2016
As another year passed, the club continued to provide its members with a great range of activities to enjoy our time together, whether on two wheels or in social outings.
January was a month of getting back into group rides after enjoying the Christmas and New Year break. For some, New Year was celebrated on Sydney Harbour on a New Year’s Eve Cruise which is always a spectacular way to bring in the new year. Once again Australia Day was celebrated at the Woronora R.S.L and this is becoming another tradition for the branch with over thirty members enjoying the day.
February was the month for our AGM and a change in committee make up following the decision by a few committee members not to stand. Standing down from the committee were Rob Lord, Peter Simpson, Jim Allison and Norm Syme. The following members were elected: Phil Morris President, Keith Moyle Secretary, Phil Kersh Treasurer, Lew Schulz Quartermaster, Peter Monk Ride Captain, Craig Carfoot Publicity Officer, Chris Larmer Webmaster, John Foley Welfare Officer and Kim Snee as Social Secretary
In addition to the standard rides we had plenty of special rides throughout the year. The club’s AGM, which was held in Launceston, was very well supported by our branch. Several groups headed down south for varying times with some camping, some motelling but everyone enjoying the AGM and the beautiful countryside and rides throughout Tassie.
March saw Norm Syme extend his Terrible Twist Tuesday ride into a Tuesday to Thursday T.T.T.T.T ride to the Pambula area. Nippy lead about twenty riders on three days of fantastic riding with everyone talking Norm into making this an annual event it was so enjoyable with the area having some great rides and Nippy knowing all the good roads.
In March some of our members helped out the St George Motorcycle Club with their track days by acting as marshals and this was greatly appreciated by the club as well as being a new experience for our members.
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April saw Alan and Meryl Young led a group of the Forever Young tour to the back of Bourke, which was enjoyed by all those who participated. Many of our members also attended the Shire’s Relay for Life event to provide cancer survivors and their families a free ride. In May, Paul (Irish) and Wendy
O’Kelly led a terrific weekend ride to Araluen. The ride was very well supported with about 25 riders and over a dozen pillions. We booked out the local pub with the overflow staying at the local B&B. This month also saw some members enjoy a Vivid Lights cruise to view the transformation of Sydney icons during the Vivid Lights Festival.
At our June branch meeting Garry Palmer was presented with his 30-year badge in recognition of his valuable contribution to the club and, in particular, to our branch. It was a good opportunity to be able to formally acknowledge Garry’s substantial role in establishing our great branch.
Neil Roderick also led a Return to Dungog ride and although the weather was not kind and inhibited the riding a very enjoyable weekend was had by all with several members making this their inaugural weekend away ride.
In July many of us celebrated a mid-year Xmas at the Coolangatta Estate in the Shoalhaven. This was well patronised, the venue was ideal and we all had a very enjoyable Xmas.
September saw another successful Trivia Night at the Woronora RSL with hosts Paul and Wendy O’Kelly providing a challenging and fun night of entertainment.
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October was the month for the tenth anniversary of Garry and Leonie Palmer’s Long Thursday Ride. This ride through western NSW up to Northern Queensland then back home through Northern NSW was much anticipated by our members. Unfortunately, due to illness Garry couldn’t lead the ride but Mark Brett volunteered as ride leader and all riders had a great couple of weeks away and were very well looked after in Bundaberg by our sister branch members.
The club once again helped out at the Oatley Lions Festival by again providing rides to raise money for Children’s Cancer Research. In November we saw the introduction of a Ladies-Only luncheon at the Como Marina Thai restaurant. This proved to be popular and looked to be the start of something regular!
Jim Allison and John Foley led a weekend ride to Hill End with over 30 riders attending. This was another very successful weekend and the boys did a great job leading such a large group. Everything went smoothly and Peter Simpson did a great job in drawing our logo on a plate for display at the Hill End Lodge.
December saw us celebrate Xmas at Club Kirrawee where many of our members showed they are just as deft on the dance floor as they are on two wheels.
Once again we supported Sylvanvale with our toy run and it was very rewarding to see the kids’ enjoyment and the staff’s appreciation of our support.
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The branch made another donation of $1,000 to the Ulysses Club Arthritis Foundation.
Once again through the continuing efforts of our members and their willingness to contribute and participate we have enjoyed another very successful year. We have offered branch members over 120 riding opportunities, weekend and longer rides for those who are interested as well as our community activities which included monthly Vampire rides to donate blood, Relay for Life, Lions Festival and our toy run. The branch provides our members with the opportunity to participate in as much as they want and all centred around our common interest of enjoying ourselves on two wheels.
2017
Following a two-week break over Christmas and the New Year our ride season commenced with a number of weekday and weekend rides.
The pace picked up a bit in February with our first away ride for the year “The Right Royal Hotels Tour” led by Craig Carfoot from 21st to 23rd February.
A Ladies High Tea was held on 5th February at the Rock Salt Menai with 19 of our ladies present.
Our AGM in February saw Keith Moyle stand down as Secretary and Lew Schulz retire as quartermaster after six continuous years. The new committee elected was: Phil Morris President, Rob Tunnicliff Secretary, Phil Kersh Treasurer, Craig Davies Quartermaster, Peter Monk Ride Captain, Craig Carfoot Publicity Officer, Chris Larmer Webmaster, John Foley Welfare Officer and Michelle Garrett as Social Secretary.
Norm Syme led a three day ride to Pambula in March. This was followed by another 3-day ride in late March/early April to Harrigans Irish Pub. Then May saw several events with some seventeen members participating in the “Relay for Life” on 6th May taking cancer survivors and carers on rides to Kurnell and return. Another Ladies Lunch was held on 7th May at the Bridge Restaurant Woronora and then 23 members rode to Wauchope and Port Macquarie for the Ulysses AGM at the end of May.
In June Karen Lord organised the “Vivid Lights” dinner cruise on Sydney Harbour. An unusual event on 20th June was a well-attended train ride to Katoomba organised by Peter Simpson.
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Ron Jarvis led a ride to the Westpac Helicopter base at La Perouse on 13th June and presented a donation of just over $300.00. Peter Monk led a small contingent of six members on a three day Black Dog ride to The Australian War Memorial in Canberra after which a Trivia Night was held on 19th August at the Woronora River RSL by ex Treasurers Gordon Scales and Peter Simpson.
Members again participated in the Ulysses Memorial Ride held at Cordeaux Dam on 10th September.
October 18th was undoubtedly the saddest day of the year for St. George Sutherland Ulysses members with the unexpected passing of much loved and highly esteemed member, Ken Irvine. The next day a ride “The Ride for Hatman” was held in his honour. A large contingent of members farewelled Ken at Woronora Cemetery on 1st November.
Members led by Steve Turner again participated in the Oatley Village Festival on 21st October and, matched dollar for dollar by the Lions Club, raised an amount of $4000 for children’s cancer research.
Royce Wiblen led a weekend ride to Araluen on 4th and 5th November and members again participated in the Ride for Justice on 9th November. Another Ladies Lunch was held at the Thai Restaurant at Como on 12th November.
The Branch supplied a good number of volunteers to assist on the Ulysses stand at the Sydney Motorcycle Show on 24th November.
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December 2nd saw our annual Christmas Party at the Kirrawee Bowling Club and members also strongly supported the Sylvandale Toy Run on 8th December.
In 2017 Ride Leader badges were presented to John Foley, Owen and Leslie Smith and Mal Garfath. Lew Schulz continued to organise his Vampire Rides to the Miranda Blood Bank.
The Branch continued to receive support from its sponsors with Caltex Heathcote, Caringbah Motorcycles and Stapleton’s Meats making generous donations in support of our monthly raffles.
2018
With barely a break from riding over Christmas and the new year, January rolled on with some twelve rides all in a southerly direction. One of these rides was to the Ronald McDonald House at Randwick where Ron Jarvis presented a cheque for $1173 raised from donations he had collected. January also saw two of our members hospitalised – former branch president Paul Rees for the month following a leg amputation in December and Phil Brasher who underwent a kidney transplant.
Our AGM in February saw most of the Committee stand down including Phil Morris as President and Phil Kersh as Treasurer. After a well-deserved break Lew Schulz reclaimed his position of Quartermaster for a record seventh year. The new committee elected was: Craig Carfoot President, Rob Tunnicliff Secretary, Bill Collaros Treasurer, Lew Schulz Quartermaster, Peter Monk Ride Captain, Peter Simpson Publicity Officer, Paul Rees Webmaster, Ron Jarvis Welfare Officer, Michelle Garrett Social Secretary.
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Prominent amongst the other February rides was another night ride led by Alan Young – this time to Wollongong and Kiama. February was highlighted by a four day ride to Pambula and Bombala led by Nippy Norman Syme. Peter Monk led a one-day Black Dog ride to Penrith.
March saw another ride to Tasmania – this time to explore the North of the Island for seven days with hosts Paul and Wendy O’Kelly. Alan and Meryl Young led a six-day Forever Young Ride in April to Grafton and Port Macquarie and our Ladies enjoyed a High Tea this time at Kathy’s Cottage at Waterfall.
Garry Palmer spent some more time in Sutherland, St. George and Prince of Wales Hospitals. Three other members Michelle Garrett, Rob Davis “Davo” and Janelle Farrelly also had a stint in hospital. Two of our members, Roger Rieger and Paul Bates, completed a lap around Australia in support of the Stephen Walter Children’s Cancer Foundation – a ride which raised over $112,000 between the 12 riders involved. Lindsay Eden also completed a lap of Australia with a friend.
May saw the annual Relay for Life on again with our members, led by Bill Collaros, taking cancer survivors and carers as pillions from Wanda Beach to Kurnell and back. Several members also attended the Ulysses AGM in Riverlands Barmera S.A.
Other rides were plentiful for the month with increasing support for the Tuesday Coffee Run.
In May we lost long time member Garry Rimmer who passed away after a very long illness.
In June the practice of sending weekly updates to all members by email was abandoned due to persistent ongoing problems with Google. It was replaced with a new page on the website showing all forthcoming rides and events. This page is updated frequently. Also in June, Caltex Southbound Heathcote donated another $500 of Star Cards for use as raffle prizes. A number of good rides were also held in June.
Well what would July be without another Xmas in July weekend. This time the event was held at the Coolangatta Estate Shoalhaven and was an outstanding success.
Gerry Bloemen brought a new Triumph 1200 Explorer XRT to the July meeting from City Coast Motorcycles in Wollongong. Our guest speaker at the July meeting was Senior Constable Phil Parker who discussed all manner of police work and answered questions from members.
Garry Palmer spent some more time in hospital as did John Foley.
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August was another fine month for riding with the annual Ride for Justice from Luna Park to Ebony House Waterfall being one of the highlights.
Leonie Palmer went into hospital to have a hip replacement.
More good rides in September included a four-day ride to Coolah and the Warrumbungles led by our president, Craig Carfoot.
Some members again participated in the Distinguished Gentlemen’s Ride – a worldwide event to raise funds for men’s mental health programs and prostate cancer research.
Unfortunately a Tuesday ride accident resulted in Phil Brasher being admitted to Liverpool hospital with serious injuries. Garry Palmer was also back in hospital after some minor surgery. Two other members Lew Schulz and John Hine underwent shoulder reconstructions and Phil Morris had surgery on his toe.
In October a new event, the Marulan Track Day organised by Peter Monk, attracted a full field of 47 riders and a handsome profit for the Branch. Well done Peter.
Jim Allison led a 3-day long weekend ride to Hill End which attracted around thirty members.
The October meeting guest speaker was James Kelly from Owen Hodge Lawyers who addressed members on wills and various issues surrounding assets.
The Branch again participated in Breakfast Torque sharing a stand with our sponsor Caringbah Motorcycles.
We were all relieved when Phil Brasher was released from hospital.
Several members under the leadership of Steve Turner participated in the Oatley Fair day raising close to $1400 for kids cancer research.
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A large contingent of members rode to Endeavour Energy in November to make a presentation to the crew which went out of their way to help Phil Brasher after his horrific accident in September.
Again there were plenty of rides with the Alan Russell Memorial ride to Greenwell Point, a weekend ride to Araluen and to Taralga and Goulburn being just a few. Yet another Ladies Lunch was held, this time at the Spada Restaurant at Illawong.
Gerry Bloemen again presented a bike for inspection to the November meeting from City Coast Motorcycles, this time a BMW F850GS.
The Branch Christmas party was held on 15th December and was very well attended by members and their partners. Our President presented a certificate of member appreciation to Garry Palmer and Gary Navas for their outstanding services to the Branch.
Rides included a visit to the Percy Miles Aged Care Facility to meet the residents and show them our motorcycles.
In 2018 Ride Leader badges were presented to Bill Collaros, Royce Wiblin, Gerry Bloemen and Andrew Robertson.
The Branch continued to receive support from its sponsors with Caltex Heathcote, Caringbah Motorcycles and Stapleton’s Meats making generous donations in support of our monthly raffles.
2019
Another year and rides-a-plenty. The club is averaging three rides each week – Tuesday “Meet & Greet”, Thursday rostered rides with eight Leaders and weekend rides. That’s over 150 rides for the year.
We started off the year with a cultural experience to the Megalong Valley Harp Concert, followed the next week by a Northern Ride to St Albans.
In February we had our A.G.M. and election of Officers being President Craig Carfoot, Secretary Rob Tunnicliff, Treasurer Bill Collaros, Ride Captain Peter Monk, Quartermaster John Foley, Welfare Officer Ron Jarvis, Web Master Paul Rees & Publicity Officer Roger Rieger – with the Social Secretary position being unfilled.
March saw us going to Dr Jurds Jungle Juice Pub at Wollombi and then the Great Victorian Alps and Murray River region for a 6-day jaunt – enjoyed by about 20 riders. This was followed by Megalong Valley & Blackheath led by with Keith Moyle & Greenwell Point – for a change led by Neil Roderick.
May saw us support the “Relay for Life” at Wanda Beach taking sufferers and carers of Cancer for a fun run to Kurnell and back – again well supported by many. We worked out that in total the Branch members did about 1200kms in support of this activity.
We were invited to Jeff & Denise Langtip’s new home on Lake Illawarra to watch the “Wing’s over Illawarra” – an exciting air show, great barbeque, and refreshments.
Looking local, we checked out the Glow Worms in the old train tunnels at Helensburgh. Then a great trip to Oberon, Bathurst, Rockley & Taralga.
A train trip to Katoomba for Christmas in July and the Goon Show was well attended by about 30 people.
Peter Monk undertook his third trip around Australia with the Black Dog Ride – this time in the support vehicle, with about 50 Riders from all around Australia.
Members attended Bulli Antique Bike Show at the showground and another train trip to Orange for a bit of wine tasting and shenanigans. Well attended by about 30.
Several ride roster meetings were held during the year – with great support from members participating in leading rides. Much appreciated as without leaders we would only have “Meet & Greet” rides. It was also good to see a few newer members take on the role of Ride Leader.
Andrew Robertson took us to Potato Point, Narooma, Pambula and beyond. Great roads and companionship.
Alan & Meryl Young’s “Forever Young Ride Mk 5” with 2 bikes and 4 cars went to Broken Hill and Mildura – remembering, of course, that the Ulysses Club is a social club for persons interested in motorcycling. It doesn’t mean you’ve got to ride, or even own one.
The club participated in many events:
- The Distinguished Gentlemen’s Ride for men’s mental health was run again with our club providing some participants. These Distinguished Gentlemen representing our Branch sure looked dapper when all frocked up. This Ride started in Australia with 50 riders and now is worldwide in over 600 cities raising over US$5.5 million for 2019.
- Tunnel’s trip in engineering history to explore the Boothtown Aqueduct at Smithfield – a hidden gem and very interesting.
- Track Day at Marulan’s Pheasant Wood Race Circuit – great day out, except for Rob Middleton, who had a bad crash.
- Perry’s Pink Ribbon Ride, for Breast Cancer Research & Treatments.
- Annual “Ride for Justice” with Simon Bouda (Crime Reporter), with Police Escorts, and about 200+ Riders, from Bondi Beach to Garrawarra to support the Homicide Victim Support Group.
- Breakfast Torque at Heathcote Oval for static displays, retail outlets, stunt riding, speeches and live music – always a good morning out. And we got to share space with Caringbah Motorcycles (thanks Steve).
- The Australian Motorcycle Expo at Wollongong Beach where we saw an excellent display by many manufacturers, plus stunt riding and other shows. We virtually ran the Ulysses Club display representing both the Club and our Branch.
We had such a good time at Rockley, Keith Moyle took us back, for a very quiet and respectful couple of days. Great roads and a little bit of frivolity? Actually – a lot if the truth be known. Plus about another 100 plus day rides not mentioned.
And, finally, our Christmas Party at The Point Bowling Club – with live music, excellent food, and a lot of fun for about 70 Members & Partners.
Unfortunately during 2019 we saw the passing of two of our most prominent and loved Members. Garry Palmer, an original organiser and founding member in setting up our Club 20 years ago, passed away on 20th June. Also that very likeable and charming Garry Kent passed away on 20th December. Two very highly respected and loyal members who are sure to be missed.