Welcome back! I hope you all had a great summer break, whether you went tramping or not. I know the weather was not great for some of the groups that went to the South Island over Christmas and New Year, but from the reports I have heard, they still managed to do what they had set out to do and had a good time. I was lucky enough to be in the Coromandel at that time, and I got in a few days walking, including climbing the Pinnacles, which I would recommend to you all. I even ran into a couple of club members that day too! It’s a small world!
Soon after I last ‘spoke’ to you, the Club Journal hit our mail boxes, and wasn’t it fantastic! Tony and Jackie have done a superb job, and the quality of the articles was great too.
Next Wednesday (Feb 17th) is our annual New Members Night (AKA Info Night), which has been organised by our Promotions Officer, Amanda Wells. This is a great opportunity for us to promote the club, and our wide range of activities, and we have a large number of people who are helping out. Many thanks to all involved.
Coming up in the near future is the clubs Annual General Meeting on Wed April 14th. One of the most important parts of that night is electing the committee for the following year. In this newsletter, you will find a nomination form for committee. Any club member can be nominated by another member for any of the committee positions. Most of the current committee are planning on continuing in their roles, but we will have 5 vacancies on committee, Chief Guide, Promotions, Secretary, and 2 Vice Presidents. Also vacant is the non-committee position of Gear Custodian. If you would like to know more about each position, you can talk to the person who is currently in the role (or me), or check out Committee Job Descriptions under Downloads on www.wtmc.org.nz. Nominations close on March 31st.
There are lots of ways you can help out the club if being on committee is not your scene. We always need people to do slideshows on Wed nights, write trip reports for the newsletter, greet people at the door, lead trips, drive the van, look after the gear cupboard, and more. You can talk to the appropriate committee person, or ask me if you are not sure who to talk to, if you’d like to help.
The club is running an Outdoor First Aid course on April 23 to 25 at Brookfields in Wainuiomata. Having done this course a few years ago, I can heartily recommend it. We would like as many current or potential trip leaders as possible to attend. The trip sheet is up now if you want to sign up. Paul Jeffries can provide more info on this if needed.
You can always contact me on , or I am usually around on club nights
Darren Hammond