Kumanu is about sharing the process of the Board of Trustees, and getting feedback from the community on topical issues.
As most of you will know, a new Board of Trustees was elected at last weekend’s AGM.
Your new Board consists of :
Co-Ordinator – Louise Petzold
Secretary – Graham Price
Treasurer – Maree Murray
Assistant Co-ordinator – Chani Grieve
Trustee – Georgia McCrory Bowick
Your new Board has just spent the weekend at Wangapeka, together with outgoing Co-ordinator Dave Pooch, Centre Caretaker Tracy and Office Caretaker Brooke, with support from Mark Schrader and SAP participant Sol Arrowfield, and joined for meals by Dan Burgess-Milne who has just completed a solo retreat.
Our intention was to spend time getting to know one another, connecting with each other and the land, listening to those living on the land and previous Board members, and laying as strong a foundation as we could for the mahi (work) that lies ahead. We did a lot of listening. There was tremendous honesty and openness in our sharing. There was a huge amount of good heart, goodwill, and intention to carry out our responsibilities with the application and practice of Dharma at the centre of what we do, how we function, and how we support one another.
As many of you know, there are so many varied and complex threads that weave together to form the Wangapeka. There are many issues that have been given to us from the previous Board that will need our attention, some sooner than later. There are spiritual, practical, individual, collective, ecological, financial, ethical (and more!) considerations to be made on every topic and decision that shows up on our plate. More often than not, there is more to do than there is time to do it.
It truly is an exercise in interdependent arising, all-embracive thinking, love and clear seeing, and calling on all available resources, inner and outer, seen and unseen.
We cannot possibly do it all by ourselves!
In my experience, whenever a new Board is elected, the rest of the community breathes a sigh of relief! Thank goodness there are those willing to do this job! And many of you have done it before, and know what it entails. We are committed to doing it as well as we can, and hopefully to have some fun doing it.
It is going to take us some time to have a clear understanding of the scope of our work, and all the issues at hand. We ask for your patience as we establish ourselves, familiarise with the roles, and wrap our hearts and minds around what’s on “the Agenda”!
In order to do this, we will be leaning into the rest of the community. We want to continue to draw on the experience, skills, knowledge and strength of our Elders, our sub-committees, our local networks, and our wider community. It really does take a whole village.
Our next three Board meetings have been scheduled for :
- Saturday August 17th
- Saturday September 14th
- Saturday October 21st
We will have more to share after our next meeting in August.
For now, if you have any communication with the Board of Trustees, please contact the Secretary Graham Price secretary.wangapeka@gmail.com
We would like to offer our sincere thanks and appreciation to all the outgoing Board members – Dave Pooch, Michael McKinnon, Simon Jones, and Dan Burgess-Milne. Deep gratitude for your service, effort and contributions to Wangapeka.
We are all looking forward to working together, and with all of you, for the benefit of Wangapeka and our precious world.
Written by Chani Grieve, on behalf of the new BoT
We also had an opportunity over the weekend to honour and thank Dave Pooch, who stepped down after 10 years on the Board! Dave has been immersed in a lifetime of service, and has given so much of his time and energy to the Wangapeka. Dave’s irrepressible good humour and ability to roll with the punches has been an inspiration to all.
Cheers to you Dave! We hope your future visits to the Wangapeka will be relaxed and joyful.
Photos : Dave working with the Sayadaw on the Pagoda; Dave Pooch and Graham Price with yet-to-be-unwrapped gift; A shiny Dave with unwrapped gift; ‘A’ syllable, crafted in copper by Graham Price, set on granite gifted by Ray Caird
