President’s Message - June 2006

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It is most gratifying when, having put out an appeal for help, I received such a good response for members to man the stand at the Victorian Military Fayre this June; thanks guys.  I am only sorry that our membership seemed to represent a fair percentage of the attendees!  It was a blistering day and the consequence of not having run the Fayre for some time, meant that its revival may take some time.  I would urge you, especially if it chucks it down next year, to support this venture.  We may not have recruited too many new members, but I believe we rubbed shoulders with a few valuable contacts and have taken the opportunity to make ourselves known to like-minded people.  Indeed, I hope to have added to the numbers attending the Custer talk in October (see 'meetings' section) by lobbying others who, if their interests in the 19^th century stretch beyond the UK and its empire, will find this topic of huge interest.

This then, is the essence of my message.  That dreadful expression “Think outside the box” comes to the fore.  We, all of us, need to promote the Custer talk for a number of reasons: it will help in boosting much needed funds for the Round Table;  It will also serve to bring in new members, which is something we are patently failing to do.  Small numbers will mean an ability to less in the future.  It is YOUR Round Table and if you want activities to shrink, then that is up to you – literally!  For myself, I wish for us to expand.  I have asked Iain Standen to take on the role, in collaboration with editor Greg Bayne and webmaster John Laskey, as our PR man.  Iain, besides promoting the Round Table (as should we all!), will seek out possible places to go and things to do for our members.  As Iain rightly pointed out, we must make people want to join us, because we can be in a position to gain access to places that the ordinary public might not be able to.  It is early days and Iain will appreciate any ideas.  Please offer any suggestions with some sort of contact name and phone number / email. We must help him to help us and not just find things for him to do!

I do not mean to imply that any speaker is of more or less value than any other, however I do urge a big effort for the October Custer talk, as that is the big money-spinner for the year and Doug Scott, as the speaker, is some catch.

In addition, we presently hope to announce the details of the Lee week-end, next January.  Naturally it can only go ahead if you support it; down to you again.

Tony Daly

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