VCC Far North September 2025 by Vintage Car Club of New Zealand

Far North Focus

Peter & Caron White’s Morris Minor 1000

Chairman Tom Deverall

Margaret Ilton 4ed.focus@gmail.com

Committee: Tom Deverall, Keith Lyndsell, Naomi Mason, Christine Squire, Margaret Deverall, Murray Squire, Winston Matthews, Steve Edwards, Claude Ilton.

The full list of the elected officers is circulated with the minutes of the 2025 Annual General Meeting

If at any time you see things at the Clubrooms requiring maintenance, please let Steve know. Ph 09 401 6239

Calendar of Club Events 2025/26

September 2025

6th Father’s Day Run …Joss & Kelly

13th Monthly Meeting 1.00pm with Parts Shed open 2pm.

16,17,18th Trip to Dargaville

21st Caffeine & Classics

October 2025

11th Monthly Meeting 1.00pm with Parts Shed open at 2pm.

18th Dunny Run…Northland Club

November 2025

1-2 Far North Tour

8th Monthly Meeting 1.00pm with Parts Shed open at 2pm.

22nd Working Bee

December

13th Monthly Meeting 10.00 am with Parts Shed open followed with Christmas Potluck lunch at 12.00

January 2026

17th Annual Picnic

February 2026

14th Monthly Meeting 1.00pm with Parts Shed open at 2pm.

21st Southern Captain’s Run

March 2026

14th Monthly Meeting 1.00pm with Parts Shed open at 2pm.

15th-21st March Vero Festival -

21st Northern Captain’s Run

April 2026

11th Monthly Meeting 1.00pm with Parts Shed open at 2pm.

18th Brian Parker Rally- Chris & Murray Squire

May 2026

9th Monthly Meeting 1.00pm with Parts Shed open at 2pm

10th Mother’s Day Rally

June 2026

13th Monthly Meeting at 10.30 am followed with Mid-Winter Potluck Xmas Lunch at 12.00

1.00pm with Parts Shed

27th Molloy Trophy

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Club Notices

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• New Postal Address for VCC National Support Office.

Please update your records as per below, for the new postal address for the National Support Office:

PO Box 76063

Northwood Christchurch 8548

• Father’s Day Rally

Saturday 6th September

10 am meet in the carpark at Mitre 10, Waipapa.

Arrange your own morning tea. Cars will be leaving Waipapa at 10.30 on the rally.

Please refer to your email about the rally, which includes the menu for lunch at the end of the run.

Get your meal order into Jos & Kelly please no later than 3rd September Ph: 021658252 or 09 407 1340 Thanks Jos & Kelly for planning this event for us.

• Dargaville Trip 16th-18th September

Make your own way to Dargaville. Accommodation is available at the Northern Wairoa Hotel but its not essential you stay there.

Use this cell phone number only to contact the hotel:

0226212340

We will join the Dargaville group on the morning of the 17th and participate in their run.

Feel free to come for just the 17th if it works for you.

If you haven’t already done so, please let Marg Deverell know you going to Dargaville.

We need to have numbers by September 10, as Claudia needs numbers for planning.

Caffeine & Classics

Sunday 17th August 9.30 am

Ka Uri Awanui

3rd Sunday every month

Next Club Meeting

Saturday 13th

September 1 pm

The Far North Branch of the VVC does have a policy that pets are not brought to any Club events. We do ask that this policy is respected please.

“Action is the foundational key to all success.”

From the chair…

The AGM meeting in Invercargill began on Friday night with 3 hours of points of order, from the Wellington and Gisborne branches, with a very heated discussion from both sides. I voted in favour of the motions being accepted.

Saturday morning started with a motivational Speaker who called upon the Southland branch delegate to find the most travelled member attending. I was then called up to give a ‘Hongi’ and respond with a short speech. Reports came next.

After lunch, the NZ Federation of Motoring talked about heritage vehicles 12 mth warrants, with lots more work

to be done on the military vehicles and trucks.

The postal vote re the constitution was accepted, 86% in favour with total votes ending up at 2132.

An inspirational speaker was Elizabeth Smit, who with husband Fred, travelled the world for 5 years after buying a 1957 Mercedes Benz 22OS and towing their accommodation trailer. Her story is in the June/July Beaded Wheels.

Our speaker for the evening meal on Saturday night, was Neville Hayes who built the replicas of Burt Monroe’s bikes for the famous film.

He also was summoned to Bonneville to help with the filming.

He was extremely entertaining.

Many thanks to Murray Squire for standing in for me at last month’s meeting.

Tom

The challenges of parking meters for those of us who are lucky enough to not meet them very often!

A real bonus for living a Far North life!

Northern Captain’s Report

I believe the pot luck mid-year dinner that followed our August monthly meeting was relatively small - with fine food, wine and good company!

Tom and I were really sad about missing this as it’s always a great friendly gathering. Instead, we were at the other end of the New Zealand enjoying the company of members from far and wide and having the opportunity to visit some special museums.

Thank you to all of you who have helped with the many chores leading up to the last 3 club events.

Our 50th was an amazing gathering and so wonderfully supported by our Club to make it the day it was.

Thanks Dave D. for your interview with RNZ following the 50th. I wasn’t able to hear this unfortunately, but I have heard it was very good.

With that event behind us, we now have Daffodil Day coming up quickly which Dave has also been chasing the Press for. Thanks for having sheer determination to be heard with the Daffodil Day publicity.

When this hits your inbox, it too, will all be done and dusted!

And thanks Murray S. for getting through to the local radio stations, though at the time of writing this, I don’t think the promotion will have been broadcast yet.

I believe, trying to contact Press of any kind, takes a lot of grit!

September 6th , is our Father’s Day rally which is hot on the heels of our Daffodil Day fundraiser. There is little breathing space between the events but I know the Archers have our Father’s Day rally well under control. Let’s get out and about with our vehicles.

Please note that our Father’s Day rally is on the Saturday 6th, and not as in our calendar earlier, for the 7th .

Please advise Jos & Kelly of your meal choices… details in Notices.

Thanks to all of our Ladies who made time for lunch at Matauri Bay. Though not all things went quite to plan, the weather was kind to us and it was just great to be able to sit, catch up with each other and enjoy some time in the sun, at this time of the year. We will do it again.

Coming up this month, we have the mid-week trip to Dargaville for those who can make it.

It will be nice to renew old friendships for some and for our newer members to create new ones.

It’s always fun getting the chance to socialise with members. I hope you can join us for all or part of the visit.

Marg D

Mid-Winter Xmas Lunch

Marg I

There may have only been a baker’s dozen of us, but what a lovely meal it was.

It is always amazing how ‘pot luck’ can produce a tasty meal as well as providing a comfortable way to spend the afternoon after the monthly meeting.

All ‘Xmas’ events provide enthusiasm and adventures of some kind and a mid-winter gathering has no barriers for these happenings.

Not long before heading home, what appeared to me, to be an obsolete & quite possibly useless object, was retrieved from a club cupboard and wisely scrutinised by our male members.

Said object, has sat in the club

cupboard, totally unattended for the years I have been with the club. One or two in the huddle, had more knowledge of the object, than others.

Well

it turned out the object isn’t useless, it has a name and the well-informed members advised the rest of our lovely male counterparts that it should be tested to see if it worked!

There was an instant evacuation of the clubrooms by all men who looked delighted with their newly acquired knowledge of the ‘thing’.

As the last man left the building he was heard to say, amidst considerable laughter, “I hope it doesn’t blow the car to smithereens,” … just as a green Humber was started up! Cold comfort for a co-owner who had no members heading home towards the lighthouse because the usual far, far north counterparts were living it up in Invercargill, that day.

I still have no idea what the ‘thing’ is called but do I know we have not seen or heard the last of it!

It will resurface, because it created far too much instant interest for it not to see the light of day again.

Be prepared for it to return & provide more entertainment.

I believe modifications are being considered to make it more functional, hearing this knowledge being shared, as the Ladies left the building.

is the difference between an obstacle and an opportunity? Our attitude toward it.

Omnium gatherum

What

Thinking of you all as we tolerate the last cold, wet, windy days of winter.

Stay protected from the bugs which are floating round and cross your fingers that spring is just about with us.

Daffodil Day

Marg x 2

A big round of applause for our members who committed to our fundraiser in Kaikohe this last Saturday. Recent weather conditions could well have encouraged you all to ‘give it a miss!”

We have amazing people in our club. We also think someone was looking after us too, as the weather & place could not have been more perfect warm, sunny and out of the wind, which was about in many other spots.

Saturday was a lovely moment in time to enjoy generosity, vehicles, people and companionship.

What more can we say??... apart from, a huge thank you for answering our pleas for support.

The vehicles arrived by the dozen, proving our media efforts had paid off.

And also proving the comradery of other kindred motoring groups who gave their support to the fundraiser. We thank them enormously. Close on 40 vehicles and 7 bikes came through the gate.

Many thanks also to the Pioneer Village in Kaikohe for joining forces with us to provide both venue and facilities for us to use on Saturday. Their staff donated their time to have the event held there.

The baking and produce came in, filling 2 tables and it all sold.

What a wonderful variety of yummy goodies there were.

The BBQ filled the air with tantalising smells, selling almost 3 bags of sausages… the early morning departures for most, encouraged the thought of food by 10.30!