UBC celebrated our 75th anniversary with a well-deserved gala at Riversdale Golf Club. It was a wonderful night with a successful Raffle, silent auction, a fabulous band that played the night away, a flamboyant guest speaker who spoke about his challenges growing up with Aspergers and of course there is no party without cake – and it was a GREAT cake.

The evening started with the AGM where President Paul Etherington spoke about the Club’s achievements over the past 12 months, including donating over $602,000 towards supporting children’s health in Victoria, the implementation of the Club’s strategic plan, the loss of some of our valued members & supporters over the year and our resolve to strengthen our engagement with our Branches, Groups, members and volunteers. A few awards were given out at the AGM including a Club award to our Club’s historian, Frank Hargreaves and a Plaque of Appreciation to Andrew McLean.

After the AGM, the beautifully dressed ladies and the impeccably dressed gentlemen proceeded to the Riversdale dining room and the night began. UBC members and guests were treated to a delicious 3 course dinner which ended with a sweet tasting of decadent chocolate mousse cake.

Throughout dinner, guests were serenaded with music from a live band, committee member Sarah Shultz drew out several Raffle tickets and we ended the night with the results of the Silent Auction. The Robostar vacuum cleaner, generously donated by Bob and Lynette Willey, was the most popular auction item for the night. The item created a friendly rivalry between Robyn Rodrigues and Robyn Richards, both trying to outbid each other. In the end, Robyn Richards took home the item.
Two additional Club awards were also presented at the dinner and these were ‘Life Membership’ awards. They were awarded to Peter Mortimer, who has been with UBC since 1991 and is a stalwart of the Nathalia branch and Emoke Bakacs, from the GFA office, an active supporter of UBC since 2006 and former patron of the Club. Both Andrew’s and Emoke’s untiring service to UBC has been immensely appreciated.

We look forward to 75 more great years of supporting children’s health and we gratefully thank the following people and organisation for the generous donations of the raffle and silent auction items:

Bob and Lynette Willey
Pam Milburn
Bunnings Warehouse
Craigieburn Sporting Club
Easy Natural Skin Care
Pandora
Postie Fashion
Warragul Country Club
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