The AGM went very smoothly with the ENTIRE comittee being re-elected for the coming year, Keith read out last years AGM minutes, which seemed to duplicate much of Dave's following 2006/2007 report since the club had again had a successful year and has gone from strength to strength. Ossie (who looks like he is in training for a high altitude ascent of Mt Everest with his Oxygen kit) gave a clear and precise breakdown of club finances - well done Ossie. I only wish my own finances were so clear.
The finger supper which followed the AGM lived up to it's expectations and the members appeared to do justice to the spread. Since the food arrived in Alison's car I assume she had something to do with the organisation of the supper - so well done Allison.
One point that was brought out strongly was the erratic participation of members in hikes - it was pointed out that we have an excellent calibre of hike leadership in the club yet there are still hikes which are being cancelled due to no confirmations. If you have any doubt on how enjoyable these hikes are read the newsletter reports to see genuine feedback - Noel even enjoyed her Kosi Bay Hike and she broke her wrist on the first day! Read Noel's report on in the July Newsletter "FRIENDSHIP IN A FALL". Of course the writing about "lack of participation" always makes me a little uneasy since it has been sometime since I myself hiked... so duly enthused by the AGM pep talk I am signed up for a Dave Sclanders hike which is all in all quite adventurous for me - expect a detailed report to follow. In the meantime I am making an effort to get to gym...
Kikuyu Proverbs
Failing anything apart from the AGM to write up on I looked back at my notes following Alison's report on their trip up Mount Kenya (report by Peter Wedge "CLIMBING MOUNT KENYA") and found her mention of the Kikuyu tribe/people in the region which had reminded me of a miniture camera I owned in my Schooldays - I did some Googling and found it to be the Kiku camera - a little camera that would fit in the palm of your hand.
Unfortunately it took an odd size film reel which if I remember soon was no longer on the market. Where this is leading is that whilst Googling for the camera I came across this link which claims to present 1000 KIKUYU PROVERBS from the Kikuyu people and their translation and explanation, though it has never loaded more than 260 proverbs when I have viewed it. May be of some interest to those that did the Mount Kenya climb.
Aloes
Accompanying pic is from Dave's recent Garden Castle Weekend hike with the British "Outposts" Group (his Newsletter 37 )- I recently attended the Witness Demonstration Garden talk on Aloes and so have become more aware of this indigenous beauty - have even planted some outside my front fence, so if you drive past my house take note of how my aloe frontage is doing - anyone wanting to donate aloes can be assured I will give them visablity! By the way have a look at Dave Sclanders Bergfree website's front page - he had uploaded around 80 new photos for the randomly selected display photo and the old set of pics now also randomly displays in the left hand bottom photo spot, clicking on the "Reload" button relaods the page with a new selection
We have started a GoHiking presence on Facebook, go onto www.facebook.com (you will need to have signed up with them - it is free) and search for Gohiking. The potential is for hikers to upload their own stories, leave messages and to post photos directly onto the site. It is also for introducing ourselves to other like minded sites, and for our own members to have a collective visability.
See you at the next Social Evening on 18 September - Slide Presentation by Chantel of the 2007 Grand Traverse - Church of Ascension-Hilton.