By the new Editor, Allan Hogan, Bulletin 1/2023, March 2023

For more than 50 years the Bulletin has been in the words of the founder of the Glebe Society, Bernard Smith, ‘the glue that holds the Society together’.  It has recorded historic moments in the life of the Society; its aspirations; and its advocacy; and it has provided a channel for members to communicate with each other.   All of its more than 500 editions are on our website, and browsing through them gives a fascinating glimpse into the history of our community and the lives and achievements of our members.

For the last decade Virginia Simpson-Young has edited the Bulletin, and the Society owes her a huge debt of gratitude for her selfless dedication to its production.  It is a labour-intensive job and the attractive and professional appearance of our monthly publication has been in large measure the work of Virginia’s creativity and attention to detail.   Our debt of gratitude extends to all the previous editors who have taken on the job.

(For the 50th Anniversary Celebrations of the Society a video was produced featuring previous editors of the Bulletin with their memories of the changing production technology and the notable events they recorded.  You can view the video on our website.)

In recent years, the Bulletin has been composed and produced using Microsoft Word.   It’s an excellent piece of software but producing a newsletter as professional as the Bulletin tests its capabilities to the limit.  Placing images in the right place and in the right size, and in the right columns, while not disrupting the overall formatting requires the patience of Job, and large amounts of midnight oil.

Hence the change to Mailchimp.  To describe the production process simply, complete stories and images are uploaded to the Glebe Society website without complicated formatting, and you can read those stories by clicking on ‘read more’.  Or you can download a pdf of the complete Bulletin by clicking on the link at the end of the Mailchimp email.

The new format is not entirely labour-free.  My thanks go to Tarny Burton, Sarah Fogg, and Virginia Simpson-Young for their help with the technical issues of publication.  Thanks also to the proofreaders: Emily Booker, Alex Byrne, Edwina Doe, and Sybil Jack.

For those subscribers who have chosen to receive a hard copy of the Bulletin (either by post or delivered by our volunteer team) those arrangements will continue as before. Our thanks to the mailout and delivery team, Helena Klijn, Dave McMillan, Lyn Milton, Jude Paul, Phil Young, Virginia Simpson-Young, and Asa Wahlquist.

I hope you like the new look Bulletin. I welcome any feedback and will put my efforts into continuing the great work of my predecessors.