President Peter Gibbs’ Inaugural Address

A short 18 months since joining the Club I find myself holding the office of President.

The Treasurer and Vice President are also recent members so with the longer club affiliation of the Past President and Membership Officer I believe we have a well balanced committee when it comes to experience and innovation.

Coinciding with taking on the President role was the late February sale end of my Balwyn North residence of some 53 years. It’s only 1.5 km as the crow flies to my new acquired Balwyn villa (See pic below, er........
that’s me in the shorts) but a quantum move logistically. It’s a move so many of you have made and no doubt recall the squeeze down into a smaller abode. I won’t miss the lawn mower, there is ample garden area for my partially green thumb and the Jaguars get an upgrade from carport to sizable garage.

As this Newsletter goes to press some 20% of the membership will be enjoying the Getaway to Horsham and that certainly reflects the high level of interest in this activity. Definitely a theme or variation thereof we will pursue later this year when planning 2026.

Then in May we will take afternoon tea to recognize the 21st anniversary of the Club. Yes it will be the occasion to reflect on the Club’s beginnings and the path taken over the years. But we must also look forward to what it takes to continue in the years to come.

We now have a Club on a firm financial footing but have underwhelming support for positions on the Committee and Speaker co-ordination. Have our demographics changed with time so that the Special Interest Groups are our priorities and Outings and Speakers take a back seat? I hope not but one needs to consider why the support interest has waned and it’s certainly an aspect I shall broach with the committee.

We need to ensure that we foster the activities that members value.

I am an engineer at heart and foster constant improvement so along with the committee we welcome ideas for new activities or modification of existing ones.

Peter Gibbs

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