Backstage Incorporated, producers of the Mount Gambier Eisteddfod, have hosted the annual general meeting and bi-annual conference of the association of Eisteddfod Societies of Australia in the city recently.

This was the first face to face conference the association has been able to hold since the start of the COVID pandemic.

Backstage Inc secretary Maxine Chalinor said delegates from NSW, Victoria and SA were welcomed to the conference by Mount Gambier Mayor Lynette Martin.

“Mount Gambier has had a long association with AESA with the late Bryant Lock moving the motion to form and Kevin G Hein having held the positions of president, secretary and treasurer at various times,” she Mrs Chalinor said.

“The highlight of the conference was the attendance by Dr Kenji Fujimura who is the patron of AESA. Dr Fujimura was the guest speaker after lunch and also participated in the conference, bringing a lot of good insight into matters through his experience as a teacher, adjudicator and a former competitor.

“Several new faces were welcomed from various Eisteddfod societies and delegates discussed the problems they have had, especially during the COVID times and shared ideas on how to deal with matters that are complicated by the fact that each state has had differing rules and regulation and the interstate travel that many Eisteddfod competitors like to do, being curtailed by ever changing border restrictions.”

At the conference Tony Kemper of Wollongong stepped down from the position of president after 21 years and David Hague of Bendigo was elected as president.

Mount Gambier’s Natalia Chalinor was welcomed onto the committee as treasurer while Maxine Chalinor was re-elected as secretary, a position she has held since 2005.

Delegates are now looking forward to the November conference that will be held in Townsville.