| Secretaries Report 2006 |
 |
| Click Here to Print your own copy |
Annual Secretaries Report February 6, 2006 Well, another year has gone by and yet again I have been talked into staying on in this job. I know this is starting to sound monotonous as I am saying it every year but despite all our efforts to find a replacement no one has come forward willing to volunteer. This will be my eighth year. And I believe it is about time for a new Secretary and have some fresh ideas. I will be turning 78 this year and would dearly like to give this up. And I don’t want to sound pessimistic but I am getting to the age were the possibility of not being here next fortnight could be a reality. Some examples of that you will see in today’s list of deceased. And who will then do the honours? Anyone thinking about it will be given any help needed and I am still willing to do the paperwork and look after our Internet site. Sort of like an assistant secretary. Now for your information some statistics of last year’s happenings. We had 20 meetings here in this Hall, a lunch at Sky City, plus 4 Day-Tours, an extended tour and a Christmas lunch making a total of 26 events. We had 730 attendances at those 26 events, which make an average of 28 per event. That is down 46 from the previous year’s 776 attendants. I must hereby thank those faithful members who so regularly attend. Two persons attended all 26 events them being the Secretary and the Treasurer. Regarding the membership, this now stands at 311, down 13 from last years 324. We had no new members for the year while 13 members passed away during the year. With this falling membership I like to again stress the importance of obtaining new members. After all, as we still have several rail systems working in this State there has be a continuous flow of persons retiring. Regarding the years activities, the May Day-Tour to Crystal Brook proved to be the most popular event for the year with 38 persons taking part. The second most popular event was the March Day-Tour to Waikerie when 36 persons took part. Our Christmas Lunch attracted 34 diners. And as usual the food and service at our Christmas Lunch was excellent with the expense of free drinks turning out to be very reasonable. The lowest attendance was on August 29 when just 19 persons turned up to hear Darren Garbin from HomeStart Finance talk about finance for Seniors. Out of the total membership of 311, 61 attended one or more meetings. I wonder what would happen if all those attended a meeting at the same time. Our extended tour to the Grampians was enjoyed by those taking part despite only 19 members present. We had a total of 33 travellers on the coach; the extra 14 came c/o the coach company. In an attempt to get more of our members attending I have again been busy sending out 50 programs plus a little newsletter to existing members who have not attended for a while in the hope that some will turn up again. Another 11 have gone out via e-mail. Anyone with an e-mail address please let me know, as it is a lot cheaper than postage. Has anyone any questions about this report? Thank you all. |