THE APEX CLUB OF MOOROOPNA

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The Next Meeting of the Mooroopna Apex Club (1068) will be held on the 6th of August at our new home venue The Royal Mail Hotel. 6:30pm for a 7:00pm start. All Welcome….Please contact the commissariat on 0428 275111

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Dear Fellow Apexians,

As the Apex year draws to a close I would like to take this opportunity to extend my congratulation to the Apex Club of Mooroopna for their contribution to Apex and their community in the last 12 months. Unfortunately, I am unable to attend your handover, but wish to thank-you one and all for your hard work.

I have been asked of provide a brief review of the year and will endeavour to keep it brief so as not to take up time that could be spent on fellowship or as I like to call it Apex networking.

This year has seen many highlights which included-

1. The successful running of two Muso Magic Programs within the state. These programs target at risk kids in our community and over the course of several days the kids involved participate in a music workshop with Adam Thompson of Chocolate Starfish fame. At the end those involved have written, produced, and recorded a song of their own creation. I have had the pleasure of seeing this program and would encourage all districts and club to raise funds to run their own. As a sidenote the most recent Muso Magic program run in Victoria at last the national convention wrote a new Apex song which was sang at the National Presidents handover dinner.
2. Debating and Public Speaking- As with past years we were represented well in this area and it was pleasing to see the state field a finalist in the newly established primary public speaking competition. I must also congratulate Brauer College as they won the National Secondary School Debating Competition Final. Once again I would encourage all clubs to get into their schools organise a local competition. Remember many of these students may be our members of the future so let’s tap into them now.
3. One of the significant events for Apex this year was the first National Teenage Fashion Awards hosted yet again in Victoria. The standard of entries was magnificent and two Victorian students won prizes within their categories.
4. As a state we have been endeavouring to make changes to the way we interact and the events we run. This year we targeted the area of convention and STS. Our convention was enjoyed by all attendees and the changes that were made ensured that the business session was finished by lunch and that there was a greater focus on networking and fellowship. STS also saw a move to Kyneton in an endeavour to rejuvenate this valuable training forum. Although numbers are still small the training in Safe Food Handling, and First Aid, alone with other portfolios addressed the needs of the attendees and I look forward to seeing this program grow in the future.

This year has been a travel year for me and I have endeavoured to get out and meet as many Apexians as I could. I have travelled over 30,000 km in the past 12 months around the state spreading the word of Apex. This involved some 44 weekends away attending a variety of Apex function and countless hours on the phone. Unfortunately I was unable to visit all clubs individually, but wish to thank all clubs who hosted me and representatives from state and national board. I cannot understate the importance of a warm welcome from friendly Apexians when you are sending so much time away from the ones closest to you.

Finally I would like to wish the incoming president all the best on the up coming year, congratulate the outgoing president for all their hard work and ask the club to set some key, but achievable goals. I would like the club to aim for at least one representative at the State Convention in Moe and the State Training Seminar. Remember each club has 1 represented funded to each and all new members registrations are also funded.

“Service is the price we pay for our space on this earth.”

Your’s in Apex and the interests of brevity.

Wayne Bandel

Immediate Past State President Victoria. 2006-2007

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Apex fishing trips, a legendary part of the Apex culture; sorting the seasoned drinkers from the rookies, separating those with mastered impulse control from those without and the savvy members from the naive. I unfortunately fell into the latter of these areas. At the 2006 fishing trip I may as well turned up with a bulls-eye painted on my forehead (or perhaps I did!), as from the first night of the trip I believe I was doomed to a conspiracy carried out by cunning OC’s and experienced others. The Agenda of the club I was later to find, was to groom an unsuspecting innocent individual into the role of President, namely ME!

2006 – 2007 has been a leisurely year, continuing on with the usual service projects and fund raising activities. Thank you to all members that have made themselves available and contributed to the club and community in these area’s.

Throughout the year the club has donated hundreds of dollars to worthy causes in our community, contributed to Relay for Life, held working bees at Kidstown & continued operating the spinning wheel at the Mooroopna Festival.

2007 has seen our club catapulted into the 21^st Century. The Mooroopna Apex club is now in cyberspace with the clubs own website. Thanks to Kevin Perry for initiating and implementing this revolutionary idea. The club also had a strong attendance at this year’s state convention at Wodonga.

I would like to thank all members of the club for their contributions, fellowship and support. In particular I extend my gratitude to Steve Rogers – Vice President, Kim Banfield – Secretary & Kevin Perry – Treasurer, all of whom I could not have coped without.

I would like to thank my wife Linda for her support and contributions.

It is with great pleasure in handing over the presidency to Will Hemming, who has shown exceptional willingness and enthusiasm in leading our club for 2007 – 2008. Will has shown outstanding leadership qualities since joining Apex and I know he will achieve great things during his reign.

YIA Andrew

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I write my second report as a Vice President knowing that it will be my last report as a club member.

My time in Mooroopna Apex has been fantastic. I have made great friends and learnt a great deal. I genuinely believe I am a better person for having been a member of the best Apex club in Australia.

I thank the club and all members, both past and present, for all that they have done for me. It really has been my honour to be involved.

I also thank my wife Lyn for her support and for allowing me to be in Apex.

I wish the club well for the future.

This year was an interesting one for our club.

A major focus remains with our survival. Accordingly we undertook a variety of activities to try to make our club more in tune with expectations of people in the year 2007 and beyond.

This will mean many changes. The club is ready to embrace any new members regardless of gender and is happy to pursue totally different meeting structures to ensure we are as a club, what people want.

Well done to President Andrew and I wish Will all the best for the new Apex year.

I again wish the club well for the future, and I will support whatever direction that members take the club in.

YIA Steve

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In the past twelve months the club has undergone some significant changes, and we are preparing for more changes in the future. The way the club communicates is an important part of these changes. In recent years the Midlander has become a slow and unreliable method of communication. This has meant that too many unnecessary meetings have been required to make simple decisions.

So to fix this the club has made the decision to create a new method of communication mooroopna.com. Our new website is designed to be used by the members to report on there activities and opinions in real time. Rather than a document that is published twice a month and forgotten just as quickly, our new website provides a message board that will continue to grow as required.

Mooroopna.com will also provide a useful tool in promoting the club to the wider community, it provides us a permanent home that we can direct people towards, the site provides more than just text, it includes images and video content.

Since the site launched in June it has had 200 page loads and been visited by people in a number of different countries. In the not to distant future we will invite all of our past members to participate in the site, the more people who participate, the more effective the site will become

I look forward to seeing you all at mooroopna.com

YIA Kevin

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Overall it was a fairly quiet year for programs. We did have a beer tasting and pizza night which seemed to be enjoyed by all in attendance. Thank you to Liquorworks for putting on the event. There was a good turn up to the combined service clubs dinner and we had Ardmona Kids Town representatives discuss the upcoming Kids Feats. Apart from this the club seemed to keep a low profile. The challenge for the club for the upcoming year is to mix business meetings with a good number of program and social activities.

Thanks to Andrew for his year in the big chair and good luck to incoming skipper Will.

YIA Michael

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This year saw us provide a variety of property to many community groups.

These included

Schools

Kindergartens

Charities

Drought Relief functions

Property was also hired on a number of occasions.

Our equipment remains an important asset for our club.

YIA Steve

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Well another year has passed, with an enjoyable memory of another social year. Events held this year included the Christmas Party, Father / Child weekend, the Ladies Weekend, and the annual Fishing Trip.

With the year starting off very slow as social director, we managed to get all of our events completed by the end of my term. Christmas is a busy time of year, with work and other Christmas functions, it became very tight to allocate time and venue to suit everybody. Then came Steve and Lyn Rodgers to the rescue. The venue was found, then the legend (sorry Steve) Kim Banfield raised his hand to organise the menu. It was a grand final event, venue found, menu organised, and I made the big step, the date was set (not wedding date though). In all, a big thankyou to all who participated, to make it another great night.

My apology to the club, for having a late Christmas Party for the kids. Once again, it was a very tight schedule. So to overcome this mishap, life member Mike & Vija Nethersole and I organised a Christmas Party by the pool in January. A great night enjoyed by all with the kids enjoying the swim, and from memory Mike had a smile of his face. The rain was coming, was the drought over?

Another successful Father / Child weekend held at Toolamba Beach. Great thanks to all members who arrived with their kids. Moving to the great annual event of the year, the Fishing trip. Well where do I start? Sorry, with my old age I nearly forgot. What goes on the fishing trip stays on the fishing trip. It’s my last year, let’s just say, we had some problems with the barrel. A quick trip back to the pub, with my two assistants. The return trip, without a doubt, will go down in history as the best Fishing Trip every seen before in the History of the Mooroopna Apex Club. I think Steve and Kim would agree. Once again a big thankyou to Kim and Michelle with their vital knowledge in organising the food and meal menu. A Great weekend by all members who attended.

Well it’s come the time to finish my last report for the club, being my last year as a member of the club for 12 years at Mooroopna. For all the members and partners, now and past, a big thankyou for all your help and assistants over the years. Mooroopna Apex Club is a great club and I wish for the current and future members all the best for the coming years.

YIA William

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Hi Guys,
The web site looks great. Well done.

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