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Chairman’s Report
Chairman’s Report - January 2022
by David Tomlinson
I start by recording the passing away of John Kirkland in January. John had been our Club Captain only 5 years or so ago. I wish to pass on the condolences of all branch members to John’s family and friends.
The last few months have been troubling times with the government rules on gatherings, which has had a major impact on our activities, not just at branch level, but nation-wide. When they brought in the new “Protection Framework” we had to postpone our Lakefront Car Show on its 10th Anniversary, as even at the green setting you cannot have more than 100 people present at an event without using vaccine passes. As a result, most uncontrolled car events have been postponed or cancelled since, including the huge Brit-Euro show in Auckland, Brits At The Beach, and now that we are all at the red level the Ellerslie Concours is cancelled for 2022. In some cases this is the first time these events have ever been cancelled.
At branch level, when the new rules were introduced, because our area was deemed poorly vaccinated and we started in the red level, we had to introduce mandatory use of vaccine passes at club night and other branch activities. Under the red settings, the maximum number of people allowed at a gathering is 25. When we were put at the orange level in late December the committee chose to remove all restrictions on branch events, including club nights, but unfortunately we were plunged back to the red level before any activities took place. So unfortunately we are back to requiring vaccine passes at all branch activities until further notice (with the exception of the February midweek run, which will have an attendance limit in place). Mask wearing is your own personal choice at our activities, but we must wear them if directed to at any places we visit. As we have asked since the beginning of this tiresome pandemic, please do not attend any branch activity if you are feeling unwell, even if you are fully vaccinated.
On a brighter note, the Vero Festival managed to proceed in the Taranaki in January, they had around 550 vehicles involved. The only branch car I spotted in the regular photo updates was the Philps’ Falcon. I do know at least a couple of small groups of branch members did visit various parts of the event. It looks like the event enjoyed good weather.
In December we managed a club night and our High Tea run, albeit with vaccine passes, with a good turnout at both events. Our car in the room for December was the Skelton’s 1929 Austin 7. This car was so popular we have two reports from the night in this edition of the magazine! The High Tea run was a good day out despite poor weather, followed by an excellent afternoon tea back at the club rooms. My son Sean got his learner’s licence in November, and he drove in the wet for over 2 hours in his first drive on a run. Thanks to all those involved in the organising and making of the afternoon tea.
From a personal perspective, almost all the activities I had planned over the very busy summer moving into Autumn have been hampered by the new rules. Fleur and I did manage to go to a picnic in Auckland in January with another car club that required passes, and we also took part in EBOP branch’s East Coast Rally, which Pat and Shona also took part in. Their branch debated whether to go ahead, even with passes, and put on a good day, although only 20 cars took part, well down on their usual numbers. Pretty much everything else we had planned, including a 10 day tour in April, has been cancelled. The VCC’s Highland Fling has also been put off until next year.
At branch level we will continue to do what we can to keep things moving. We will continue to have club nights at the red settings, requiring vaccine passes. Our February meeting will feature the Fitzpatrick’s BMW 2002 Tii as the car in the room. Our BBQ Run is set back a week (as it clashed with another event which has since been cancelled), and will go ahead as planned, again requiring vaccine passes to take part. It is possible some assistance will be sought to run this event. The Chairman’s Run in March will also be a week after the usual time so as not to clash with Taupo’s annual rally.
Let’s do our best to make what we can of the current rules we have to live under, time is one thing none of us will ever get back. I am sure I am not the only one keen to fill the void being left with all the car events being cancelled in 2022. Lets support the branch activities to the fullest in the meantime.
Lastly, we are on the lookout for new co-ordinators for the midweek runs, as Dennis and Jenny are soon to re-embark on another overseas epic journey, which is a good sign things are slowly heading back towards normality.
