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Hawke’s Bay Branch President’s Report for 2013

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Our Society depends on the friendship and commitment of members and guidance from our Executive. So thank you to Mike Earle, Secretary; Dave Bromwich, Treasurer; Lou Klinkhamer, Vice-President; and Maurice Beeby, John Chen, Karen Cowley Janet Kee, Heiko Lade, and Sue Padfield for your hard work on our committee.  This year Heiko is stepping down to concentrate on his work as NZCFS National Secretary and National President is Dave Bromwich while I am a National Executive member.

Thanks also to Tom Paramore, for collecting subscriptions and organizing the raffle; to Janice Klinkhamer for the ‘cuppa’ at the end of meetings; and to David Xie for technical IT support. We very much appreciate the ongoing support of the Hastings District Council for the use of its Chambers for our monthly meetings.

We continue to produce informative monthly newsletters. 

Highlights over the year include:

  •  A demonstration and display by acclaimed visiting Chinese Artist Zhang Song Tao, who was welcomed by Deputy Mayor Cynthia Bowers;
  • The International Cultures Day held at Cornwall Park on 2 March was very successful. The Multicultural Association Hawke’s Bay assisted with the organisation and aim to take over the primary role by 2015;
  • Kim Hyunwoo and Kim Doyoung from Korea taught us the basics of Weiqi Go. Hyunwoo has won the Korean Championship twice and is a teaching professional promoting this fascinating game and Doyoung was New Zealand champion;
  • Dr Les Molloy from Wellington assesses natural UNESCO heritage sites on behalf of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Supported by his excellent photos, Les told us about the unique characteristics of each of China’s magnificent natural heritage sites;
  • Awhina Tamarapa (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Ruanui, Ngāti Pikiao) is curator, textiles, weaving and Māori instruments at Te Papa. We were privileged to share her personal and informative story of the origin and importance of weaving and cloaks in Te Ao Maori (the Maori world).  She described the visit to New Zealand of King Koroki’s cloak that was gifted to Mao Zedong in 1957 by the NZCFS delegation;  
  • Mid-Winter was celebrated with a delicious hot pot and China’s National Day with a banquet;
  • We showed the excellent DVDs, Yangshuo, the Global Village of China, and the historic documentary Inside Red China (1957) that was on restricted loan from the New Zealand Film Archive. Our Branch collection of DVDs is available at meetings for members to borrow and return at the next meeting.  

 In 2014 Hawke’s Bay Branch will host the national Conference and we look forward to another successful year.

 Warm Regards

 Sally Russell

7 March 2014