Page 104 - Friendships Through the Years

The outings and functions in Arthur Geary’s year were memorable for various
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reasons. The fifth annual coach trip organized by Carl Adamson from the 24 . to the 28 .
of October was a Panorama Coach Company trip to Lake Eucumbene. The actual
accommodation left a little to be desired, varying from average to awful. However, this
was made up for by the very good meals, and an excellent mine host, Colin, who came
out each day with the Coach driver, Phil, and gave us very interesting commentaries on
the various highlights of the area. At night he put on entertainment for the group which
was quite interesting and, at times, extremely funny.
Past President, Les Wanstall, in his letter regarding his year’s highlights, wrote
“The funniest thing I have experienced was on the Lake Eucumbene trip with the after
dinner games. The ladies were such great sports.” It is probably not appropriate here to
mention names, however, suffice to say a member and one of the Club’s widows won a
competition against several other couples. The contest required an orange to be
transferred from the front of the various ladies dresses to the member’s shirt. The couple
who won took a lot longer to complete their task than the other contestants, chasing the
orange to all sorts of peculiar places.
On the third day we drove to Jindabyne, to the Ski Tube Train at Blue Cow
Mountain, then back to Perisher Valley where the coach drove us to Charlotte Pass. A
number of the group tobogganed on reasonable snow.
On the last night, Colin, the Proprietor, showed the group a video he had taken of
the three days of the trip, including the tobogganing and some quite revealing camera
shots of the competition with the orange. The video was on sale and the demand for it
was very high!
The enjoyment of the day trips to various areas of the Snowy Mountains and the
entertainment at night, coupled with the good quality meals, made up for the poor
accommodation. It is understood that Providence Lodge was completely refurbished just
after our trip and the accommodation improved enormously.
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The Minutes for the general meeting of 8 December ended: “The meeting
closed at 11.45 a.m. for a Christmas Morning Tea. Mention should be made about the
very pleasant happy half-hour before the meeting (shades of the car trip happy hour, now
happy two hours). Thanks to Jack Coffey and his Merry Helping Assistants – and
Russell, the scones were first class”.
From the start of the Club in 1983, the members and their ladies have enjoyed
their Christmas luncheon at the R.A.C.V. Country Club at Healesville and the numbers
had been rising each year. There had been 11 annual luncheons up until 1994. Keith
McLennan had organized all eleven visits to the Club, however, when he negotiated with
the newly appointed R.A.C.V. Banquet and Conference Officer, the menu she offered
had deteriorated in quality from the previous ones, and the price had gone up
considerably (from $22 to $30). Keith, in conjunction with past president, Les Wanstall,
obtained quotes from other restaurants. It was difficult to get satisfactory quotes so close
to Christmas. Eventually it was recommended to the members that the 1994 luncheon be
held at the Snooty Fox Restaurant at Olinda. McKenzie’s Coaches again drove those who
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didn’t wish to take their cars. The function on 19 December 1994 was a great success,
70 attended, and Les Wanstall reported to the members at the next meeting how
enjoyable it was.