Owen Long - May 1986
My first year as President of the Association has been both interesting and informative. I had not previously appreciated just how much time can be taken up considering Tree Crops matters. I have spent less time visiting than I did as North Island Vice President but did make a round trip of all the South Island Branches in the spring. The visits seemed to be well received but I do not consider that many problems were solved. Few problems were presented to me but we still hear about some discontent from time to time.
Branches visited in the north by me were restricted to Auckland, South Auckland and Thames/Corornandel as these are all close to home. Efforts were consciously made to keep travel costs down following discussions on this at the last Annual General Meeting. However, I feel that many members appreciate talking to someone from the Management Committee and, for this reason hope that Branch visits can be kept up in the future.
The Conference has taken a lot of my time and that is now almost over. “Growing Today” has seen some changes. Warren Douglas has resigned as Editor but has announced his intention to join the NZTCA as an ordinary member. It is hoped that our journal will continue to show healthy growth and we expect to hear more about this from the Managing Director of Associated Group Media at this Conference. It is not intended that anything will be done without careful thought and as much feed back from our members as possible. The Association should consider where we are going and how we should get there. Your Management Committee will have to take the responsibiflty of making decisions but not in secret so members will know what is intended. We hope 1986/1987 will show more trees planted and more results published.