The traditional owners of Fogg Dam, the Limilngan-Wulner people are acknowledged, in particular the Kenyon family.

The past year has involved a lot of work and resulted in significant achievements.

In July 2009, the Fogg Dam Interpretive Shelter on Anzac Parade, funded by a grant from Landcare & Australia Post, was officially opened.  Involvement of the traditional owners, the Limilngan-Wulna people and children from Middle Point Primary School added to the the day.  Jane Moore worked with us and produced outstanding artwork. A container, purchased with a grant from Telstra Shop Darwin City and Telstra Business Centre NT, used as a store behind the shelter was also opened. Jeremy and Alan A did excellent landscaping of the area.  

The NT Government erected an ‘Information’ sign on the road to draw attention to the Interpretive Shelter.

A Donation box with temporary signage was installed at Fogg Dam in time for the Field Day.  Unfortunately, shortly after, the door was broken off by thieves and is awaiting repair by Parks & Wildlife.

In October 2009 the Australia New Zealand Society of Ecological Economics (ANZSEE) had a field trip to Fogg Dam in conjunction with their conference in Darwin.  They requested a presentation on the history of Fogg Dam which was given by Jeremy.  The group gave us a donation in appreciation.

After more than a year of lobbying the NT Government, I’m pleased to report that in October 2009 the school bus commenced calling into Humpty Doo Station to collect nine children who previously had no transport to school. 

A second Fogg Dam Field Day was held on Sunday 11 April 2010 with funding from an EnvironmeNT Grant and a number of sponsors provided equipment and prizes.  Excellent presentations were given, interesting walks with experts were provided plus children’s activities, food and information stalls. It was a great success with more than 650 people attending.  It involved an enormous amount of work. Special thanks go to all who participated on the day, especially the speakers, volunteers and the organising committee: Leisa Baldwin and Jane Moore and later Veronica Edwards joined us.   Feedback was very positive.   A debriefing meeting was held in May where ‘what worked well’ and ‘what could be improved’ were identified for future use.

With funding from a Heritage NT Grant, we commissioned Susan Pedersen to prepare a booklet on the history of the Humpty Doo Rice Project as well as a Rice Trail to be followed to discover historic places and equipment from the Humpty Doo Rice Project days.   Funding did not include publishing the booklet so it is being put onto the FOFD website.  Further funding is to be sought to complete the Rice Trail with markers and information, possibly suitable for downloading onto MP3 players.   Thanks to Susan who initiated this project and to the editorial committee of Jane Moore, Jo Vandermark and Leisa Baldwin.

A study of the aquatic vegetation at Fogg Dam was completed by Alice Leppitt, an Honours student at Charles Darwin University.  The study was supported by Parks & Wildlife and Friends of Fogg Dam.  Alice gave a presentation of her findings to us in June 2010.

Peter Walker of Imagineer was made an Honorary member in recognition of his ongoing support to FOFD through provision of our website and hosting.

Christa Beckmann from Sydney University Tropical Ecology Research Centre spoke to us about her work on cane toad-bird interactions.

Working bees weeding at Fogg Dam continued from late 2009 into early months of 2010.

At the AGM last year (25 October) our membership was 41.  This year it’s only 31, a drop of 10.  One possible reason is that people joined to help get the Monsoon Forest Boardwalk rebuilt and now this has been achieved they no longer see the need to continue membership.  Numbers are important for us to have a voice to be listened to. 

On 25 May 2010, Art Linkletter, one of the founding directors of and investors in the Humpty Doo Rice Project died peacefully at the age of 97 years.

Our website is central to communication both for members and the public. Thanks again to Peter Walker of Imagineer Creative Designs for creating and hosting the website for us.

My thanks to: Graham and Lynette Kenyon for their support; Parks and Wildlife for their ongoing support, advice and assistance; Peter Foster from Landcare for support and advice; and Kezia Purick, MLA, our local member for allowing us to use her meeting room.

Thanks to all of you, members.  It’s been a very successful year.  Your membership, whatever your level of involvement, is valued and helps to make a difference. 

I am very grateful to the exceptional committee who have been a pleasure to work with: Lesa Baldwin, Vice President and Treasurer; Jeremy Hemphill, Secretary; Alan Anderson and Gemina Corpus, committee members.   Thank you.

Heather Boulden

26 September 2010.