FAREWELL TO OUR PRESIDENT

After a long and selfless period of serving the TSA, Dr Rolf Beilharz has now retired as TS President. Appointed as successor to Peter Lange in 2007, Rolf continued for one year beyond his 75th birthday with the consensus of the Regional Councils of Australia and Germany. To reflect on and to acknowledge Rolf's enormous contribution as President, Regional Head (1988-2007), Elder and a variety of other responsibilities and tasks, the Templer Community celebrated with an afternoon tea in the Bayswater Hall on Saturday 15 September, beginning at 3pm. A smaller, private function - with Rolf and Vyrna's family and members of Regional Council - preceded the afternoon tea.

Some 80 people attended the Farewell function and enjoyed the coffee, the savoury finger food, the sausage rolls, the cakes, the brezels and the scones, amidst lively handshakes and "long-time no see" greetings. There were speeches and recollections down memory lane, and congratulary toasts and community singing, with young ladies with serving trays flitting unobtrusive between them. Rolf and Vyrna in turn responded to the toasts, acknowledging the support received from the community over the years in their endeavours.

The official part of the afternoon ended with a community sing-a-long of several traditional Volkslieder, like "Kein schoener Land..." and "In einem kuehlen Grunde..." and "Ade zur guten Nacht...". It was a most pleasant afternoon.

Below you can see some of the photos taken on the day.