Happy Spring!

Yes, I know this winter seems to have dragged on interminably, probably made worse by travel restrictions. But it’s officially spring, and time to dust off the cobwebs and get the car(s) ready for the warm weather.

Although I have to be honest, I have rather enjoyed driving in the cooler weather – no need for air conditioning, and the cars tend to run better in cooler air.

Although there is a general mood of slightly less restriction (except for our poor friends in Victoria, to whom our thoughts are extended), the ability to organise and run events is still proving a challenge; as witnessed by the postponement of last weekend’s HSRCA Spring Festival to the last weekend of October.

Mind you, that didn’t mean the ‘practice day’ on the Friday was cancelled, so a few of us were there for a beautiful day out.

Looking ahead, there’s the next round of the CSCA sprints next Saturday, which encouragingly is sold out, but if you want to go onto the reserve list, you can do so at the MRA website (www.motorrace.com.au)

As you will have seen from the email notification this week, we are intending to run the AGM this year virtually. This is as much an insurance policy for our members’ well being as anything – we simply can’t know from one week to the next what the status of restrictions and the spread of the virus will be, and rather than risk spreading it liberally among you all, we elected to run this year’s by video conference. We appreciate this is sub-optimal, but in these unusual times, we have to adopt unusual methods from time to time.

I look forward to seeing lots of your smiling visages on the screen, and for those unfamiliar with the technology, we are opening up the conference call at 6.30 to give us 30 minutes to help people get online and sort out any gremlins. Set the date if you haven’t already – Tuesday 15th September, from 6.30pm.

We continue to contemplate the possibility of a Christmas party in December, although the chances of it being a feasible option are only 50:50 at best at the moment. Concern over meeting in a public place are obviously foremost in many people’s minds. We will also most likely have to make it a BYO event as the complexities around catering an outdoor event are a little hard to navigate this far out. We will keep you informed as thinking progresses.

But on a brighter note, the monthly Tyre Kick and Coffee at the Kokoda Cafe in Rhodes is continuing (although we are moving the start time out to 9.30 as the cafe is not open until then these days). I look forward to seeing another great turnout on Sunday 20th September from 9.30am. Last month we had a lovely time, a great gathering and lots of lively conversation, all while observing appropriate distancing of course.

Thank you all for your continued patience as we navigate these weird and uncertain times. Our thoughts are with you all, as I know this period has been (and continues to be) very hard for a lot of you. Please remember that the best solution to feeling a bit confused is often the simplest – pick up the phone! Mine is always on, if sometimes a little hard to get hold of me on.

Take care of yourselves, and importantly your loved ones, and I look forward to seeing lots of you on the screen for the AGM, and hopefully in person at an event soon.

Meanwhile, keep it safe, upright and (largely) on the blackstuff,

Pip pip,
Ashton