Dear members,
What a huge month April has been, with the AGP finishing on the first weekend of April and so many other things happening. Lots of members attending this event and lots of members also officiating over the weekend. Great fun had by all.
4 April was our members meeting at Melbourne BMW, this was a great night with a private tour of the showrooms and also behind the scenes, great facility and great to have them back on board with their new showroom.
7 April was our Good Friday Appeal Coffee and Cars morning supported by Flavours Patisserie in Beaumaris. We had an amazing turn out despite the weather forecast scaring a few people that the weather was turning wild. It was a mild morning of around 23c and we had over 60 cars turn up and managed to collect over $2000 for the RCH Good Friday Appeal. This is such a fantastic charity and we are always trying to raise more funds for them each year. Thank you to all who came and gave so generously and to those who just volunteer and help us with this event.
22-25 April was our Anzac long weekend away with a large group of our members attending. We started in Calder an headed up to Bendigo then Swan Hill for the night. With another great drive route from Peter and great venues to visit organised by Jo we had a great time. The new silos were spectacular and we even got to see one being painted which was a great treat. Anzac morning most of us attended the Dawn Service and the club donated over $300 to the Horsham RSL, which was raised with a raffle of photo portraits kindly donated by Ben Potter, won by the Taylor family and the Masotti family. Congratulations guys.
28 April was our monthly catch up with Munich and it was sad to say goodbye to Eva who is moving on to another department with BMW. We wish her all the best for her new adventure. As per normal we had a great turn out and another fantastic informative video link with them. For those of you that don’t know, Eva was a great help to us in forming the Club and has been a great help to anyone visiting Munich with tours of the Museum and Classic, which we can still arrange for you if you are going to Munich, will just be with Matias instead.
28-30 April was round 2 of the E30 Racing championship and it was great to have some new drivers out on the track. We were lucky with the weather and only one small incident but great racing all weekend.
Our first event for May is our Fifth Birthday Presentation dinner proudly presented by Kalus Kenny Intelex. This is going to be a fantastic night with over 80 members attending and some amazing prizes for auction and raffle. We will be raising money for The Smith Family with the raffle and auction, so we are hoping for great total on the night.
9 May is is our Simulator Challenge round 3 proudly sponsored by Shannons Insurance and we are looking for a good turnout. We still have spots left for this event so please register to make it a fun evening. If you are not wanting to compete, come along and support those who are. It is an informal club meeting night, not just the Sim Challenge, so come along and have a chat and catch up with everything going on in the club.
10 May will be our first midweek drive, leaving from Lilydale Lake then having Lunch at Jini café. Always a good feed there. Come along and join those who have a bit more free time on their hands.
13 May is round 3 of the Traction Tyres/Yokohama Drivers Championship at Sandown. Registrations are going well. Make sure when you call Brendan for a garage booking you mention you are part of the BMWDCM group as we have reserved a block of garages to keep everyone together.
That same weekend Shannons Speed Series is at Phillip Island. They are offering free entry to spectators and are also looking for officials, if you’d like to get really close to the action, you can see the flyer here.
On 21 May we are doing a drive from Brighton Beach for National Motoring Heritage Day. The drive will take us to assemble at the National Steam Heritage Centre for a display and a look around.
26 May is a VIP display at the Winton Historics. We have been invited to an indoor display area, and this entitles you to free entry each day.
Other dates to take note of:
Keep an eye on the calendar as it is changing and being updated all the time!
Very soon you will be receiving edition 5 of our fantastic annual, idrive. We are very excited about this and I am sure you will have many hours of great reading ahead of you. It is great to see that we have more sponsors on board this year with more dealerships supporting us, offering our members great deals. Make sure when you pop into any of our sponsors, mention that you are a BMWDCM member.
Challenge Bathurst is a great event, and we will need officials to help out on the Thursday and Friday flagging. Don’t worry if you are not experienced, they will give you training prior to going out. Free camp ground will be offered to anyone officiating and there are limited Uni rooms also available for volunteers as well. Be sure to contact Jo Mawson on 0412661900 to let her know your availability.
We have a sale on at the moment with some of our summer merchandise, go to our store to purchase some stock.
Remember if you have taken photos at an event and they are hi resolution, please send them or a link to photos@bmwdcm.com.au and we will share them on our photo gallery.
Our welfare team are working hard in the background looking after members who are bereaved, sick or just not coping with life atm. Thank you guys your work is not seen by us all but appreciated by those lives you touch. This has been a great initiative, and whilst most of what they do is in confidence, I can tell you that some of the people we help are very appreciative, and it’s great to see we make a difference to some of our members days.
The Club rooms are coming along great, and thanks to one member, Killean, we now have some lovely timber Honour Boards to hang on the wall. These will be unveiled at the Presentation Night and then be on display with other awards and certificates etc the Club receives. The Club Rooms at 213 Marine Pde Hastings are there for anyone to drop in for a chat, get your Club Permit forms signed or purchase merchandise, so if you are in the area drop in and say hi. Jo is there most days and always happy to chat. If you are coming down for something specific though, possibly call ahead to make sure Jo is there on 0412 661 900.
Thank you for reading, thank you for joining us on our journey that is now 5 years old and welcome to our Club family to all of you that have joined or come on board as supporters. We really appreciate your support and love seeing the club grow as it continues to.
As always, take care out there, I look forward to seeing you at an event soon.
Graeme Bell | President
BMW Drivers Club Melbourne Inc.
PO Box 81, Tyabb VIC 3913
Incorporated in Victoria #A0102695G
BMW Drivers Club Melbourne Inc is a member of: BMW Clubs Australia and the BMW Clubs International Council
Motorsport Australia Affiliated Motorsport Club
