President’s Annual Report
Reflecting on the past year
I hope Club members enjoyed the Club’s last 12 months as much as I did.
There was a total of 54 mid-week & Sunday Club rides held over the past year (approx. equal numbers of Melbourne & Geelong rides) that were attended by 590 members.
Apart from the Club rides on offer 3 rallies were run over the last 12 months that were well attended.
- Brass Monkey Rally in July last year based in Maryborough (30 attendees)
- Ride & Ruffit in October held at the BHMCC premises in Llanelly (28 attendees)
- Maffra Kennedy Memorial Rally in March this year held in Maffra (52 attendees)
Thanks to Vice President Graham for his organisation of these 3 very enjoyable rallies.
Approx. 20 Club members attended an unveiling of a plaque at the Maffra Vehicle Collection in Dec last year to recognise the efforts of Ian & Jan Kennedy in the establishment & running of the MVC.
We had a very pleasant Christmas breakup BBQ at Polly Smith’s in Cockatoo last December, although numbers were a bit down those that attended enjoyed Polly’s superb hospitality.
Feb this year saw the inaugural overnight run to a country pub held. Our thanks to Paul Clayton assisted by Richard Mason for a great two days in Northern Victoria very well attended despite challenging weather conditions.
Club members enjoyed some very interesting guest speakers at General Meetings over the past 12 months.
Five Club members entertained us with excellent presentations: –
Peter Keage – M/C Adventures
Sam Panettieri – Electric bike successes & failures
Neal Videan – HRD A Model recreation
Stan Rogers & Ron Study – Tour of India on REs
John Best – John & Vicki’s Antarctic Cruise
Our other Guest Speakers consisted of: –
Peter Jessup – son of Club member speaking on credit card fraud
David Parkin, Mark Harris & Tony Clayton – Mailbag Foundation
Michael Catchpole – Mid Lifecycles Royal Enfield
Sadly, we lost six Club members over the last 12 months: –
Peter Baird, Norman (Possum) Suhan, Len Hollingsworth, Ron Weste, Vern Dalton & Bill Sampson.
Our thoughts remain with their loved ones.
I would like to thank all the ride leaders, both Melbourne & Geelong, who planned & led all the fabulous rides over the last 12 months.
Also the TECs, the report writers & those that took photos of rides for Sprocket & the website.
Special thanks to Club Captain Sam for coordinating and leading the Sunday rides and all the other duties that encompass the Club Captain’s role.
My special thanks also to the midweek ride coordinators Ed & Wally.
Ed retired from his MW ride coordinator position earlier this year after 20 years, a remarkable effort over 2 decades sharing with us his huge knowledge of country Vic roads.
We enjoyed your rides Ed, you never got lost and we travelled roads many of us would never have known existed.
Thanks to Jack Youdan for hosting the Show & Shine meeting in March this year.
Thanks also to James & Rob for GM gourmet suppers.
My admiration to the regular pillions Mez, Vicki & Deborah who attend many Club rides in all sorts of atrocious weather with absolute faith in their rider. From a rider’s perspective I’m not sure how you do it, all I can say is well done you’re very brave.
Our sole Club member lady rider Janet Walker (who also occasionally pillions) deserves our admiration, as Janet is a very capable & consistent rider.
Club member Connor Murphy’s wife Kay joined us on a few rides during the year. Often on her 1934 Indian Scout Sport complete with hand gear shift, foot clutch & left-hand throttle. Amazing effort Kay, I don’t know how you do it.
My thanks to Mike Walker for happily agreeing to taking on the SMWR coordinator’s position and also to the 50th Anniversary committee members for their hard work making a solid start to the planning of our weeklong rally being held in March 2021.
I would like to thank the committee for their tireless dedication & efforts throughout the past year. I believe we have worked well together as a cohesive and effective team & I thank them for their support.
Congratulations to this year’s award winners: –
Ed Sleightholm – President’s Award of Merit, in recognition of 20 years as midweek ride coordinator.
Wally Walsh – Phil Irving Award, recognising Wally’s Northern Midweek Ride Coordinator’s efforts.
Special Award – Steve Inman for Steve’s role as webmaster & creating and maintaining our Facebook page.
Special Award – Colin Borthwick, in recognition of Colin’s assistance at General Meetings.
Merit Award – Ron Study, recognising Ron’s assistance to a fellow member in need.
Looking forward to the next Club year with 3 great rallies already planned & all the usual rides plus a number of rides specifically aimed at older slower bikes & riders.
Come along & join us. Guaranteed you will enjoy it.
Ian Snadden
President