RATTLES & sQUEAKS APRIL 2019
Bain McGregor from Waipu and his Holden bodied 1929 Chev Tourer counting cannon balls at the Taipuha War Memorial on the April Club Run.
Chairman’s Comment Hello to all Club Members from your Chairman. The motorcycle club members continue to attend runs around the country giving good representation for the Northland Vintage Car Club. The next big event for them is the Northland Motorcycle Rally being held on Saturday the 18th May 2019. First bikes are away at 10:00 so please feel free to show your support by being there before that to look at the bikes and see them depart. The club morning tea on the first Wednesday of the month continues to attract members along for a chat and a cuppa and it’s good to see new faces at that although I can’t always make it on that day. Also Lawrence Hillier and his team are at the Parts and Vehicle Shed every Wed morning so drop in and say hello. After the last club night at the clubrooms on the 15th March, I seriously thought about cancelling these but have decided to try once more so Helen and I will be there on Friday 19th April at 5:30pm. Yes that is Easter Friday but a lot of people don’t go away for long weekends and it is the third Friday in the month. We put these on for those people who can’t come to the Wednesday morning teas but if nobody wants to attend then what is the point. The most important event this month is the Swap Meet on Sunday 28th. This is one of our major events for the year and our biggest fund raiser but we need your support to keep it going. We do need more help in the kitchen. If we have people prepared to help for even an hour or two it helps a lot. Our club run on Sunday March 14th was a great success with 15 vehicles on some great roads and we went to a picnic lunch at a venue that a number of the participants hadn’t been to before and then to a local historic Tavern for afternoon tea and prize giving. Thanks very much to Megan and Alan for a great run. Next month is still at unknown at this time but is being plotted by an experienced club member. Put this in your calendar for May 19th at the clubrooms by 10:00am for a 10:30 start. If there are any changes to this we will email as soon as we know what is happening. If you haven’t been attending these monthly runs then you are missing out on having a great time with your vehicle with a group of like minded members. With this newsletter is notice of the AGM and nominations for committee members. All positions are up for nomination including the Chairman’s position as I will not be standing again although I will still be part of the committee as Immediate Past Chairman. Please be prepared to do your bit for the club as many hands make it easier and this last year has not easy with me standing in as Club Captain and Editor (until Donna stepped in) as well as being Chairman. The committee works hard to keep the club running as smoothly as possible, but all the effort required is supplied by a very small team and some of them are not going to be available for the next year. We will need a new Secretary as although Mike McGee has done a great job for the last couple of years, for personal reasons he has reluctantly had to decline nomination this year. We will also need an Assistant Treasurer to handle the local finances. Step up and do your bit for the club as if we don’t receive enough support for a full committee then your club will be in real danger of having nobody to run it. If you want to know anything about your club feel free to contact myself or any of the Committee members Regards, Ron Anderson.
April Club Run
Bruce Cosson receiving local knowledge straight from the horses’s mouth .
Lunch at Ruapekapeka and time to relax after a walk up the hill.
Editorial This morning my two Araucana chickens went scratching out in the paddock and made their way up the hill behind the shed. It’s pretty steep and terraced by years of cattle, horses and sheep zig-zagging their way up the face. After an hour or so Inca got bored with digging about under one of the large Totara trees and made her way back down to the lawn, leaving Maya behind and oblivious to the fact that she was now on her own. Pretty soon Maya discovered that she had been abandoned and I could see exactly what she was thinking - one of those moments when you know what is about to happen but cannot do a thing to stop it! Having wings does not necessarily mean that you can fly but Maya - the Golden Eagle in a chicken’s body - leapt from her position high on the hill. True she did fly like an Eagle for a moment until her stumpy wings gave up carrying her two and a half kilo body and she hit the next track down in a flurry of feathers then continued to bounce down the hill from track to track like a run away soccer ball. At this point I think I shut my eyes - imagining placing a small, broken body in the cat carrier for an emergency trip to the vet. The sound of loud cackling echoed around the valley. A wild Pheasant rooster was busy eating out of a Poultry feeder hanging by the fence. Maya, having shaken her feathers back into shape, strutted over to the feeder and pecked the poor bloke several times on the back of the head. He looked quite taken aback and ran off. The moral of the story? “If you truly believe you can achieve something you will. apportion the blame on someone standing nearby”! Donna
These young visitors to the Truck Shed were an eager bunch, and all dressed-up in period costume too. So they took a ride on the truck and explored the Club vehicles.
If you fowl it up - quickly
Spares Report It has been suggested that I write a monthly report for our club newsletter about the club spares and vehicles so here goes. For anyone who does not know, the Spare Parts and Club Vehicle section of the VCC is run by a team consisting of one team leader and six team members. The club has a vast spares storage, the parts come from donations from club members and the public. The funds generated from sales go towards restoring and maintaining our club vehicles. The club currently owns eight vehicles all of which have a historic connection with Northland and have been trusted to the Northland VCC to preserve for future members to enjoy. The Spares shed used to be open on one Saturday afternoon a month for people look around and buy parts. We decided that one afternoon a month did not allow enough time to properly organise everything and maintain our vehicles, so we started opening on Wednesday mornings to give us more time. What started as just a couple of us mucking about on Wednesday mornings has grown with sometimes 12 or more people turning up. Anyone is welcome to come on Wednesday from 9 am on. You can work, look around or just talk, everything is casual and social minded. The club has recently introduced a morning tea on the first Wednesday of the month, this has become very popular and anyone is welcome to attend. Our first task was to go through all the stock, sort it and stow and list it so we can find it when needed. This clean up and sort out required the building of new shelves and a lot of re-organising but we now have things fairly well sorted. Naturally this is ongoing and there is always more to do. On finishing in the spares shed we then moved onto the vehicles. We are currently servicing each vehicle in turn and aim to run them all on a regular basis. Over the next few months I will submit a report each month to keep members up to date on goings on in the sheds, in the meantime don't forget our combined Club Swap meet on April 28th.
Cheers Lawrence
MotorCycle Report Five bikes at Frings by the 1:00pm start time, all pretty casual stuff. Chairman Ron was there to see us off before departing in his Daimler to take his wife out for lunch, he quite frequently comes to see us off on our ride days which is really appreciated. There has been a bit of controversy regarding the VCC trying to alter the motorcycle two yearly National Rally to three years this time as there is an obscure rule that dictates there cannot be two National Rallies in any one year and as the next rally is set for 2021 the bikies would have to stand down for a year. This proposal was met with rather strong opposition and Ron (although weather conditions didn’t allow him to attend the VCC meeting) voiced our opinion very satisfactorily, and along much grumbling from all parts of the country those in charge of such matters have decided to allow both National events to go ahead in the one year, thanks for your support Ron. Anyway, back to the Sunday ride, we were about kick the machines into life and play follow the leader when one of the lovely barmaids from Frings came across to us with a phone, it was Errol and he was running late, as I said things are pretty casual so we waited the 10 minutes extra for him, or was it 30. Never mind he did arrive, making the numbers six now, three Triumphs, one Yamaha, one AJS and a Motoguzzi, another six usual participants were away down South at the Mooloo run where I understand some of them performed particularly well, not on the rally but cleaned up in the raffle department. Back to the Sunday ride, we were led out by Braden on his Motoguzzi with its recently refurbished motor and running very well, he took us out to Parakao where, upon arriving we were informed by Brian that his newly acquired 1970 Bonneville had ejected it’s gear lever somewhere along the Poroti straights. Fortunately Gavin, mine host at Parakao found in his museum complex a Triumph gear lever off a 1952 Thunderbird which fitted the unit construction gearbox perfectly so all was well for Brian’s return trip. After partaking of a drop of Gavin’s brown tea we then headed back to town, obviously having to stop at the Poroti Pub to check if anyone had handed a gear lever in for Brian to pick up, sadly they hadn’t so another drop of the brown tea accompanied by a large bowl of hot chips, kindly supplied by Brian and then back to our abodes. Lovely day for a ride, very little traffic and great company. See you all on the May ride.
Dargaville Doings
March Midweek run saw 10 cars drive a very roundabout route to visit Wes Wordsworth’s furniture making workshop at Tatarariki, south of Te Kopuru. What a magnificent array of handcrafted furniture, using mostly native timbers. Wes has turned his old piggery sheds into a large work place, with substantial machinery, storage areas and show room. He donates a percentage of sales to charities. As well, he grows vegetables and produce and donates the proceeds to Save the Children Fund. Now that Wes has retired from active farming, he puts his skills to great work in other areas. Following the visit, we carried on out to the Wordsworth bach at Glink’s Gully on the west coast for afternoon tea. It was a beautiful hot sunny afternoon and the sea looked very inviting. Some drove south (in a van courtesy of Janice) along the sand to collect Tuatua. Thank you Janice and Michael for a lovely afternoon. Our Branch had a presence at the Northland Field Days in Dargaville last month, by invitation from Northpower, right at the public entrance! Claudia.
Calendar of Events 2019
APRIL Sunday 28th.
Combined Swap meet at Heritage Park, Maunu.
MAY Sunday 5th.
Motorcycle Run.
Wednesday 8th.
Saturday 18th.
Meet 1pm at Frings (Lower Dent Street).
Morning Tea at NVCC Clubrooms.
Northland Motorcycle Rally.
JUNE Sunday 9th.
Northland Vintage Car Club Inc AGM.
1pm at Clubrooms.
AGM Sunday 9th June 2019 1pm Northland Vintage Car Clubrooms Heritage Park Maunu Whangarei
* Parts shed open every Wednesday morning 9-12 noon.
Office Bearers 2018 -2019 Chairman
Ron Anderson
Vice Chairman
027 531 8969
wishbone@ps.gen.nz
Cam Francis 09 434 6118 027 534 6124
Secretary
Mike McGee
Treasurer
Steve Cornwall 09 4025006
janfra@xtra.co.nz
022 087 2128
renegade542002@yahoo.com jensteve@xtra.co.nz
Vice Treasurer Christine Garden 027 476 3619
geewizz@xtra.co.nz
Club Captain Newsletter Editor Donna Nobilo 09 4376097 Immediate Past Chairman Keith Taylor
021437601
09 9460719 0211685928
empiretroop@actrix.co.nz keith.taylor55@gmail.com
Committee Trevor Reilly
09 435 6366 021 073 7145
Brian Wrack
09 438 8091
Gwyn Price
09 4322872
trevorreilly47@gmail.com blwrack@gmail.com
0272049888
candalyn@xtra.co.nz
Lynora Reilly 09 435 6366
trelyn47@hotmail.com
Donna Nobilo 09 4376097
empiretroop@actrix.co.nz
Beaded Wheels Spares & Vehicles
Trevor Reilly
09 435 6366 021 073 7145
Lawrence Hillier 09 434 6457
hillierlawrence@gmail.com
Allan Pearson 09 437 6317 Jim Shaw
agpearson39@gmail.com
029 438 7028
Bert Parish
09 438 9492
Rob Hughes
459 1171
trevorreilly47@gmail.com
lynandjim@xtra.co.nz 021411 601
jubert@xtra.co.nz poodlepalace@xtra.co.nz
Lou Schoenmaekers 09 4346802 Hall Custodian T
Trevor Reilly 09 435 6366 021 073 7145
Librarian
Lynora Reilly 09 435 6366
louans@hotmail.com trevorreilly47@gmail.com trelyn47@hotmail.com
Motorcycle Rep Museum Delegate
Ron Anderson
027 531 8969
wishbone@ps.gen.nz
Rural Rep VIC Inspector
Allan Pearson
Webmaster
Martin Salter
09 437 6317 09 437 1969
agpearson39@gmail.com 021 224 2102
martinsalter47@gmail.com