Event date: August 2023

BMW Drivers Club Melbourne have successfully run this event now for 2 years, in 2022 and 2023.

Why did we start running his event you may ask.

With the Covid lockdowns there were a lot of events which were cancelled or postponed.

In 2020 at our Royal Childrens Hospital Good Friday Car Display event we were approached by a member of the Mercedes Club and asked if we had heard anything about the GAS event being held that year and we said no we had not.

Graeme and I discussed this and also spoke to our committee and thought we would approach the VW Club and see if this event would be resurrected after the lock down.

We got a response saying that they had issues with venues and volunteers, and it was unlikely they would be holding the event in 2020.

This got us thinking and we suggested that we run the event in 2021 with their blessing.  We were invited to a committee meeting where we presented our prospectus to them, and they were happy for us to run it as long as we kept the theme of the event the same, which we were more than happy to do as previously these events were always run so well by the VW Club and always well attended.

We agreed to run the event that year and VW do the next.

Flyers were made by VW and then the promoting started. We had the date booked for the same weekend which it had always run, which was late August 2021, but sadly due to more COVID lockdowns we had to postpone the event to Jan 2022.  Now this was not an easy thing to do as we had many food and trade stands attending, not to say all the entrants who had paid to attend. 

Weeks and months of preparation had to be put on hold and a new date was to be sourced.  Luckily, we managed to get the last Sunday in January and we prayed for good weather and a great turn out. 

The event was being held at Sandown Raceway on the Red Hill area.

These events are both expensive and need as small army of volunteers to help run them.  We were lucky to have help from the venue and sponsorship form Shannons to help with some of the expenditure. 

I had chosen Beyond Blue as our charity for this event, because of all the fantastic work they had and are still doing through Covid with mental health.  They were very happy to have us raise fund for them, and I naively thought we would raise approximately $2500.

As we neared the event, I was getting more and more trade stands wanting to attend and they all donated to the charity as part of their contribution to attending.  The numbers were steadily going up for our charity and even though we were exhausted with all the planning, it was going to be a great day.

The week prior to the event we had 3 days of solid Melbourne rain, and I was so worried about what it would be like, I had nervous vendors calling me wanting to know what would happen, I said we will still hold the event rain hail or shine.

The Saturday before, 4 of us attended the venue to mark out the areas for the display cars and start the huge set up. 

After several hours in 38c we were all drained and headed back to the Park Royal Monash for some much-needed rest and refuelling.

We had a large group of members come down from NSW who were also staying at the hotel, which was fantastic, it is always great to have inter club events.  

Early start, we headed out there for our final set up and the weather Gods were very kind to us.  Our band of volunteers arrived early which made this part easy.

All at their points we started getting all the cars in and how emotional was this.  Now remember, this was also a very hot day and our volunteers stayed on point all day, I had 2 runners taking water, food and seats (no one sat) they had no time. We had erected marques for them to get some shade and luckily some were under trees too, so it made it a little bit easier for them.

The event was a huge success, and we smashed the donation total out of the park and raised just under $10,500 but we rounded it up to that amount.  (I don’t like odd amounts LOL)

Tired, foot sore, we all headed home feeling amazing to be part of such a successful event.  I have thanked my volunteers for this event before, but I will thank them again as without them, we would not have achieved such a successful event.

Also, I would like to again thank all the car clubs who attended with their amazing cars to put on such a great show.

After the event I sent a very detailed breakdown of costs and contacts to the VW committee so they would be able to use this information for the next event.

In late 2021 I received an email from one of the VW committee members wanting us to help them run the event at the same venue in January, but unfortunately, we had already booked the first half of the year with events, and this would not be possible for us at least to help with.  I did suggest they do it on that date, but it did conflict with one of Melbourne’s biggest Car Shows and it may not be a good idea to have 2 cars shows on the same day.   This was agreed by the VW committee.

Some months later we were approached by one of our members who suggested Calder Park for the event, if we were planning on holding it during the winter months (historically this event has been held on the last Sunday in August) being mainly tarmac, it would be much easier for all the cars and bikes to be displayed.

Our committee met and thought about it, I contacted Calder to see what they thought of this, and they agreed to us holding the event with them.

We contacted VW club again and suggested this and then set up a sight visit with the President of the VW Club, BMW Motorcycle club and ourselves attending.

All agreed this was a great venue, yes it looked tired but personally I think that added to the patina of the event with historic cars on display at such an iconic venue.

You might ask why BMW Bikes were attending the viewing.

2023 BMW Bikes celebrated 100 years of the R32 and they asked if they could be part of this great event with us and we all agreed.

Now the hard work started.

VW designed another fantastic flyer and away we went with the promoting of this event.

I contacted Beyond Blue again and asked if we could collect for them and again, they were over the moon and said, ‘Yes Please’.  My goal for this event was to raise more than previously but I was worried, due to the change in venue and this one being in August and not January there might not be as many attending.

I was very lucky with this event, as Nella Santisi asked if she could start promoting the event through her socials and with her business contacts and of course I said yes.

This soon became almost a full-time job for us both and each Thursday and some Saturdays, Nella would come down to Hastings to our club rooms and we would work away on promoting, contacting dealerships, other clubs etc.

Again, months of hard work and many hours of us both tirelessly slogging away we started to see the light.

Yes, we had a committee for this event who worked behind the scenes, but Nella and I were the face of this event, and our hard work was paying off.  The tally for Beyond Blue was going up each week and my goal of going over $10,500 was achieved even before the event.

Graeme set up a web site early in the planning stages and updated it with photos, videos, sponsors, clubs attending, and of course the ever-changing dollar value of our fund-raising amounts.  This was fabulous and I feel really helped with the promoting of this event.

At one stage I did say I wanted $20K but thought I am just being greedy.  If you don’t put it out there you won’t get it, I was told.

Getting closer to the event I enlisted my small army of volunteers and the other clubs who were attending also supplied volunteers who were amazing. 

The week prior to the event the weather was looking dodgy, and I prayed each day for sunshine or just clouds but no rain.

Again, as in previous years I received emails, text, calls from patrons and vendors asking what would happen if it rained, I simply said the cars get wet, that was pretty much all I could say.

Honestly, someone must love me up there as the day before the sun was out for our set up and all my merry men and woman attended and helped with set up and after many exhausting hours, we all went back to our hotel, West Waters in Caroline Springs and again rested and refuelled. 

Setting up the day before was great as we could step out where all the trade stands would be and all the display cars.  Nells and I had our doubts we would fit everyone in, but Graeme called us worry warts as most know the Thunderdome is massive and after arriving and setting up, we could have had 3 times as many there and still had plenty of room.  Sorry Graeme for ever doubting you.  Yes, there you have it an apology in writing. LOL

The morning was another very early start and we had patrons already lined up waiting to come in even though they had been told their entry times.

All officials to their battle points and it was like a small army, again I am so proud of all ours and the other club’s volunteers for how hard they all worked.  We managed to relieve some of our officials but again it was just so busy all the time, we were running from start to finish.

Great weather, great display stands, great clubs attending, and especially fantastic to have BMW Bikes on display for their 100-year celebration.

We had some fantastic raffle prizes donated by vendors, dealerships, and clubs which I thank you all for.

John Bowe was there to sign autographs and present the winners of Best in Class. 

Our club Treasurer did an initial count of tins and raffle money and at the end of the day we were just over $21K. I burst into tears and was told by one of our members he felt we could make $25K after the final counting was done.

Beyond Blue had their own donation tins on the day and they told me they would be able to give us the final figure by Wednesday. These were the longest few days for me as I was so excited and so were all the others associated with this event.

The email came in and like previously we were just under $25k so BMW Drivers Club Melbourne made up the difference to make it an even amount.

Just because the event was over didn’t mean the hard work was finished.

Thank you, emails were sent to all who attended, informing them of our final tally.

All vendors, sponsors and volunteers received thank you emails.  This took me and Nella over 2 weeks to complete.

Our club trailer needed to be cleaned out and re packed this was a huge task.

Now if you are ever thinking about holding an event like this, a word of advice, make sure you have a dedicated team behind you and loving supportive partner to reassure you that you are doing the right thing, when you fall in a heap from exhaustion and a band of volunteers who will work with you to achieve your final goal.

Thank you to all who contributed to both these great events, without your help be it little or large, these two events would not have been the success they were.

Jo Mawson | Member #2
BMW Drivers Club Melbourne