Happy New Year everyone, I hope you had a great Christmas break. If you missed the snow in the Tararuas at Anniversary weekend don’t worry there are some good tramping and cycling opportunities coming up. Check out the summer trip schedule and sign up for some adventures. If you have any ideas for future trips don’t forget to pass them on to Amanda.
Although it is not on the trip schedule, we are planning to run a Bushcraft course the weekend of 23-25 March. There will be a trip sheet going up at the Clubrooms and we will be promoting this at our New Members night on Wednesday 22 February. The course will be run by Hans and Mika and it will be fantastic. If you are relatively new to tramping or just want to brush up on your tramping skills and meet some new people with similar interests this is an excellent opportunity. The course will be open to members and non-members so spread the word. You can also email Mika at
As you may be aware the new financial year starts on 1 February. You should have received an email or letter by now inviting you to renew your membership for 2012. If you have not received a notice please contact Helen at . If you have done your two overnight trips and want to join the club now is a great time to fill out an application form and give it to Helen for processing. Application forms can be downloaded from the website, obtained from Helen or you can pick up a hard copy on any Wednesday night.
We will be having the Club Annual General Meeting on Wednesday April 18 2012. This is your opportunity to come along and find out what the Club has been up to all year, to ask questions about the Club finances and to elect Officers to run the Club for the 2012 year. As usual a set of audited accounts and an annual report will be sent out, probably with the March newsletter. Meantime we are calling for nominations for the various roles on the Club Committee. If you are interested in being nominated for any role you can download a nomination form from the Club website, see the copy on the back page of this newsletter or contact anyone on the Committee, we are happy to forward you a form and second your nomination if required.
Any member can put themselves forward for any position on the Club Committee. You do not need to be a super active tramper who has been in the Club for 10 years or the best mate of the President. We would love to get some relatively new members involved. If we have more than one person offering to fill a role we will have a vote at the AGM. We know we have vacancies for the following roles: social convenor, promotions officer, Ruapehu lodge convenor and transport officer. Other committee roles include – president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, chief guide, assistant chief guide, newsletter editor and membership officer. If you have accountancy skills we would love to hear from you. Steve Austin has been our Treasurer for many years and he would relish the opportunity to take on a different role.
A few weeks ago we had a committee barbecue at Steve and Jenny’s place. This is an annual event where we try to get together all the people involved in the various sub-committees or who otherwise play a major role in helping make sure the club runs smoothly. We had great weather, excellent food, and superb company. I think this bodes well for the year ahead.
Last but not least, congratulations to Jackie Foster and Tony Gazley who climbed Mt Aspiring in early January. What an exhilarating way to kick off 2012!
