Octagon November, 2016

President’s Report
It seems hard to believe that this is the final
edition of the Octagon for 2016 and that
Christmas and the New Year will soon be
upon us. It has been an extremely busy year.
Before I get too far into my report can I thank
everyone who has helped out in some was
during the year? We are a club for MG and
motorsport enthusiasts and no one gets
paid. It’s truly amazing that we get through
so many diverse activities and cover such
a broad membership as well as we do. So,
my personal thanks to you for your efforts
in keeping the club moving forward in 2016.
One piece of excellent news that I recently
received is that Flavio Paggiaro has agreed
to join the committee. Thanks Flavio for
agreeing to come on board, I look forward to
your input over the next 12 months.
We have had a calendar full of activities again
during the past few months. Lot of social
runs, both day and overnight, all of which have
been well supported by members. Could I
add a note regarding club runs in particular?
The club recently received an amount of ‘bad
press’ regarding the actions of a number of
people driving MGs in a group that looked to
be on a day run. The person, who is known
to the club and knows me and a number of
other club members, decided to express their
disappointment on social media instead of
contacting the club directly.
They also made the assumption that the group
must have been members of the MG Car Club
of Qld. Inc. This proved not to be the case but
before it could be pointed out to the person
many unfavourable comments had been made
about the club and its members. I found the
whole saga disappointing, particularly the
fact that people who should know better were
driving their vehicles in an unsafe manner,
whoever they were.
Round 5 of the Carric Accounting & Business
Services – Tighe Cams Mt Cotton Hillclimb
Series produced some fantastic times or the
weekend of the 1st and 2nd of October, with
three records being broken. Congratulations
to all competitors for putting on a fantastic
display of speed Hillclimbing over the
weekend. There were 12 runs and not one car
required a recovery by the Tow Truck. Well
done! Once again a special mention to all
of those who helped out over the weekend,
particularly in the canteen.
The club’s annual Concours and Display Day
visited a new venue this year with a visit to
Ormiston House overlooking Moreton Bay.
What a fantastic venue it proved to be, with
a number of interesting things to eat and
do whilst member’s cars were on display or
being judged for Concours. The club received
a great deal of positive feedback from the
Ormiston House volunteer group and the club
has decided to return to the venue again in
2017.
Not long after you will have received your
copy of the Octagon in the mail you should be
receiving your renewal notice for 2017 along
with an invitation to the annual presentation
of trophies evening. This event will be taking
place on the 28th of January and is being
held once again at the Boulevard Gardens in
Indooroopilly. I hope to see a great turnout;
those who attended last year really enjoyed
the evening. The club has also, via the skills
of one of our member’s, commenced work
on an online membership application and
renewal system.
With the ongoing poor service and cost
associated with traditional mail, the committee
believes that we can better serve our
members and our hard working membership
secretary Peter Rayment by implementing
such a system. Stay tuned for updates.
Finally, I’d like to wish everyone and safe and
happy Christmas period. If you are on the
roads please make sure you travel safely.
- Richard Mattea
The Octagon - November 2016 3