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70 Issues To speak of a landmark would, perhaps , be a little over the top, however, another benchmark has been reached, for sure. The fact that the Branch Newsletter has survived for 70 issues is testimony, in itself, of the value of the publication. This issue will not only mark a step forward, it will mark the end of the period for our present Editor. This, as you will read elsewhere, will be the last issue under the editorship of Murray Arms. He has successfully brought the Newsletter through the last few years. He has done his stint. He now hands it over to our new Editor. Our new Editor will, hopefully, be taking us through the next range of issues which will see us through to that other memorable number, namely: 75 issues. Then comes the long haul up to the century. Hopefully, I shall still be around to make a comment for the 75th issue, but if I am still around for the 100th, I shall probably be just a reader; if indeed I can manage that. When I think back to the time when Dennis James, the first Editor, proposed the idea of a Branch Newsletter, I wonder about the matter because if I had been more influential than I was, there would not have been a Branch Newsletter. I opposed the idea. I did not oppose it on the basis that I disagreed with a newsletter, more that I just did not believe that the Branch would have the endeavour to maintain a newsletter over any realistic period of time. Yet, here we are at issue 70 and still potentially looking into the future. Of course, in justification of my views at that time, I have to say this: Dennis James was dedicated and he created the Newsletter out of sheer hard work. He chased others, he pressed others, he filled up the gaps himself and he kept the Newsletter going under circumstances which others may have let it fade away. However, such is the nature of people, that there has always been someone [sometimes more] at the Branch who have, in spite of great difficulties, carried the Newsletter forward by chasing up contributions and succeeding in completing the end-result of each issue. Murray Arms has carried that spirit through to this issue and our new Editor will no doubt do the same. The real saviour for the Newsletter, and comfort for the Editor's efforts, is simply the fact that people enjoy reading the content; indeed, one sees the articles replicated throughout the world; no doubt linking back to the Branch's excellent Website. It is just a pity that the work of the Editor is not made more easy by Branch members showering him (or her) with an abundance of copy; as opposed to sometimes leaving the Editor with the thought that our members have forsaken pen and paper (so to speak!). I guess our members are just busy people. One may be tempted to say, at times, that the Newsletter goes on in spite of the Branch membership, but - on the other hand - there is no doubt an underlying current flowing throughout the Branch which has allowed the Newsletter to be successful for 70 issues. Long may that underlying current flow. END |
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