Dear Members,
Welcome to another lockdown newsletter.
Like many of you, we are genuinely concerned about the current situation in and around Melbourne and what it means for our current stage 3 restrictions. Will we go to stage 4, we just don't know what will that look like and how long for. There are lots of questions and not many answers right now, which is probably the most concerning thing each day as we look at the news to see how many more are added to the infected tally.
It is hard to plan external events and anything going forward until we see a decline in numbers, a fall in new cases and then some certainty in what the coming weeks will hold. However, we do have lots of ideas for virtual meetings and other ways to keep everyone engaged whilst we wait out the restrictions and then start back down the road to recovery. Once we are able we will have so many events ready to go, you won’t have a weekend to spare!
In the meantime, we will continue with our Zoom virtual meetings. Our next monthly meeting is a virtual meeting at Shannons Showroom with a tour of the cars getting ready for the next classic vehicle auction. This will be on Monday, 3 August instead of our normal first Tuesday of the month.
Following the Shannons meeting we will have a virtual event with Jay Leno’s Garage on Tuesday, 18 August to keep us up to date with the range of products and show us again how good they are.
We are planning some other virtual events and we welcome your suggestions on anything that you might like to see us do, whether it be a virtual cars and coffee meeting from your own driveway or something else.
Whilst we are in lockdown go onto our fresh new website and check out our merchandise range. We have recently received some new merchandise and with the new regulations regarding face coverings coming in this week for those in Metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire, we will very soon have our own three layer re-usable DCM facemasks in stock for you to use when out and about. As soon as they are in we will get them up and let everyone know.
Club permit renewals
We again ask that for the forseeable future to post your club permit renewal to us with a stamped, self-addressed envelope so we can sign it and send it back the same day we get it. This is the best, safest option for all of us.
We want to do our part in limiting the number of people out and about and the number of people we are coming into contact with. We are available for new registration inspections by appointment only. For more information on club permit renewals, please visit our club permit page.
Memberships
There are some interesting facts come out of the current situation - in the beginning we were worried that retaining memberships would be difficult and certainly, finding new members would be even harder. However the exact opposite has happened for us. Since the start of our first lockdown our membership has increased by 75 new members. Our member attendance at our four virtual meetings and the four in-persion events between the first and second lockdown was 260. It's quite amazing really. To those who have joined during lockdown, we can't wait to meet you in person once we're all able!
I, for one, am utterly amazed at how well our little club has grown right from the start, but to continue to grow and prosper through all we are going through is truly amazing. I am immensely proud to say, that very soon we will be hitting the magic 500 (active) members number! Just wow! I think what we have all built together is a credit to each and every one of you, and I thank you all for joining us and continuing to support our club.
From all of us on the DCM committee to all of our members, whether you are in lockdown or not, we are here to support you and will do everything we can to keep the club active as we all work through the restrictions currently in place. Of course, if you have any ideas for virtual events or have anything interesting to share, projects you might be working on, or anything at all, please contact Jo or myself and let us know your ideas. We're more than happy to take ideas on or help you to do something.
Keep safe, look after yourself and your family, social distance, do the right thing and stay home if you can. Together we will get through this.
Graeme Bell | President
BMW Drivers Club Melbourne Inc.
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P.O. Box 81, TYABB, VICTORIA. 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
