Convenor’s Speech from the 30th Valhalla Anniversary Hi, I am Richard Logan, for those who don’t know me; I am the current Valhalla Convenor and Vice President of the Society. Due to being on the committee I have had a high interest and involvement in Valhalla for the last 8 very interesting years. I have therefore encountered a wonderfully rich group of strong and interesting personalities. I am delighted to see so many members today as we celebrate 30 years of Valhalla. The story of Valhalla is a journey, and applying Shakespeare’s quote, we are all merely actors in this drama, some, as you can read in the History, only started the journey, others have always been involved and some of us joined along the way. It is an exciting journey, as Valhalla has had many phases of activity and development, many different convenors, many different booking officers, many different working bee teams and many different points of view at any particular time. This all adds to the richness of the human experience. And it is the human experience set in a wonderful setting, which happens to be communal, that makes Valhalla very different from other holiday experiences. And of course, at each phase of development, the Society does its best with the resources it has got, whether large or small. Each generation works hard to ensure that the Valhalla experience will continue to attract new generations of members. It is great to be able to say, that so far, we have been successful in this. I therefore wish to remember and pay my respects to the key people who have come before me. I want to thank and acknowledge in turn the past convenors and booking officers who are listed in the ‘History’, those who helped in working bees, and those who have stayed and used Valhalla. All were important in their
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different ways. A special acknowledgement needs to go to our good neighbours from the Outpost and the Te Kiri Marae, especially John Courtenay who has been our neighbour for the whole of the 30 years and to Lally Haddon the Ngati Wai rangatira or chief. Both are very good neighbours. Lally said publicly at the DIY Mitre Ten opening of the Marae last Easter, something like, ‘The Danes are bloody good neighbours’. Unfortunately for us, Lally is very sick and John Courtenay has had a few issues involving the workings of his heart, but he is now resting and of good cheer. As a society we have been through a number of joint journeys with these valuable neighbours. Unfortunately neither can be with us today. One of the most interesting experiences of my Valhalla involvement has been the revegetation project of recent years. Along with fellow committee members of the time, Tove Treadaway and Torben Sorenson, we are the architects of this programme. With the help of Bjarne and later Palle, we were able to achieve a transformation both the physical environment of turning a farmlet into a park, but more importantly because it involved over 80 members who due to Palle’s great energy and drive, made it happen. For our combined efforts, we won a merit environmental award in 2005 from the ARC. This project continues to develop and have different phases and continues to provide lots of interesting challenges to those involved. So finally, I again thank those who have gone before me and created this wonderful place. Thank you. Tak. Richard Logan 8 December 2007
Danish Society News Magazine February 2008