Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Thank you Louisa John-Krol and Teen Hartnett


  The story year is drawing to close.

Before we at Storytelling Australia Victoria central take a break from dreaming and planning, we have a few acknowledgements and thank yous to make.

The re-visioning of SAV over the past three years has been a slow and committed process from a small committee. After many voluntary hours, two of our members have decided to step to the side. We’d like to thank, from the depth of our hearts, the contributions made to the organization by Louisa John-Krol and Teena Hartnett.

Teena Hartnett
 
Teena stepped into multiple roles: administration secretary, membership secretary and treasurer. She has painstakingly set up systems, prepared our yearly statements ensuring the ongoing health and sustainability of our organisation. Teena also supported us in establishing World Storytelling Day as an annual event in our calendar, negotiated venues and graciously hosted. She has also hosted Stories by the Fire for us at the Newport Folk Festival.

In addition to these roles Teena has kept the communication open with members and planned our end of year celebrations. She also instigated the idea that we deepen our relationship with the Newport Fiddle and Folk Club and library partnerships. This has led to a Partnership with Hobsons Bay Libraries who now support us with a beautiful venue for our third Friday of the month gathering: Fabled Nights in Newport. Teena also introduced Storytelling Australia Victoria to the Foundling Archive and the Good Room and laid the groundwork for our inaugural event celebrating International Day of the Girl.

Louisa John-Krol
 
We wish to acknowledge the support offered by Louisa who took on the unexciting but essential role of Public Officer and the task of setting up our insurance. These roles can take one into labyrinthine spaces on the Internet and Louisa showed great perseverance and got us sorted!

However the greatest gift she has given, is the history of Storytelling Australia Victoria and the stories of our life members. With the wave of new people joining us, it was apparent that we did not know the history of the organization. Louisa spent well over a year researching, interviewing, and collating information and images. Her work is meticulous and it gives us great pride to see it up on the website. It is also a reminder that Storytelling Australia Victoria will be celebrating 40 years in 2018.

Louisa is also a member of the Australian Fairy Tale Society and she provides a strong link between our organisations. Many of our members belong to both groups.

Louisa continues with her writing and music. You can enjoy her work HERE

Our committee members oil the cogs and grease the wheels that keep us moving forward and we recognize they also work hard and have busy personal lives.

On behalf of the members and the committee, thank you Teena and Louisa for your support and the hours you have gifted Storytelling Australia Victoria. We look forward to seeing you at events and hearing you tell stories

And we look forward to introducing you to the brave new storytellers who have offered to step into these rather large shoes.

Jackie Kerin (president)