Page 167 - Friendships Through the Years

M.O.E.R. delegate, Carl Adamson, reported on the annual picnic at Maroondah
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Dam, Healesville on 29 March. The Police Band was there again, there was a very good
attendance and Carl said ‘it was a wonderful day’. Unfortunately it was Carl’s last
involvement as our M.O.E.R. delegate. As mentioned earlier in this chapter, he and
Dorothy moved to Wheeler’s Hill, and he felt obliged to resign as delegate. He had held
the position since the Association was formed in 1985. Harry Brennan was elected to fill
the position,
The June outing was to General Motors Holden, Port Melbourne. Forty-four
attended what was a very cheap trip. The coach cost $8 and lunch in the G.M.H. cafeteria
was $4.
The May outing was also well attended. Forty-five were on the coach to the
Police Academy at Waverley - $15 for coach and lunch at the Academy. It was a very
comprehensive inspection with an excellent guide.
There were not as many for the second annual bush walk and barbecue at Jean Aird’s
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Wonga Park property on 10 September. Only 12 enjoyed a pleasant day and good
weather (which had been threatening earlier in the day) This obviously scared a lot of
members away.
An innovation in the previous year was the ‘Split the Bill’ luncheon, using
coupons from the Herald-Sun. This year there were two visits to the Tatra Hut, Mount
Dandenong for a ‘winter Christmas dinner’ at half cost ($9.75 per head). The
entertainment was the renowned ‘Dancing Waters’ which has been a feature at the Tatra
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Hut for many years. Keith McLennan organized the first visit on 27 July and at the
August meeting Secretary Bill Molyneux gave a resume of the outing; 23 people enjoyed
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it very much, according to Bill. Martin Taylor supervised the second visit on 25 August
when 25 people enjoyed the same fare and entertainment at the same cost.
Denis Lawson, in conjunction with Panorama Coaches, organized the 9th annual
coach trip from the 25th to the 29th of October. President Bert reported on the trip in the
November newsletter thus: “The Snowy Mountains visit was enjoyed by the 31 members
who attended. Our host, Ian Gullick, at the Adaminiby Country Inn Motel, certainly
looked after us in excellent style”. It was an excellent motel, with good meals with very
interesting commentary by the motel proprietor. He accompanied us on our outings,
which covered Yarrongabilly Caves, Kiandra, Tumut 2 Power Station, a launch trip on
Lake Jindabyne, Charlotte Pass where we had lunch and experienced an extremely strong
and cold wind, Cooma and the Happy Valley Homestead. The motel provided the picnic
lunches each day and they were excellent.
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The final annual function of Bert’s year was the 17 annual Christmas buffet
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luncheon at the R.A.C.V. Country Club Healesville dining room on 20 December 1999.
It cost $20 per head. (The club had used McKenzie’s coaches for this function for 17
successive years. The cost in 1999 at $4 per head was cheaper than six years previously.)
The luncheon was very successful, so much so that the members at the next meeting in
January 2000 voted to hold the Christmas Luncheon again at the R.A.C.V. Healesville.
The main feature of the day was that the attendance was a record for any outing or
function that the Club has ever conducted. Ninety-five people enjoyed the buffet lunch.
However it was three short of the record attendance of 98 at President Bert’s final
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meeting, the annual general meeting on Thursday 9 March 2000. That annual general