I am pleased and honoured to have been elected President of the Ganaraska Freewheelers at the 2018 Annual General Meeting.  I know that all of the Freewheelers will join me in expressing appreciation and thanks for the substantial creative contributions made by the outgoing executives and volunteers. We also welcome back those continuing in their roles and are pleased to have input from new executives and volunteers.

Our Past President Willy Elzner is retiring after making much appreciated and substantial contributions to the club during his term. Early into his term, he enlisted support from the Exec team, Social Committee and Ride Coordinators to conduct a club survey, renewing members’ interest in organizing an annual tour, which led to our very successful Welland and Ottawa tours. Among other leadership initiatives sparked by the survey, Willy organized great joint rides with the Northumberland Hills Cycling Club and spearheaded getting the word out that we were welcoming new members with great results. Under his leadership, the club now has new by-laws and a stronger emphasis on safety.

We thank Harold Wontorra for his very capable past service as Vice President and Ruth Louden who is handing over her position as Secretary after capably managing two labour intensive jobs as Secretary and Webmaster. We are thankful that she is continuing as our Superwoman of Webmasters. Marshall Johnstone is taking a break from his Ride Coordinator position and we thank him for his great work rounding up and keeping track of ride hosts.  We continue to appreciate his creativity in originating what are now popular and traditional annual club rides. Vivian Vandenhazel is stepping down as  Membership Coordinator after a long term of welcoming guests and new riders.  Thank you Vivian.

Filling vacancies and continuing on are the following Executive members:

President:  Barbara Spencer

Vice President:  Peter Reitknecht

Treasurer: Richard Pike

Secretary: Brenda Smith

Webmaster: Ruth Louden

VOLUNTEERS:

Tuesday Ride Coordinators:  Sue Pott, Peter Reitknecht

Friday Ride Coordinators:  Brian Hedney, Katherine Smith

Membership Coordinators:  Brenda Smith, Barbara Spencer

The Minutes of the AGM, amended By-Laws and changes to the Incident Report may now be found in the Members Only portion of the website.

We have a great club.  Every member of the Ganaraska Freewheelers Cycling Club is a volunteer.  It takes work and effort by each member to host and organize rides, social gatherings and events but the rewards are a hundred times any effort expended.  2018 was a superb year and 2019 will be even better with new members, new volunteers and beautiful routes to travel with friends.

Barbara Spencer

President