Chairman Bob Saunders reports:
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| Bob Saunders |
We have indeed returned safely from the national AGM at Uniondale, and grateful thanks must be extended to Dennis Pretorius who drove superbly and never flagged once despite the long drives there and back with only a hectic day of meetings in between to recuperate. He also went a couple of extra miles to Vereeniging this evening - but that is the nature of the man - to assist where he can!
Thank you very VERY much Dennis and to Minnie, his wife, as well for ably supporting our driver.
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| Dennis Pretorius |
Thanks too to everyone who took turns to keep the driver occupied/entertained/focussed on the all important job of driving - another job well done.
It was a great weekend all in all, held with a singular purpose and in great
spirit. I want to assure our members that a great job was done this weekend, and I feel confident about where the Society as a whole is headed.
I need to also inform you all that the
next AGM is to be hosted by our branch in 2013 on the 9th of March,
so we actually have a busy year ahead of us getting ready for that over and above our normal activities. We are planning a great event and hope that each and every member will play their part in the preparations AND possibly attend the AGM in observer capacity to see what it is all about. But more about that at another time.
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| John Stephens |
John Stephens was nominated for and was conferred an Extra Mile Award for his outstanding service to our branch as branch secretary. John and Iris, we mean this from the bottom of our hearts when we say thank you and congratulations on an exceptional job. That the task was carried out with such gusto and determination under very trying personal circumstances, had to and has now been commended in the best way possible through the award from the National body. Congratulations John.
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| Neels Coertse |
I must also report back on a meeting that was held by part of your committee with Museum Africa (MA) on Thursday afternoon at 12pm in the boardroom of MA.
Neels Coertse, Giel Nel and myself met with Diane Wall and Linda Chernis with the purpose of handing over to them, the photographs of the Bibles that were taken by Neels assisted by Giel and Lucas at Museum Africa in the latter quarter of 2010.
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| Giel Nel |
I was very proud indeed to hand over with Neels and Giel, the two A3 bound volumes of the printed photographs (monochrome) and two discs of high definition coloured photographs for them to archive and of course make available to the greater public. This is yet another example of the work our members are doing for the greater genealogical community and we can be rightly proud of Neels and his team. Museum Africa in the person of Diane and Linda were greatly impressed by the quality of the work "we" as 'rank amateurs' have produced in this project and more importantly, that it was done free of charge (with their kind permission and co-operation) and the teams effort.
We have I believe established our Bona Fides in this regard. I am extremely proud to announce that we have been given permission by MA to make these photographs available for viewing by all, on our website. This means that not only do you now have access to the photographs of churches, gravestones and funeral pamphlets via the internet on our website, but that it will soon be augmented by the Family Bible photographs as well.
Coming back to the AGM of 2012, grateful thanks are extended to
e-GSSA team ably led by Alta Griffiths and assisted by Judy Meyer and their able team, for the job of successfully hosting the AGM in the middle of nowhere.
Uniondale is very far away from us up here in Gauteng, but it really is the quaintest little town if you take the time to look a little closer. There are some beautiful buildings and the place has a rich history too. Thank you e-GSSA for the change of scenery and a very successful AGM in great surroundings and a fantastic atmosphere.
