Sharron Came, President
At the time of writing I am looking forward to heading up to our fully booked Lodge for the last weekend of Snowcraft 2012. Magic to have a good weather forecast and to know there is currently white stuff coating the rocks. Of course it will be interesting to see what Tongariro looks like as well, probably a bit like an inverted ashtray. Mostly however I’m pleased that the hard work put in by our Lodge promotion people is starting to pay off. We have not had too many fully booked Lodge weekends so far this season so big ups to Eric Evans and the rest of the crew for persisting with the marketing. The rest of us can really help Eric, Brian and Colin and Co out by spreading the word that the Lodge is available for booking. We have noticed that relatively few Club members have been making use of the Lodge which is a bit disappointing as this great facility is ours to enjoy. We are about to commence negotiations with DoC to get our licence renewed. It is important that we are able to demonstrate that as well as basking in the reflective glory of actually owing a Lodge situated in a National Park, our members use it.
I’m delighted that Pete Gent has taken up the role of Secretary through to the next AGM and Craig McGregor has agreed to assume President of Vice duties. Both Pete and Craig are active, long serving members. Pete is our Gear Custodian and Craig is returning to the Committee where he previously held the office of Chief Guide.
What we’d really like though is for some of the members who have joined the Club over the last couple of years to take off their invisibility cloaks, come forward and help us out. You’ve obviously been on a few trips with us and decided you like us. It would be really great if a few more of you would volunteer to give something back so members who are already doing more than their fair share can take a sabbatical. The quickest way for the Club to go stale is to leave the same few people huddled in a damp, dark meeting room year after year. Fresh faces, different ideas and new attitudes are good. Please think about stepping up either now – we are always happy to take more people onto the Committee, or our various sub-Committees; or when we have our next AGM in April 2013.
We will be calling an SGM later in the year to discuss and vote on some proposed amendments to the Club Constitution. As I mentioned in the last newsletter there are various provisions that we think need to be updated to reflect the fact that times have changed since our rules were last revised in 2000. The Committee is currently mulling over some draft amendments and once we are satisfied with them we will be circulating them along with notice for the SGM. If the amendments are endorsed at the SGM we will lodge them with the Registrar of Incorporated Societies and Bob’s your Uncle! We will have a stronger, faster, younger, taller, better looking set of rules! If you are interested in seeing an advance copy of the draft amendments get in touch with me . At this stage we are hoping to have our proposals ready in time for the October newsletter, with an SGM in November. I hope that you will take an interest and make time to attend the SGM.
Spring is an excellent time to go tramping. The weather changes more frequently adding a bit of interest and the daylight starts to last a bit longer. Also heading away is an excellent way to avoid Spring cleaning, lawn mowing and one sided rugby tests. Have a look at the Spring trip schedule, it contains something for everyone I reckon. If you can’t find anything that suits I’m happy to supervise a working bee at my place ALP 1, FE. Some off track work, byo gloves, water blaster and hedge clippers.