Chev Club Birthday Run 2003

Missed our birthday run for May 17th & 18th 2003?

Well here is a report of what happened!

Saturday was quite foggy 17 cars all left the Coles Car park in Lilydale in convoy, with Michael Newnham's Red '69 Corvette leading the group.
Our first Stop was at Yea; Marmalade's Café where we stopped and had breakfast for a nice break over tea and coffee. This is where we picked up a couple more members.

With 20 cars en route to Wangaratta it was quite a convoy but we all kept together pretty well. Don't ever tell me that Carl Kelsen is the slowest driver. I am convinced being the tail ender Pat Marek did pretty well as the slowest driver with myself never getting over 85-90 kph. Yes I was behind Pat (sorry Pat just joking)

The winding picturesque road of the Melba Highway was just beautiful as the cars wound around the corners of the countryside. As the sun shone the sparkle of cars in all the shapes and sizes was just fantastic to see! These were our Chevys; Corvettes, Camanos, El Camino Utility, Impalas, 51 Utility, Pontiacs, Cadillac, Bel-Air, Trans Am and more. Reaching and booking ourselves into the Advance Motel we had a quick bite to eat in the town in Wangaratta. We were then met by our Northern Chapter chairperson Larry Dixon, and Rob and Pat Cook who took the group wine tasting at Brown Bros Wineries.

The whole area is known for their grapes and wineries, which vary so much, with some of the most famous wines in the world coming from this district. A couple of us got lost and found our own winery after one or two drops we caught up with the rest of the group to continue. We visited the Mustard Store, The Olive and Olive Oil Store, we visited some furniture makers.

The weather was just superb for this time of year. It was a perfect Autumn day with all the trees in the area changing colours the country side with its green lush grass was a sight to behold. Some of us got back to our rooms around 5.30pm where we had a cup of tea or coffee, a chat with members and a rest before we set off for tea. At 6.45pm we all decide the Wangaratta Club was not too far to walk for Diner it was only 1 kilometre and I must admit it was a good walk with some laughs along the way. One thing we knew no matter how much we drank non of us were going to be caught for drink driving as we all left back at the Motel for the night.

Next Morning 18th we were not so lucky with the weather, Rob and Pat Cook took us on our Mystery Run to the El Dorado Dredge, which was very interesting. Rob Cook and Michael Newnham gave us a talk and run down of what the dredge was actually built and used for in the early days; it is now protected from people climbing all over it, and sits in its own pond. Because of the rain this adventure walk was cut short. Some of us went back into the town of the El Dorado Township, which was old and quite quaint. Little old homesteads, a small state school and some of the dredging materials used back in those old days.

Our Birthday celebration was held at the Pinsott Hotel with a 2 course meal. We met our Northern Chapter members Larry Dixon and the Boys and it was great. Some of the boys bought their new tops and caps. David Beale did a good job with the Logos on the sweaters and caps.

Congratulations for Life membership went to Gerry McGuigan which was most deserving. Gerry has been with the Club for over 17 years. Service Awards went to John Reid, Larry Dixon, Pat Marek, Marty Mavrik. Special Mention of thanks went to Nola Davis, Brenda Chessum, Maureen Graham, June McGuigan. President's Pick for Car he likes best was Rob Cooks '61 BelAir and George Tahatis' '95 Camaro.

The cake was cut by representatives of the four Sub Groups consisting of: The Chev Group, - Michael Klein, Firebird Camaro Group, - Pat Marek, The Vic Vettes Group, - George Tahatis and the Northern Chapter, - Larry Dixon.

I hope you all enjoyed the weekend and we look forward to making next years bigger and better, being the 30th Anniversary of Our Club. We need some feedback. Do you want next year's Birthday Run to be a weekend Trip Away again?
Lets make this an anniversary to be remembered!

Thanks to all those members who attend this weekend and made it the pleasant weekend it turned out to be. To Chris and Jane their first run I hope you enjoyed the weekend. A lot of work goes into organising such trips.
My very special thanks must go to Member 131 Ian and Maureen Brown of Wangaratta. When I rang Ian, he helped me with suggestions about the best places to Stay and Eat at Wangaratta. They gave me the idea of the distances between each venue in the town. Thanks again Ian and Maureen and I hope we catch up with you again soon it was a pleasure meeting you. They have been members since 1975.

Thanks everyone
Three Cheers to Our Club and Happy Birthday!

Thanks Janine for the cake it was lovely please pass this onto the lady who made it for us.

Safe Driving Everyone
Marty Mavrik#3286