President's Report – April 2025

Thanks to everyone who attended the AGM last night, the meeting flowed very smoothly and we got through a lot in good time.

Cutting to the chase the office bearers for this year were duly elected, I was humbled to be elected President and may now be addressed as “your elected majesty” (just joking!). Paul Roodenrys continues on as vice president but has stepped away as club secretary. Instead, our new secretary is Rob McKellar, and we warmly welcome him to the committee. Richard Robertson continues as webmaster and has also taken on the position of treasurer. The ever hard working Rob Hanna continues as membership secretary and designated grown-up. Colin Sims, Andrew Buckley and Mal Campbell continue as ordinary committee members. 

Our first aid course is booked for Sunday 15th June starting at 10am. Cost to members will be $45 including lunch with the club picking up the rest of the cost. I called for interested parties to nominate themselves and only had two responses, mind you I made the call at the start of the meeting and there was all the excitement of elections in between. I’ll try again at the next meeting, in the mean time if you’re not going to the next meeting but want to go on the course let me know and we’ll put you on the list.

I was saddened to hear of the passing of John French, a recently joined member. I met John a couple of times as he was submitting his application for membership and he struck me as one of nature’s gentlemen. Condolences to his son Carl and family, I would have liked to spend more time with him.

Good news on the vest front, Phil Marshal bought in not only the vests Karen had dropped to him but he also found the original club vests he had been hoarding in his garage, but suspiciously they all have his surname printed on the back. Bad news on the vest front, Mick Lendrum wasn’t at the meeting to take them so it may still be some time  before he gets them. Stay tuned for more of this saga.

Our committee members made their reports and I’m please to announce that our membership is up by 19 members from last year so we must be a top bunch of blokes. Also pleasingly our bank balance is down $1200 from last year so my agenda of spending more money on our members must be working.

March and April are great months to be on the bike and we had a number of rides and events. Tony Moses organised a visit to Anthem nursing home with eight bikes turning up and was well received, he’ll be looking at doing the same each six months. Our Chistmas in July in April was well attended and we’ll be doing more of the same going forward.

Greg Nelson is selling Rod Barrett’s BMW S1000XR  on facebook marketplace at the bargain price of $11000. Look it up or contact Greg for more.

Upcoming Events:

• Lunch ride this Sunday to Tarago leaving 10:00 am from the clock in Moss Vale.

• The Thursday rides are on 24th April and 8 May starting at 9:30 at Bradman oval.

• Mick Lendrum's SHiT ride is on Wednesday 30th April leaving Bradman oval 9:30 (look for the vests).

• Cars and coffee is as always last Sunday of the monthCoffee ride Sunday 4th May leaving the clock in Moss Vale at 9:45 destination Tallong.

• Mick Simpson is organising an overnight ride to Boorowa via Wyangala Dam and Woodstock on the 17th and 18th May, staying at the Boorowa Hotel. Bookings can be made at the hotel on 02 63853000, first in best dressed.

• And, the Bulli Antique Motorcycle Weekend is on Friday August 22nd and Saturday August 23rd. We were treated to a presentation by one of the organisers and he promised it would be a much improved event over last year.

Finally, thanks to all the club members who have contributed to the life of the club this year, especially our outgoing treasurer Greg Nelson who has mentored me in the job of acting president after I was unexpectedly thrust into the position by Rod’s passing.

Thanks also go to the rest of the committee who work to organise our club’s events and offer guidance to a somewhat clueless acting president. Thanks also to non-committee members who organise rides and events, notably SHiT Mick Lendrum and dirt squirt John Diaz, as well as others such as Mick Simpson and John Ogden who have organised rides away.

And last but certainly not least, a special thanks to Rob Hannah, who’s role we grossly understate with the title of membership secretary. Rob, who is himself a past president, works tirelessly behind the scenes organising and taking care of the details that everyone else overlooks. It was my special privilege to nominate Rob for lifetime membership in recognition of his efforts, and I was pleased to see the nomination accepted unanimously by the club. Congratulations and thanks Rob.

Next Club meeting is on 12 May, till then ride well

Michael Callaghan