4 minute read
Chairman’s Report
Chairman’s Report - April 2022
by David Tomlinson Who noticed that the last issue of Side Curtains had the wrong date on the footer of every page? I think it is correct for this issue. We are at long last slowly returning to normal, but we have had a few hiccups with our events, but nothing we haven’t managed to work through. A reminder our next club night (May) is also our AGM. We are in need of some new faces on the committee, most importantly a Treasurer. The AGM is important, but we will also have a car on display, and it will be an enjoyable evening. It is a good night to bring back any 2021 trophies you hold, and also to put your name down on our Swap Meet volunteers board.
I went to the “Oil Down” coffee and cars meet again at Tauriko at the beginning of May, and even though the weather was a bit inclement there was another great turnout, including many cars I had not seen before. At the end of the meet a large number of the cars did a tour around Rotorua. This time I took my 1959 Bedford J1 truck. It is a very good morning out, and only 50km from Rotorua. It is held on the first Sunday of each month.
In April I had my 1978 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow II as the car in the room. I am puzzled that there was an electric winch on the back seat of my car when I went to go home. I will swear it was not there when I arrived! Does anyone know about this? Please let me know if you do. For our May club night the car in the room will be Ralph Bennett’s 1938 Buick Sedan.
Our first “Twilight Run” was successful, and the dinner afterwards was well received. Many thanks to the many people who planned and ran this event, including all the clubroom help, especially from Fleur and her helpers in the kitchen. With Fleur involved in putting on the dinner, I had my 3 children navigate for me, and I think we did it 100% correctly, but I did see lots of cars going in directions we never went during the run! I think the night was successful enough that it will take over from
the original Night Run on a permanent basis. We did do it as a dawnbreaking breakfast run one year, and that would still be an option for the people lucky enough to “win” the role of organiser for the following year. Our May club run will be our first Club Captain’s Run for some years, and will be a scavenger hunt type run. Please note the early start time! There will be light refreshments at the clubrooms when you return. In June the Chairman’s Run will be a poker run, and conclude with the branch prizegiving. Then in July we have our Swap Meet, and August will see the Sulphur City Rally run for the first time in 3 years. In September we will have a normal club run, then we will have our 10th Anniversary Lakefront Car Show on 30 October. We will probably have a club run in October too.
Hopefully we can start to announce plans for our branch’s 50th year celebrations, which promises to be an exciting and important event. Just a reminder that Dennis and Jenny have taken a 6 month break from organising the midweek runs while they travel overseas (remember when we used to do that?), but there will be runs planned each month, and I am sure we will gratefully accept them back as the midweek organisers upon their return. We might even get to see Dennis’ Humber on the road!
Please note that the ramp beside the club rooms is showing signs of being in poor condition, and it is not recommended that it be used until further notice. We will investigate how to make this safe again and will keep members informed.
There will be some minor disruption to use of the clubrooms late in May as we will be having the old brown carpet replaced with modern carpet tiles. These are very durable and comfortable. The old carpet is starting to come away from the floor, and has already been stretched in the past, and needed to be replaced before someone trips over one of the very big wrinkles that regularly appeared. Just a reminder that we have no Covid related restrictions in place any more, but you are welcome to wear a mask at any time when taking part in club activities. It is also possible that masks will be required on places we might visit when out on our runs, so always bring a mask!
