Waikato Club Past Events 2004(For past years events click here: 02, 03) Waikato
Club Xmas Do! We were looking forward to our night out with the club to celebrate xmas and the end of a great years cruising in our 71 Mustang. What a year we had, starting with the Great Pony Run to celebrate 40 years of these wonderful cars, ending with a fantastic cruise heading down to this years Convention in New Plymouth. And many fun filled months of cruising with the club in between. So, as we heading out the gate at Karapiro towards Te Awamutu we had no idea our cruise was going to make us the last club member to arrive! Our cruise wasn't as smooth going as we had wished and we did wonder if we were going to make it at all. Our car surged and spluttered, at times I thought it was going to just stop all together. The thought of being stuck on the side of the back road between Cambridge and Karapiro while the others were getting in the Xmas spirit (not the JD Andrea) singing "I saw Mumma Kissing Santa Claus" was too much to bear (resulting in me having to pour myself another wine). But we did make it and sorry guys that we were late! Everyone was just sitting down as we pulled up so we just missed out on the general chit chat before eating began. The meal was truly superb with a great variety to select from, the traditional and other choices too. The quiz given by Margaret was a great idea and maybe another one for Taupo would help everyone get to know a bit more about each other and it certainly can cause some laughs. It was a great opportunity to catch up before the mad rush of Xmas and New Year and to see some members who don't make it to meetings or runs often. I decided to enjoy myself as I wasn't sure if I would be pushing the car home or having to hitch a ride! A cruise at the end of the night thru Te Awamutu gave the locals a bit of a thrill, then it was home kangaroo jerking all the way. We discovered later that we had a distributor problem that was easy fixed (thank goodness).
2004
Annual Mustang Convention Story Robyn Humphrey, Pictures Stuart Smith The 25th Convention held in New Plymouth over Labour weekend was a first for a few club members like Stuart and myself. Just the thought of cruising down the line with the other nine mustangs from our club was cause for our initial excitement. It sure did bring back the memories of our four days on the 40th Pony Run. But, that proved to just be the icing on the cake, the weekend was to provide all the right ingredients for any mustang owner to be in seventh heaven. And that's how I would describe the weekend for us, "we thought we had died and gone to heaven" seeing and being a participant in the fantastic weekend the Taranaki Club put on for us all. Day One Our club did not have a smooth run down to the Convention, despite the great weather, several of our members had various problems with their cars, but after a few hours and generous help from local people where breakdowns occurred, we all managed to pull in to our respective hotels by mid afternoon. The funniest thing that we did all see was one Mustang heading in the other direction as we headed south, (I hope they realised that heading North was a big mistake!) After unloading the cars and wandering the streets to get lunch, the serious job of cleaning and grooming the car began. It would have had to have been the best wash our car has ever had, and she sure looked impressive in my eyes, even for just a 'display only' car. Of course I would have loved to have helped more but someone had to watch all the other clubs arrive, the memories of the Pony Run kept resurfacing! It was really great to catch up with those familiar faces we had met previously earlier on in the year. The evening was spent finding a place to have dinner and catching up with a drink or two. Briefing was held, and thanks must go to the Taranaki Sponsors who provided all the goodies in our buckets and was great to see the children accommodated for too! It was an indication at this time of the share volume of people that were participating at the Convention.
Day Two The Waikato Club was the first club to enter the stadium Saturday morning to set up for display, so this meant an early waking for us and organising of our cars in the order that we wanted to display them. Thank goodness the weather held out as I could only imagine the horror of trying to organise this event with the volume of vehicles in the dry, let alone during rain! But the buzz was infectious and everyone from the Taranaki Club were helpful to novices like ourselves. We went about setting up our Club display, everyone gave their car another shine, and it was upstairs for a hot drink and to watch from the stands as the other clubs parked their cars. It has been said that there was ten million dollars of cars on display, and I can tell you, the photos do not do the cars justice, there were some BEAUTIFUL Mustangs on display. And when we got sick of looking at them, there was a bus (or, in my case, a nice shiny red 69) to take us back to our Hotel or in to town for a shop! The Taranaki Club must have friends in higher places as the weather held out to just about the end of the show, but by then it was ok, approx. 7000 people had gone through the doors to see and enjoy what we all love. The evening was a chance to relax, have a game of ten pin bowling and a meal was provided. I am sorry to all those Wellingtonians, Canterbury kicked butt that evening (a chance for some good natured rivalry!)
Day Three Sunday morning wasn't such an early rise, so upon opening the curtains we were disappointed to see that the fog looked like Prince Charles, thick and wet!! It was only my second visit down the 'Naki', so was looking forward to a closer look at the mountain and the countryside. Never mind, I thought, there is 121 Mustangs to cruise with. As per briefing, it was off to the car park at the Stadium to all meet before the trip 'round the mountain'. Even watching the cars arrive in the fog was awesome, Stuart made sure we were there early so we could watch most cars arrive, phew, there was a few of them. The best looking car on the run was the one with the white ribbon, for those of you that didn't know, Nat & Andy from Auckland decorated their convertible up as a wedding car! It was a wet foggy drive part of the way, the fog clearing as we approached Hawera where we stopped for lunch. The Furlong hotel was bursting at the seams on our arrival (I told you the numbers were HUGE!). Sorry Nat, I just couldn't get my hands on a fluffy pink bridesmaid dress in time, but the ceremony was still very special just the same!! The drive home was wet and YES guys, that was me driving home, it does happen occasionally! It was back to the motel, for a bit of a rest before we got into our hippie gear and 'had a bad acid trip maaaaaaaaaaannn'. Our group picture shows what a great effort everyone went too, I reckon we all looked awesome, some older members really pulled off the old hippie look (even without their costumes) and I guess that would be because they WERE around during that era! The evening meal was really good, and presentation of prizes was a real eye opener, some tips were noted for when it is our turn to run the convention in 2007.
The list of winners from the Waikato is: 1964 – 1966 Notchback –
1st. Mike Mahoney & Amanda
Dickinson Waikato We are all proud of you guys, and the whole team can pat themselves on the back for the Personal Display, a great effort.
Day Four. I awoke Monday feeling a little sad, who wants to go back to work and everyday life after a weekend spent with great people and beautiful cars, sigh..........but that of course is what was ahead of us all. The farewell breakfast was delicious, it was a chance to farewell acquaintances and new friends, swap phone numbers and talk deals one last time before the trip home. A farewell speech from each President was said, thanks Margaret, and a chance to thank Taranaki for a HUGE job well done, it was a wonderful Convention and I can safely say we all enjoyed it. It was farewell to Ray & Rae as they headed further South for some family catchin up, and off in convoy again up North homeward bound, which in our (the club) case wasn't plain sailing. It just wasn't going to be our trip, with a few breakdowns and slight mishaps along the way. At least the weather was great (got a little look at that Mountain as we headed away from it!) and we all made it home safely to live another day to cruise in our 'Stangs next trip. Thanks guys, it was an awesome weekend with you all, looking forward to Auckland.
AGM
Paeroa - Sunday 15th August 2004 We all meet at the Hamilton East KFC, and headed off to Paeroa on a typical Waikato wet day. The weather was horrid, wet and windy and cold to boot. Thank goodness the venue was inviting and warm, both in atmosphere and service. After parking up and heading in to the Ohinemuri Club in the wet, it was time to get a drink and catch up with the club members that arrived for the AGM. The venue was pleasant and the staff were fantastic, very obliging and cheerful on such a miserable day! It was down to business, the meal was very enjoyable and I over-heard many saying "what a great feed", thank you to those staff members at Paeroa's Ohinemuri Club which should be made as famous as the big bottle of fizz! Once lunch was over, we got onto the business of the AGM, resulting in Margaret Mold re-elected as our President, Nick, (standing down as our Secretary), to be replaced by Andrea Dyer, and many nominations for committee members. All updated information will be in our next Club Newsletter. A BIG thank you must go to Nick for the wonderful job he has done over his period of office. Great to see Margaret there, Andrea in support and a bigger committee than in the past. Some wonderful new ideas came out in the meeting and I am sure over the next few months they will come to fruition. The results of our Club Show Day were also announced, with the results being: Club Member of the Year: Andrea Dyer Editors of our Club Magazine stayed with Archie and Jeanette Stutt, who do a fabulous job; may they never resign! A very pleasant afternoon, with a great turn out of members and support offered by club members for the upcoming year.
10th
Annual Henry Ford Memorial Day - 25th July 2004 We were blessed with the weather on Sunday 25th July, although the frost caused a few minor problems for the BBQ crew, it made for a fantastic afternoon, dry and almost had a spring feel to it. I had the privilege of being part of the BBQ crew so wasn't terribly aware of all of the goings on of the Ford Day (hence the delay in this report being posted), so will share this report with Archie Stutt who was involved in the finer details. According to Archie, there was a turn-out of approx 420 cars in total, with a good mixture of models and years. The BBQ crew positioned ourselves in a great spot to view the cars arriving, however as our heads were down with the continuous demand for steak sandwiches and hot sausages we missed approx 400 of them! The Model A car owners provided a visually spectacular display and dressing in period clothing of the time really looked the piece and deserved the "Club Display" prize for their efforts. Just a thought fellow Mustang owners, perhaps it is time to start dressing according to the age of your car! I can see a few of our Club Members dressed as hippies or disco kings/queens! It was really impressive to see so many Waikato Club Members have their cars on display also, 28 in total I was told. As a fairly new member to the club it is the most I have seen on display since I joined. When the food ran out I had the opportunity to have a quick look around, and chat with other neighbouring club members who drove quite a distance for the day. Everyone was having a good time and enjoying the fine weather and varieties of Ford vehicles. And it appears that the Swap Meet is becoming a popular extension of this annual event. Many thanks must also go to Fairview Motors for their sponsorship. A congratulations must also go out to our club member Ray Mischewski, for winning the "Sponsor's Choice" award. Well deserved. Many thanks to those Club Members who worked hard on the day and those that worked behind the scenes prior to and on the day.
Sunday June 27th
2004
: Mystery Run
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