Just before I went away to Italy; playing Indiana Jones during June and July, we had managed to fix the database which had stopped working as it should. All members that have joined are now on it and the correct renewal dates are sorted out. Most members renewals are now due as we tried to get all members to be due at the same point to help administration. About 80% of member renewals became due at the end of June. With this issue of the newsletter a renewal notice will be sent (either as part of the email or if mailed out a renewal slip). As of the next newsletter, the database will be adjusted to reflect those who have renewed and the issue sent out accordingly. I am also getting FSF membership cards organised for all new members and renewing members. These will be a new style of card which is long overdue. Please be patient a little longer for this as we have to have designs finalised and cards printed.

We are also excited that as of September we are planning to start running monthly meetings again. From the start we are looking at running these meetings on the first Sunday of each month. This will help us avoid some long weekends and Mothers Day and also hopefully things like collectables fairs. In order to ensure that we don't break the bank and to keep things simple, at first these meetings will be held at Robbie's new townhouse residence in Sutherland from 10am at 13 / 16 - 18 Merton St Sutherland. This will be very fanlike and less regimented than a meeting venue. If we get to the point where numbers exceed the space then we will look at going back to a club like venue. At this point we ask you to bring your own drinks and for a $5 'club donation' we will run and provide a sausage sizzle. As usual we will have a great raffle prize and some door prizes as well. Parking on the street is available and it is only a few minute walk from Sutherland station.

We will be looking at returning to a monthly newsletter format as well, especially if the monthly meetings start to work again. Marty does a fantastic job, but it would be nice to also see some fans submitting stuff for inclusion in the newsletter. We seem to always ask but in the past the response has been, let's say, less than fantastic. Send anything you may wish to be looked at for inclusion, to Marty ( JLIB_HTML_CLOAKING ). Although we are hoping that pretty much all memberships are email we understand there are one or two members that still have no access to a computer. I am happy to renew a membership for postage at a higher rate than email for these specific members. Please contact me if that is the case. There is also a student membership now available for those still at school.

There have also been a number of changes for FSF in other areas as well. We have had a small change in personnel and for those who have moved on to other things we wish them well. Amanda in particular worked tirelessly to help FSF and we do thank her for the many years of support. We do have a growing group of friendly members and fans who have stepped in to help FSF move in future directions, including some old friends returning. Daz is working hard on the upgrade of the FSF site and we hope this will be up and running fully in a couple of weeks. In the mean time, check out the Culture Shock Events webpage for some cool competitions and prize giveaways and make sure you join both FSF and Culture Shock on Facebook so that you get updates and information sooner.

Coming up later in the year are the Shock Horror event with Robert Englund and Tony Todd (November 27 in Sydney) and our Stargate event with Michael Shanks, Lexa Doig and David Blue (December 10 Sydney, December 11 Brisbane). Don't forget Melbourne is the place to be in October for Armageddon and finally tickets are now on sale for January's OzTrek 7 Walter Koenig, Barbara March, Gwynyth Walsh & Alan Scarfe (January 29, 2012 Sydney).

Finally in terms of our social calendar which is becoming a primary focus for FSF I am happy to announce that:

· FSF regained the Inter-Club Bowling Challenge trophy in July. In a close battle with the Great Klingon Empire, the FSF team (Rob, Marty, Gordy, Amanda Lane and Michaela) were victorious. It seems so long as we are able to put forward a team we can usually best our bowling rivals. We are looking forward to retaining the trophy next year.

· The annual spring picnic is coming up in September. We will make it the second Sunday of that month at Parramatta Park. More details will be sent out to the website and Facebook as well as the next newsletter as it is finalised.

· We are hoping to get some functions happening for movie nights to catch up on some of the latest films being released. If this gets out soon enough we are possibly thinking of making Planet of the Apes as our first. Keep an eye on Facebook for details.