Not a great deal to say!! Our last meeting was held in the gymnasium at Somerville Intermediate School. Keynote Speakers were Geoff Thompson, John Savory and Colin Monk who updated us on Bookarama and briefed us on duties to be carried out over the sale days including dealing with the absolute charge that would take place on at noon on Wednesday when the “buyers” descended upon us ------ and they did!!
Attendance at the meeting was down but those of us who were there did enjoy a pizza meal together and shared some refreshments that some members had the forethought to bring.
Bookarama got officially underway on Wednesday and my thanks go to everyone who made that happen. I have to say that last weekend when I joined the workers to get the venue ready it seemed an almost overwhelming task with so many books that kept arriving until eventually a sign had to put up saying no more books, but with really hard work and a huge time commitment from those who came to help we got there and were all ready for the start time on Wednesday. A special thanks to Geoff and his team who have been working on this project for weeks, It has been an enormous effort this year, the sheer volume of books collected and stored for the last two years has of course contributed to extra time and organisation needed from the team. At the time of writing this message Bookarama is well underway and sales seem to be going well, it will be interesting to see if this is indeed a bumper year for sales.This is our major fundraiser ,and our only source of funding for the club to continue to be such a major support to our community, but we urgently need to review the current model and ask the question, is it sustainable in the current form with the current level of club membership ?
The tickets for the 175 Years Celebration Luncheon at the Pakuranga United Rugby Club on 5th November, 12 -2.30pm have been sent to all those who booked seats. Please print your own tickets and bring them with you on the 5th.
I will be away all next week, a Taranaki Garden Tour that has been delayed by Covid 3 times so I am finally getting to go and very much looking forward to it.
Kia Tupato,Kia noho haumaru
Take care, stay safe.
Madeleine East MNZM
President.
