Octagon November, 2017

President’s Report
It seems hard to believe that this is the final edition
of the Octagon for 2017 and that Christmas and
the New Year will soon be upon us. It has been
an extremely busy year. Thanks to all who have in
any way helped with keeping the club ticking along
in 2017. Without people ‘doing their bit’ the club
wouldn’t be what it is today. I’m very proud of the
fact that our club is still run entirely by volunteers.
We had a very interesting AGM this year, the
highlight of which for me was the election of a new
Honorary Life Member in Elaine Hamilton.
I don’t think that there would be a member of the
club who hasn’t had contact with Elaine at some
stage. She has served two long stints on the
Management Committee, and during her most
recent time she took on the role of Secretary
which is probably the most time consuming of all
the Management Committee positions. She also
continues to edit our club magazine, The Octagon,
send regular weekly emails to keep everyone
up to date on what is going on within the club
and recently has taken on the role of heading up
the celebrations for the 50th Anniversary of the
Mt Cotton Hillclimb. There are so many ways
that Elaine has contributed to our club over so
many years, she is a highly deserving recipient
of Honorary Life Membership. Congratulations
Elaine!
All British Day proved to be a great success for all
involved. This year saw the introduction of a “Rally
Plate” rather than the traditional brass badge; it
never hurts to try something different occasionally.
Last year we suffered a drop off in numbers
brought about through a combination of wet
weather and a date change. This year, numbers
rebounded nicely and we had a great display of
British cars across all the marques and ages.
Congratulations to all involved.
After many hours of hard labour, mainly from Jim
Scott with support from Peter Rayment, it looks
as though we will be going live with an on-line
membership system for 2018. The system will also
deal with new membership applications and allow
members to update their own information etc. thus
ensuring that your Octagon doesn’t get lost in the
mail. I’m also confident that things such as regalia
will also be able to be ordered on-line. Thanks to
Jim Scott, we’ll finally have online renewal.
We are closing in on what will be a very significant
milestone for the club, the 50th anniversary of
the Mt Cotton hillclimb. We will be having a
celebration over the 17th and 18th of February,
both at the clubrooms with the unveiling of the
hillclimb wall and then at Mt cotton on the Sunday
with both static displays and some on track
activities. Planning is well in hand largely due to
the efforts of Elaine Hamilton.
Delia Rayment and her crew of supporters are
making great headway with their planning for the
2019 MG National Meeting despite not having
the same amount of lead in time as normal.
Delia has most if not all of the major activities
locked away already, quite an achievement in the
circumstances.
We are having a change in venue for the annual
Presentation of Awards dinner with a move to the
Alexandra Hills Hotel. This will be held on Saturday
the 3rd of February. Please mark this date down
in your diary and get along to help the winners
celebrate their achievements.
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
Ross Kelly 3352 4151
0407 364 543
MG ZR, ZS, ZT Ken Wasley 0423 15 27 23
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