2019 Annual General Meeting

The Wainuiomata Pioneer Church Preservation Society Inc held its Annual General Meeting on Sunday 16 June at 2pm. It was a lovely day and 18 people attended. The Society is in good stead financially, and the President (Christine Parker) read a report of the events which have taken place over the past year, and those which are planned, following which elections were held and the committee for 2019-2020 elected.
President - Christine Parker
Secretary - Vicky Alexander
Treasurer - Andrea Lister
plus, a committee of Margaret Kinsey, Linda Grime, Joyce Lockyer, Hellen Valster, Deb Flanagan and Linda Pegg.
The meeting was followed by afternoon tea and an enjoyable sociable hour.
A copy of the President’s report follows:

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

presented to

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

16 June 2019

Well, what a year and now we are so lucky as today we are able to enjoy the benefits of the committee, members and volunteers’ hard work, not just last year but for many years. The vestry is finished, and doesn’t the Church look amazing.

The fantastic committee has obtained grants, fund raised and put in a HUGE amount of time to see this project through. We were also lucky that Laurie Parker assisted, and helped project manage this project so we had clear vision in what was happening and what to expect. Thank you Laurie - you made this project run effortlessly.

The cost of this project was $219,000 and all completed on existing funds. An amazing achievement by our committee of only seven, who were there every step of the way and supported every decision made without question.

We decided that the Church needed a fire sprinkler for everyone’s peace of mind and while the build was happening it seemed logical to start this project, as if we didn’t have enough on our plate. James Firestone (fire sprinkler engineer), knowing funds were tight, reduced the price and offered to carry part of the job until we had more funds. I am pleased to say we now have just about cleared this debt due to the recent Tough Guy marshalling event.

The Official Opening was held for the Church and an Open Day the following week for the public. The official opening was a grand affair attended by Jean Collins, Ray Wallace, Chris Bishop and Campbell Barry, and our members, committee and all loyal supporters of the Church It is a great feeling to see how much this Church means to you all. A big thank you must go to Joyce Lockyer for the organising and managing of these two events.

We currently have 77 financial members and it has been very helpful that membership fees have been paid promptly.

Our funding this year was:
Tough Guy which was supported by so many committee members, committee husbands, members and friends of the Church. 130 spots we had to fill over 4 days and fill them we did. Our youngest marshal was 15 and the eldest 81.

Garden Ramble. A big thank you must go to our Wainuiomata residents who weeded, planted, stressed and then opened their gardens to the public, and the committee and our helpers who worked tirelessly behind the scenes. What beautiful gardens were on show and I am sure the whole of Wainuiomata felt proud of your efforts. ‘Wainui in a Garden’ will have to be the quote for our next Garden Ramble.

The Church has also been used for Xmas Carol Night, Country and Western nights and Wainui Choir hire. All events were a great success and the Church certainly showed off, having its rafters ringing with music. It is lovely to see the Church being used and enjoyed by the Community.
 I would like to thank:

The Garden Club for their hard work throughout the year. One of the up and coming projects this year is to structure the grounds, hopefully to make them low maintenance. We know that the years of weeds has made your job back breaking, and hopefully this will be made easier for you all.

The Grave Carers for keeping the graves in tip top condition. We are just in the process of adding a graveyard map/plan to our sign to make it easier to locate the graves.

There are so many helpers/friends of the Church who deserve a thank you but I would like to pay a special mention to Wendy and Roland Paulik, Colleen and Pete Jones, Susan Little and Viv Wahren and Craig Johnson, who are always ready to support the committee and Church.

A thank you to the committee Joyce, Vicky, Andy, Linda, Hellen and Margaret, their husbands and families, without whom this Church would not be open, and certainly not in the wonderful condition that it is now.