Hi all
Thought I’d catch up on a couple of recent happenings as we drizzle/rain into spring in Ballarat.
- Eureka’s big event for 2009 – the Australian Schools Individual Championships / Mid-Week Match Race Mayhem – is just about set to go. The trailer is packed, controls ready to go out on Monday, and the set-up team for Monday (with DR/CH/TK help) should provide a great area for Tuesday’s event. Please be on time on Tuesday (or before time) so that the events starting at 9.00 am and lasting until 4.00 pm will run smoothly. It will be a long day – but Lesley assures me there will be cakes for the workers (one of the fringe benefits of being a EU member!!).
- No Eureka cake stall for Sunday’s Victorian Long-Distance Championships OR the Tuesday Schools events.
- Our new SI Schools Kit system will be delivered at the Australian Championships. It is a major investment – $8600 worth – but should make our local events and school orienteering much more professional.
- Our second big expense of the month – a new Toshiba laptop ($1550) – is with Ian Chennell being loaded with SI, OCAD, Condes, maps and other programs so that it will be another great addition to the EU technology.
- Our Rockhopper position on the state ladder is presently 5th (655 points) behind BG, NE, BK and YV BUT the executive has calculated a massive 610 points for administrative / participation points. So after Sunday’s last event in the series (Vic Champs) we should not lose much ground on the 4 leading clubs – at least we should improve on our 7th place last year.
- Going into the final round – the Vic Long Distance Champs – Tom (M80A) and Aislinn (W21E) are unbeatable positions in their age classes, while Anitra (W35-44A) can top her class with a top 3 placing. Looks like minor placings for Roch, Chris, Dale, and Judy but there may be some surprises.
- The map for the 2009 Cyclic Navigator is finished according to Anitra and Ken. Keep the last Sunday in November free for a ride on the southwest side of Daylesford or help out on the day.
- …and sad news of the death of Doug Bartram on Wednesday 23rd September. Doug was one of the founding members of the EU club back in 1975. He will be remembered as the miner on the 1991 Easter 3-Days mug and the Courier photo of his face framed in a toilet seat on one of Eureka’s clean-ups of Canadian Forest. Funeral is scheduled for 30th September at 2.30pm at the St John’s Anglican Church, Armstrong Street North, Ballarat.
Cheers, Blake