Chers Amis
The big news this month
was the Alliance Française de le Côte de Saphir Annual General Meeting which
was held at the CWA hall at Pambula on 5 September. The meeting was attended by
20 members who heard the reports of the outgoing President and Treasurer. I
would like to thank the members of the outgoing committee for their tremendous
work for and commitment to the Alliance over the past year. The old committee
stood for re-election and was returned unopposed. I would like to note
especially the election of a new committee member, Liz James and I wish her a
warm welcome. I would also like to thank Hugo White, Principal of Sautelle
White for agreeing to continue in his role as Public Officer and to Peter Went
for agreeing to continue in his role as Honorary Auditor. Members attending the
meeting were welcomed with a selection of French wines and Australian cheeses
and dips. The AGM was followed by screening of the film Summer Hours which
reminded us all of the sensitivities and complexities which can arise in the
settlement of a person’s last will and testament. After the film about 10 of us
enjoyed a dinner at the Top Pub. This year, in addition to continuing all of
the activities which have been successful in recent years, the committee will
be exploring the possibility of setting up a new activity, a French cooking
group, so that those interested in cooking can share their knowledge with
others and that those wishing to learn how to do French cooking can hear it from
the experts. Finding a model which meets everyone’s needs will be our first
task and finding a suitably equipped venue will follow quickly. We will also
see if arrangements should or can be made to set up a system of billeting of
members wanting to attend evening events. At the moment, many of our members
are discouraged from attending or are simply unable to attend night events such
as the film nights and the Bastille Day celebrations if they live away from our
local area and prefer not to drive at night. It would make our events
accessible to more members, and our members might get to know each other
better, if out-of-town members could be billeted with local members on these
occasions. Over the next few months we will be consulting with you to see if such
a system has merit, and if so, whether we have sufficient billeteurs and
billetees to make it work. I am looking forward to an exciting 2018/19 and
enjoying our Alliance with you all.
Best wishes
Rob McCombie
