Gawler History Team
| Type of organisation: | Community Service
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| Date established: | 2011
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THE 2014 LIST OF GUEST SPEAKERS IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE
Chairperson Brian Thom's 2012 AGM Address
GHT Inc AGM 5th July 2012 Chairman’s address
Nine months ago, the contemplation of writing an AGM Chairman’s report was not on the horizon, yet it is done now with great pride and pleasure. What a great deal has been achieved in that time: Gawler History Team created, GHT being now an Incorporated body, many thousands of old pictures gathered, and a sufficient number of articles created to justify a launch of the Wiki on 27th May. We acknowledge the expertise and effort of Darren Peacock who has created the “nowandthen” programme which we have taken up. Thank you for your patience and support Darren.
The Launch date and format was very timely and to have 150 people in attendance was a real plus, with lovely positive vibes emanating from the event. The happiness continued over snacks and drinks at The Southern, where many of the Team gathered to celebrate our achievement.
It is always a bit dangerous to single out any particular member of any Team, but I would be remiss not to acknowledge the magnificent effort and contribution Nicole Stomaci has given to fast-track the creation of our Wiki.
Nicole, you are a gem and I am confident that all Team members would echo the thanks and appreciation now given.
What I am proud of is the lovely mix of people we have, who are enjoying “doing their bit” to progress the project.
Some will always do more than others, but that doesn’t matter, as every contribution is important.
The challenge we have for the next 12 months is to capitalize on what we have so-far accumulated, so that every week, our audience can see what new sets have been added so that they too can appreciate our discoveries and efforts. What we need to do now is to re-assess our priorities and focus on those sets of pictures that can now be outsourced to Wiki.
Thank you all for being a Team member wanting to “do their bit” and I trust that you will get much satisfaction out of seeing your efforts “up on the big Wiki screen” over the forthcoming 12 months.
It has been a great pleasure to be your inaugural Chairman.
Chairperson Brian Thom's 2013 AGM Address
Gawler History Team’s first full year has been very fruitful; with increasing membership, great guest speakers and interest in our Wiki project ever increasing within our community. I would like to thank your Executive Team of Deputy Chair Nicole Stomaci, Secretary Anne Richards, and Ian McDonnell, Robert Laidlaw and Stan Roulston for their great support to me and their guidance toward our project development. I thank Raff Stomaci for his role as Treasurer.
Circumstances have sadly arisen which have forced Stan not to continue on the Executive and we wish him and Iris well for the future. Stan has intimated that he will continue to submit copy and photographs for the Bunyip to publish each week and we thank him for his past and future valuable PR contributions. Paul Barnet has taken nearly five hundred photos of Gawler’s heritage homes and his work ethic to enhance our Wiki has been inspiring. Many thanks Paul.
I also thank Editors Rob McLean (Bunyip) and Graham Fischer (Barossa Herald) for their willingness to advertise the details relating to each monthly guest speaker, as submitted each month.
We have been blessed with the co-operation from a great array of talented and interesting guest speakers:
August 2012 Helen Hennessy
September 2012 Robert Laidlaw, Helen Wilmore and John Clift,
October 2012 Michael Pilkington,
November 2012 Pauline Payne,
December 2012 Dr Bruce Eastick,
January 2013 Stan Roulston,
February 2013 Douglas Alexander,
April 2103 Bob Fielke and
June 2013 Aub Kaesler.
In February 2013 Nicole explained our Wiki and in May 2013 we hosted a very enjoyable 75 question quiz night compiled and conducted by Ian McDonnell.
Darren Peacock’s role as our technical guru is always valued and we thank him for his ongoing efforts to maximise the effectiveness of GHT’S Wiki and Flickr; albeit him being frustrated in recent months while expecting his service providers to respond more professionally. Darren has taken steps to greatly improve our Wiki’s effectiveness, and readability.
I have been constantly mindful that Nicole’s (almost daily) wonderful dedication to her role (of inputing all the material submitted) has been overwhelming at times. I am adamant that she needs support; by her having a reliable 2IC. Recruiting steps have been taken that, hopefully, will soon reduce her workload, as well as creating an effective back-up person for her.
We will continue to undertake all the Team’s business matters through monthly Executive meetings so that at our monthly Team meetings we can enjoy interesting guest speakers, blended with workshops.
As to the future, 2014 will be Gawler’s year 175, and I envisage that even greater interest will be experienced relative to our history. As such, I urge every member to make the most of the next 6 months to make the effort to ensure that our thousands of Flickr photographs have an appropriate article produced so that they may be properly attached to our Wiki. This 175-year of celebration for Gawler gives us the opportunity to further enhance our advertising of the Wiki’s existence.
I will be seeking greater business sponsorship for the site so that we have the money to effectively increase our communication to the public.
I thank my wife Bev for her great support in providing biscuits/cakes etc for our Executive and Monthly general meetings. Thank you all for making this year very special. Brian Thom, Chairman, Gawler History Team Inc
Chairperson Brian Thom’s 2014 AGM Address - Thursday 7th August
Gawler History Team’s second full year’s growth has been a joy to behold; with increasing membership and excellent guest speakers - having an average of about 48 at meetings (the record monthly attendance number was 60). Interest in our Gawler History website is ever-increasing within our community.
We appreciate our technical expert and guiding light, Darren Peacock (Sweet Technology), who has advised that in the 2013/14 financial year we got 16,000 visits to our website from 11,550 individuals, with over 1.2 million hits to our Flickr; up 93% from last financial year.
I would like to thank your Executive Team of Deputy Chair Nicole Stomaci, Secretary Anne Richards, and Ian McDonnell, Robert Laidlaw, Paul Barnet and Mike Denison for their great support to me and their guidance toward our project development. Sad to hear that Anne Richards is not standing for re-election as Secretary. Thank you for your input from the Team’s inception, Anne. Your counsel has been most valuable and you will be sorely missed. I thank Raff Stomaci and now Michael Denison for their role as Treasurer, and Lance Hatcher, our honorary Auditor. Nicole’s input to our website has continued to be invaluable and Helen Clark has thankfully volunteered to take on Nicole’s role following the Stomaci family decision to tour Australia for 6 months. We thank Helen for her enthusiasm, following her spending 3 months organising Willaston history; with a very commendable outcome.
Stan Roulston continues submitting copy and photographs for the Bunyip to publish and we thank him for his valuable PR contributions.
Paul Barnet has taken 760 photos of Gawler’s heritage homes and his work ethic to continually enhance our Wiki has been inspiring. Many thanks Paul. Paul was nominated for a SAHistory Council award.
Ian McDonnell has spent over 60 hours scanning our historic photographs by using our new A3 scanner; 150 or so photos are now displayed in many Gawler and Willaston business locations; being GHT’s contribution towards Gawler175 celebrations. Positive feedback has been received. Well done Ian.
I also acknowledge the tremendous contribution made by Audrey Clark and Chris Hanley who scanned all of the Gawler High School Year-books since 1933. Their volunteering to do that was much appreciated and the preservation of this Gawler history is a great achievement.
I also thank Editors Rob McLean [Bunyip], Graham Fischer [Barossa Herald] and The Leader editors for their willingness to advertise the details relating to each monthly guest speaker.
We have been blessed with the co-operation from a great array of talented and interesting guest speakers: July 2013 - John Barnet (Bunyip), August - Brian Samuels (Gawler Institute), September - Ray Hicks (Postal services), October - Mike Johnson (Supermarkets), November - Martin Walker (Postcards), December - Robert Laidlaw (Christmas), February 2014 - Mark and Gizelle Forgie (Undertakers), March - Chris Hummell (Wintulichs), April - Trevor Bellchambers (historic vehicles), May - Glen Woodward (Col. William Light), June - Matthew Binns (Old Spot - Golden Fleece) and July, John Clift [Gawler’s first settler John Reid and the first 25 years of Gawler]. I have secured some Guest Speakers already for 2015 and would welcome your suggestions at any time.
2014 is Gawler’s 175th year, and I am thankful for the Town of Gawler’s co-operation by creating on its Website’s front page a “Historic photos” link to our Wiki. We will continue to undertake all the Team’s business matters through monthly Executive meetings so that at our monthly Team meetings we can concentrate on enjoying our interesting speakers.
We acknowledge the strong and valuable financial support given by our 18 Official Sponsors and we trust that they will continue with us during 2015.
Thank you all for making this last year very special, Brian Thom, Chairman, Gawler History Team Inc.
Please click here to view the Constitution of Gawler History Team Inc.
Please click here to see photos of the Gawler History Team.
===== GAWLER HISTORY TEAM Inc. GUEST SPEAKERS for 2014 =====
Meeting on the FIRST THURSDAY of each Month in Zion Lutheran Hall
7.15pm, rear of 22 Cowan Street, Gawler. All welcome.
4th SEPTEMBER Barry O’Brien
“Photography and Gawler”
2nd OCTOBER Drs. Tony Jackson and Ken Heath
“Dentistry in Gawler over the years”
6th NOVEMBER Martin Walker – following on from his wonderful 2013
address/collection display
“Collecting Gawler Postcards over the years”
4th DECEMBER Ralph Hatcher
“Song of Australia and Choirs in Gawler over the years”
References
Memories of Gawler History Team
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