President’s Report

GOODBYE 2020 AND HELLO 2021. HOPEFULLY A BETTER YEAR THAN THE LAST ONE. I TRUST ALL OUR MEMBERS HAD A GREAT CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR PERIOD. MAYBE 2021 MIGHT BE THE TIME TO SHOW OFF ALL THE BIKES THAT HAVE BEEN RESTORED DURING THOSE LOCKDOWN TIMES LAST YEAR.

It’s been very hot here in Brisbane so far this year making riding a bit uncomfortable with the humidity but we have a couple of good rides coming up in February and March. Discussions have been held with the Mackay group on a meet up ride to Monto in June. Will be great to catch up with the fellows from Mackay and maybe we can get some Sunshine Coast and Wide Bay members along too. Accommodation at this stage is the Albert Hotel, a beautiful big two storey building with big balcony’s on each side.

I must say a big thank you to all the members who contributed stories for the last magazine (issue 153). It was a very good read and a great advertisement for our club. Hopefully we can continue that effort with the next mags. Well done.

The 2021 VJMC National Rally is set down to be held in October and located in Bendigo Victoria. Bendigo is a beautiful city with many magnificent buildings throughout the city and is surrounded by some beautiful riding roads. Rally Coordinator Phil Scorah and his team have been working towards putting together a great rally for the members attending. Bendigo and Ballarat along with the surrounding districts are home to many unusual and rare machines so we could be in for a real treat. Of course one of the other attractions to the rally is the opportunity to catch up with all our Victorian and New South Wales members whom we haven’t seen for some time due to border closures etc.

One of the highlights of my holiday trip down to Cootamundra in NSW last year was the opportunity to go to a meet up with members from the Central West Region at Mandurama just north of Cowra. Cheryl and I made the trip of about 160klms over there in atrocious conditions with torrential rain belting us all the way. Thankfully we were in the car as was everyone else who attended the lunch at the Royal Hotel in Mandurama. The village was selected due to its central location to members throughout the area. We all enjoyed a beautiful counter lunch and some great conversation with members from Cowra, Milthorpe, Orange and Blayney. Wayne Lavers from Grenfell west of Cowra was supposed to attend but was unwell. It was nice to catch up with Andrew Cox in Young on the way back to Cootamundra too.

Keep Safe John McNair