| Reports 2004 First Half Year |
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| Report of A.G.M. Monday February 9, 2004. At the beginning of yet another, and hopefully successful, year we had 36 persons present. And that is the best turnout since I started taking records 4 years ago. And that is also despite the very irregular weather. The treasurer and Secretary gave their Annual Reports. The full content of the Secretaries Report can be read on the Secretaries Report Page. Clicking on This link can also print it out. The President gave his final statement in which he thanked the Secretary and Committee for their efforts during 2003, as it has been a very turbulent year with our previous meeting venue closing. Since our Patron is on the sick list, Jack Strapps has been nominated to be Acting Patron. And he successfully installed the new committee for 2004. The new president then welcomed the new committee. The extended tour for this year was announced and there seems to be some interest in this tour. It is a 6-day tour to Dubbo in N.S.W. visiting the Western Plains ZOO. Several discussions were made regarding upcoming day-tours, Sky City luncheon and our yearly Christmas Lunch. Hopefully I will be able to resolve all the questions asked in the next couple of weeks. One member passed away on January 21. He was Leslie Francis Heath, formerly Turner at Islington at the age of 84. A minute’s silence was held for the departed member. The meeting was reminded of the next meeting to be held on February 23, when the speaker will be Joan Torode from the Zoological Society. The meeting closed at 3.00pm. Back Report of General Meeting, Monday February 23, 2004. The year is off to another success with 30 persons turning up on a cool and cloudy day. The speaker for the day, Joan Torode, is well known to our club having addressed our meeting on three previous occasions. Besides, I was informed today that she herself used to work in the Islington Workshops. But because of her volunteer work in the Adelaide ZOO and several other commitments she has no time left for anything else. She did a very extensive overview of all the changes that have occurred in the last several years at the ZOO and it would be worth your while to go for another visit. They have so many new exhibits they are to numerous to name. Also the Monarto ZOO has a number of new exhibits and also animals. We are all pleased to hear that the missing monkey has been recovered albeit very stressed. Excellent job and we hope to see her back again in the near future. The death was recorded of Keith J. Coleman, formerly Sheet metal worker at Islington, at the age of 81. A minute’s silence was observed for the departed member. Back Report of General Meeting, Monday March 8, 2004. On a very nice autumn day with the temperature hovering around 30 degrees we had a very enjoyable afternoon listening to Paul Goreham of the S.A. Metropolitan Fire Service. He is a delight to listen to as he explains the dos and don’ts of keeping your home safe from fire and what to do in the event of having one. One does not realise the many things that can be done to make your home fire-safe until someone points them out to you. Like cleaning the dust from your heater before the winter season starts. And cleaning dust from your, now compulsory, smoke alarm every six months. They can get so blocked with dust that operation is reduced to zero. And he spoke in such a cheerful way that many a laugh was had. 33 persons were present at the meeting. Back Report of Day Tour to Mannum, Friday March 12, 2004. We left the Festival Theatre at 9.00 am with 24 members on board and a further eight visitors c/o Eureka Tours. With perfect autumn weather we travelled via Tea Tree Gully to Gumeracha for a comfort stop and morning Coffee/Tea break at 10.00 am. Then proceeded via Birdwood and Palmer to Mannum arriving at the foreshore near our boat at 11.00 am. After boarding the MV. “Murray Venturer” we took a leisurely 3-hour cruise along the river Murray while enjoying a 2-course dinner of Roast Beef or Butterfish and a dessert of very delicious apple crumble and ice cream. Returned the same way to Gumeracha then detoured and visited the Nether Hill strawberry farm. Their strawberries are huge and they are the most strawberry flavoured strawberries I have ever had. Our members bought lots of them. Some even planned on returning privately for a further taste. Final leg home was via Gumeracha and Tea tree gully arriving back at the Festival Theatre by 4.30 pm. Back Report of General Meeting, Monday March 22, 2004. It was a bit disappointing to see only 28 persons turn up for this interesting meeting. The speaker for the day, Cliff Olds, who is a former S.A.R and A.N. train controller, is well known to the majority of those present judging by the conversations made. His talk about the experiences of his life as a train controller was of a very interesting nature and, as he presented it to us in a very witty way, most entertaining. The experiences in the many locations of his career are enough to fill several books. And indeed he has written a book about it called “Wouldn’t have missed it for Quids – Memoirs of a South Australian Railwayman”. Several members have this book and he was very kind in autographing them. Sadly, the death was reported of Graham Fewsdale, formerly Plumber at Islington, at the age of 83. A minute’s silence was observed for the departed member. Back Report of General Meeting, Monday April 5, 2004. Another meeting has gone by with 29 faithful persons turning up. The speaker for the day, Toni Vaughan, gave an interesting insight into life in the Antarctic while staying there with eighteen others for a twelve-month period backed up with slides. And you can only go there as a volunteer. When accepted you must undergo a very stringent medical examination and various bits of training for all sorts of eventualities. As germs cannot live in those low temperatures, the environment is completely sterile. Even our immune system shuts down while there, as there are no virisses to content with. During the nine-month winter no entry or exit from the continent is possible and all maintenance and upgrade work must be done in the three-month summer. That is also the only time when the actual ground can be observed and worked in. During the winter it is covered by multi-metres of snow. The death was recorded of Jim Bitmead, formerly a Station Master, at the ripe old age of 95. A minutes silence was observed for the departed member. Back Report of General Meeting, Monday April 19, 2004. We experienced a rather anxious time when our speaker did not turn up at the appointed time. However, all turned for the better when Barbara Erichsdotter from the S.A. Ambulance Service finally arrived at 2.20 pm full of apologies for being late on account of her previous engagement running into overtime. We had 33 persons present and they all enjoyed her very informative presentation about the “Direct Call” facility from the S.A. Ambulance service. And it turned out that several of our members already have this service installed. It is not a cheap service but for the peace of mind it gives you it is considered well worth it. And the additional optional accessories are also worth considering. Apparently South Australia is the only state, which has this service. We must live in the lucky part of the country. However, for those of us who cannot afford this service, dialling 000 is still the best option in an emergency as they are always ready to attend and is a lot quicker than calling family or friends first. For those interested in the service, call 1300 13 62 72 and a representative will make a home visit or e-mail enquiries@saambulance.com.au for more information. You can also visit their website at www.saambulance.com.au Back Report of General Meeting, Monday May 3, 2004. Thirty persons turned up today for our fortnightly meeting. Our speaker for the day, Phil Hendry, State manager for South Australia of the Australian Pensioners Insurance Agency was very popular and had so many questions put to him that very little time was left for his own talk. And he liked talking to our members so much that he readily agreed, at his own suggestion, to come back for another session later in the year. Much to my surprise only three of our members had their insurance policies with this company. With all the advertising they do, I would have thought a lot more are with this company. I myself am with them as they give very good rates and no hassle payouts when a claim is made. For more information call them on 132 555 or visit their website at www.apia.com.au Please note that on account of the public holiday on May 17 our next meeting is in three weeks on May 24. Back Report of General Meeting, Monday May 25, 2004. Probably because of the extra week we had, some members may be a bit confused. We had to have that extra week because of the observance of a public holiday. Therefore only 25 persons turned up for this very interesting demonstration put on by Lyn from “Bagged Promotions”. She had a station wagon full of everything imaginable, from talking dolls to biscuits, hand cream to winter jumpers, honey to carry bags and so forth. We finished with three tables full of merchandise. And everything she had on display was for sale. Those members present made lots of purchases. As numerous items are not in the general shops anyone interested in further purchases can contact them at Shop 2, 90 Lyons Road, Holden Hill, or phone 8261 0344, or via e-mail at buit_bagged@picknowl.com.au Well worth the afternoon! Back Report of General Meeting, Monday June 7, 2004. We again had only 26 persons present on this fine day. There was no speaker scheduled for today as we had a chat session programmed. And what a session it was. Everyone was talking to everyone until the president called a halt to it by 2.40 pm. Then after some announcements the meeting was over within 5 minutes. I have been for several years trying to have this sort of meeting because I believe this is the only way we can get to know our fellow members. They certainly did today. And even after so many years of membership some members still do not know everyone. But we will keep on trying. One member who is leaving to go to N.S.W. in August brought in two boxes full of Railway magazines to give away. Most of them went on their way with only a few left. They are stored and will be on the table again next meeting. We still have a few vacancies on our Day-Tour next Friday June 11. Anyone interested please come along. It is going to be a very interesting day. Back Report of Day-Tour, Friday June 11, 2004. On a glorious day we left the Festival Theatre at 10.00 am and, after picking up three more along the South Road, we had a total of 30 persons on board. We then proceeded along South Road to old Noarlunga were we stopped for morning tea/coffee in the park. Then went further up the South Road to Yankalilla arriving at the Senior Citizen Club by 12.00 noon. Two more joined us there who had travelled by car. The Club is a well appointed and fairly new and is entirely operated by volunteers. Limited choice drinks were provided on the table and the meal consisted of Pumpkin Soup, roast beef and vegetables and dessert of pudding or fruit salad. No other choices. A very simple meal, which has one problem: not everyone eats meat. Vegetarians just have to leave the meat on the plate. Further more, the promised entertainment failed to materialise. A disappointing performance. We left by 2.00 pm and travelled to McLaren Vale were we browsed through the shops until 3.30 pm before departing for home arriving at the Adelaide Railway Station by 4.15 pm. Back Report of General Meeting, Monday June 21, 2004 . On a very overcast day we had another successful meeting with 31 persons attending. The speaker for today, Robyn Dawkins from the Arthritis Foundation of South Australia, proved to be very versed in her subject and answered many questions from her audience on the over one hundred different forms of Arthritis. A tribute was made to Roger Hawkes on his work for the Club over the eight years of his membership including 5 years as Treasurer. He is leaving the state to take up residence in Newcastle, NSW. We will miss him. Back |
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