I was talking to Geoff Basden yesterday about his concerns for the club & it's future. Like Dusteater in recent posts, Geoff too is concerned that there seems to be no new club blood coming forward to take on vital club tasks. I'm sure he would have loved for me to say "sure, count me in" & yes, I feel slack & I know it sounds like excuses but my one man show workshop & family commitments at this time don't leave much time for anything else (even getting a new race car underway), I know I'm not alone saying that as our club is for the most part made up of poeple with similar lifestyles. My suggestion to Geoff was to just ask bluntly & he asked me to ask, who CAN / WILL come forward & volunteer to put their hand up for a comittee role, for the clubs future health? For our part, Daneen is still happy to do the website thing & the family & I will still try to get to as many club races & working bees as we can when time allows.
Thanks for putting this up Wayne. It is true that the club is in a spot. SORRA has come through a very difficult time in the last 2 years and if it wasn't for the efforts of Geoff Basden and Jeff Cripps navigating the way through the legal process, the club would simply have been eventually wound up. Following this the club was virtually broke after having to pay a $16,000 legal bill to our lawyer but with the kind generousity of a number of people from both inside and outside the club and a donation from CAMS the club was able to survive this. Which leads us to now. Geoff and Jeff are both tired (and who could blame them), Ross Barnes is not well, Laurence Cripps is going back to tech and Nick Nikiforoff also has health issues so all of a sudden we have no one to administer the club for the next year. If there is no one to run the club then the club will have to be wound up and if this happens Colo Park will be swallowed up by National Parks never more to be a motor sport complex. I don't like airing this on a public forum but desperate times call for desperate measures. The AGM is this month, March 24. Our future, if we are to have one, will be decided there. If you are a member of SORRA, your club needs you. Please consider your options as we need people to stand up so we can move forward.
well i would love to help more but due to my distance and work and a baby on the way i'm limited to what i can do as everyone knows i'm at most working bees and also go to help ian at colo weekends to try and get as much work done as possible to keep the track happening i also go to most races and fill in where needed which has ranged from recover to timing. i'm also the admin of this forum which some people like and others think its gone to the dogs but to the club it is a no cost way of promoting the sport and getting info out to the members. the forum has covered its cost last year and will again this year.
i think the club needs to look at how it's run from the committee to the working bees as it has always been the same people doing the same job the same way. i think there is going to be a change this year weather for the better or worst it must happen.
there has been a lot of unease with member through out the last 2 years and i think it is time for these people to stand up and put there time where the comments are. if i lived in sydney and there where 30hrs in the day i would help more but that not the case. i only hope that we can get through this and come out smelling like roses at the other end.
Whilst my involvement with the club has been minimal in recent years due to work commitments, I would have to say that the 2 club events that I entered last year were amongst the most enjoyable. I would hate to see the club disappear and I'll be there.
And thank you Steve for your kind words regarding my efforts over the past 2 years as President.
I remember when I became President that my goals were to make SORRA and Colo Park stronger and better. I wanted to increase entry numbers at Club events, and to make sure those Events were really good fun for all concerned. Sadly none of that ever came to fruition. I think it was a matter of days after the 2008 AGM that we received the first letter from Keddies Lawyers about the "Nissan" incident and from that moment forward the Committee was in survival mode. There was also another major issue continually on the agenda of meetings around the same period, something about what was or wasn't said around a camp fire about the viability of commercial use of Colo Park. Throw in a more recent encounter with the Office of Fair Trading concerning matters which date back seven years, and that basically sums up where the time and energy of the Committee has been concentrated over the past couple of years.
The GOOD NEWS is that all of these "distactions" are now BEHIND us. The court has removed us from the pending case, Fair Trading is happy that we do in fact exist, and the DA is in place to allow commercial use of Colo.
It would be terribly ironic if SORRA was not able to move forward and infact thrive in the months and years ahead. Imagine the irony and waste if the Club was to cease just a few short months after the enormously generous donations from both members and non members saved us from financial ruin.
SORRA MUST move forward and improve. Its time for the Committee, preferably with several new faces, to start concentrating on Off Road Racing and Colo Park. Of course there will still be "non racing" issues to discuss and resolve, but with the new procedures and practices that are now in place nothing should get out of hand.
Maybe its time for a new venue for meetings? Mabe the format of the meetings could be changed too? These are all challenges for the new Committee to act upon.
In Steve's posting he mentioned that I was "tired". I feel obliged to expand on that a little. Several things in my personal (and business) life are commanding large amounts of my time and energy. Over the past year or so my partner has been diagnosed with cancer, operated upon twice, undergone many rounds of chemotherapy etc etc. Other members of my immediate family have also suffered declining health. I have had to wind up my Company (after 22 years) and have other very pressing financial matters pending. It has not been a great year! I don't currently have the energy to continue on as President. Hopefully that energy will return in the future. Having said that, I will be more than willing to assist the new President in any way that he or she may require - I will only be a phone call away. SORRA has been a part of me, and me a part of it for the past 17 years. I'm not going to be too far away!
Ladies and Gentlemen, lets get on with it. SORRA is too good a thing for it to go any way other than FORWARD.......... (or is that SIDEWAYS???)
First of all I would like to thank William for his input to the club. Despite living a half a days travel from Colo, he and his long suffering wife have put in a lot of time and effort into running events at Colo Park. And I would not want to run this forum for all the tea in China. Obviously William would not be able to work on the exec Committee due to the tyranny of distance but fear not William your effort and dedication to SORRA is universally recognised by your fellow members.
Secondly Adam, we have had emails to and fro and it goes without saying that your presence at the AGM will be greatly appreciated. It will be good to have you back involved again.
And thirdly Geoff, theres probably not much more that I could say. There were some who didn't like your style of Presidency (I had no problem) but the effort you put in despite all those personal issues deserves high recognition. As I said before you and Crippsy both played a huge part in ensuring that SORRA made it out of a very dark period where we were staring down the barrel of a shotgun many times. SORRA has been a part of my life for over a quarter of a century and so it is very much a part of me also. Christ I've been a SORRA member longer than I've been married. Geoff, take a break, recharge and hopefully we will se you back soon.
Those of you who are active in the administration of SORRA know who you are. It's time for some of the current generation of racers to step up and work with us oldies to move SORRA and Off Road Racing, in the biggest city in Australia, forward into the 20teens.
-- Edited by Dusteater on Thursday 4th of March 2010 10:13:39 PM
As long as it can be done remotely ( there is no possible way I can attend meetings ) I would be happy to put my hand up to do the pointscoring.... I suppose it makes sense for me to do it and then it can be posted to the website, I would just need the times emailed/faxed to me and Dusteater to explain the ( what seems to me to be ) magic way he comes to the outcome. I am not sure if this is classed as a committee role but may at least ease the burden on Steve.
Can someone put up a list of the positions on the committee that need to be filled to keep the club going & a breif job description of what the particular role involves.
President Chairs the club meetings. Works with the rest of the exec committee to ensure all jobs are done.
Vice President Fills in for President if they are not at meetings. Assists the President as required.
Membership Secretary Handles all membership enquiries and processes all new and renewal memberships. Keeps an up to date membership list and sends it to the club Pointscorer after each club round.
Minute Secretary Records minutes of club meetings
Correspondance Secretary Handles all incoming and outgoing correspondance for the club
Treasurer Handles all the financial aspects of the club. Does banking, writes chqs, keeps accurate financial records, handles petty cash.
Public Officer The Public Officer has generally one job per year and that is to send appropriate forms and club financial statement to the Dept of Fair Trading after the AGM.
Club Pointscorer Keep accurate pointscore after each round of the club championship.
CAMS Delegate Club delegate to the CAMS State Council
Don't forget Permit Secretary Fills out the forms needed to gain an Event Permit.( All done at home on the computer.) Work togeather w/ Event Director to have event paperwork ready.
If it is any help, this is how KMORC works. PRESIDENT VICE PRESIDENT CLUB SECRETARY - does MEMBERSHIP, MINUTES, PUBLIC OFFICER & CORRESPONDENCE TREASURER - is also EVENT SECRETARY CAMS DELEGATE - None for ten years. PUBLICITY OFFICER has developed into an important job, doing the website and sponsorship.
Cristie has been doing the work of Permit/Event Secretary and I believe is happy to continue in this role and is licensed by CAMS to do so (very important when it comes to running State round). Also Cristie has volunteered to take on the role of Treasurer.
I am happy to continue in the role of Event Director and also Minute Secretary if someone will agree to at least take the minutes when I am not available and fax them to me so that I can type them up and email them to our members as I have been doing. Unfortunately due to the state of Nick's health at the moment meetings are on a month by month basis with no guarantee I shall be there, so if someone can take on this job full time it would be great.