Life Member Profile – Anne Honey
Anne Honey became a member of the Alpine Club in 1976 and was soon active in its activities both in Kiama and in Thredbo. She became the club’s secretary in 1981, after having been first appointed to the committee as its publicity officer in 1979, and she served in the secretarial role until 1993. This was a particularly demanding period in the club’s development, involving its incorporation as a co-operative, the negotiations which led to the building of the present lodge and then the construction process itself which required board members to attend many on-site meetings in Thredbo. The secretarial workload was markedly higher during this time than it had previously been, and Anne’s professionalism, thoroughness and attention to detail proved to be of great benefit in her meeting the challenges effectively. Her contribution was marked not only by the considerable investment of time she made, especially in relation to the management of the mountain of correspondence, but also by the high standards which she brought to the secretary’s task. Her committee and board minutes, for example, were both detailed and immaculately presented (and therefore easy to follow) and created a fine record of the club’s activities, and her calm common sense in discussions about contentious issues served the board well. Likewise, during the 1990s as a member of the review group which helped steer the writing of the club’s story to that time, she made a number of helpful suggestions about content and on the details of the text as it evolved. For many years she was a strong participant in the club’s regular working bee activities at Thredbo too, along with her husband Mark who was one of the club’s first-generation children. Anne Honey has left a positive mark on the Kiama Alpine Club, and her nomination for life membership would have surprised nobody among the members. The award was bestowed at the AGM in 2001.