2006
This year we continued the tradition of great rides and good times. January saw a ride to Parkes for the annual “Elvis Festival”. Other trips included Crookwell (as usual), Rylestone, the South Coast to the Snowies, Port Stephens, and Tamworth. A group made the effort to go to the AGM in Tasmania. A great ride calendar has ensured variety in our regular day rides and both the rides and meetings were well attended.
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Over the past five and a half years the branch has grown quickly. Most rides have between 10-30 riders and sometimes more. It only took a few months for our meetings to have 50-60 attendees, and now between 60-80 people attend. We usually had a guest speaker from places such as the motorcycle industry Ambulance, Police, insurance companies and the like. Whilst the continued growth of the branch has primarily been through the hard work of each committee, many other members have contributed in ways that help and deserve attention. At the risk of omitting someone, these members include (in no particular order) Kevin Allen, Alan Parkes, Peter Jacques, Greg Bollard, Wayne Gibson, Dave Thompson, Dave Levine, Gideon Schuman, Hugh Judd and Janelle Haffenden who have organised and led rides, and many other members have assisted.
The AGM was held on 12th June. Garry Palmer was elected President, Peter Jacques Vice President, Neil Doig Secretary, Ian Choudhury Treasurer, Ian Bosler Ride Captain, Gary Navas Publicity Officer and Webmaster and Annette Bollard Social Secretary. Perry Veltmeyer volunteered to serve as Welfare Officer.
Garry Palmer’s Thursday rides continued to grow in popularity with regular attendances of twenty plus being the order of the day.
Sadly, Gil Twomey passed away in July. Over thirty members rode to the top of Macquarie Pass to scatter his ashes and say farewell.
In the second half of the year, overnight or multi-day rides included Christmas in July at Jamberoo, the Snowy Ride and the first Long Thursday Ride to Bega and Narooma – led by Garry Palmer. The exciting post-midnight surprise in Bega has become part of branch legend.
October again saw our participation in Breakfast Torque with many members volunteering to lend a hand.
Our Christmas party was held at the Bexley Golf Club on 2nd December and was very well attended.
We were sad to hear of Peter Milham’s passing in December and a number of members rode to Wingham to provide a motorcycle escort at the funeral.
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2007
The year commenced with a weekend away in Parkes for the Elvis Festival. Other overnight or long weekend rides included Rylstone in March, an Easter ride to Pambula, a June long weekend ride to Ungarie, Christmas in July at Jamberoo Lodge, Gloucester weekend in August and October long weekend in Cowra, Batemans Bay and Mogo Zoo in November and, of course, the Snowy Ride. To increase social interaction amongst those not able to ride regularly, a coffee night was commenced at Gloria Jeans at Menai Market place on Thursday evenings.
At the AGM in Coffs Harbour on 26th May, Don Phinn was awarded the Dearnley Medal for his initiative in forming our branch. We also met with the Bundaberg Branch and entered into an informal sister branch relationship.
The 2007 branch AGM was held on 11th June. Ian Bosler was elected President, with Craig Bernie Vice President, Janelle Haffenden Secretary, Sean O’Neil Treasurer, Dave Curry Ride Captain and Gary Navas as Publicity Officer and Webmaster. The vacant Social Secretary position was later taken up by Kim Coleman-O’Neill.
In August we moved to our new venue at the Gymea Bowling Club with better facilities than we had enjoyed at the previous venue.
In October the branch donated $1000 to the Sydney Children’s Hospital.
Breakfast Torque continued to gain momentum with Garry Palmer and Peter Jacques again leading our involvement in this event. Our branch commitment and effort contributed in no small way to raising the profile of this event and the reputation of our branch.
Garry Palmer’s Long Thursday Ride in late November was extended to four days and took in West Wyalong, Griffith and Wagga Wagga and a lot of country in between.
The annual Christmas party was again held at the Bexley Golf Club on 8th December with a large turnout of members and their partners.
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2008
The Elvis Festival got a look-in again as we commenced the year with a weekend away in Parkes. Other weekend rides in 2008 included North Haven in February, Inverell and Kempsey in March, the Townsville AGM in May, Tathra in May, the Hunter Valley and also Cowra in September and the Beardies Festival in Glen Innes in November.
Some changes to the Committee also occurred in January with Stewart Anderson taking over as Treasurer and Ron Walker as Social Director. In March Stewart resigned and the Treasurer’s position was merged with that of Secretary, with Janelle Haffenden looking after both jobs.
February saw Dave Curry introduce the practice of ad hoc rides to fill the gaps in our ride calendar. The inaugural ad hoc ride was held on 2nd March with just two riders. Numbers, however, soon increased. Thursday rides continued to be popular with up to 30 members participating.
The Townsville AGM saw our branch gain its second Dearnley medalist with Garry Palmer being the deserving recipient this time in recognition of the vast amount of work he has performed for the branch.
2009
January began with the branch making another donation of $1000 to the Brain Injury Association of NSW.
Sadly, January was also marked by the passing of John Hannel. The branch provided a motorcycle escort and guard of honour at his send off.
Long overnighter weekend rides included the Taralga Rodeo in January, North Haven in February, Tasmania (14 days) led by Paul Rees in February, Binda races in March, the Easter ride to Bandiana, Port Stephens and the Great Ocean Road in May, the Shoalhaven Coast Wine Festival in June, the Dubbo Zoo in September and Armidale and Kempsey in October.
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The 2009 branch AGM was held on 9th February. All positions were again filled unopposed with Janelle Haffenden continuing as President, Craig Bernie as Vice President, Leonie Palmer as Secretary, Paul Rees as Treasurer, Gary Navas as Publicity Officer and Web Master and Margaret Navas as Social Secretary. The Ride Captain position remained vacant.
On 21st February we sponsored a well-attended motorcyclist first-aid course for members. In March the branch provided a coach to take members to the Penrith AGM. In May we participated in the Cancer Council’s Relay for Life fundraiser and in June we held our first Trivia Night – an outstanding success with some 90 members and guests participating. June also saw the introduction of a new concept – a coffee morning on the Saturday following our branch meeting to be followed by a short ride aimed at new members. This has proven to be very successful.
Christmas in July was held at the Mollymook Golf Club with 41 members and guests in attendance.
In August some of our members greeted Steve Andrews from Busselton WA at Engadine on his solo ride around Australia to raise community awareness of depression, one of the most common of all mental health problems. The Black Dog Ride has now become a major annual event.
Sadly, in September we lost another member with Hugh Judd passing away as a result of injuries received whilst body surfing at Cronulla. Some 30 members provided an escort and guard of honour at his funeral.
Breakfast Torque was held on 25th October with our branch again playing a major role in the organization and running of this event.
Two of our members, Garry Palmer and Paul Rees, both had triple heart bypasses in mid-November.
The Long Thursday Ride was led by Gary Navas this year due to Garry Palmer’s recent health issue. This 7-day ride to Lightning Ridge in late November was a great success.
The Branch Christmas Party was held at Club Kirrawee on 12th December.
2010
The 2010 branch AGM was held on 8th February. Janelle Haffenden, Leonie Palmer and Paul Rees retained their positions as President, Secretary and Treasurer. Alan Young was elected Vice President, Craig Bernie became Ride Captain, Gary Navas Publicity Officer and Webmaster and Margaret Navas Social Secretary.
Long overnight or weekend rides included Rylstone in February, Binda Races in March, the Albany AGM in March, over the Snowy Mountains at Easter, Port Stephens in May, Gloucester in August, Hill End in October and Boorowa in November. 2010 also saw Alan Young introduce Night Rides in the city and metropolitan area. In May the branch again participated in the Relay for Life by taking cancer survivors and their carers for short rides.
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A donation of $1000 was also made to the Ulysses Club Arthritis Research Foundation.
Christmas in July was held on 17th July at the Jamberoo Lodge and our second Trivia Night was held on 14th August and was again a great success with 58 people participating.
August saw our Treasurer Paul Rees participate in the Black Dog ride to Alice Springs and return, to raise awareness of depression through presentations to and interactions with communities along the way.
This year was the 10th Anniversary of the formation of our branch. A special ride was held on 10th October re-tracing the first ever branch ride, followed by a BBQ at Fitzroy Falls. This anniversary ride was led by Garry Palmer, who was one of the original members on the first ride. Commemorative patches were awarded to those who participated in the ride. The festivities continued at our meeting the next night at the Gymea Bowling Club, where a patch was presented to a special visitor, Bill Schiralli, an original member and also the branch’s first secretary, who was on that very first ride.
Breakfast Torque was held on 31st October and once again proved to be an outstanding success. This year Garry Palmer took a well-earned step back, handing the reins to Peter Jacques and Janelle Haffenden.
The Long Thursday Ride, again led by Garry Palmer, was the longest yet, a 9-day ride in late November to the Adelaide Hills with twenty participants. A core group of participants have been on all of the Long Thursday Rides since 2006, but each year new riders and pillions have joined this terrific experience.
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A most enjoyable Christmas Party was held on 11th December at the Trade Union Club with 47 in attendance.