Canberra Annual Presentation and Christmas Lunch
29 December 2015 / Tony & Iris McDonald
On Sunday 13th December, 44 members and three guests attended the Chapter’s Annual Presentation and Christmas Lunch function at Grazing at Gundaroo in the township of Gundaroo, some 37 kms north of Canberra. This year’s attendance was impressive – nearly 40% greater than for the 2014 function! Obviously the venue’s reputation for excellent food and wine is widely acknowledged by our membership.
All enjoyed their entrees and mains before the proceedings moved on to the presentation of gifts and a vote of thanks to those members who had made particular contributions to the functioning of the Chapter. Norm and Roz Barker were presented with a Certificate of Appreciation from the Club Committee for their efforts in organising the Charity Run on 30th May. This was followed by a reading of Banjo Patterson’s ‘The Gundaroo Bullock’ by Rick Andrews who lives in Gundaroo. If you’ve read the poem, you’ll understand why some were quizzical about the source of their beef main course!
Presentations then continued with firstly, eligible long-term members being presented with their 5 and 10-year tenure badges, followed by the presentation of gifts to those members who organised and/or led the many runs and social events throughout 2015.
Next came the presentations of the annual Chapter Awards. For the first time, a Chapter New Member of the Year award was announced, with the award going to Michael Guina. Unfortunately, Michael could not attend the function, so his award was passed to him some days later.
Another first was the announcement of the inaugural winner of the Russell Battisson Memorial Trophy for Motor Sport as our Chapter Motor Sport Member of the Year. The 2015 award went to Jonathan Fox, who unfortunately was not in attendance and who likewise had his trophy passed to him some days later.
The last Chapter award presented was to the Chapter Members of the Year, being Jennifer and Peter Le. Both recipients were surprised by their unexpected win, but managed to regain their composure and collect their well-earned trophy.
The final announcement, on behalf of the Club President, was the presentation of the Club MOTY Runner-up Award to Bob Judd. Bob was also surprised by his unexpected win but was delighted to receive the award.
The formal part of the proceedings having finished, those gathered showed their appreciation for the wonderful meal and service provided by Grazing, by acclamation. The convenors then thanked all for their attendance and wished them a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
More photos are available on the Canberra Chapter Flickr Site.
