"THE C.O.M. NEWS", MARCH 2006 nr. 115

ANNEX nr. 5

Presidents, Ladies and Gentlemen, dear friends,

First of all, I should like to thank you for being here today and, in welcoming you to the Statutory Congress of C.O.M. in Zutphen in 2006, I shall try to describe to you the annual activities of the Board of C.O.M.

I’ve said that I shall try, and I can only hope that you will understand.

As you know, in the past year the C.O.M.-B.D. has had to do without the services of the General Secretary. As the very recently elected Assistant General Secretary, and with the invaluable help of my fellow Board members, I have done my best to carry out the duties of an Acting General Secretary. This task would have been impossible without the tireless, unstinting help of the General President, thus doubling his workload during this period.

In spite of various administrative problems that arose in 2005, these were cast into the shade by the appearance of the worst enemy of bird lovers that threatened our hobby.
I’m not going to comment on the painful consequences that everyone is aware of.
Unfortunately, these circumstances and uneasiness completely dominated the season of national and international shows, which would be the most agreeable, sociable time of year for all of us in the C.O.M. family – a period principally characterised by one of the C.O.M. objectives which is of prime importance:
Fostering and developing friendly agreement, close collaboration and reciprocal help between all
member countries, and particularly between breeders and bird lovers (C.O.M. Statutes, art. 5).
Although a few shows have been held, we have all been frustrated by the cancellation of many others, without mentioning further serious repercussions. I would ask you to think for a moment of the sadness of our friends in Zutphen who were organising the 2006 World Championships. We share in their grief - OUR grief.

I am a born optimist and so I should like to concentrate on the positive side of things for the future.
To often we still count our chickens before they are hatched. One thing is certain, however: the troubles we have had to confront in the past year have taught us to appreciate the many small things about our hobby, which are most important to us.

In thanking you for your attention and wishing you a pleasant stay, even if a short one, here in Zutphen, I should like to offer you my very best wishes for 2006. May it be full of great satisfaction and success in achieving the aims of C.O.M.

Ernesto Gracia
C.O.M. Assistant General Secretary