee. Look forward to seeing you all on Tuesday at the event.

 

At the meeting I also gave an overview of the upcoming AGM on Wednesday 3^rd February. Some of you may recall discussions you may have had with me over time whereby I have expressed that I am a believer in taking on a role within a board for more than a one year term. It is my belief having sat on other boards previously, that a 12 month term is not long enough to see matters finalised & dealt with within a 12 month period. With this in mind and having discussions with President Elect Lee and others, we have suggested to the members that I would remain President for the next term of 21/22 with Lee continuing to be President Elect for a further 12 months prior to taking up the Presidents role for the 22/23 year. This is of course if our membership feels that they would like to see us continue in the current form, and it will disadvantage the club moving forward as suggested. This will also give Lee a little more time to prepare herself for the President’s role. Even though I did take up the Presidents role from Bob in February 2020 earlier than my term should have started, I was fortunate that Covid put not only our club, but all the world on hold, so not a lot needed to be done for a number of months while in recess.

 

Just for note is that a quorum for our Annual General Meeting is 1/3 of the membership as per the bylaws, so currently we have 31 Active Members + 1 Honorary. Given these numbers we need at least 11 members present, however it would be great to see as many as we had on Wednesday. Don’t worry most positions are already taken, so don’t stay away because you think you might get a job!

 

Our Baton relay on Friday 5^th February is gaining a lot of momentum, and the team is working well to bring this event together where the Clarence Valley Council mayor Jim, DG Andy, DG Assistant Anne, & DG Nominee Designate Dave,  will be in attendance to mark the start of this important and honourable event for our Grafton & Maclean clubs to host the start of the 100 year celebrations.

 

Leila has the working bee for Birthing Kits this Saturday 30^th, so let Leila know if you can make it.

 

Thank you to our Sergeant at Arms Mark T for keeping our meetings to time and bringing us up to date each Wednesday of the significance of each date with important &/or historic events. He also is a highlight & partakes in many of the Jokes / banter within our club. Great work Mark!

 

Take care & look forward to seeing you all on Tuesday for Breakfast.

 

President, Robert