About fifty people turned up for the Club’s annual mid-winter dinner and AGM, this time held at the Mt
Roskill Baptist Church in Richmond Rd. Instead of having a guest speaker we turned to our own membership
for the entertainment, with four Club members sharing their experiences about tramping.
The dinner
started at 6:15pm with a mix-and-mingle over punch, peanuts, chips and dip, then at 6:45pm we sat down
to a roast lamb main course followed by dessert of pavlova, fruit salad and ice cream. Each of the seven
8-seat tables took their turn to come up to the buffet servery.
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The entertainment began about 8:15 with president Nelson announcing that it was Christine’s birthday
and we all sang Happy Birthday to her. Then David read out a list of I could tell you....... outlining
all sorts of experiences he had had on Club trips, but not going into them. This however would jog the
memory of fellow trampers on these trips.
Katrina compared training at a gym to tramping as a
way of keeping fit, in fact there was no comparison at all. The artificial environment of the gym is
nothing to the sheer beauty of the countryside and the natural wonders that inspire the soul. To her
there is nothing like getting away from her weekday job of teaching 5-year-olds to the quiet of a remote
piece of bush. Then there is the social aspect of tramping, not only the teamwork involved but getting
to know fellow trampers very well, especially when having to live with 30 other people on a 3 to 4 week
summer tramp in the South Island.
The excitement of tramping in Laurie mind is what is up the
next hill, or around the next corner, etc. His likes of tramping include the fact that everyone works
together as a team instead of competes against one another, to get the whole group through the trip safely.
In tramping we are out to enjoy the world around us; it is a wonderful way to clear the mind, and just
enough to keep the mind occupied. Tramping is a true re-creation of ourselves, with everyone a winner
as opposed to a race.
The last 35 years of Phillip tramping, 22 of then in the Club, could be summed
up as follows:
Teamwork, mutual support, co-operation
Relaxation, re-creation, good therapy
Adventure, achievement, reaching goals, self-esteem
Meals
People, personalities, new friends
Insanity, ingenuity, how to fix boots, fit 120l into a 60l pack, etc
Nature at its best, only
seen away from the road
God, whose power and majesty are shown, Christian fellowship, stronger
walk
Phillip then held up a framed photo of his brother Roger and himself on top of a mountain
in the Aspiring National Park.
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From there we went into the AGM. Paul and Eileen circulated the financial report, and Phillip circulated
a report on training, then Nelson read out his President’s Report, thanking each person on the executive
for all their hard work in their portfolios. A special vote of thanks was given for the three people
who decided not to continue on the committee, then the new Executive was elected without the need for
a ballot.
Peter as the new President then took over the meeting, describing joining the Club as
the “greatest thing he has ever done”. He thinks of the Club as a family, with everyone so welcoming
and supportive of one another. He then gave an update on planning for the Club’s Christmas trip to the
South Island, for which he was already in charge, and mentioned that the huts on the Abel Tasman Coastal
Track were already fully booked, with the Club getting in right on 1 July when bookings opened.
David gave a vote of thanks to Nelson for all his hard work as President over the past three years. A
Club Officer is not allowed by constitution to serve in the same position more than three consecutive
years, so Nelson had to stand down as President.
Phillip D then gave a talk about the forthcoming
Silver Jubilee of the Club, which turns 25 years old in 2004. He told us that the Club was started in
1979 by Jon Collins, a member of Sandringham Baptist Church and who was the first President (1979-80).
He was succeeded as President by Phillip the next year, and he showed us a copy of the first Fire and
Cloud newsletter dated September 1980. The membership fees at the time were $7-50 per annum. Ideas he
shared about the Silver Jubilee in 2000 included the summer 2003-04 tramp to be two options running alongside
each other - Tasmania and New Zealand; a special Silver Jubilee weekend at Queen’s Birthday 2004 (the
first official Club trip took place at Queen’s Birthday weekend 1979); and the Club sponsoring a trip
to Israel with some tramps offered. To prepare for these we should start saving our money now!
Phillip
then shared three things associated with hills in the Bible:
Sanctity - God made Himself known,
and received the worship of his people, in the mountains. In Bible times high places were regarded by
the Jews as sacred. Christ is the source of our sanctity as Christians - we need to follow and rely on
His righteousness rather than our own.
Security - the hills are a natural stronghold. Like the
Maoris, the Israelites built their fortified cities and villages on hilltops. Christ is our security
- it is found in the centre of His will. Nothing else can ensure our eternal security in heaven.
Serenity - hills have an atmosphere of peace and quiet. People in the Bible went into the hills for
peace and quiet, just as Jesus went into the wilderness. Christ in the source of our serenity.
Phillip
had made up a sheet detailing these thoughts, which he left out for us to pick up afterwards. On that
sheet he also described hills of testimony, trial, tragedy and triumph found in various parts of the
Bible, and how these hills are like our lives with their times of testimony, trials, tragedy and triumphs.
God’s presence and power are manifest in times of testing and tragedy just as much as they are in times
of testimony and triumph.
To finish we all stood up to sing How Great Thou Art with Marian
on the piano.
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