They say no news is good news so hopefully that means President Robin has made it safely to the UK.

A long way to go for a party but it is wonderful he is able to be present to celebrate his mother’s 94th birthday. A very special occasion.

A ‘flying’ visit to the UK (pun intended) means I will be stepping back into the President’s role whilst he is away.

On Monday night, Program Coordinator, Helen Morrison, introduced Tina Forte to members.

Tina is the new manager at Old Gippstown - Gippsland’s Heritage Park. Her area of expertise is in IT so she brings very useful skills to her new role together with a liberal dose of enthusiasm.

Tina spoke about her goals which included protecting and maintaining irreplaceable heritage assets and artefacts; providing opportunities for visitors to experience Gippsland’s history; to support local groups; and to share knowledge about Gippsland’s history through engaging the public.

Some of her marketing goals include keeping the website up-to-date; promoting upcoming events; and weekly posts on Facebook.

Events specifically mentioned by Tina include the following:

Ghost and Park tours (25 Feb)

Twilight Market (4 March)

Moonlight Market (22 July)

Think Science (19 Aug)

Revs & Rubber (3 Sept)

Forgotten Trades in November as part of 50th Anniversary celebrations.

It is clear that Tina is already having a positive impact and is bringing the community back to Old Gippstown.

Helen Morrison congratulated Tina on her enthusiastic presentation and wished her well in her role as Park Manager.

President Robin congratulating Tina on her great presentation.

President Robin urged members of the club to continue to support the major raffle and to add their names to the ticket selling roster.

Bill Connell alerted everyone to the fact he is unable to cover raffle ticket roster vacancies at short notice. 

If you are not available please contact Di Harrison (0428 893 507) so a replacement person can be identified or allocated times changed to cover an absence.

Rog Taylor provided an update regarding organisational aspects and preparations for the golf day to be held on Monday 27 March. Thank you Rog and Maureen for the work done so far. Many thanks to Jamie Hunt for stepping up to assist with organisational ‘manpower’ needed on the day.

President Robin also noted the huge amount of time volunteered by Alan Bishop to the BBQ shelter. Others who have been assisting in various ways were also thanked.

Chris Buckingham from the Latrobe Valley Authority will be guest speaker at our club meeting on Monday 13th February.

One of the things Chris will be speaking about is the Draft Transition Plan for the Latrobe Valley and Gippsland.

Here is a link to the document emailed by Diane Wilkinson during the week https://lva.vic.gov.au/transition/plan and she suggested it would be good if members had a look before the presentation.

Have a great weekend, safe travels, and I look forward to seeing everyone on Monday night at the Moe RSL.

IPP Di Harrison on behalf of President Robin.