Once again I start yet another newsletter with the news of a member’s passing. Reg Wilford from Alberta passed away in the summer but I only got word late in the fall. I would talk to Reg once or twice a year and always came off the phone laughing. He sure had a way with words and always made me smile. Our condolences go to the Wilford family. I have included an article that he wrote for the newsletter back in 2005, in his memory. I know you will enjoy it and I’m certain it will make you smile as well.
Another year is upon us and we are looking forward to some good flying from all the members. Last year was nothing to brag about as far as the participation went in competitions. We also had some poor reporting as far as the fly sheet go and definitely looking to get our act together in this regard for 2012. The fly schedule is included and I hope to enter a few flys myself with young birds this year. I will not be breeding early as I did last year…there is no point releasing the birds in early April only to have them taken or scared off by the Cooper hawk. I hope, in my area, late April and early May will yield much better settling results. And so, I hope to see most of you in the air as well, the CNTU is a flying club.
The detailed finances and various transactions are disclosed in detail and we continue to be financially sound. This year we will be looking to a new band supplier. If you have a suggestion or a preference please let one of the officers know as soon as you can with some details.
I have to tell you, I am a little bit disappointed with the contribution of articles for the newsletter lately. Not only do I have to put the newsletter together, I also have to take care of the treasury and the bands and other club matter but now I also have to get all the material as well for the newsletter. This is not fair and if you have not contributed anything in way of articles, photos or stories than I am asking you to do so this year. I am not kidding here, if we all do not contribute something to the newsletter it will start to look very anorexic. Send us some stuff!
Thank you to Nino, Raul, Gurmeet and Prem for sending me some stuff. I was able to find an article written by Adrian Jessop (Seceratry of the FTA in the 60’s) in 1967 about the Tippler and its history. He talks about the original tippler and what it looked like as compared to now (1967) and finds some disturbing results. This prompts him to suggest a few reasons for it. If you have any thoughts on this article after reading please let me know. I will add your thoughts in the April newsletter.
Nino and Raul team up on a few articles on breeding, selection and some tips for the novices, which are always informative and interesting. Thanks guys for helping out…much appreciated. We also have some nice photos sent to us by Gurmeet and Prem…thanks boys.
Well that is about it. The Annual General Meeting was a success and we had lots of fun. All the details of the meeting are on the next page. Thanks to all that attended. We had some good suggestions put forward for the betterment of our club and our sport. See you in the air in 2012
Luka