Drumbeater October 2014

                                                                           DRUMBEATER OCTOBER 2014
                                                                 Manning River Dragon Boat Club Newsletter

At the recent AGM the following members were elected to the committee for the next 12 months :-
PRESIDENT:   Trish Paff
VICE PRESIDENT:  Mary Chapman
SECRETARY:   Anne Williams
TREASURER:   Rhonda Blanch
MEMBER REPS:   Ruth Coleman, Alex Glencross and Sheryl Humphries.
Non Committee Roles :- MPI Officers  -  Trish Paff, Sue Hunter
Equipment Officers – Ted Towers, Warren Blanch, John Roetmen
Captain – Jennifer Schubert- Vice Captain  - Deb Ashwell- Head Coach – Warren Blanch
Publicity Officer – Maureen Pratten- Web Master – Maureen Pratten-
Archives – Alex Glencross- Fundraising – every one
Regatta Committee- Jennifer Schubert, Gaye McDonald, Cathy Stenchion, Deb Ashwell, Sue Calvin, Sean Calvin, Margaret Kurtz, Narelle Minnett
Uniforms – Maureen Pratten, Sandi Galloway, Gaye McDonald

Registrar – Cathy Stenchion.

President’s Report – Trish Paff

My first year as President has been a huge learning curve for me. The support I have received from all of you has been great. To my fellow committee members thank-you for making my transition into the President’s role relatively painless.

Reflecting on this year it has felt as if we have lost a bit of our momentum with a fall in numbers attending paddling regularly and an apparent lack of interest in attending regattas. After talking to other clubs at the Dragon boats AGM this year this is not unusual for a club of our age.

However, after a successful display at Joey’s Spring Fair and a hugely successful Come and Try Day the following weekend we seem to have been revitalised. With an influx of new members young and old and their obvious enthusiasm for our sport, I am hoping that this will allow us to continue to grow and improve. It has been amazing to be able to have both boats on the water at most sessions in the last few weeks.

Another wonderful positive this year has been the performance of our Junior members. We now have Juniors who are State, National and International representatives, with 3 members being selected to compete in Canada next year. I am immensely proud of all our Junior members and the manner in which they conduct themselves at all times. They are a wonderful asset to our club.

This year we have been fortunate to receive financial support from HCCU to purchase our Cox Box and Mid Coast Water to help with costs on our Come and Try day. Well done Cath for helping us secure these grants.

By the beginning of November we should have our updated race shirts, reflecting I hope a new found energy and level of participation at regattas.

Our club is fortunate to have a dedicated group of volunteers who are instrumental in the smooth running of the club. Many thanks go to our sweeps, coaches, committee members, maintenance officers, archivist and general volunteers for their tireless support. Our 2 retiring committee members are wonderful examples of how dedicated these volunteers are. Both have worked tirelessly not only on the committee but as volunteers and very keen paddlers since the inception of the club. If ever you needed a description of what constitutes a successful committee member, you only need to look at what Cath and Gaye have contributed to our club and no doubt will continue to do in the future. Remember I do have you on speed dial. Thanks also to those members who have stepped up and accepted nominations for positions on the committee.

I look forward to working with the new committee and maintaining our new found enthusiasm in the coming year. To start this paddling year I would like to challenge each and every one of you to commit to ensuring that we continue to grow and once again become a competitive club in the region, as well as providing an environment in which a real spirit of fun and competitiveness is valued.



Dragon Boat competition 8 & 9 November 2014



The Pan Pacific team has been training hard under the guidance of our dedicated coaches. Competition for Dragon Boats is on Saturday and Sunday on the Gold Coast with both 500M and 200M races. We wish them well and hope they will be rewarded for all their hard work.























Reminders – Change to bank account for electronic payments into the Manning River Dragons account.Please alter your details for the account as follows:  BSB details to 721-000  (no longer 802-214) no other changes to the account number.

The Regatta committee is collection donations for a the raffle to be held at our regatta in January eg wine, cordial, serviettes, glasses, hand cream, soap etc Deb will put a plastic box in the cage where you can put any donations.









This year we thought we would do something a little different for our Christmas Party.

We are planning a fun Family afternoon of bare foot bowling followed by a dinner. All our members and their families are invited. Do hope you can make it.

Please let Trish or Anne know by 23 November.

DATES FOR THE DIARY

Sat & Sun 8 & 9 November

Pan Pacific Games

Gold Coast

Thursday 13 November

Next Discussion meeting

MacDonald’s meeting room all welcome 7pm

Tuesday 18 November

Committee Meeting




Sat. & Sun. 22 & 23 November

Forester Regatta

Forster –Have you put your name down

Sunday 30 November

Christmas Party

Taree West Bowling Club 4pm




Happy Birthday –

Judy Poole 28/10, Rona Baillie 30/10, Ruth Coleman 11/11, Sean Page 13/11, Tara Yea 15/11, Cathy Stenchion 18/11