This month's meeting is being held in the club's favorite venue, the home and garden of club leaders Suzanne and Peter. We'll probably meet beside the water lily ponds teeming with hundreds of goldfish and a few water turtles. We can also watch the land tortoises strolling through the entire garden. (The tortoises have often been watched mating enthusiastically during previous meetings.) This meeting will be very different because it will concern the continued existence of the club, so please mark September 5 on your calendars and plan to attend.

Suzanne and Peter founded the club in 2005, and have been its leaders ever since then. But Peter recently turned 75 years old, and has decided to take early retirement. The couple is resigning from club leadership, and will be looking for others to take over the club's management. The couple will also be looking for buyers for their triplex apartment and gardens in Nyon this summer, because they'll be spending much of their time in their new home in Florida starting this autumn.

Until then, the current club leaders can be showing the club's prospective new leaders the simple procedures needed to manage the club, schedule events in club members' homes, and keep the club's web site updated. If that seems like too much work, a multi-person leadership team can divide the various tasks among them. All summer long, Peter will offer all the help the new leaders will need to take over the club's management step-by-step.

Even after the current leaders are in Florida, Peter can help the new leaders maintain the web site to keep it current. Peter and Suzanne will be back in the area every summer, probably living in a small apartment in Geneva, and will continue helping the new club leaders. If new leaders aren't found by the beginning of autumn, the club could simply whither away.

The other main topic of discussion at the September 5 meeting will be the organization of the turtle club itself. All who attend should speak frankly about what they like and what they dislike about the club, and what improvements can be made to the meetings, their schedule, and the range of subjects to be discussed. Each of the nine sections of the club's web site should be analyzed, and suggestions should be made for possible increases in their usefulness to members. Descriptions of each section are on the web site's About page.

As at all the club's events, any subject related to choosing, feeding, housing and breeding turtles and tortoises can also be brought up at the September 5 meeting. Bring your questions for the experts and other club members to answer.

Getting new leaders for the club will also be discussed, along with further details about its management. Club leadership is an ideal part-time hobby for those who'd like to perfect their social, management and promotional skills. The current leaders probably got more enjoyment from this club in the last four years than anyone in the 127 families who are current members. Everyone interested in further information about leading the pond club starting this autumn should write to Suzanne and Peter at [masked], or call them in Nyon at 0041 22 362 03 60.

Whether you are or aren't considering becoming a leader of the club, this unusual meeting should be of interest to all members. Visitors are always welcome at these free events, so invite curious friends and neighbors to come along. Log on to the web site for full details of the free meeting on September 5. On that page you can submit your RSVP to let Suzanne and Peter know if you will or won't attend. Just click Yes, Maybe, or No, indicate how many guests you've invited, then click 'Submit.'

If the date or location of this event isn't convenient for you, you can choose your ideal date and your own location for a future club meeting. You can host a meeting in your own home or garden on the date you prefer, so that other members can admire your own turtles or tortoises. You can choose whatever subject you'd like to be the main topic of discussion at your meeting. Club members would love to see whatever accommodations you offer your pets, such as their aquarium, pond, garden enclosure, or winter shelter. You can explain your methods of feeding them, hibernating them, breeding them, incubating eggs, caring for hatchlings, curing illnesses, etc.

To reserve the best date for your meeting, write to club leaders Suzanne and Peter at [masked], or call them in Nyon at 0041 22 362 03 60. They always help hosts before and during their meetings. Hosting an event involves little more than providing some refreshments for those who attend. Without meeting hosts, the club would have ceased operating years ago.

And without new leaders to coordinate activities, the club will die. It won't be able to get lovers of turtles and tortoises together every month to discuss the care of these fascinating reptiles. Please consider offering your leadership skills soon. If you do, we'll remember you in our last will and testament.