DISCUSSION FORUM 7TH MAY 2014-06-16

1.        Maintanence on the Dragon fly has been done. Ted will use the varnish that we received will be used.

2.       Website. Maureen Pratten is now the photo queen. Maureen has learnt how to put photos on website. If you have any up to date photos please email them to Maureen. Any issues with the website, forward to Maureen. I would like to thank Shane Manahan for all her hard work over the past few years who has passed her crown to Maureen.

3.       Regatta.  Our Regatta will be on the last weekend in January.(Long weekend before school goes back). We will trial it.

4.       Grant for Vox Box. We have applied for a grant with the HCCU for a Vox Box. Our Juniors will particularly benefit from this. Crocker Oars from Croki have bought the only Company in Australia. Jennifer has been out to have a look.

5.       Regatta suggestions. There were some general discussions about participating in regattas, seating, training, how to get more people to regattas, lifting of the boat at training.

. These have all been forwarded to the coaches/sweeps meeting for discussion.

6.       Paddling Sundays. We will commence a paddle on the last Sunday of the month. For 1 and ½ hours.1 hour training, then ½ hour relax paddling. Deb is happy to run this session. Be at the cage at 2.45pm. It will go on the website.

7.       Pan Pacs. Jennifer has entered us as Manning River Dragon Boat Club. Please register. It will cost $140.00

8.       Juniors at Nationals.  Our Juniors came home from the National Championships in Qld with a bag full of medals.Congrat to all our juniors. 
We are extremely proud of every one of you.  3 Juniors are trying out for the Auroras. Good luck Sean, Sam and Tara.

9.       Shirts were discussed. Trish sent out an email. Will depend on members votes.

10.   Next meeting   14th august.2014

11.   At Mcdonalds Meeting room, Taree.

THE DRUMBEATER  APRIL 2014.
Greetings fellow paddlers.
Welcome to winter paddling. Nothing better than donning the winter skins, beanie, torch and paddling in the dark along the Manning River with the moon beaming on the Wat we along the pretty lights of the shore. And as a bonus no wind. It is just beautiful. Hope to see more winter paddlers in the year 2014,
What has been happening??
VESTS
All sweeps to wear high VISABLE vests each time they are on the boat sweeping. Anyone sitting on the front of the boat coaching needs to wear one as well.
Easter has been and gone, hope the bunny found you all.
Unfortunately we had to cancel the paddling day with the Taree Croquet club due to lack of numbers. We will try again in Spring.
MAINTANENCE ON BABY BOAT.
Maintanence on the baby boat happened last weekend. Next one in 6 months time.


JUNIOR PADDLING , BLING! BLING! BLING!
Our amazing Juniors have been up and down the north coast of Australia paddling their hearts out in the State and Australian championships and have made our club, parents, and friends extremely proud. They all came back with a lot of medals. Bronze, Silver and Gold. Well done. 


Here is a report from Sue Calvin,

REGATTA NEWS. Junior dragon boating success at Australian Championships

Over Easter our junior and youth members of the Manning River Dragon Boat Club travelled to the Sunshine Coast in Queensland to compete at the Australian Championships. Six competitors paddled hard over three days, many of them having up to nine races each day – it was exhausting!

Our young paddlers proved they are getting better every year. For some of our junior paddlers this was their third Australian Championships, but the first time they have come home with a medal; and they really made up for it this year with some winning nine medals!

It is obvious that I need to be replaced as Secretary of the Club as i have forgotten a few things from the August Drumbeater.

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS. APOLOGIES FOR NEW MEMBERS IF YOUR NAME IS NOT ON THE LIST. IT WILL BE UPDATED ONCE I GET ALL THE PAPERWORK.

      Deb Ashwell      

      Sally Crawford     

     Shane Manahan      

MEMBER PROFILE  IS RECENT RETIREE JOHN ROETMAN

 NAME:.........John Roetman....

NICKNAME:.......Wissie

FAMILY: ...Lovely Wife Jacquie, Daughters Mercedes & Meisha with Granddaughter Natalie & Grandson Chris

OCCUPATION: .Retired Slave to the Backyard

FAVOURITE RESTAURANT: .....Raw sugar OF Coarse

FAVOURITE MOVIE: .....Les Miserables

WHAT ARE YOU READING AT THE MOMENT: ..Caravan & Camping Mags

SOMETHING NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT YOU: ........Now that would be Telling wouldn’t it.

WHY DID YOU BECOME A DRAGON BOATER? ..Great Non -Impact sport. With a great social group...

BEST TRAVEL MOMENT:. Many, Most of all meeting up with my Grandmother & Dutch Family in 1976 after 28 yrs. also traveling Europe ,over 50thousand klms in a Kombi to Norway at mid-summer down to Morocco., Also Turkey to Katmando

WORST TRAVEL MOMENT: In the Italian Alps December, camping in our Kombi with Ice forming

On the ceiling as stalactites. Never have been so cold.

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT ABOUT YOUR TIME AS A DRAGON BOATER

Most regattas Especially the Chinese New Year

COMPLETE THIS SENTENCE:

I WISH. - All my friends are living a Happy & Healthy Life. And maybe a Win First Place at the next Chinese New Year Regatta.

MONEY, MONEY, MONEY

It is with great excitement that i announce we made a profit on our Regatta.

The Grand Total of    $4,197.90

YAHOO0O. IT WAS WORTH IT.

THE DRUM.

Please read the latest Drum newsletter. We are stars in it. There is a great photo of our club at the AGM in Sydney being very social(with vino in hand),

And a photo and item about our new sister club.

DO IT IN A DRESS

In the latest Drum there is an item about a fundraiser about paddling in a dress on Oct 5/6. Please read the article. It will be discussed at our Committee meeting in Sept but I think it is a great idea.

More to follow.

REMINDER

AGM ON THURSDAY 19TH SEPT AT MCDONALDS MEETING ROOM, CHATHAM 6PM-6.30PM

FOLLOWED BY GENERAL MEETING 6.30-700PM

FOLLOWEDE BY DINNER AT PLATES, EXCHANGE HOTEL.

PLEASE RSVP TO ME FOR DINNER.

ADIOS GAYE

Welcome to Spring everyone. So no excuses. Back on the water all you paddlers that are afraid to paddle in the dark, paddle when its too late at night, too early in the morning and afraid of the dark. We want to see full boats when we are out there at training.  For those that missed Wed night a glorious sunset on the water. And on Sat the water was crystal clear and not a breathe of wind, except out of Wazzas MOUTH.

REGATTA NEWS.

What a great Regatta we had.  Was very successful with 9 teams competing. A very big thank you to the Fabulous Regatta Committee. It was a lot of hard work but on the 2 days we aced it.  Thank you for organising the weather as well. We have had a look at what worked and what did not for next time. Thank you for the vollies on the Sunday.  All went well. The food was great. Loved the Dragon Balls Jacqui and whoever made the chocolate slice. LOVED IT AND WANT THE RECEIPE PLEASE.

MYELSTOM

Unfortunately not even paddlers to go. Please think about the next regatta and Newcastle. See Jen Schubert.

AGM

The date is  THURSDAY 19TH SEPTEMBER 2013 AT 6PM At Waterfront Room, Exchange Hotel, Pultney St Taree.

Please consider a Position:  President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Member Representative x3

Nomination forms to The Secretary by Thursday 12th September. (Gaye McDonald).

Following the AGM there is a General Meeting.

DINNER AT THE EXCHANGE HOTEL, PLATES RESTAURANT FOLLOWING MEETING AT 7PM.

Names to me by Wed 18th Sept for dinner.

MAINTENENCE BOOK.

Kept in the cage. Anyone can write in the book but the Equipment Officer must be told as well.

EQUIPMENT OFFICER IS TED TOWERS.

FACEBOOK

A member of the club wishes to have a site on facebook for the MRDBC. However it has been decided at the Committee Meeting not to go ahead at this time due to the possibility of adverse comments and being unable to monitor it. We do acknowledge the good intention of having the Club being modern in this media but at this stage we will remain in the dinosaur era.



DBNSW AGM

We had 3 members attend the DBNSW AGM in Sydney. The members that went really enjoyed the 2 day conference and learnt a lot of items to bring back and use in our training. Thank you Deb, Sue Cook and Mary for representing the MRD.

HAWAII  ALOHA

For all those that are interested in coming on our 2nd International regatta we are this time heading to   HAWAII. Dates are weekend of 26th and 27th July 2014.

Please email me if you have not already if you are interested. Partners are welcome to come along a well. It is a corporate event so they can paddle.

There will be a meeting when I GET MORE INFOR. Stay tuned, have your grass skirts handy and your surfboard. At this stage we have 17 interested. Janice and Kevin Woods from Rainbow Dragons are wanting to join us again as they had so much fun in Hong Kong with us last year.  YIPPEE, No doubt we will have to endure Kevs Friday night fish and chip dinners again!!!

Added bonus to come along is the T SHIRT.

SOCIAL EVENT OF THE YEAR - FLYER HAS BEEN SENT OUT

Croquet Day   Sunday 22nd Sept at Taree Croquet Club. $10.00 a head BYO lunch to share. 9.30am, start 10am.  No high heels allowed girls(and some of the boys). 100 Club will be drawn. Money to go to Juniors.

UNIFORMS

(Should i mention them??) No.

Marg is looking into a singlet similar to our Pan Pacs ones. There is talk of a Jacket as well. Will keep you posted.

See you all on the water.

                 THE DRUMBEATER may 2013.

Welcome to Winter paddling on the Manning River. So beautiful at night. Not a breathe of wind, gorgeous lights, absolutely fab moon.  Come and join us for a night paddle.  Please wear a headlight(as we are all getting a year older the eye sight is not as good.). Rug up. It is only cold bringing the boat in and washing it. So please everyone help out with the washing and drying of the boat and so we don’t get cold and then end up all miserable.

URUNGA REGATTA.  WELL DONE MANNING.

We did good. All the paddlers gave 110% on both days. (as well as the eating and drinking, especially Mick and Merle on the Baileys). Sat arvo we paddled our hearts out and came 3rd out of 7 boats. We were in the heat with Kempsey and Grafton(who have won every 2 km turn race in Urunga in the past 4 years)I still don’t know how Kempsey beat us and we did not hear the times!! We were sooo close. So next time, beware Kempsey, Manning is coming after you.

Sunday brought the excitement of the sprints.  The girls did so well despite only having 16 g irls and 3 carrying injuries.We came 3rd and 2nd and 3rd in our heats(I think)

Mixed- Got to the final and we came home with some bronzewear, 3rd place.

Men  got to the final as the fastest qualifier and got Silver behind Kempsey who just happened to have extra men to put in the final!!!!

Thank you Suzie Cook for all the training. It certainly paid off in the 2km turn race.

To our sweeps the fabulous Jen and the Mighty Mick. To our little drummer girls-Trish, Gaye and suzie, and little drummer boy Josh you got us home in style and enthusiasm.

NEXT REGATTA.

Port Macquarie, long weekend in June 8th and 9th June.



REGATTA COMMITTEE

They are working well. All the correct permits in place, catering and coffee man organized(priorities).

Flyers are being printed for the corporate teams and businesses.There won’t be as ma ny corporate teams as other years.

DISCUSSION FORUM.

Minutes already sent out. So here is a brief outline.  Regatta going well. Please consider volunteering. Names to Trish Paff or Jen Schubert.

Uniforms. For discussion at a later date. ?racing shirt as well.

No paddling on a Friday at present and Junior team paddling at 4pm

Flood Plan. Getting done.

WORKSHOP.

A new format to pay fees. Cath Stenchion, Jen Schubert and Trish Paff are going to Coffs for the day to represent our club in June 15th.

JUNIORS

New procedure and policy on managing Juniors to commence on 30th June 3013. More of this on a later date.

NORTH COAST REGIONAL MEETING

Held Urunga May 11th.  Gaye McDonald and Jen Schubert represented our club.  Minutes were sent out to all members so a brief outline.

The best news is that on the north coast we only require a minimum of 2 men to paddle in a mixed event.

Points system to be introduced on 1st July. We are in southern sector.

Junior camp last weekend in Sept in Taree. All juniors welcome including school children, friends, neighbours.



DISPLAY AT SHOWGROUND.

There is a family fun day at the Taree Showgrounds this sat 8th June. We will have on display the Dragonfly and some photos. Need vollies to man(or woman) the store. Please wear your club shirt. Names to Jen Schubert please.

BIRTHDAY WISHES



MAY

Marylyn Ayoub

 Joy Maxwell

  Trish Paff 

 Allan Pursch

 Yvonne Towers 

      

INJURY LIST

Suzie Cook

Trish Paff

Gaye McDonald

Sue Hunter

Sue Cross

Anyone with a first name of Sue Beware you will end up on the injury list

Welcome to our member profile for May.  It is a newish paddler. Enjoy reading about Jan Sage.

 MEMBER PROFILE

NAME:

Janice Sage, usually called Jan 

NICKNAME:

Known only to those who call me something else behind my back.

FAMILY:

Husband Phillip, 3 daughters, Emma, Lauren and Jennifer, their lovely husbands Brian, Hidzir and Wayne, and my grandies - Inanna, Duncan, Odin, Manu and Ada; and Alina and Suriani

OCCUPATION: 

Now retired, once a primary teacher, later worked at Valley Industries with severely disabled adults, then a delivery driver for Pizza Hut   

FAVOURITE RESTAURANT:

There are probably a few – give me one with fabulous service, great food and more than just one boring pasta dish as the only vego option.

FAVOURITE MOVIE:

Hard to name one, but my list would include ‘Scent of a Woman’ with Al Pacino, and ‘Frankie and Johnny’ with Al Pacino.                         

WHAT ARE YOU READING AT THE MOMENT:

I don’t do recreational reading.

SOMETHING NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT YOU:

Parts of me and my thoughts belong only to me.

WHY DID YOU BECOME A DRAGON BOATER? 

It was one of those things on my list of stuff to do before I die, then I went to the ‘Come and Try’ display outside Big W last year, and here I am.

BEST TRAVEL MOMENT:

 I have had some amazing moments in my imagination, but the best real one is probably flying over Lake Eyre in flood.    

WORST TRAVEL MOMENT:

Probably, being violently ill all night as the ferry crossed Bass Strait to Tasmania.

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT ABOUT YOUR TIME AS A DRAGON BOATER 

Paddling at Darling Harbour for Chinese New Year after such a short time, and the wonderful cheers and welcome from the Manning River Dragons

COMPLETE THIS SENTENCE:

I WISH – what an awful question!

Sometimes I wish I was younger, fitter, beautiful and wealthy. Then I realise I have a lot more than those things could bring. I don’t really wish for much, and my biggest wishes are my secrets.



Happy reading

Gaye

                                          THE DRUM BEATER  APRIL 2013

Welcome to our newsletter from the MRDBC. Hope everyone is keeping well and our paddlers that are carrying injuries are looking after themselves.

It has been a quiet month with no flooding happening in the Manning River.

MOTHERS DAY.

A reminder of the Mothers Day raffle.  Please give your tickets, money to either Cathy Stenchion, Deb Ashwell or Narelle Minett. The raffle will be drawn on Sat 4th May at the Mothers Day Breakfast.

The Breaky is at Raw Sugar Cafe, Victoria St Taree after paddling on the Saturday about 9ish for the paddlers not paddling and just doing Breakfast.

Names to Gaye please who is coming to celebrate Mothers Day.

Anyone related to  Cath Stenchion will NOT be winning the raffle this year!

REGATTAS

Our next regatta is at Urunga on Sat 18thMay and Sun 19th May. A 2km race on Sat and Sprints on Sun.

Port Macquarie Sat 8th June  18 km and Sun 9th May Sprints.  There is extra training organized o n Sundays for the 18km race.  It is fun and it is great paddling along different waterways.

GO MANNING!!!!!

The Regatta Committee is working hard to get our Regatta organized for August. Just a reminder to let Trish Paff know if you wish to volunteer for the Sunday.

FLOOD PLAN

We had our get together for the Flood plan for the cage.  It has gone to the committee and needs some fine tuning before it is released.

MEETING

A reminder our Discussion forum is on Thursday 9th May at McDonalds meeting room. Chatham. 6.45pm-7.45pm.

Hope to see you then.

Welcome to the new section of Getting to know your fellow paddler

MEMBER PROFILE

NAME:      Trish Paff

NICKNAME   :    Boges..

FAMILY: David ,Thomas and    Jonothon....

OCCUPATION:    Teacher

FAVOURITE RESTAURANT   GRAZE

FAVOURITE MOVIE: Momma Mia.

WHAT ARE YOU READING AT THE MOMENT: Little Exiles –Robert Dinsdale

SOMETHING NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT YOU: .To remain a secret.....................................................................

WHY DID YOU BECOME A DRAGON BOATER? ..Loved the idea of competing in a team in a fast paced water sport.

BEST TRAVEL MOMENT:Sailing in the Whitsundays

WORST TRAVEL MOMENT: .Missing flight home from Sydney then sitting on train for 6hours when I was 6 months pregnant

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT ABOUT YOUR TIME AS A DRAGON BOATER..Winning my 1st trophy at Kempsey  and the walk home in the rain at Darling Harbour

COMPLETE THIS SENTENCE:

I WISH .I will be able to keep paddling till a very old age with .the best group of people I know

BIRTHDAY LIST

    Meg French          

     Jen Schubert           

     Donna Crockett-Brown   

INJURY LIST

Trish Paff(again)!!!

Anne Williams

Our sincere thoughts are with Marg Kurt with the passing of her lovely Mum.

Sue Cross

Sue Hunter

                                                 THE DRUMBEATER MARCH 2013

Happy Easter to all our members and hope Easter Bunny visited you. So for every Easter egg you ate you need to exercise twice as much, therefore the Dragon Boat should be full of eager paddlers each time we go out!!!

WEBSITE

Just a reminder of our Website, which is full of interesting items.  Don’t forget to use the Regatta Section to put your name down for all the Regattas you wish to go to.  We love competing, it’s fun, and gets that adrenaline going and great team building. (Also great eating and drinking and laughing as well).

The Sport and Rec Recommendations is on the Website under Training/Safety. Please read it for your well being.

FLOOD PLAN.

A reminder there is a flood plan discussion meeting after paddling on Sat 6th April 2013 at the Cage after Saturday paddling. Please bring your brilliant ideas. If unable to attend d ensure you give your ideas to one of the committee.

REGATTA NEWS.

Our next regatta is Urunga 18th and 19th May.  You are lucky there is no round the island 6km race only a 2km turn race and sprints on the Sunday. As our esteemed Captain and Sweep says, Turn you b.... boat (beautiful)!!!!

My grapevine has broken so I am unable to report on how our paddlers did at State last weekend but no doubt did MANNING proud.

TAREE REGATTA

Our committee is working hard to get all the paperwork, money happening.  Just something to think about.    We will be having sprints on Sunday and a 2km turn race on Sat arvo.

We will need Lots of Volunteers on Sunday and only a few vollies on Sat..  There will be one mixed team put in on the Sunday.

One boat on the sat (as usual).  Think about if you wish to paddle or volunteer on the Sunday. Preference will be given to those volunteering on the Sunday to paddle on the Saturday. 

LOWERING OF CLUB FEES.

As usual our Club fees are now lowered until 30 June 2013 when the new Season commences. (Half price) See our marvellous Treasurer, Cath Stenchion.

However, DBNSW are not lowering their fees until end of April and only if Aus DB lower their rates(captive audience due to paddlers wishing to paddle in NSW State and Australian Championships.)

UNIFORMS

Do I dare bring it up??? Ah no.  Oh OK, Marg Kurtz is working with Janelle at Work wise to get better fitting uniforms. More later!!!

GENERAL MEETING UPDATE:

Following our General Meeting in Feb, Marg Kurtz asked another Club about General Meetings/Discussion Meetings.  Most Clubs along the North Coast have only 1 General Meeting a year which follows on immediately after the AGM. They have Discussion Forums/meetings and if anything needs resolving it goes to the Committee and you have an answer within a month.

As proposed we will trial this for a year.  Next Discussion Forum is in May (stay tuned for dates; Yes I know you are excited).

MOTHERS DAY

Remember 2nd Sunday of the month of May.  We have a raffle going with a beautiful quilt mad and donated, voucher from Raw Sugar, and some smelly stuff. $2.00 a ticket, everyone should have got a booklet.  If note see Narelle Minnett, Deb Ashwell.  If you have sold all your tickets, there is plenty more available.

We will be doing a Mother’s Day Breaky and Raw Sugar on the Sat prior to Mummys Day after the Sat paddle.

BIRTHDAY WISHES.

Maureen  Pratten        

If I have forgotten anyone I am sorry (please let me know your Birthday)

SICK LIST

Trish Paff????

Gaye McDonald (sick of work)

THE DRUM BEATER  FEB. 2013
Welcome to a new year of paddling with the Manning River Dragons.  We do not have a committee meeting in Jan (too much holiday spirit), so no newsletter.

EXERCISE SPORT RECOMMENDATIONS FROM DBNSW.
There was an email, and attachment sent by Melanie Cantwell about Exercise Sport Recommendations from DBNSW.  Hope everyone has read it.

WATER, WATER, WATER.
Not once but twice we got flooded. Nothing like keeping us on our toes getting gear out of the cage, then back in, then back out again.  Thank you all members, women, kids, husbands, friends that helped us with the boats etc.
We must have jinkzed ourselves as we only talked about getting a flood plan in situ at our last committee meeting.
SO we will have a little get together, probably in a Saturday arvo at the maccas meeting room to get a plan in progress.  We have a committee meeting on this Tues 20th March so will decide on a date then..  Watch this space.  Put your thinking caps on and come full of ideas.

TAKING ITEMS FROM THE BOAT.
Just a little reminder that members are not to take items out of the boat without consulting the sweeps/coaches/equipment officer. The sweep is in charge of our safety on the boat and if they put items into the boat it is there for a reason.

PARKING IN MANNING STREET OUTSIDE THE EXCHANGE HOTEL.
A reminder to all members and to our new members that may not be aware, Gary the owner of the Exchange Hotel has requested we do not park outside the Exchange Hotel, in Manning Street during the week nights at 5pm as his patrons find it difficult to get a park.  We need to respect his wishes as he very kindly lets us store our gear and boats in his cage for free. TA.

WINTER PADDLING.
We are like the postie.  We paddle in winter, rain, sleet (well not lightning), so paddling continues. For our newer members we hav3e lights on the boat and only paddle close to the shore where the lights are along the Manning.  Put a head torch on, a snazzy beanie (got to look good) some skins, maybe a vest (and some other clothing).  You do get hot once we paddle it is really once we finish and clean out the boat you get cold.

REGATTA NEWS.
Chinese New Year has come and gone, and nothing b3etter than paddling in torrential rain all day. What a fab time. What a high.  Hope the newer paddlers got a buzz paddling in Darling Harbour with all those millions of people watching us!! Oh yeah that is right they were all in the pub nice and dry.To our sweeps well done, although Wazza needs to wear his hearing aides next time.
Good luck to our club members that are going to NZ to paddle and to our lone senior representative, and our juniors in the Regional Team heading to State.  GOOD LUCK. WE ARE PROUD OF YOU.
Jennifer has put out a list of Regattas we hope to attend.  So please add your name.  We have great fun when we got away, Meet other teams, have great team bonding out for dinner and a few drinks (well we do have to do some liasoning).

NEXT REGATTA   Urunga 18/19 May.  Sat is a long race??6km ??3km and sun the fun sprints. And we will get THOSE RATS.!!!@!

REGATTA CODE OF CONDUCT.
We are working on a Regatta Code of Conduct which will be sent out prior to the next Regatta once the Coaches/sweeps have looked at it.

FAREWELL.
It is with a sad farewell we said goodbye to the Green raft.  It was transported to a better place last Sat morning by Jen, Cath, Trish and me. It stood the test of time being the Number one raft in the Raft race a few years ago, sweeping the pool by winning everything- best raft, first in Juniors, first in womens, first in mixed first in men. So good was it they changed the rules the following year.  Thank you Ted and your band of people who made it happen.

MANNING RIVER REGATTA.
The Regatta Committee has been meeting regularly getting the paperwork ready for our regatta on 3rd and 4th August.
We will ask Quota if they wo7uld cater if not rotary/
Club member ???willing to make slices and cakes for sale.
They are applying for a Grant.
All members will be 3expected to help out as it gets closer.  Many hands make light work. 
We should be able to put in one team on the day, expecially if other teams in the north coast supply a volunteer.
Are there any members that does not want to paddle and just be a vollie??
Let Jen Schubert know.

MOTHERS DAY
You will be getting some raffle tickets soon for a Mothers Day Raffle.  The prize?? The beautiful Quilt that a lady donated to our Club, second Prize a $50.00 voucher from Raw Sugar Cafe, and 3rd prize some bubbles(no not drinking bubbles but bath bubbles). But drinkging bubbles sounds good to me!!! Any donations gratefully received.
We will have a Mothers Day Breakfast at Raw Sugar on the Sat prior to Mothers Day where we will draw the raffle, and Cath Stenchion you will be lynched if you or any member of your family win.

MEETINGS
Committee meeting Tuesd 20th March
Discussion Meeting   Thursday  9th May

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

JANUARY
Emily Thompson  
Osama Ali        
Rhonda Blanch
Sue Calvin      
Sue hunter     
Gaye McDonald  

FEBRUARY;
Sandy Gallaway    
Marg Kurtz             

Sick/injury list
Junior   Jayden  Broken arm.  Ouch
Sue Hunter
Trish Paff.
Recover quickly.

HAPPY READING.

THE DRUMBEATER  DECEMBER 2012

                                   Manning River Dragon Boat Club Newsletter

HO, HO, HO to all our club members.  The man in the big Red suit  has been and gone, and we now know who is naughty and who is nice. Hope it was a fun filled day with family and friends.

Christmas Paddle.

We had a lovely Christmas paddle on Sat 15th Dec. With 13 brave and hearty paddlers paddling from the Cage to Crocki in all weather conditions.  Heat, wind, surf, It was the longest 2km ever(thanks Wazza).  I think it was 13km not 2km. We were met by our fellow paddlers that drove out with the food , drink, and champers, much appreciated.  Secret Santa was a big hit, Thanks Trish for your version of Secret Swapping Gift Santa.  Who did take those lollies from a kid?? Thanks Cath S for the Sorbet Champers,  We needed more of that.  Was a great day.
The Raffles were won by  $120 cash   Trish Paff
Basket of Goodies Narelle Minnett
Painting Sue Hunter
We had about 13 gifts all up all donated by our fellow paddlers.  Thank you all.
We made $135.60 profit.
Christmas Breakfast

We had 21 paddlers , Ann(Cath S Mum) and Jaquie(Johns Wife) have a lovely breaky at Raw Sugar Cafe on Sat 22nd Dec.  Rhonda at Raw Sugar could not organise her drinks/Christmas get together this year, so she kindly donated a $50.00 voucher and 5 free coffee cards.br

The winner was.........  Picked out by Anne(Cath S Mum)

And won by ...............Cath S   (rigged, rigged, rigged)

Coffee cards won by Marg Kurtz, AnneWilliams, Catherine C, and Deb Ashwell. Any one else I forgot??

New Members.
We have 5 new members in our club.  Welcome to
Junior:   Josh Barry (first regatta at Kempsey and came home with a trophy)
Jan Sage(not a junior)
Sue Cross transferred from Pearl Dragons(Sue is a regular paddler with us and has decided to join our friendly crew)
Mark and Merlene Russell, known as Mick and Merle just to confuse us. They have transferred from Wallis Spirit Club.  And Mick did his Sweep Accreditation with us at both Foster and Kempsey regattas. Welcome to our friendly club.

Maintenance of the Sweep Oar.
Ted has put a resin o the oar of the Dragonfly and will apply the same resin on the oar of the Phoenix as well.

Lanyards.
Alison Byram is looking into getting some fancy lanyards for us with our little dragon on it(and with plastic tabs) to prevent the rust going onto our shirts.

Captains Report.
We had a very successful regatta at Kempsey, receiving a trophy in each event we entered. We were very consistent on the day with 3  3rd place trophies.
Well done Jennifer  with the crew listing for your first regatta as Captain.  You Loved the Stress!!

Next Regatta  Chinese New Year , Darling Harbour, Sydney.  23rd Feb.
Start your intensive training after the New Year everyone that has their name down.

MRDBC  Regatta.
Rainbow Dragons have changed the date of their Regatta to the same date as ours(in August 2013).
The Committee will be following this up with Melanie at DBNSW.

Exercise/Sport Recommended by DBNSW
This is some information DBNSW sent to us to read RE:  fitness assessment for paddling.
It will be put on our website under the Information Section.  Please read.

Meetings.

Next General Meeting will be held on Thursday 7th Feb 2013
At McDonalds Meeting Room(chatham)
6.45pm. There will be a notice sent out calling for agenda items after the new year.

Committee Meeting.  There is no Committee Meeting in Jan .
The Next Committee Meeting will be the 3rd Tuesday in Feb 2013  19th Feb.
Please speak to your Member representative-Trish, John or Anne
Or any Committee member-Deb, Rhonda, Gaye, Cath S.

Birthday Celebrations
Tara Manahan       
Catherine Calvin      
Arthur Salmon          

 John Roetman

 India Bos                     

Happy Birthday to you all.

 If any new paddlers have their birthday in Dec.  Happy Birthday(have not got your birthday dates yet)

Cheers for now, See you after the New Year.  Happy New Year.

Happy Paddling  with the Manning River Dragons.

                                                      THE DRUM BEATER

                                                           NOVEMBER 2012

Greetings Paddlers,
Welcome to any new paddlers receiving this newsletter for the first time.

AGM

We held our AGM in October and our new committee to guide us through 2012/2013 season is:

President:   Deb Ashwell
Vice President:  Rhonda Blanch
Secretary:   Gaye McDonald
Treasurer:  Cathy Stenchion
Member Representatives:  Trish Paff, Anne Williams, John Roetman
Head Coach:  Jennifer Schubert
Captain:   Jennifer Schubert
Vice Captain:  Warren Blanch
Publicity Officer:;  Shane Manahan
Archives:  Shane Manahan
Maintanence:  Ted Towers
MPIO Officer:   Trish Paff, Sue Hunter

Please remember we are all volunteers trying to help our club be successful(and all work as well)

Lifting of the Boat.
This issue was raised at our discussion meeting , committee meeting and the Coaches Meeting.
All coaches agreed to lift each section of the boat onto the wheels, bit by bit.  This will depend on the tide.  Any issues please speak to the Head Coach(Jen).

OUR REGATTA IN AUGUST 2013
The Regatta Committee are meeting monthly and are busy getting all relevant planning forms etc in place.

BOAT MAINTANENCE
Phoenic boat is out of action from Thursday 29th Nov until the Wed 5th Dec.
We can only use the Dragonfly(10seats)
Please for this Sat 1st Dec email Alison Byram for the run.  There will be 2 runs on Sat.
1st run    7.15am at the cage
2nd run    8.30am at the ramp (like the old days)

Every January and July we will turn over both boats, inspect their bottoms(ooh la la), scrub them(aahhh), call our friendly repair men if need be.

GREEN RAFT
What to do with the Green Raft in the cage.?  I have emailed out to all with what they want to do with it but I have had no response as yet.  This is the last chance to give your point of view to me.

HO HO HO
Its that time of year that the man with the big red suit comes to visit us.

CHRISTMAS PARTY PADDLE.
DATE;   Sat 15th Dec
TIME:  Around 9am at the cage.
ATTIRE:   Chrissy theme(hats, t shirts , red undies.)
PADDLE TO:  From Taree to CROCKI
Committee will supply snags, bread etc for a sausage sizzle
BYO:   Drinks, coffee, tea, desert, nibbles.
You can bring your food etc to the cage and the people that are not going to paddle can drive out with the stuff.

SECRET SANTA; If you are coming along you need to bring a fun present to the value of $5.00
(including kids hubby and wives)

XMAS RAFFLE:  The $100 club started off at the Foster Regatta.  It will be drawn on the day of the Chrissy paddle.  Bring your $$ as there will be a Chrissy raffle as well.  There will be raffle books available soon.  It is a hamper of chrissy goodies. Dig deep, its for a good cause.-  MANNING RIVER DRAGONS

LOTS OF EMAILS
As you have all noticed we are receiving a lot of emails being forwarded by Deb from DBNSW.  Please do not shoot the messenger.
It is a requirement of DBNSW that all members receive all emails sent out, whether relevant or not. So it is up to you to read or bin it.

COME AND TRY DAY.
We had a beautiful day in October for our Annual Come and Try day.  Thank you all for making the new paddlers feel welcome.  We hope they wish to come back and paddle with  us again.  We had 24 on the day.

REGATTA NEWS.

PAN PACE MASTERS GAMES.
We had 14 paddlers join the north coast gelati team heading to the Gold Coast in oct for the masters Pan pacs Games. There was a team of 80 from Wallis Lake Spirits to Grafton.  It was great to paddle with teams that we usually are our opposition.
The team was very successful bringing home lots of bling. (Some more than others hey Ruthie and Shane).  1 Gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze. The teams were from Hobart in the South to across the ditch to NZ, and they breed them mighty big there. 
Not only did we have great paddling in trying conditions, gale force winds one day, rain the next we also had a great party, dance time every night. Go ABBA live

FOSTER
Had a great weekend at Foster paddling on the weekend.
We had the 2km turn race on sat in A1 paddling conditions.  And we got 3rd place, so another trophy for the cabinet.  Winners River Rats
Sunday, what a picturesque setting .  No doubt we got our $20.00 worth of paddling.  In the boat, out the boat, in the boat, out the boat.  Loved it .Can’t we go to the toilet though. No in that boat now.
Got to the finals of both the mixed and womens team. Was heading into 2nd place behind Kempsey when our sweep decided to follow the rats and ended up following them(not in a good way ) into there slipstream. Still love you Jen. Winners   River Rats
Womens a very close race with Winners  River Rats. We came 4th with only .100th sec between 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Could have been anyones .

Kempsey Regatta   December 9th Dec  Money in now.
CNY  23rd Feb.  Money and names in by 17th Dec please.  $30.00

Committee Meeting

The next committee meeting is on Tueday 18th December 2012. If you have anything you wish put on the Agenda,please see one of the committee members.

BIRTHDAY WISHES  HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU ALL
OCTOBER
Rona Baillie             
Warren Blanch             
Judy Poole                    

NOVEMBER
Ruth Coleman            
Summer Hicks           

   Cathy Stenchion           

Sean  Page     

SICK LIST    

Sue H now on the mend, Mary gone down fast. Deb, glad your son has made a 100% recovery, Meg and Sandi our loving thoughts are with you .   

See you all on the water.

REMEMBER IF YOU CAN’T PADDLE LOOK GOOD AND HAVE FUN.