This financial year has resulted in an operating loss of $694, a result which is disappointing but understandable given the difficult trading conditions and the additional financial costs of the changeover period between our long serving manager Gary Dwyer and the recruitment of a new manager, Garrett Robinson.

The board made a collective decision to have an extended handover period to allow an effective transfer of knowledge between Gary and Garrett and the resultant smooth transition is justification of the increased expense.

On behalf of the club I would like to acknowledge and thank Gary for his long and distinguished service with the Boorowa Ex Services & Citizens Club.

Gary began working at the club in 1979 and in 1985 he took on the role of manager of the club and served in this role for 31 years.

Gary is one of those rare individuals that not only spends the majority of their working life with one business, but more than that he has put his heart and soul into the Club and we the members have reaped the benefits of this dedication to not only the main club but the sporting and interest clubs within the club.

On a personal note I would like to thank Gary for the assistance and guidance he has given me in my time as president.  

It has been a pleasure working with him and I wish him all the very best for a long and active retirement.

Garrett Robinson has stepped into the role of manager very successfully.

Garrett has brought with him some new ideas on how we can move the club forward but maintain the very best of what our club already offers.

I would like to thank him and all of the staff for their continued dedication to our club.

This year we had some new members join the board and I would like to thank them and the other board members for the time and effort they have put in to help run our club.

I encourage all members to consider standing for the board, this is your club and the greater the member involvement the stronger the club will be.

This year we raffled a Toyota Yaris to assist in fund raising for the club; the raffle was a great success and proved very popular.

We will soon be launching a new raffle to be drawn on New Years Eve, there will be three prizes; $10,000, $2,000 and $1,000.

Tickets will be limited to only 500 and it offers a great chance for a kick start to the new year for 3 lucky winners.

We have continued with our programme of offering free musical entertainment in association with members prize draws and in addition we have run “Kids Discos”, they have been very popular with the children and give parents an opportunity to have a night out while the kids can dance and sing in the auditorium.

I would like to thank the sporting clubs and social groups within the club for their continued support and patronage, all of these groups would welcome new members and I encourage all of our general members to have a look at what is offered by the club in activities as varied as bowls, darts, euchre, squash, pilates, box fit, zumba and many more.

Twilight bowls runs on Wednesday evenings during daylight saving and is one of the most popular activities, it’s a great way of meeting people and having a social evening so come along and join in.

On a more sombre note, this year several members have passed away and on behalf of the club I offer condolences to their families.

I would like to thank all of our members for their continued support and encourage all of you to visit the club and use the facilities, the strength of our club comes from the core of our membership and I thank you all.

We look forward to 2016-17 with confidence.