I mentioned the Club Journal in my last column, and I am happy to report that the 2009 Journal will be going ahead, so look out for that in your mailbox before the end of the year. Thanks to all who have contributed, and especially to Jackie and Tony, who have been very busy working on producing another great Journal.
Personal Locator Beacons have been a recurring theme in my column over the last few months, and I am happy to say that 3 beacons are now in the Gear Room, and are available for use on club trips. There is no charge for using these, and I would encourage all trip leaders to get in the habit of taking a beacon on their trips. Just a reminder that you do need to provide full intentions sheets to the weekend contact person, including which of the 3 beacons you have. We collect this information, which would be vitally important to SAR, in the (unlikely) event of an emergency, so please provide contact information to your trip leader when requested
A successful trip planning meeting was held at the clubrooms in early November, and we have a draft Summer schedule, which covers January to April 2010, for which we are now looking for trip leaders. See Paul or Melissa if you want to lead a trip, or add a trip to the schedule. You can also access the schedule on the Trip Planning Wiki link under Trips on the club website
Entries for the Club’s photo competition closed on November 4th, and the photos will be shown and awards handed out on November 25th, so make sure you are early that night to get a good seat! Thanks to Donna and Sally for their hard work on that.
We held another driver training session recently, and we now have 20 trained drivers, which is great as it is easier to share the driving on long trips. Contact the transport officer Gareth Morton at if you’d like to become a club driver. Just a reminder that use of held-held mobiles while driving is illegal as of November 1st, it is especially important that members driving the club van follow this rule, for the safety of their passengers.
The committee currently has a vacancy for Vice President, this is a good learning role for a newer member who is keen to help out, but does not have a specific area in mind. Alternatively, it might suit a more experienced club member who would like to give something back to the club. Let me know if you’d like to know more about the role.
You can always contact me on , or I am usually around on club nights
Darren Hammond