Annual General Meeting 2016 of Karitsa Community of South Australia

Here for 30 years 
and into the future!

The Annual General Meeting of the Karitsa Community of South Australia (formerly Brotherhood of Karitsa SA) was held on Sunday 18 September 2016, its 30th anniversary year, at the Goodwood Community Centre.

Secretariat Report
The meeting was chaired by Michael Malavazos who welcomed all attendees and also reported on the work of the executive committee over the last two years. He noted, the committee worked well and collaboratively, meeting every second month to plan and discuss matters affecting the Karitsa Community. He thanked Katerina Antoniou-Richards, President during the last term, for her support and encouragement and commended all on the committee for their dedicated support. It is a pleasure to attend committee meetings, he reported, because we are all proud to be here and make a difference to the Karitsa Community.

Volunteers
A special tribute was paid to all Volunteers who attend every event and support with preparations. Their support has been there for 30 years and will continue into the future. Any time assistance is required, a dedicated group of Volunteers is available to support the Karitsa Community.

Special General Meeting - Change of name
Michael reported a Special General Meeting had been held on 27 July 2015 to discuss the constitution and a name change of our organisation. The AGM proceeded to endorse the recommendation that the name of the association be changed from Brotherhood of Karitsa to Karitsa Community of SA.

Events
The following events were held over the past two years:

•  New Year Picnic, 18 January 2015
• River Murray Cruise, 25 October 2015
• New Year Picnic, 17 January 2016
• 30th Year Anniversary Dance, 4 June 2016
• Monarto Zoo day trip to take place on 23 October 2016

Donations
Donations over the last two years included:

• Neapoli Fire Appeal
• Motor Neuron Foundation, in memory of Aliki Kouvelis
• DNA tests on five fellow members to further the research of Family Trees of Southern Parnon, coordinated by Stelios Hagias

Commendations

• Family Trees of Southern Parnon: Stelios Hagias was thanked for the outstanding work that he, along with all members of the research group, have carried out over the last fifteen years in documenting the family trees of Karitsa and neighbouring villages in the broader region of Southern Parnon. It was also agreed that the Karitsa Community will continue to sponsor and financially support this work.
• Karitsiotika Nea: Dimitri Katsambis, editor of the online bulletin "Karitsiotika Nea", was acknowledged for his ongoing commitment to keep all of the Karitsa family and friends informed about events, news and happenings pertaining to our village and descendents the world over.

Proposals
In general discussion the following proposals were mentioned and received broad support:

•  Book publication "Karitsa Migrants in Australia": Kostas Katsambis foreshadowed the possibility of publishing a book listing all Karitsiotes arrivals in Australia and accompanying photographs.
• Sound recording of Karitsa Songs: Dimitri Katsambis proposed that since a number of songs have been written about Karitsa by members, that the organisation investigate the possibility of professionally recording them and making them available to the wider membership.
• Karitsa Community group photograph: Dimitri also strongly recommended that the committee looks into arranging for a whole group photo to be taken, preferably professionally, at the next picnic, in order to create a historic record that will last for generations.

Elections
The main business of the AGM of course was the election of two committees to serve the Community over the next two years, 2016-18.

Electoral and Auditing Committee 2016-18
The following were nominated and accepted to serve on the Electoral and Auditing Committee for the next two years:

• Giannis Antoniou
• Dimitri Katsambis
• Michalis S. Malavazos

Executive Committee 2016-18
The following were nominated and accepted to serve on the Executive Committee for the next two years:

• Panayota Antoniou
• John Katsambis
• Kosta Katsambis
• Con Malavazos
• Michael Malavazos
• Patti Michail
• Marina Profiris
• George Stavrianos
• John Stavrianos

Retiring committee members were thanked for their contribution to the Executive Committee.