You have probably heard of the catastrophic bushfires which have been raging in Australia in recent months, where there has been devastating loss of life, homes, businesses, equipment, farm animals and wildlife. There is no doubting how horrific this has all been and how unbelievably traumatic for those concerned, and they are deserving of our full support, both financial and emotional. Indeed, the 34 yr old son of one of our Redcliffe Branch members, Frances, has lost everything in a fire in Northern New South Wales (around 5 hrs drive from here) during September, and we have heard first hand of his trauma.
HOWEVER
These current fires are more than 1000 miles from where we are here in Redcliffe. We had some large fires which destroyed property around August and September, but there are no fires and there is no smoke here now, and in the last few days we have had some worthwhile rain, with more forecast. There is no bushfire threat whatever to our area now or in the foreseeable future. Our wet season seems to be commencing.
There will be no issue with fire or air quality at the time of our Convention on May 1 - 3.
If you or any of your branch members have been considering coming to Convention or for a trip, please assure them of their safety and security. We look forward to welcoming many US visitors for Convention on the first weekend in May, and we guarantee you will have a wonderful experience.
In case you have missed it before, I am attaching the flyer (attached above) for Convention, along with the registration form. All you need to do to register is
- complete the form and email it to Ros Brennan stephenandrosaline@hotmail.com. Then, when you arrive and have Australian currency, you can pay registration/meal fees on arrival at Convention.
- You will of course, need to follow the instructions on the flyer to book your accommodation which is at Mon Komo Hotel where there is code for a 15% discount on listed prices.
Looking forward to meeting many of you in just a few weeks,
Carmel Mulcahy
Editor - The Queenslander
