61st Annual Conference & 62nd National Council Meeting

The 61st Annual Conference & 62nd National Council meeting of the Federation was held at the Grand Chancellor hotel in Auckland during the weekend 4-6 April 2008.

Friday 4 April

Mr Ken Taylor, deputy chairman of the Mangere community board, officially opened the conference and this was followed with “meet and greet” when there was an opportunity for delegates and observers to exchange ideas and share experiences of what was happening in their region.

Saturday 5 April

The business session of the weekend followed the usual pattern, with matters of topical interest receiving plenty of discussion and debate. Officers elected for the forthcoming year were Bob Smith as president, Kerry Wilfred-Riley as vice president and Lorraine Peacock as national coordinator/treasurer. The four executive committee positions were filled by Janis Bourne, Lee Cook, Colleen Mundt and Ava Thomas.

During the afternoon, Tim Dempsey from Sailability and Wayne Johnson from NZ Amputee Golf gave stimulating talks and video presentations on their respective sports.

Saturday evening was an opportunity for the 70 attendees to relax and dance to the music provided by Tom Sharplin and his band.

Sunday 6 April

A panel consisting of NZ artificial limb board personnel, viz. Graeme Hall (chairman), Geoff Lamb (orthopaedic surgeon), George Mitchell (general manager), Paul Bargh (manager of the Auckland limb centre) and Trudy Perkins (clinical prosthetist) gave presentations and answered questions from the floor. This provided an opportunity for some lively discussion and debate.

All in all, a stimulating and enjoyable weekend!