Honorary President's Message

If we were to have looked during the Covid years at our Society through a kaleidoscope, we would first have seen fragments of glass stubbornly refusing to connect into any semblance of design. Then, into this year, the kaleidoscope would have been shaken hard, its focus adjusted and re-adjusted so that month by month the fractured shards resolved into ever more complex and fulfilling patterns of the Society’s life, jewel like in their colour and intensity. We are truly back to normal now and for that we must pay tribute to all who have worked tirelessly throughout these years on our behalf in whatever capacity to make this happen.

I am truly honoured to succeed my friend, Dave Felton, as your Hon President. He will be a hard act to follow but I hope to meet as many of you as reasonably possible during my term of office starting with the Willamette Festival next May. We are, with care, all now able to travel the world once more and enjoy wine, food and friends as many of us have done this year in Alsace, Piedmont, Paris, Bordeaux and Washington to name but a few.

I cannot let this first message of the year and, I believe, the last pass without paying tribute to my predecessor as Chairman, Jeoffrey Deeths, who served us so well in that capacity between 2006 and 2008. Jeff was a good friend to many and was liked by all. He will be much missed. Tom Murnan of the Oklahoma Branch has kindly written Jeff’s obituary, which will doubtless appear in our forthcoming Area magazines.

May I wish you and your families good cheer and a safe and happy Festive Season.

Chris Bonsall.