Christmas Run - President's Report
President's Report 2012 is coming to an end and I am pleased to report that the Club in Queensland is growing in strength by the week. From the eight cars we had on the February Run to the 19 cars on the Christmas Run Sunday to Lake Moogerah the numbers keep increasing. It's great to see all three models represented on Runs now, and if we get any more Spyders the SW20's will be under threat, particularly the red ones.
Now that the Club in Queensland is incorporated we have over 20 paid-up members. Next year we hope to increase this further as more people who own these cars see the value behind having a strong showing in public of what these great machines are about. We are purposely keeping the membership fees low to ensure that no-one with an MR2 is excluded because of their financial situation.
A few highlights of the past 12 months and the culmination of the year's activities at the Christmas Party were:
- We had nine organised Runs in 2012, including a night Run, and attended two major shows where the cars created a lot of interest.
- The car that attended the most Runs in the year was the immaculate yellow Spyder owned and cared for by Mr. and Mrs Roar Power.
- The people who were awarded the inaugural "Silver Steering Wheel" for being the outstanding Club members for 2012 were Scope and Mrs Scope (aka Cruise Control), with special mentions being given to Knightrous, Falcon and Dubtoille for their different efforts in supporting the Club.
- Falcon made a great effort in the competition event at "Motors In Motion", which has been preserved for posterity on YouTube.
- We had 19 cars at the Christmas Party, which did include one fake MR2, but the owner of which has been a long time supporter of MR2's in Queensland and has had one in bits for a number of years. No names here, but Totenkopf you know who you are, and you need to get it back together so we can enjoy your company again.
- At the Christmas Party we welcomed some new members in person (not just on the Forum), including James with his really nice white SW20 with the blue interior. It certainly stands out amongst all the red ones and the light colour gives a different perspective on the design of the car.
The Christmas Party saw the current Club Committee being re-elected unopposed, which proves that mild insanity is probably part of MR2 ownership, and after a suggestion by Spyder the Club is looking at setting up a competition Special Interest Group. There is always a lot of interest expressed in using the cars in competition events, particularly from a lot of younger owners, but when costs are worked out no-one is willing to sell their next door neighbours into slavery to pay for racing (well, not everyone Knightrous).
We are also looking at making some of the Runs in 2013 more involving and the Nationals in Tasmania later in the year are being focused on. A number of members have expressed their interest in going to the event, but the time and cost of driving over 2000km one way just to get to the ferry is a daunting prospect for some. This is in addition to those who have made it known that they get sea sick in the bath. However, obstacles are there to be overcome, and to cut costs we are going to experiment with how many people can hide in the trunk of an SW20 for the Bass Strait crossing. Experience from Groper going to the Drive-In will no doubt come in handy.
All-in-all 2012 has been a great year, and 2013 can only get better. I would like to thank both Groper and Dennis The Menace for their help in getting the Club formally on its feet, say a big muchos gracias to all the members who came on the Runs, congratulate the Run Manager for her excellent work in organsing the Runs, and finally on behalf of the Run Manager and myself I would like to wish everyone a joyful and happy Christmas, and a safe and prosperous New Year. Hopefully we will all catch up in 2013 at the Nationals.