MGCC of Qld., Capricorn Chapter
 

Chapter Coordinator; Jim Armstrong 0417 544 222

Assistant Coordinator; Clare Lynam

Run Committee; Jo Emmert; Phil Henry

 

What a glorious day!

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Six cars from Yeppoon and six cars from Rocky and carrying combined twenty three people, all left the Duckponds and headed west for our September spring run on Sunday morning. A spirited but uneventful first stage drive got us to Duaringa for our smoko stop where Brian and Glenis Russell form Biloela were waiting to greet us.

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As normal the ladies all had their delicious home baked goodies to share around. An added bonus was a local citrus orchardist was selling his produce from his truck and was well patronised by our members.

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Soon we were all on our way once again, stopping at Dingo to top up with fuel for those of us who only have short range fuel tanks.

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On our way again, turning left off the Capricorn Highway a few kilometres further on , off we went up and up the narrow winding road to the first picnic area where we settled in for our bar-b-que lunch but not before the group went for a short stroll to Horseshoe lookout for a group photograph courtesy of Katie.

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Meanwhile back at the picnic area once more, you guessed it the park barbeques were not working again but as suggested in the run sheet, most had had bought their personal gas stoves with special mention to Laurie and Beth who had theirs strapped onto their boot rack for the journey out. Katie and Jo were busy organising the poker run and lucky door prizes won by; The Russell’s, Phil Henry and the Adamson’s.

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All enjoyed their lunch and for those more adventurous, a bush-walk of approx. 2.5klms eventuated after lunch to a more remote gorge and a small waterfall that had all but ceased flowing as it is after all, the dry season.

Those who chose not to come enjoyed a good old chinwag and caught up with all the gossip they had to share.

 

Time to go and so we proceeded back down the steep narrow road to the Capricorn Highway headed for home some stopping at Dingo or Duaringa for fuel top ups.

It was prearranged that we should stop for an afternoon refreshment on the way home and as we noticed that the Westwood Hotel was under new management on the way out, we just had to stop to check them out. The previous owners were less than enticing but we all agreed the newbie’s were AOK.

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A long but enjoyable day that our little group enjoyed.

 

Those in attendance were;

Paul Davey

Phil Henry

Ian and Judy Hamilton

Ian Carleton

Martin and Narelle Adamson

Dennis Thomson and Cassandra Davis

Jo and Katie Emmert

Jason and Yolinda Foss

Robert and Yvonne Holbeck

Nev Funch

Laurie Chetter and Beth Dunlop

Jon Rowe and his mate Keith

Brian and Glennis Russell

Sandra and Myself

 

Photos contributed by Jo and Katie Emmert

 

By Jim Armstrong

MGCC of Qld., Capricorn Chapter

Chapter Coordinator: Jim Armstrong 0417 544 222

Assistant Coordinator: Clare Lynam

Run Committee: Jo Emmert, Phil Henry

 

Run report 3rd September 2021

 

September Dinner at the Red Lion Hotel

 

On Friday evening, 24 members and two visitors attended our monthly MG Club dinner. This month, members gathered to converse and share a meal at The Red Lion Hotel, a popular venue in Rockhampton.

 

The main bar at the Red Lion Hotel, was busy and lively with many enjoying their Friday afternoon drinks. Luckily, MG members gathered for dinner in one of the function rooms, were it was considerably quieter. The only disadvantage of this room appeared to be the width of the table, which made it trickier to hear the person across from you. This did however, lead to people moving around and conversing with others from opposite ends of the table.

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The evening progressed with little fuss. The staff took our meal orders quite promptly and the meals were delicious and served within a reasonable time frame. Many were even tempted by the dessert menu, with churros being a popular choice.

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It was lovely to meet some of Laurie and Beth’s extended family who came along to share our monthly dinner. They were a very welcome addition.

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Overall, it was a very relaxed and very social gathering for all the club members who joined us.

 

Members in attendance were:

 

Laurie Chetter, Beth Dunlop, Jo and Katie Emmert, Terry Dwyer, Anne Burbidge, Jim and Sandra Armstrong, Phil and Margaret Henry, Ian and Judy Hamilton, Jack and Rae Cowie, Jo and Paul Davey, Gary and Julie Kunst, Daryl and Joy Penridge, Pat and Stephanie Sullivan and Paul and Clare Lynam

MGCC of Qld., Capricorn Chapter

Chapter Coordinator: Jim Armstrong 0417 544 222

Assistant Coordinator: Clare Lynam

Run Committee: Jo Emmert, Phil Henry

 

Run report 22 August, 2021

 

Whilst our numbers were down a little, spirits were not. On Sunday morning 22nd August, 16 of our members rose to an early morning foggy start to our August day Run, a trip to Calliope and Gladstone.

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We all gathered at the Duckponds where new members Dennis Thomson and his partner Cassandra Davis were introduced to the remaining members who made them feel welcome. They were driving a lovely sparkling dark blue Jaguar.

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Jo and Katie were busy organising the Poker run for the day and rumour has that if you haggle a bit you can get a 5% discount now although Jo would not like this to become the norm.

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Now during the week previous we got notification form one seemingly well-read member that the markets were on at Calliope Village and so our original plans were changed to accommodate that. After a short pre run briefing notifying participants of that, we were soon on our way, first stop Mt Larcom for a comfort stop. All went well on our first leg.

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After leaving MT Larcom next stop was The Calliope River Village where the markets were and the ladies very keen to attend. On entering the village, it was obvious that that the markets were in fact not on so were stopped for morning tea anyway. Katie did a quick goggle search only to find the markets were actually on in Calliope at the Rodeo Grounds. The morning tea was enjoyable with most of the ladies sharing their homemade delights with the group. Our resident Drone master, Jason soon launched his magnificent flying machine which took some very interesting aerial shots of our cars. Jason also made a short video. You can view it by clicking on this address on your browser; https://youtu.be/b_Izd7dknPo .The Ladies at the Village canteen were also very welcoming and invited us back for their markets on the 3rd October with a view of putting our cars on display, so save that date.

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After a delicious morning tea, we on the road once more this time to the markets at the Calliope Rodeo grounds. After a brief stroll around and some of us supporting the market stallholders, we headed into Gladstone with the exception of Neville, who said he was felling unwell and Jo and Katie as Jo was suffering from a sore back. We hope you all feel better today. Ian C decided that he would detour the markets and left us to visit the Gladstone Maritime Museum.

On the way to our café, we made a slight detour to Auckland Point look out for a sticky beak. The harbour looked absolutely pristine aided by the fact that it was a glorious day.

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Soon after we were all seated at the Spinnaker Park Café, Ian C had re-joined us, where we were treated to some delicious fare and served quite quickly as well. As this Café is right on the water front we were witness to several tug boats going about their business and a huge LNG tanker being berthed. Lunch over, some of our male travellers suggested that we call into the Raglan Hotel on the way home for a quick beer to end an enjoyable day which we did.

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But that is not the end of the story. On pulling in to the driveway of the Pub, a PC Plod followed us in, in his candy-coloured Hyundai. As I was tail end Charlie, he drove right up next to me as I got out of my car. My initial thoughts were some one has done something wrong or are all these cars registered? But no, he was an Englishman and just wanted to talk about the lovely little English cars. He said he had saw us going south in the morning and was keeping an eye out for our return. He turned out to be a very pleasant man and was telling me that he had a restored Hillman Minx at home. Meantime, my so-called companions were taking photos of me and laughing thinking that I was being booked.

 

So, after a quick beer we were on our way home after a most enjoyable day.

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By Jim Armstrong

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Photos by Clare Lynam

Phil Henry

Jason Foss

 

Those in attendance were;

Dennis Thomson and Cassandra Davis

Ian Carleton

Clare and Paul Lynam

Jo and Katie Emmert

Robert and Yvonne Holbeck

Jason and Yolinda Foss

Nev Funch

Phil Henry

Gordon Kelsey

Phil White

Myself

MGCC of Qld Capricorn Chapter

Run Report  - 6 August, 2021

Chapter Coordinator -  Jim Armstrong

Assistant Coordinator  - Clare Lynam

Run Committee - Jo Emmert, Phil Henry

 

On Friday evening, 18 members attended our monthly MG Club dinner. This month, members gathered to converse and share a meal at The Capricorn Tavern, which is located in Yeppoon.

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It was a pleasant evening with good company and lots of laughter and car discussions. The Tavern was quiet for a Friday evening, so we had lots of room to move and mingle, both before and after our meals were served.  Laurie Chetter had a gruesome story and photo of his injured foot to share, after a close encounter with a mower. Beth is now in charge of the mower, at least for the next few weeks. We wish Laurie all the best with his recovery.

A popular topic of discussion on the night, was the Swap Meet in Rockhampton the following morning. Many members were heading off bright and early to find their ‘treasure.’

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Overall, it was a very enjoyable and relaxed evening for the club members who came along.

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Members in attendance were:

Laurie Chetter, Beth Dunlop, Trevor Andersen, Jo and Katie Emmert, Terry Dwyer, Anne Burbidge, Robert Holbeck, George and Lyn Ganter, Gloria and Gurney Clamp, Michelle and Rick Taylor, Ian and Rosemary Carleton and Paul and Clare Lynam.

THE BIRTH OF THE CAPRICORN CHAPTER

by founding Chapter Coordinator, Gurney T Clamp

 

After purchasing my 1972 MG B in Brisbane and shipped back to Yeppoon, I started driving it on every opportunity I got in and around Yeppoon and its surrounding area.

Then, one day I came across a couple driving  in their  red MG B doing as I was, so I caught up to them and found that they were from Rockhampton and doing a cruise around Yeppoon. Their names were Dale & Margaret Volling. I told them that I was going to try to form a MG Car club in Central Queensland and asked them if they were interested in joining a club such as  I was trying to form.

 

They agreed that they would be interested, gave me their contact details and I told them that they would be number 2 members. On arriving back home, one of my neighbors, Robert Hanson, called over to  have a good look at my MG and told me that he knew of another MG owner, Trevor Williams, who lived in Yeppoon. He agreed to take me to meet him and this visit turned out to be very important as he tried unsuccessfully to form a MG car club several years ago. He had a list of names and contact details of people that owned an MG in Central Queensland, which he gave to me.

 

I returned home and started making contact with everyone on the list, asking them if they were interested in forming an MG car club in Central Queensland. The response was just what I was hoping for so then, I had to contact them all again informing them that on Sunday, 4 May 2008,  a meeting of all interested MG owners was going to be held at Beaman Park Yeppoon at 9.00 a.m.

 

On Sunday, 4 May I was overjoyed by the number of MG’s and their owners that arrived at Beaman Park. They had come from as far away as Moura, Biloela and Rockhampton. All present indicted that an MG car club should be formed. I was elected as chairman and spoke on how we should go about forming the club.

 

Jim Armstrong and Gary Kunst who were current members of the MG Car Club of Queensland, suggested that we should seriously look at becoming a chapter of the MG car club of Queensland if this club had any chance of survival. The MQCC of Qld already had two chapters operating quite successfully called the Darling Downs and Wide Bay Chapters. In doing this, we would  have the back up of the MGCC of Qld’s support in legal liability, financial matters etc., if successful and accepted by the MGCC of Qld. All present agreed that this was the path that we should take and indicated that I should continue as an unofficial chairman of this fledgling organization.  

 

On Monday, 5 May 2008, I contacted the MG Car Club of Queensland’s then President, David Miles,  informing him of the outcome of our meeting at Beaman Park in Yeppoon. I then asked him what steps needed to be done for the MG owners of Central Queensland to become a chapter of their club.

 

The response was an overwhelming “We will be glad to welcome you into our club”.  He indicated that information would be forwarded to me and he asked me to call a meeting of all interested MG car owners to attend another meeting at a time and venue suitable to all concerned.

It was agreed that a meeting should be called on Saturday, 24 May, 2008 at the Rockhampton Golf Club, and the club president David Miles would attend.

He was supported by Brisbane members, Val Horgan, Kevin Ponting, Wide Bay chapter coordinator Ian Bryant and Darling Downs coordinator Trevor Watkins, all arriving in Rockhampton on Friday, 23 May in their MGs. My wife Gloria and I were invited to attend a dinner at the motel they were staying at in Rockhampton. And of course we attended.

 

On the day of the meeting at the Rockhampton Golf Club premises, David Miles addressed all present on functioning and policies of the MG Car Club of Queensland and what was expected of the chapters that are affiliated with them.

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These discussions were well supported by the Brisbane members and the chapter coordinators, the late Ian Bryant and Trevor Watkins.

 

A vote was taken to accept that all Central Queensland MG owners become a chapter of the MG Car Club of Queensland, the result was unanimous. Next step was that we now need to find a name for our chapter. A few names were suggested but Capricorn Chapter was selected.

 

I was then elected as the coordinator for the newly formed Capricorn Chapter, the next step was to select a suitable time of each month to have a get together of members, once again a number of suggestions were put forward with the 3rd Sunday of each month be adopted, which was duly voted on and passed.  

 

David Miles indicated that the results of this meeting would have to be approved by the MG car club of Queensland and I would be notified of the result by mail, A letter dated 28 May, 2008 was received from MG Car club that the management committee of the MG Car Club of Queensland had accepted our application to join as the Capricorn Chapter.

 

After a couple of years at a Christmas function, Ian Wilhelmsen and Phil White suggested that we all should find interested members to assist in the running of the chapter, to which I agreed. Ian Wilhelmsen was elected as assistant coordinator, Phil White and Terry Dwyer as event committee members. Since then I have found that this to be of a great assistance to myself, as we now prepare the following years calendar in November of each year with suggestions of places we should tour to coming from individual members.

 

FOUNDATION MEMBERS

ARMSTRONG   Jim & Sandra - Moura / Yeppoon

BREED  Peter & Tracey - Rockhampton  Past members    

CLAMP  Gurney & Gloria - Yeppoon

CLARK  Stuart & Ada - Goovigin

DWYER  Terry - Rockhampton

FOX  Bill - Yeppoon  Past member

GUBBINS  Tony (Deceased) & Merilyn WEST- Rockhampton Past members

KIRWAN   Wayne - Biloela

KUNST   Gary & Julie - Moura / Yeppoon

MADDEN  Don -Yeppoon   (Deceased)

O’DEA       Tom & Kathy - Yeppoon   Past members

PIDCOCK  Ted & Margaret - Yeppoon   Past members

RUSSELL   Brian & Glenis - Biloela

SULLIVAN Pat & Stephanie - Rockhampton

VOLLING  Dale & Margaret - Rockhampton  Past members

WHITE       Phil & Pam - Rockhampton

WILLIAMS Trevor - Rockhampton  Past members