From the Secretary:
With the current restrictions and our past experience of how quickly things can change, the July meeting is currently being planned as another zoom meeting. Please keep an eye on this website’s front page, Emails, and our Facebook page for any change that may happen.
Last time I wrote one of these columns I thanked the people who were running and had participated in the recent Zoom meetings. At that time I was hopeful that the next meeting was to be held back in the rooms at The Pines. Unfortunately just 2 days before that was due to happen we found out that was not going to be possible. Luckily we had planned a “Gadget” night which we were able to perform on Zoom on our normal meeting evening. It was a great night with some very interesting ideas presented by a number of members.
For June we had Jordan Lewis do a fantastic presentation with many excellent photos and valuable information on his large collection of Lories and Lorikeets. Impressively, we had 59 members at one point logged in to the zoom meeting, including notable members from all over the world, such as Rosemary Lowe. Jordan has planned a second part to this presentation which he will present in the future. I cannot give a higher recommendation that members join in.
This month we have another excellent presentation. Ian Brown is going to be talking about his aviaries and collection. Ian keeps a variety of species and has a fantastic setup which he kindly let us visit during the Finches ’17 Convention in Brisbane. If you have not yet joined one of the zoom meetings this is going to be well worth making your first.
Recently we had the wonderful news that our longest serving editor and Life Member, Graeme Hyde, was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in the Queen’s birthday honours. Tom De Graaff has written an article in July’s journal celebrating this, but I wanted to take this chance to congratulate Graeme. He is a very deserving recipient and a great ambassador for Aviculture and Conservation.
Also, from the sad news that the Ararat Branch had decided to cease operating came one good thing. The money that was left in the Branches Accounts was donated to the Hall’s Gap Zoo to assist in the building of a new aviary. There will be an article in August’s journal with more information.
Finally, at the last presentation a vote was held. It was decided that our past Secretary, Graeme Hocking, be awarded the position of Life Member. A truly worthy honour for the 13 years of service and dedication he has given to our Society. He certainly has made my transition very easy, for which I personally thank him.
Please, stay safe.
