Planning! Planning! Planning!

Posted on February 26, 2017March 1, 2017 by Bill Pixton

Planning meeting at MND Gladesville left-right: Pauline Keyvar HD, Graham Opie MND, Robyn Kapp HD, Michael Small Rotary, Jenny and Bob Montgomery. Bill Pixton is taking the photo.

We were all really pleased with the recent Golf Day. In fact we hope to make it an annual event.

It was successful and now that is out of the way, we can get back to the planning for the campaign and ride..

Over the next two and a half months, our energies are now focussed on fundraising, marketing, media and the logistics of the trip. Plenty to do but all good. We will keep you informed .

For more info on MND and HD Who We Are Helping

Bob Montgomery MND HD Fundraising Project Planner Diagram

Come Out Swinging Golf

Posted on February 21, 2017February 23, 2017 by Bill Pixton

Charity Golf Day

Well the big day has arrived. We woke up to light drizzle and thought…please do not rain.

About 70 golfers turned out for the 4ball Ambrose at Blackheath Golf Club. The day started with a breakfast courtesy of Upper Blue Mountains Rotary. Frittata, bacon, sausages…pretty good really. It hit the spot after last nights festivities. New Club Pro Darrin Waldin briefed the players before they headed off to their allocated tee for a shotgun start. The Gods were smiling as the weather cleared and it finished up being a lovely fine day in Blackheath.

We had a hole-in-one competition at the 13th to win a Mazda2, courtesy of Blue Mountains Mazda. No one even came close and our “spotter” figured out the safest place to sit was next to the pin! As usual a million stories of what could have been. There were also nearest the pin and longest drives competitions.

Bob Montgomery's Golf Charity Day at Blackheath Golf Club

Crowd gathering at Blackheath Golf Club

Rotarians cooking up a feast

A Mazda up for grabs

Winners

We returned to the Clubhouse mid afternoon to the mesmerising sounds of Terry Rae and the Big Swing Band. After a few raffles, silent auctions we moved to the presentations to the golfers. The overall winning team was headed up by Dave Williams.

Bob and Jenny Montgomery made the presentations for the top 3 places, a Bradman for the highest score and the best dressed team. Graham Opie and Pauline Keyvar representing MND NSW and Huntingtons NSW respectively, spoke about the plight of those who suffer from these two diseases. They explained how this fundraising helps, where the money goes and the importance of getting the message out into the community. Some more music and drinks and a good day was had by all.

The Fundraising Result

With the revenue from the golf fees, the silent auctions, hole-in-one fees, raffles for meat trays, etc the total for the day was over $5,000.This meant that for the weekend we raised more than $10,000 for MND and Huntingtons. This was, by any measure, an outstanding result.

Big Swing on the 13th

Pauline Keyvar & Bob Montgomery

The Fascinating Ladies won the best dressed comp

We thank all those who participated in our “Come Out Swinging” Golf Day and the previous nights dinner. All the feedback has been really positive. Blackheath Golf Club has been so helpful and we would like to make the Golf Day and the Dinner an annual event. Watch this space.

Sporting Legends Reveal All

Posted on February 19, 2017February 23, 2017 by Bill Pixton

Well after weeks of planning our big Charity Golf weekend at Blackheath Golf Club was approaching. We were anxious about the weather after heat, storms and hail in the preceding few days. Anyhow more of that later.

Sportsman’s Dinner

The Blackheath Golf Club were putting on a Sportsman’s Dinner and Bob Montgomery was invited along to talk about his upcoming Darwin to Perth charity bike ride.

With over 100 people in attendance, sharing a glass of wine and good food, comedian Rob McHugh got us started. The night was going to be entertaining and it it did not disappoint.

Bob Montgomery then spoke about his previous charity rides, his experiences and commitment. He has already raised over $80,000 for MND after his Sydney to Port Douglas and Perth to Sydney rides. He then spoke about the Darwin to Perth ride leaving in mid May, some 40 days, and 4000km. Not bad for a guy in his seventies. This time we have a challenging target of $100,000 with funds being shared equally between MND and Huntingtons Disease. This golf weekend is an important part of the fundraising. Bob thanked his key supporter and partner in all these endeavours who is, of course, wife Jenny. He also thanked Upper Blue Mountains Rotary for their continued support and friends Bill Pixton and Michael Small will be on the road, driving the van from Darwin to Perth.

The Panel

Royce Simmons, former Penrith, State of Origin and Australian Rugby League player
Ed Fernon, former modern pentathlon athlete, 2012 Olympian London
Monty Panesar, former English Test cricketer and spin bowler

Sportsmans Panel left to right-Royce Simmons, Rod Tubbs, Ed Fernon, Bob Montgomery, Monty Panesar

The guys were skilfully interviewed in a panel setting by Rodney Tubbs from Blackheath Golf Club, encouraged to tell a few stories and answer some tricky questions. They were all quite different types of people with various sporting backgrounds.

Royce, humble in his achievements, and in his slow talking, laconic style had us in stitches over old football stories. I will never forget jackhammers and Mal Meninga. Royce is now working with the Penrith Panthers to build up their corporate support base.

Ed was a sharp, thoughtful and motivated person. Taking on a technically complex event in the modern pentathlon was always going to be challenging. In virtually 3 1/2 years from scratch he made the Olympic team and finished a remarkable 27/111 in the field. He is now a budding property developer and in his spare time will be riding wild horses in Mongolia next year.

Monty was Monty. Not bound to follow any expectations, he artfully avoided the difficult questions. He was original and refreshing, with a unique delivery style. He is now playing club cricket in Sydney and recovering from a chronic shoulder injury. I’m sure he still harbours dreams of playing cricket again for England. You never know.

Auctions

After the sports panel, everyone was in a great mood and really enjoying themselves. A perfect time for our auctions . We had some wonderful prizes courtesy of our sponsors Wolgan Valley Resort , Bonville Golf package, a fishing charter with Andrew Ettingshausen (aka ET of course) and a signed 2017 Penrith Panthers jersey. With an enthusiastic bidding response from our audience and, after passing the bucket around (it was actually a wine cooler), we raised over $5000.

All money raised goes equally to MND and Huntingtons Disease. We thank everyone for your generous support.