New Life Member - Paul Beerworth

16 December 2013 / Words by Bryan Shedden & Bob Judd, Photo by Fiona Shedden

It is with great pleasure that I announce the award of Life Membership to Paul Beerworth.

Paul becomes only the ninth person to receive our Club’s most prestigious award, the first in eight years, and the first from our Canberra Chapter. He joins the select company of Peter & Ruth Simpson, Jean Cook, Zan & Rod Menzel, Jeff Gehrig, and Mike & Cobie Hicks.

The Canberra Chapter of the Mazda MX-5 Club of NSW was formed in 1996 in response to our Club’s hosting of NatMeet II in Canberra over Easter of that year. Paul and Margaret Beerworth joined the Club in July 2002 and only five current members of the Canberra Chapter have a longer continuous membership.

In 2004 there was some dissatisfaction in the Chapter, with communication between the Club Committee and the Canberra Convenor being practically non-existent. The Canberra Chapter was at an all-time low point and there was talk of a breakaway club being formed. Paul took control of the Chapter and re-established a working relationship with the Club Committee and, as a consequence of his sound management, the membership of the Canberra Chapter grew considerably.

Paul was Convenor of the Canberra Chapter for three years – from August 2005 to August 2008. During that time the Chapter established a relationship with its two original sponsoring businesses, Carco Exhaust and Automotive (now MX5 Solutions) and Rolfe Mazda. This coincided with the release late in 2005 of the NC model and the Chapter was invited to participate in a preview of the model, as well as to be present for the local release of the vehicle to the public. Rolfe Mazda provided free Club memberships to their new MX-5 customers, contributing to record growth in the Club: 181 new members in 2007.

Each year a major trip was planned for the Canberra Chapter, with visits to the coast and the Great Ocean Road being highlights. In May 2008, the Chapter undertook its second trip to Tasmania, with the purpose of following the Targa Tasmania roads around the Apple Isle. Each time, Paul organised a working group to plan and run the trip and these were all highly successful. Paul also fostered the relationship between Sydney and Canberra – in particular the Floriade weekend visit by Sydney members in Spring 2006 was highly successful.

Paul was the first member from the Canberra Chapter to serve on the Club Committee, fulfilling the role of Vice President for two years – from October 2006 to October 2008. The tyranny of distance made it difficult for Paul to attend monthly committee meetings, but he still made important contributions to management of the Club as a whole, and regularly made the trip for the AGM. Critically, he oversaw the increasing and long overdue presence given to the Canberra Chapter in our Club Events monthly newsletter, Club Torque magazine, and Club Website.

Paul was, and still is, an active participant in motorsport events including motorkhanas and club track days. Indeed, his little blue NB was ‘tweaked’ to help him in this field of endeavour. His current car, the silver NC, is still occasionally seen at the odd motorkhana. Paul is also accredited by CAMS as a Bronze Scrutineer, and has often officiated at club track days.

When the MX-5 Club of NSW was charged with the responsibility of running NatMeet over the Easter period of 2012, it naturally thought that Canberra was the best place to run such an event. The Committee called on Paul to join the organising committee, and he provided considerable assistance in the planning, organisation and implementation of this highly successful National event. Paul’s local knowledge and on-going assistance proved invaluable to the organising Committee – so much so that the MX-5 Club of Queensland have again sought his advice and assistance for the 2014 NatMeet in Caloundra.

With much credit to Paul, the Canberra Chapter is a vital part of the MX-5 Club of NSW, boasting around 100 members. It has been the model for development of regional Chapters in our Club, and many practices established in Canberra have been rolled out to other parts of the Club. For example, when the Hunter Chapter was launched in October 2006, they used the “Coffee & Lies” format on a Saturday morning, which was invented by the Canberra Chapter. “Coffee & Lies” was also poached for Sydney in February 2008.

Paul and Margaret are still active in the Canberra Chapter – sharing their spare time between the Club, their numerous grandchildren and a new love of cycling. Who knows where they will be when retirement finally comes their way.