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
