Functions and Activities
In April the Society in partnership with South Sydney Heritage Society hosted a Sunday afternoon tea at Redfern Town Hall. The event included a talk by Nola Bramble on the Lebanese in Redfern as well as an exhibition of photographs and memorabilia. Over a hundred people from both Societies attended. It was an enjoyable function and gave us the opportunity to promote the community's history with others.

In May the Society operated a stall at the Society Australian of Genealogists weekend Showcase. The showcase is attended by over 2000 people and proved to be an excellent opportunity to highlight the ALHS's activities and Lebanese history to a wider audience.

In June I represented the ALHS at the Estonian Centre in Surrey Hills at a conference on maintaining multicultural archives for Archives Week 2002. I presented a paper on the progress and difficulties faced by the ALHS in saving records. It is planned to publish the papers of this conference.

In August the Society held a Sunday Luncheon at Rockdale where the Society's travelling exhibition was mounted. Those present had a great time enjoying Lebanese food, music and dancing.

Over the first weekend of November, Board Member Mournia Saad presented a paper at the RAHS State Conference of Affiliated Societies at Wingham. The theme of the conference was "Broadening the View" which focused on the migrant view of Australia history. Freda Backes and I also represented the ALHS. Mounira's speech/paper was very well received and a display on the Lebanese of the Manning Valley provoked a lot interest and goodwill from delegates from other historical societies. Many commented that they did not realise the extent and length of Lebanese settlement in Australia.

Publication
A lot of your Board's time has been devoted to the publication of the papers from the Records Made Real exhibition. Gathering the material together, arranging for editing, indexing and desktop publishing has been a big task but should prove to be worthwhile when the valuable material in these papers is available in book form and in public collections.

The Society made a successful application to the Royal Australian Historical Society for funds to help with the publication of the papers from the Records Made Real seminar and received a grant of $800. (The cheque was presented at the opening cerement of the RAHS State Conference at Wingham.) The papers will cost a lot more than this to publish, but this grant has allowed us to professionally edit, index and desktop publish book and allow us to end up with a professional looking product.

Exhibition
A lot more time was taken in developing a travelling exhibition/display. The Sydney Record's Centre exhibition (with some material we have gained since then) was copied and the copies remounted on laminated panels. These panels can be display quickly and effectively at ALHS functions or at other functions at which the ALHS is represented. We hope to make effective use of this exhibition over the forthcoming year.

ALHS Board of Directors
Your Board has met formally on seven occasions over the last year. In addition there have been many meetings of smaller groups of Board Members with other interested members working on specific projects. Board attendance figures are below:

Membership
On 30th June we had 78 financial members with membership reaching d a peak of 90 members just before subscription renewals. There are now 58 financial members and with some I have received tonight and those I expect over the new few days, renewals should be at about the same stage and last year. I expect an increase over the next year.

Funds
Thanks to the generosity of members and fundraising activities, the accounts are in a healthy position. The balance at 30th June was $4578.01. The bank balance is $3600 but does not include proceeds from sale of the book and expected subscriptions.

The Board decision to establish a Social Committee, coordinated by Mon Saad, was useful. The funds generated contribute to the healthy financial position of the Society and people have enjoyed themselves at the events.

Membership Lists
Thanks to Rosemary Walker, we have developed a membership database and a supporter's database on Access 2000 and this now makes the onerous task of sending out newsletters and other correspondence a lot less demanding.

Newsletter & Webpage
Four Newsletters have been prepared and posted to members this year. The Newsletter is also deposited in a number of library collections for public record.

The Society's website continues to grow as new material is added to it. We often receive emails from people looking for information on the Lebanese in Australia and who comment favourably on it.

A difficulty is finding enough material for both publications. So often I hear members say "But my family is not very interesting" - only to discover once they begin to relate what their family has done, what a fascinating tale most people have to tell. And for the general, non-Lebanese community, the story of Lebanese settlement offers a new, exiting and fresh look at Australian history. So hopefully, members will not be so shy and put to paper the story of their family, business, club or religion.

Want to be involved?
If you want to be more involved in the day-to-day activities of the Society, I would be happy to hear from you. If you don't want to be part of the formal Board, there a many occasions when we need to roll up our sleeves and do some of the practical work of running an historical society.

Paul Convy
November 2002.