On reflection of my year as President, the first thing coming to mind is how quickly it has passed.
Due to work and family commitments my term as President has not been as organised as I had imagined, however I feel at times there has been some order, a fair bit of fun and generally I have enjoyed the year immensely.
This year has been an eventful one for the club. We have had a club member participate in Apex at the Zone level. Congratulations to D.G. Ken, a job well done and the club too has to be commended on its support of Ken during the year.
We have seen a dramatic increase in the size of our waste paper collection and the price paid, to a point where it has again become a significant income producer for our club. We are probably at the turning point where we must either commit to dealing with the bulk collections on an ongoing basis or revert to simply doing the town collection.
Other clubs are often admired for their large income earning activities e.g. Cobram Peaches & Cream, Shepparton Home Show and Stanhope Dairy Field days to name a few. I can see no reason why Mooroopna cannot make paper work for us. (Granted, it may not be as glamorous but it could produce the dollars).
Everyone talks about the lack of hands on service work available. My rough calculation says we have notched up approximately 680 man hours on paper this year. Isn’t this SERVICE? It is certainly earning us the money to donate to local charities and projects. What more could we ask for. All it needs is a full club commitment to make it work. It’s up to you.
The club has been very supportive of my involvement with the Life Education Program. I thank the club for that, and its determination to establish a District Service Project to raise funds for the Life Education Unit. Without that support the unit would probably have been $16400 poorer by January 1993 when the project is to be completed. $8000 has been collected from the nine participating clubs as the first stage of the project. The
support of D.G. Ken has been instrumental in this project having the highest acceptance among the district that I have ever seen. Thankyou Ken.
Late in the year we have secured the use of the disused Mooroopna Railway Station for our club rooms. We have always considered the Royal Mail as part of Apex however, having our own roof over our heads will probably have quite an impact on the club.
At the moment the club is negotiating with the Ardmona Cannery regarding the possible future relocation of our waste paper shed. As the cannery wants the space they are prepared to relocate the shed. This I feel has a significant impact on the future of our paper collections and I hope will complement our future plans.
During the concluding weeks of this Apex year plans are being made for the celebration of the 30th Anniversary of the inaugural dinner of the club. This should culminate as a major activity for the club during the forthcoming year.
On contemplating this report, I thought, "it’s been a pretty ordinary year of Apex" I now think differently as I look back over what the club has achieved. I thank the club for its support and guidance during the year and particularly secretary Tony and my board members for their efforts. Without David’s persistent phone calls you would never have had President’s reports in the Midlanders.
I wish Rob and his incoming board well for the forthcoming year and trust that he will get the support from the club which I have enjoyed.
Congratulations must also go to our newest Life Member Ken. I am sure that the club will join with me in wishing Ken, Robyn and family a long and happy life after Apex.
Yours in Apex
Jim Hepworth
PRESIDENT
