President's Report 2016

Member of the Society, I am pleased to present to you my Annual Report for the past year, 2016.In this day and age of great political turmoil and change, it is reassuring to know that some institutions remain through thick and thin,  the Ballarat Wine & Food Society is one of those institutions!

It has been an interesting year and I thank our Food Master, Andrew Lewis for taking us on a gastronomic journey which has included visiting our regular venues such as here at Craig’s, some novel venues, such as Cuthbert’s Tram Restaurant, and not forgetting a very enjoyable Picnic at Andrew’s property. There were also some venues which did not quite work out!

All dinners have been accompanied by excellent selections of wines, and I would like to thank Andrew Bradley for his great contribution as Wine Master, and also for officiating at the occasional dinner as Food Master when circumstances necessitated.

That wine selection has been made possible by the work done by John Coco in managing the cellar, and in continuing to build on the great foundations laid down by Cellar Masters Past - John has elaborated further in his report. Thanks are due to Office Bearers, Secretary, Dean Stevens, and Treasurer, Phil Dover, as well as the other Committee Members, Jim Patterson and Shaun English. Phil has indicated he wishes to resign as Treasurer and also as a committee member, and we thank him for his contribution to the Society over the years.

Also retiring from the Committee is Jim Patterson who has been associated with the Wine & Food Societies of Australia for over 50 years, and has contributed greatly to our Society, most recently, and preceding John Coco, as Cellar Master - thank you Jim for your contribution. 

As your President, I have been pleased to represent our Society at several functions during the year, most notably that of the Ararat Wine & Food Society’s 60th Birthday Celebratory Dinner. Our Society sponsored the Ararat Society and it was good to continue that connection. More about our involvement with Ararat shortly, but I did want to mention that Cheryl and I also attended the Ballarat Wine Show Presentation Dinner at which our Society always provides an award for the Best Red Wine.

My report would not be complete without mentioning the Ian Home Memorial Dinner, held to recognise and celebrate the outstanding contribution made by Ian Home, Past Member and Past President, to our Society, to the Wine & Food Society of Australia, and to the wine industry in general. We were very pleased to be able to host Ian’s wife, Sue Home, together with Ian’s three daughters, Jenny Rizzo, Claire Jelbart and Barbara Murphy. We were also pleased to be able to host two lifelong friends of the Home family, and friends of our Society, Nina Valentine and Nola Oliver.Also present were previous members of our Society, and the FWFSA Committee was represented by its President, Joanna More and the Treasurer, John Pierce.

This year, the Wine & Food Society of Ararat is hosting the Victor Gibson Dinner and Weekend in Hall’s Gap on April 22 & 23 - I would urge all members to give consideration to attending and supporting Ararat and the FWFSA in this event. I will now send this report to out to our in-house blogger, Bob House, who deserves a great vote of thanks for managing the society’s blogspot which I understand is frequently and regularly viewed by many in the Webosphere.

Thank You,

 Malcolm Anderson