In place of the Annual Report of the Council for 1996, a summary of the Annual General Meeting of January 1997 is presented here.

As in previous years, our Annual General Meeting drew a large attendance. The business was swiftly accomplished, with the approval of the annual reports and the presentation of the slate of candidates for office during 1996 by Dr. Michael Cooper, acting as temporary president, giving the composition of the new Council.

Mr. Sioris then resumed the floor and began by thanking his colleagues on the Council for their support, and all the members, both those attending the meetings and those unable to attend, for their continued maintenance of the Society. He particularly expressed our thanks to Miss Miyoko Ito, our retired office secretary, who had been specially invited for the occasion. He expressed our delight at being able to have Imperial patrons for the first time in our history, in the persons of T.I.H. Prince and Princess Takamado. Speaking for the Council, he voiced a need for more input from the membership. He then went on to express the sympathy of all of us for Dr. Jason Roussos in his present illness and our hope for his recovery. Finally he conveyed the best wishes of all of us to Fr. Neal Lawrence, who was attending the meeting on the actual day of his 88th ("beiju") birthday; a concrete expression of our congratulations would be found later in the specially flavoured rice balls among the refreshments.