By Ian Stephenson, Bulletin 7/2023, September

This is my last report as President of the Society as my final term finishes at our Annual General Meeting which is at 10am to 12 noon at the Glebe Town Hall on Sunday 3 September. 

Do come along to meet the new President, hear our guest speaker Kobi Shetty, the State member for Balmain, and then enjoy refreshments and conviviality at the close of the meeting.

It has been a good year for the Society. We are one of Sydney’s largest and most active resident groups. There are many people, both on the management committee and on subcommittees, and indeed outside of committees, who contribute to our vitality and success. As members you are just as important to the health of the Society. After all, it takes two to tango.

This is not a comprehensive review. I just want to shine a light on some of the many things the Society is doing well.

The Communications Committee produces an excellent Bulletin ten times a year. It is a great repository of knowledge about Glebe much of which is searchable on the net. It would be a great boon if the Bulletin could be added to Trove, the National Library’s digitised newspaper site. Something, perhaps, for the new committee to investigate. As well as producing the Bulletin the committee make videos which can be accessed on YouTube by searching ‘Glebe Society’. They do social media on platforms like Instagram and Facebook and organise the design and printing of other Society publications. We are fortunate to have Tarny Burton, Sarah Fogg and Virginia Simpson-Young looking after the technical aspects of managing the website and producing the Bulletin. Both, however, would be nothing without content and so I want to thank all the contributors. 

The Events program is very important. It works on many levels including celebrating the history and culture of Glebe, bringing people together and connecting with people who are new to Glebe as well as with people from outside our suburb. I am going to mention Dorothy Davis and Katharine Vernon by name because they have done an outstanding job in reviving the events program. The walks, talks and inspections are really singing. As with the Bulletin and website there is a technical layer to events we take for granted and that is the booking and payment system. Thank you to the people behind the scenes who have mastered Eventbrite.

The Blue Wrens, our ecology arm, do extraordinary work in monitoring and nurturing the flora and fauna of Glebe. The Heritage Committee do incredible research and writing about Glebe, including the forensic analysis of land use, buildings and people, and our long serving Treasurer, Jane Gatwood and Secretary Jude Paul ensure the Society is efficiently administered. 

There are so many areas to which people contribute including Transport and Traffic, Community, Planning, representing the Society on the Fish Market Community Consultative Committee and on the Coalition of Glebe Groups as well as the organisation of our annual Christmas Party – surely the event of the year.

Thank you for the privilege of acting as your President – Floreat Glebeiana.