NEWS - 2023

NOTE: Only major news items will be posted here.

For the on-going, day-to-day news, please see our Facebook page. Just go to Facebook and search for  "The Joshua Bell Cure Cancer Run".

The latest news is at the top below.  Keep checking back to this page for the latest.

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NEWS

JANUARY 12, 2023

As I mentioned above, most of the day-to-day stuff happens on Facebook. Actually, most of EVERYTHING happens on Facebook. This old website is getting pretty clumsy - especially as it isn't mobile friendly. But it does need to be kept going. So, a quick catch-up.

Our scheduled event last year was canceled; as you will know. However, it wasn't totally canceled, in that some items that had been donated by businesses were able to be sold, and the proceeds all being donated to the Kids Cancer Project, of course. That's why, on the front page, I haven't said it was canceled. But really, it was. We just moved a few things on and donated the money.

So to this year. Dapto Classic Car Club, of which I am a member, hold semi-regular get-together days at Don's Farm, near Dapto. This club has always been incredibly supportive of our event, and the President of the club came up with a suggestion that they host the event, combining it with one of their get-together runs to Don's Farm. The thinking was that, with Covid still very much still around, scheduling it for an indoor venue - such as Berry Bowling Club - could very likely end up with the same result as last year. If the event was held outdoors, the Covid situation would be much less threatening. So I decided we would go with that.

And we have a date  Subsequently a date was arranged - Sunday 26th February.

We will start the actual event a little earlier - just half an hour earlier. So official start time will be 1.30 pm. You are very welcome to come earlier for a BYO lunch if you wish. The gates will be open from about 10 am. So any time after that is fine.

So there you have it - all the major updates up until now. Please put the date in your diary and ploan to be there!

MARCH 25, 2023

My apologies that it has taken a while to update the website here. As you know, most things happen on Facebook now. In fact it might be exclusively Facebook for the next one. Maintaining and updating this website is problematic; mostly because it uses old software. And I have to use an older computer to access it. (Newer operating systems won’t run it). New software is available, but it won’t transfer the old contents to the new site that is created and.... it’s difficult! And there was a bit of a glitch at one point, and it wasn’t working at all for a short time when I went to update the site. Anyway, we finally got here!

I did intentionally wait a couple of weeks anyway, because we tend to get a few donations coming in after the event – which is exactly what happened. Over the following 3 weeks a further $100 was added to the total we had on the day. But  first a quick summary of the day itself. 

It was another very successful event. It would have been good to see a few more people there, but we still had a reasonable attendance. And we raised a good amount of money, so that made it worthwhile.

This year, as you know, it was a very different format to previous years. Previously it was always held inside – mostly a hall that we hired for the event, then in 2021 we moved to Berry Bowling Club. Having been cancelled last year due to Covid concerns, it was suggested that we hold it outdoors. The President of Dapto Classic Car Club suggested we combine it with one of their days at Don’s Farm; the Covid concerns being much less in a large open area. So, that’s what we did.

Of course the disadvantage of holding it outside is that weather becomes more of an issue. (Although even if it is inside, that can still affect how many people bring their pride and joy out to come). Earlier in the week it had looked like rain, but it turned out fine – and hot! That probably deterred some from coming; and also resulted in some people leaving before the event actually started.

It has always been an afternoon event. One reason for that was to allow people to go for a run first. (Originally several alternative routes were suggested). At Berry the idea was to come for lunch, then have the raffle and auctions etc. And it just worked better to have it in the afternoon. However, if we do this again next year (which we probably will) I think it will need to be rescheduled to an earlier time.

The other issue – which we always get – is clashes with other events. This year that mostly affected the motorbikes. In recent years the number of bikes has fallen off a bit: and this year one group that always supports us had their AGM up at Taree. Another local riding group had organised a “breakfast run” on the same day. Theoretically that would have allowed them to still attend this, but after spending a few hours on a bike in 30-degree heat it’s understandable they’d be reluctant to go out again.

I also scaled it back from what it used to be. I used to send out invitations to every local car club or bike club I could find: and I spent a lot of time and effort getting donations from local businesses for items we could raffle. For a few years we even had businesses in the Blue Mountains involved, and had a major raffle of a holiday there. Covid put an end to that.

Also, organising and running an event that big is very stressful and it was getting to be too much for my wife and me; so we decided to scale it back.

But we still had a raffle, and some unique items to auction, which is always a bit of fun.

A big thanks to everyone who came along, and endured the heat (under the shade of the trees it wasn’t too bad), and waited around for the event to start. A special thanks to Terry Osmond for bringing his fabulous Torana to display. The car is a replica of one Terry raced at Kembla Grange Speedway in the late 1970s. And a special thanks to Trevor Cowan, who provided the only motorbike that turned up. It was actually its maiden run after he had finished restoring it.

A huge thanks to Dapto Classic Car Club for their wonderful donation of $1500. And a huge thanks to them for their support and promotion of the event. It is no exaggeration to say that the event probably would not have happened this year but for their involvement and support! 

So let’s get to the final tally. All up, including the donations afterwards, we raised a total of $2,460. To summarise, here is a brief breakdown of that amount.

•Entrant fees, raffle, and other donations: $680

•Donation from Dapto Classic Car Club: $1500

•Auction: $280

•Total: $2460

I received a very appreciative email from The Kids Cancer Project thanking us for the donation, and expressing some very nice sentiments on us continuing with the event and honouring Joshua.

So that's it for another year. At this stage we intend having it again in 2024, probably with the same location. But tweaking the format and time etc. Initial news of the event will appear here, and then we'll see what hapens from then.

Thanks again to everyone who supported the event again for this year!   

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