8th National AGM - Young, NSW Jan 2010

The 8th National Rally was held in Young, NSW, with members arriving at the Young Tourist Caravan Park on Saturday 23rd, departing Tuesday 26th. The AGM was held at the Young Masonic Centre on Monday 25th, which enabled our members from Tamworth to attend after their Music Festival had completed.

Victorian Chapter members met with the Tasmanian Chapter members as they disembarked from the Spirit of Tasmania Ferry in Port Melbourne on the Saturday morning, and with Chris Packham (Vic Chapter Road Captain) leading the group, we travelled to Young without incident, but with several fuel stops enabling us to aquaint ourselves.

The majority of Sydney and Central Coast Chapter members also rode down to Young on the Saturday and several others arrived on the Sunday. Shane (Shorn) Mathies rode down from Toowoomba and was there when we arrived, with a fridge full of coldies awaiting us.

Wendy & Trev Capararo rode down on the Sunday and immediately went to work organising the BBQ, which was held that night. Our thanks to them both for their superb efforts in providing the food and some beverages on behalf of their NW NSW Chapter. A couple of local Masons also graced us with their presence at the barbie and I was pleased to see that one of them won the wine raffle.

The AGM was well attended and the elected officers are as follows:-
National President - Michael Lampadarios
National Vice President - Roger Coates
National Secretary / Treasurer - Terry Webster
National Road Captain - Gary Duff
National Communications Officer - Tony Bruce-Mullins
National Membership / Merchandise Officer - Mal Hurst


I would sincerely like to thank Dot Marshall for her exemplary efforts and dilligence in performing her duties as National Secretary / Treasurer over the past years. I am sure that I will be pestering her in the first few months, should I have need of her knowledge and experience, as I take on her duties and responsibilities.

Mal Hurst is a recent addition to our Association who has proven his ability to raise our profile and with him as Membership & Merchandise Officer, I'm sure that we will quickly see positive moves ahead.

Tony Bruce-Mullins has graciously accepted the role of Communications Officer and through him we may look forward to quarterly newsletters with a range of information on activities and events throughout the various States.

To those who attended our get-together, thank you for making the effort. It was great catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. Victorian Chapter will be hosting the 2011 National Rally and details wil be forthcoming as to suggested venues and dates in the next few months.

Till we meet again.....

Terry Webster
National Secretary.
Vic Chapter Treasurer / Public Officer

Wombat's Wish Charity Ride

Members and friends of the MMAA Vic Chapter attended the 2nd Annual "Wombat's Wish" ride in honour of the late Greg "Wombat" Currie, owner of the Geelong Harley-Davidson dealership. Wombat's Wish is a charity dedicated to assisting bereaved children living with grief following the loss of a parent. Some of the services provided by Wombat's wish include camps and after school care, as well as grief counselling and support for children. The MMAA were pleased to be able to present the organisers with a cheque for $3,500 to assist them in these activities. This is a great charity that we are very proud to be a part of and we are very grateful that Freemasons Victoria matched our fundraising dollar for dollar. It was particularly pleasing to note that our organisation was the largest single contributor, especially considering that there were many other clubs in attendance. Approximately 300 bikes attended the 'poker-run' ride, which started in Geelong, travelled to Inverleigh for lunch and presentation and then back to Geelong. Ten riders and one pillion attended, representing the MMAA. We had an excellent ride and were escorted through the greater Geelong area by members of the Victorian Police Force. We even received a new application for membership from a participant at the event -John "POLAK" Liberman.
Well done Vic Chapter and special thanks to "MAL" Hurst who organised our attendance and GL's $ for $ contribution for our donation, and also for his own personal contribution. Thanks also to National Chapter for supporting our presence by way of a donation. Great work everyone!

Ride Round the Bay 5th April 2009

Melbourne group met at the Westgate Bridge Shell Service Station at 7.00am for a 7.30am departure. Weather was pretty average, being overcast and threatening to rain, but we proceeded via the backroads to Geelong where we met up with Dylan Weaver, who guided us through to the Queenscliffe Ferry. We arrived there with very little time to spare before boarding the ferry to Sorrento. Coffees and a chat with a BMW rider from NSW kept us occupied on the 40 minute trip across

Once we had disembarked in Sorrento and said our goodbyes to our BMW mate, we all headed off to the Portsea pub and had a very nice lunch there and a great catch up. Chris Packham is finally back in Victoria after about 3 years posting in Alice Springs so it was especially good to see him riding with us again.

We all finished off and departed Portsea around 1:30PM to go our various ways back home although Greg & Dot and Grant dropped in to the Webster's home for coffee(s) and also so that Greg could "copy" some of Terrys "Nautical type" computer files.

A great time was had by all on the day and although we got just a little wet on the ride home, it didn't dampen the spirit of the day.

All riders would therefore have the chance to circumnavigate the Bay (in a day) starting and finishing near their home base.

Vic - Community Connections Project November 2008

Vic - Community Connections Project November 2008

Vic – “Bikes By the Bay” 23 November 2008

The Williamstown Motorcycle Club are holding their annual “Bikes by the Bay” event with vintage and veteran bikes on show. It will be a great day for socializing for our members to attend.
We plan to meet in Williamstown at 10:00Am Sunday…..do some sightseeing…and then find somewhere to have a nice lunch.
Contact Dot Marshall (Secretary) if you need more details as to meeting points etc.

Vic - Local news for charity

This newspaper clipping was taken from the Chelsea / Mordialloc Independent and celebrates the 100th computer system donated within the community. Since this article appeared, a further seven systems have gone out and we will also see an article about our "Community Connections" program in the next issue of Freemasonry Victoria Magazine.

This program has been a tremendous success and feedback from recipients has been wonderful. Well done to the team on such a rewarding effort!

Vic - Ride to Daylesford 12 Oct 2008

Members of the Victorian Chapter met at the Loot Cottage Garden Cafe in Bacchus Marsh at 10:30 AM. Brian, the proprietor opened the cafe early, especially for us and his hospitality was greatly appreciated. After Grant had his usual breakfast and everyone else had coffee etc, we set off for Daylesford via Trentham. The roads were in nice and windey and in excellent condition, the weather was fine and sunny (around 29 degrees celcius) and there were heaps of other motorcyclists doing the same thing we were doing. We pulled in to Daylesford around 12:30 and had lunch at one of the local pubs. The food and company were great. Dylan Weaver had brought along another Mason from his lodge on the ride (Stuart) and he appeared to enjoy the ride and company too.
At around 2:30 we saddled up and departed on our ways back "from whence we came". In my case, it was just on 160 kms back home and the first 45 minutes was through some great rolling hills and fantastic scenery.
We look forward to getting together again at our Chapter AGM in 3 weeks time.
[Greg Marshall took a few pics which will be posted on the "Gallery" as soon as he sends them to me].