The visit to the State Library on 4th October was very much enjoyed by all who attended, both socially and the tour’s content. This was very well planned by Merrill, the train journey, meeting up with other members in the city, and the tour of the library facilities. Just a few weeks after this outing, a purely social gathering at ‘The Lake Edge Café’ at Purrumbeet was also well attended and enjoyed.
Membership payments are already currently at 80 members, perhaps the result of the Early Bird Prize as an incentive?
The decision to introduce running webinars on alternate Tuesdays has proved a popular move, with an increase in attendance at each one. As a result of the DNA one, a DNA Discussion Group has been initiated.
There has been a new sign completed and placed in a prominent position on the duty desk, to remind visitors (and duty persons) of the charges for the use of IT to record our information in place of photocopying, as many visitors now use their phone cameras/iPads to record this, whilst searching.
The window display has been changed to acknowledge Remembrance Day, with a slideshow of photographs of local men and women who served in World War 2. Thank you to Maree and her helpers for scanning and collating these from the National Archives and our records.
The Family Files of both groups are gradually being combined, a slow process, but it will be a worthwhile outcome, I am sure.
Our librarian, Robyn, is progressing with the task of merging the library content of each group. Once this is completed, we need to familiarize ourselves with the new setup.
The research requests continue to be answered by Research Officer, Jill, and her assistants.
The data processing remains the slow and steady task of our diligent active volunteers.
The Almost Forgotten Project continues to be built on, and there have been two meetings of the small committee working on the possibility of an event being held in affiliation with the Heritage Festival 2024, where some of the research stories from Almost Forgotten could be utilized. This is in the very early planning stage at present.
We were very grateful to Lila Ross for the very generous bequest to the group during August.
The UPS has been replaced after a malfunction following a power outage some weeks ago.
Diana McGarvie, President.