President's Report
February 2021
As January drew to a close and very quickly at that, the popular Australia Day Trips were run and brimming with people. There were videos put on our YouTube channel and Facebook consisting of interviews, trips and chats with members that attended the Talbotville and Eaglevale sites. Many trips were run and time was spent relaxing and keeping cool in the river. The front cover of our latest Exceed magazine, with a junior member swimming at Harrison’s cut and a member’s car in the background said it all – another great family trip.
In January the Committee and Kitchen Team also kept busy creating a plan for an in-person monthly members meeting at the Glen Waverley Bowls Club. The intent of that planning was to run a safe meeting and keep an open mind for improving future meetings as ’Covid-normal’. Unfortunately, our plan was dashed due to virus outbreaks, putting Victoria into a snap 5-day long lock down. To say I was disappointed was putting it lightly. The Committee and Kitchen Team developed a plan that was shared with GWBC to ensure we were ready to go. We discussed purchasing food, PPE and a little surprise for everyone that was going to attend to celebrate our 2020 award winners and membership milestones. C’est la vie, as is often said. Let’s hope March is our month.
The annual Committee Strategy Weekend, held on the 6th of February, was where the Committee looked at the results of the Membership Survey. The overwhelming message is we need more trips. So, at the first Committee meeting run in late February, assignments were given to Committee members to workshop ways of increasing the number of trips and Trip Leaders. The energetic discussions about trips at both the Strategy Weekend and first Committee meeting was great to see. The Committee was just about tripping over each other with ideas to address this challenge. To run more trips, we need more Trip Leaders – it follows that more Trip Leaders should result in more trips. One of the key items we’ll be working on is supporting people wanting to learn how to run a trip.
The Muster, being organised by Ed Reddick - our Trip and Social leader and Robyn Burke – our Secretary, is now full. 100 people have registered! The Muster is being held at Tolmie, about a 25-minute drive north-east of Mansfield. The facilities there are great – a kitchen, toilets and showers all situated on a large grassed area in a nice regional town. Ed is organising trips with the help of volunteer trip leaders. You will see some new Trip Leaders at the Muster which is very encouraging. Stay tuned for the updates Ed is posting on our Club Facebook group to learn more about this exciting event.
Our Driver Training Unit has been busy running Proficiency courses for everyone that missed out due to lock downs. Russell Chatfield, our Driver Training Unit leader, has uploaded a forward calendar of training courses to the Driver Training Unit section of Wild Apricot, so you have plenty of notice to organise time to complete that training you’ve been eagerly waiting for.
The Four Wheel Drive Victoria Annual General Meeting is being held on the 4th of March, 2021 at the Manningham Hotel. Adam Risborg, our Vice-president and I will be attending. Refer to the notifications our FWDV delegate, Tony Jambu, sent out recently, should you wish to attend and let him know.
Our Membership Secretary, Virginia Gilhooly, has just published a report on last year’s Membership Survey results. The professionalism and number of hours Virginia has put into the survey is fantastic. Do yourself a favour, and thank Virginia, by reading the report. Overall, the survey feedback told us we’re heading in the right direction, which is gratifying to read especially given the challenges lock downs imposed on our lives.
I’ll start winding-up this report sounding like a broken record - remember those? - by urging you to become a Trip Leader. A trip can be a one-day double-black bush bash or a meander through regional towns admiring silo art. A trip can also be several months long visiting many iconic areas of Australia. Regardless of duration and destination, the training and experience of many of our members can help you run whatever type of trip you want. Our Driver Training Unit also runs a great Trip Planning course to help prepare you for leading trips. We also have a Historical Trips register on Wild Apricot that any member can reference for input to your own trip.
I’m looking forward to seeing many of you at our March monthly meeting. We will also be booking guest speakers for as many upcoming meetings as we can, to add some variety to our discussions. The COVID-19 restrictions will need to be checked leading up to each meeting, however I’m confident that plan we developed for our February meeting will actually be used this March. 🤞
Stay safe.
Terry Barbie #1906