Hunter Convenors BBQ 2017

02 February 2017 / Article: Josh Fitzgerald, Photos: Peter Hilkmann & Grant Webber

The new year in the Hunter Chapter historically kicks off with the Convenors BBQ. A very social event with a run back to the Convenors home for a BBQ lunch to get everyone in gear for the year of MX-5 fun ahead and to also announce our 2016 winners of the Hunter Member of the Year and New Member of the Year.

Thankfully we lucked out with the weather and woke to a modest mid 20 degree overcast day, a welcomed relief between the sweltering 40odd degree days just before and after!
This year a run was planned to head to Wollombi for morning tea with two slight differences.
To avoid the chaos that is the M1 roundabout with the number of RSVP’s, we started our run further up the road to where we would be driving past on the run anyway, at Kurri Kurri McDonalds. This location was far more low key with easy access in and out and is likely to be the new start point for Hunter runs heading into the Upper Hunter.

The second difference with this run was a second group starting from the Central Coast heading up to converge on Wollombi at the same time. The Hunter Chapter is burgeoning with members from the Central Coast area so a run was devised with our coastie friends in mind with the great help from Brian Thomson and Rob Emmett, meeting at the Kariong Information Centre and following the Great North Road to Wollombi. This run was in instant hit with 8 cars joining Rob for the run north and will definitely feature in future Hunter runs.

With this number of cars on a run, timing is key, and the timing was impeccable with both Hunter and the Central Coast runs meeting at Wollombi mere seconds apart (for the record, Rob and the CC mob beat us there!).

After a coffee break and a driver briefing we began our combined run with 26 cars heading north along the picturesque Paynes Crossing Rd. With some tight twisties and a lot of open sweeping high speed bends this road has something for everyone. Those who enjoy a bit more of a squirt at the front and those who prefer a more relaxed cruise towards the back. Turning right at Broke heading back towards Pokolbin to complete the loop of the Pokolbin mountains. On arrival back at the Convenors home, everyone was led to park in the field behind the home. What a great sight to see with three rows of 5’s filling the grounds.

With 62 members and 3 visitors in attendance, it was a tight squeeze in our entertaining area, with an extra gazebo to help give some extra eating space. The BBQ’s were fired up with Helen Green, Grant Webber and Duncan Marks wielding the tongs while Lindsay organised the kitchen to get out the nibbles, salads & desserts with many helping hands, although a shout out must go to Diann Miller & Christine Cameron for their wonderful help on the day.

After a feast of steaks, sausages and kebabs (and salads, can’t forget salads, I’m sure I ate some salad…I think…) it was time to announce our Hunter Member & New Member of the Year. Hunter Member of the Year (MOTY) and New Member of the Year (NMOTY) awards are aimed at acknowledging and further encouraging individual member involvement in chapter activities. This year our MOTY was a joint winner with both Helen Green and Grant Webber taking out the honour. Helen and Grant had volunteered as run leaders in the 2016 year, organising multiple runs and social dinners, the Xmas in July weekend away and just being everywhere where there was a club activity, all backed up of course with Grant’s superb photos! With no signs of slowing down, Helen and Grant volunteered to be run leaders in 2017 as well.

Our Hunter New Member of the Year was Elaine Gazzard, who like Helen and Grant, was just about everywhere all the time. Amongst other things including writing multiple club articles, Elaine also organised the Twilight run and the successful Hunter Charity Bowls that raised over $500 for the club’s chosen charity, Careflight. Elaine has since joined the volunteer crew to assist in organising social events in 2017.

Helen, Grant and Elaine now have a nice trophy to mount on their mantle piece and we would like to congratulate them on their awards & thank them for their time volunteering to assist the Hunter Chapter.

We rely heavily on members who volunteer their time to organise and run events and would like to take this opportunity to thank all the volunteers in the Hunter Chapter who helped make 2016 a fantastic year!!

Dessert was served and the afternoon started to grow long. MX-5’s slowly exited the field, thankfully without any motorkhana runs! What a great way to start 2017 and we look forward to another big year of MX-5 fun in the Hunter!

More of Peters photos: HERE

More of Grants photos: HERE