Chief's Message -- To All Gordons and friends, you are kind to ask after Catheryn - she is making slow but steady progress and we understand that she should be able to kiss this disease goodbye by 2010 - doctors say she should have no recurring symptoms - so we have to wait and see! I am so sorry to be missing your festivities in October - but I wouldn't have been able to leave Catheryn so it was just as well that I cancelled when I did! She is simply not ready to be left on her own and this won't change for another few months. We fly to London to see specialists every three or four weeks - but the prognosis is good so I have much to be grateful for. I enjoyed seeing Jerry and Wayne - although it was a busy day at the games and I could have done with more time to speak to them. I couldn't even ask them back to the castle as it was flooded and we are living in a flat over the garages until it is sorted! Not a very good year one way or another - still it could have been much worse! Kindest regards to all - and many congratulations on the exciting news of Stephen Todd’s engagement - give he and Ashley my very best wishes for a long and enjoyable life together. Granville Huntly Minutes of the Annual General Membership Meeting 2009 (AGM)-- Read the Minutes... Treasurer's Report -- Read the report... Communications Committee Report 2009 -- Good afternoon, I am happy to have you here in Virginia for our AGM this year. I had hoped to increase the genealogy sections this past year, but had to put that major endeavor off as I had too many other issues to tackle including attending to my health, so this coming year should see that area grow. We have seen a steady increase in the use of our national website since we launched it in August 2006. Statistics YTD through the end of September shows a comparative increase of 116.5% in 2009 over the same period in 2008. Likewise, the unique visits statistic shows an increase of 126.2% this year over last year. This means that we have more people coming to our site and apparently, most are focused on what information they want. Our pages viewed per visit show that most enter directly to the page with the information they want from a search engine, spend most of their time on that page and then browse the site. What is surprising is the geography of our users. Gordons worldwide are looking at our website. Most surprising is that with 28.2% of our total visits, the largest group overall (including geographic groups within the USA) is coming from the top-level domain yandex.ru in Russia! Other areas outside of the USA include the expected like the UK, Canada and New Zealand, while some of the more unexpected include Romania, Singapore, Poland, Brazil, Taiwan, India, Hong Kong, China, Israel, Czech Republic, Malaysia, Cote d’Ivorie, and many more! Read More... Charles O. Gordon Memorial Scholarship -- We are pleased to announce that Marshall Conner German, a sixteen year-old Grade 2 piper from Corona, California with the University of California Riverside Pipe Band has been awarded a $500.00 scholarship. Our scholarship will allow Marshall to travel to the Balmoral Classic United States Junior National Piping Championship in Pittsburgh, PA where he will compete on November 7, 2009. His story is a compelling one, beginning piping with two goals in mind: first to learn to pipe for his sister's wedding, and second to rehabilitate his lungs and respiratory system following a life threatening bout with bacterial staff pneumonia. His interest was first sparked while in the sixth grade when a teacher played the bagpipes for his class and "ignited his curiosity" so much that he asked his parents to bring him back some pipes when they went to Scotland! Four years ago, after six months of respiratory therapy he began lessons on the chanter and transitioned the Great Highland Bagpipes three years ago and began competing. We wish him all the best of luck! Clan Store Proposal-- It was proposed that we set up a committee to create and maintain:
The committee will consist of Lois Todd, Kevin Gordon, Geof Baker and others yet to be appointed by the president. AGM 2010 Venue -- The 2010 AGM will be at Grandfather Mountain Highland Games. |
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