I'm so sorry for being so late in sending you all my very best wishes for happiness, luck and good growing in 2011. I did write this much earlier in the year but managed to bungle the process of posting it on the Forum. My New Year' resolution is that I must do better next year!
It's been a busy year for everyone involved in the running of the Club and I am truly amazed and proud of all that we achieve - wonderful displays of plants at our Shows (not forgetting the great food that's always on offer), a bigger than ever Seed Exchange, and a constant enthusiastic exchange of information at various meetings, in our Journal and most of all through the Forum. What a successful and interesting place the Forum is, full of fascinating threads and friendly people - how I wish I had more time to spend exploring more of the topics. But one thing I always find time to read is The International Rock Gardener - the photographs and the text are superb and I can't thank Ian, Maggi and ZZ enough for bringing us all so much pleasure every month,
As you all know, voluntary effort is at the heart of what we do and I would like to thank everyone who in some way has contributed to the activities of the Club over the past year. But I would like to thank two people in particular. The first is Ann Christie (wife of Ian the Christie kind) who stepped in as Treasurer after an unexpected retirement. In her quiet manner, she marshalled the Club's finances, sorted everything out and has looked after our money in a most efficient manner for the last 3 years. Thank you, Ann, and I hope you are finding more time now to enjoy your grandchildren and your garden.
The second person I would like to thank is our Subscription Secretary, Graham Bunkall. His work is central to our activities and over the past four years he has streamlined all the systems that deal with your subscriptions and membership data. But Graham wishes to retire from this post in November 2011 and we really need to find someone to take on this vital role. Unfortunately due to our banking systems this ‘someone’ needs to live in the UK. But if you do: Is that person you? Would you consider taking on this important job which involves dealing with every single Club member? If you think you can help, please get in touch with me.
Next April will see the long awaited 8th International Alpine Conference to be held in Nottingham, hosted by the AGS. I remember the last Conference held ten years ago in Edinburgh - hearing exciting speakers who opened up my mind to so many aspects of alpine plants and how to grow them and, best of all, meeting enthusiasts from all over the world with time to talk about mountains and their plants. I can't wait for the weekend of 14 - 17 April to arrive. If you are going to the Conference, please make sure you come and meet me and all the other delegates from the Club at the SRGC hospitality area - you will receive a truly Scottish welcome.
Last summer a small group of members of varied ages and backgrounds met for a brainstorming session about the Club's activities and its future. One of the issues they addressed was the Club name and its appeal (or perhaps non-appeal) to the younger generation. Amongst other suggestions for a new name were 'Scottish Mountain Plant Society' and 'Scottish Rock'. What do you think? Do you like our current name? Would you like to see it change? Have you got any suggestions for a new name? If you have, please just e-mail, telephone or write to me.
More to the point, I'd love to hear from some of you about what you think the Club should be doing - either through the Forum or by e-mail to me personally. Looking forward to hearing from you in 2011,
Liz Mills, SRGC President (aka Madam Prezz)
liz.saline@hotmail.co.uk Tel: 0044 (0)1383 852321
