At 10:29 18/10/2000 +0000, Night Parrot wrote:
They were expressing their concerns about the increasing membership costs
of BOCA, and were especially concerned about the inequity that now exists
for their remote country members and what little they get for their
membership contribution, eg. thier yellow pages magazine called the Bird
Observer, and their policy of requesting bequests and spending funds on
bird conservation which enables the building of empire state buildings for
the enjoyment of the Melb. metropolitan tea room set.
Ah, no longer can we enjoy a simple cup of tea without Night Parrot
complaining!
The Australian Bird Environment Fund (ABEF) is a separate organisation from
BOCA with its own trustees. Anyone donating to ABEF can be sure their money
is being used for conservation and not to run BOCA itself.
Night Parrot, have you *seen* BOCA's headquarters? It's a very modest shop
in a modest suburban shopping centre. A rabbit warren, overcrowded, even
dilapidated would be not far from the mark. The Melbourne branch doesn't
use the club's own headquarters for their meetings because there isn't
enough room! Yes, BOCA have bought the shop next door and are extending. An
Empire State it was not and will not be. The new headquarters will have
more room for the club's shop, the library, for admin and (horrors!) for
meetings. There is enough room in the budget, I trust, for a kettle.
No room for latte-sipping Melbourne metropolitan galahs or drongos
anywhere. Except perhaps in the skins collection.
To all BOCA members, I say: a club of this size needs headquarters, and
better than we currently have. The council has made a good decision here,
and Bruno Grollo hasn't made a run for president just yet. If Night Parrot
disagrees with me, he/she should!
Cheers
Paul Foxworthy
Birding-Aus is on the Web at
www.shc.melb.catholic.edu.au/home/birding/index.html
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