VLDA President's Report



				REPORT FROM THE VLDA PRESIDENT AUGUST 2010 Click here to view an archive of previous reports


			Wow – where did THAT 12 months go? A whole year has passes since I was elected President and now another term in the position begins. It has been a busy year for me in the President’s role but it has been made easy with the support of an excellent Committee. I would like to thank all the Committee members for their hard work, encouragement and preparedness to come along to meetings (and there were lots of them at times!) and to readily assist in the staging of our VLDA events. Special thanks to the Committee members that are retiring: Cynthia Rennolds, Adrian Lefebour and Stephen Paterson - thanks so much for your support and your commitment to the VLDA. A special welcome to the new members of Committee: Glenyse Brain, Kay Eastaway, Sue Wood and Linda Pink. Linda has taken on the important role of editor of our Newsletter. Returning for another term are Nadia Friel (Vice President) Lorraine Hillard (Secretary), Marg Beaty (Treasurer), Marion Adams (Ball Coordinator), Willy Lockwood (Membership), Pauline Greenwood (Publicity), Cathryn Proudfoot and Robo Lockwood. John Bishop will continue to develop our website. My apologies to everyone for not being able to attend the AGM as I was overseas in China attending my nephew’s wedding in Xi’an. This ancient city is a former capital and site of the famous Terracotta Warriors. It was an amazing trip experiencing a very different culture and seeing many unique things. In Beijing we visited Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City (where the Emperor’s lived), the Summer Palace, various ancient temples, and the pandas at the zoo. After Beijing and Xi’an we went to Shanghai and then Hong Kong. Before leaving I joked with my classes that I aimed to line dance on the Great Wall. Those that have been there said this would be difficult as it is mostly steps going up, up, and up. Indeed we did climb for about 2 hours but we managed to find a flat spot near the top of the wall – and, yes, we did a little line dance there. The dance? Speak To The Sky, of course! We didn’t go to any formal classes in China but it was quite common to see groups line dancing (and other types of dancing) in parks, and we joined in at every opportunity, both day and night. The locals were greatly amused by these western tourists with cameras and backpacks hanging off them trying to do their style of line dancing. The dances were mostly slow with lots of showy hand movements. Our last Newsletter was full of reports and photos from the hugely successful Gala Ball. Committee was aware that there had been concern about the venue expressed by a few people, but the feedback we received about the venue regarding its size, acoustics, atmosphere and facilities have been overwhelmingly positive. Over recent years there had been a steady decline in the numbers attending the ball – this year the numbers held steady and were similar to last year and I feel with the success of this year’s Ball, we should be able to look forward to a healthy attendance again next year. The Ball Committee was pleased to report to the AGM that we were able to turn around a loss from the previous year to make a profit this year of $1735. One of the very first tasks of the new Committee will be to begin the task of planning for next year’s Ball. This includes deciding on a venue, date, theme, etc, and I know members will value your input, so if you have any ideas, comments or suggestions, please let us know. Regards to all, Keith Davies PRESIDENT