The past 12 months has seen much upheaval in the committee with the early resignation of Tony Prictor and Stewart Forster and their positions were left unfilled for the remainder of the year. This reduced the elected seven-person team down to just five. Not an ideal situation considering the Club used to function with nine committee members, but it is a credit to the remaining committee members that this reduction had no noticeable effect on the Club. So it’s thanks to: -

Treasurer Darryn Webster whose newness and enthusiasm was most welcome. Also his attention to detail ensured the financial records where always up to date. Unfortunately Darryn has recently tendered his resignation and advised us he would not stand for re-election.

Secretary/Editor Ben Warden has coped admirably with these two demanding positions and although an old hand in committee participation, his eagerness to maintain the high standards of our Club still shine through which is most evident in the rides he leads and the newsletter.

Assistant Secretary/Public Officer Danny Vits has vast experience on committees, which has made some of the hard decisions easier to work through. Also his knowledge on the workings of the incorporations act have made changes so much less of a worry. In addition, his extensive bush walking expertise has added many new destinations to our rides.

Captain Wayne Grant still has a genuine enthusiasm about the Club and combined with his tolerant nature make him an ideal committee member who can quickly analyze problems and put forward simple solutions. Wayne also purchases the supper and door prizes for our monthly meetings.

Social Secretary This has been a combined effort over the past year but most of the credit needs to be attributed to Ben and Wayne. I thank them all for their support and look forward to their continued association with the club.

During the year changes to the Incorporation Act compelled us to implement a Grievance Procedure and display a Registration of Incorporation Number on all Club correspondence. Also the itinerary dates have been aligned to end with the Club year so that only the current committee members are shown on itineraries.

We all have other activities vying for our time; I personally have 3 adult daughters and 2 grand children all of whom I like to spend time with. I also belong to 2 car clubs, have a long-term relationship, and odd jobs to do around my home. These do not leave a lot of free time. But I still enjoy motorcycling and the way our Club fosters friendship and conducts rides makes it easy to indulge in this activity. An organised "ride every Sunday" is our strength and although much time is spent ensuring the ride and corner marking system proceed smoothly, it is worth it. In fact many clubs have now adopted "our" system because it works so well.

But our Club is more than a club. Friendships develop that endure long after association with the Club is gone. For example, I attended a wedding earlier in the year and all the people that I knew there, were, or still are, members of the MTCV. In fact the wedding would not have happened if not for the Club because the bride and groom met through the MTCV.

Compared to this time last year the number of members is pretty static but this hides the fact that about a quarter of our membership didn’t renew their subscriptions. Though sounding drastic, it is only marginally higher than other years. Fortunately we have recovered our numbers with the influx of new members. The MTCV Web Site is performing strongly taking an overall average of 92 hits per month since its inception back in April 1996 and around 120 per month in recent times and can take considerable credit for this recovery. Its power to attract new members is significant and about 25% of the members have email addresses. Thanks to Ben Warden and Darren Hosking for their continued maintenance of the site.

To all members I thank you for your participation and friendship over the previous 12 months and look forward to another year in the MTCV