Page 5 - Exhaust Notes January 2023

January 2023 Exhaust Notes - Edition No 321 

The Ararat Ride to Remember is not an official club ride but we had a great turnout of Geelong Ulysses members.
Many thanks to Ron Howell for organizing the accommodation, ride route and meals bookings for our crew
Another outstanding event that Ron organized was the visit to the Narana Aboriginal Cultural Centre. It was a
great success and his daughters and granddaughter’s’ choir singing for us was a truly memorable experience

Social events / dinners. Mal Stapleton has done a terrific job arranging a variety of social functions. The twilight
th
ride to dinner at the Farmers Arms in Birregurra, lunch at the Little River Hotel, dinners at Mr Matteo, the 13
Beach Golf Club and Man Bo restaurant have all been a huge success and have been really well attended.
No exception to this was last Sunday’s (Dec18th) Poker & Bingo ride with lunch at the Ocean Grove Bowls
Club. Mal S and our lensman Peter Barclay organized and ran an excellent event that was very well attended
and lots of fun. Thanks also to Ron Howell and Phil Rousseaux for helping Mal with managing the poker and
bingo on the day. My heartfelt thanks Mal and Peter for your ongoing commitment to the Geelong Branch
Sold Chuck Wagon – members voted on its future and it was sold, thus saving registration, insurance and the
ongoing problem of storage. It was 21 years old and from a different era when the Branch was huge and there
were no regulations around food handling requirements etc. Thanks to Graham Aitken for his work in
facilitating this
Auctioned memorabilia T-shirts and items that had been in storage for 6 years and could no longer be kept in one
member’s garage. The ownership of these items is now dispersed amongst the Branch membership

A new member has produced a new Geelong Branch Facebook page that is viewable to anyone searching FB for
Geelong Ulysses information. See https://www.facebook.com/UlyssesGeelong. He’s also prepared an
information pack for potential new members. Many thanks to James Rousseaux for input, insights into
attracting younger members and for agreeing to store the club’s bike trailer at his home.
The Saturday morning ‘Tyre Kick’ has continued despite this year’s dreadful winter weather, thanks to the club
stalwarts who show up each week
Wednesday rides – formal and informal are going from strength to strength. Mark and the regulars (that’s code for
retired) have kept them vibrant. Thanks also to Mal for arranging new hi-vis vests with the Geelong branch
logo for our ride leaders and TEC
The Branch has maintained a strong financial status having received payment for providing motorcycles for
various roles at the Geelong Triathlon and GOR Marathon. A huge thanks to all who contributed to our
fundraising by supporting these events and especially to those who have done it many times. I suggest that
you check out our member’s involvement via the pics at https://geelongulysses.forumotion.com/t434-geelong-
triathlon-sunday-20-feb-2022 and https://geelongulysses.forumotion.com/t445-great-ocean-road-marathon-
sunday-15th-may-2022

Some of the funds earned have gone back to Branch members by way of subsidizing meal costs at random
Branch social dinners
Ongoing Vic Roads Liaison. Terry Fraser has been quietly working in the background to advocate for repairs of
hazardous regional roads … with an ever-changing cast of contacts at Vic Roads to deal with!
The Exhaust Notes is going strong and as a former editor I thank Stan Kluzek for taking the Exhaust Notes to the
next level – both in content and the formats in which it can be viewed. We also welcomed a new advertiser on
board, namely Twisted Moto in West Geelong. Thanks to Ron Howell for teeing them up and to Russell
Rankin for following up on their payment in vouchers recently. I’ve recently spoken with another business who
is also considering advertising with us in 2023
Finally, it’s worth mentioning that this is a Branch characterized friendliness and a good vibe that has been
maintained throughout the past year and is evident amongst the Geelong Branch members at all of our get
togethers
As it is well into December already, it’s time to start thinking about whether you would consider volunteering for a role
on the Branch Committee for 2023. Descriptions of the responsibilities for each position were posted recently.

I’d like to thank the Geelong Branch Committee and the Ex-Officio members for their support during my first term as
President. Of those who I haven’t already mentioned above, I’d like to thank Vice President Graham Aitken, our
Treasurer Phil Rousseaux who never fails to manage and report on the Branch’s finances - even when he has been
interstate for prolonged periods. Thanks also to our Welfare Officer, Rob Pow, for reaching out to sick and injured
members. I’d also like to thank Rob Hunt for his behind-the-scenes work in managing our IT and email system and for

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