From the President

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