Toy Run - 2005

Hi folks,

I said that I'd let you know how the Toy Run went and here it is.

I arrived a little late for the briefing that was held at Traralgon City Library. Lots of people there, mainly Ulysses members, a member of the Police Force and a member from Latrobe City.

Roger (A Ulyssian) allocated a location for every person there. By that I mean that each person was designated a physical location to man and control traffic. The task of holding the 'Toy Run' had been under planning for at least six months. I was quite surprised at how long it takes to put these events together.

I was assigned the roundabout at Commercial Road and Chapel Street. I left early and had to hide under a bridge to avoid the rain from a passing shower before I arrived at my designated point.

I could see the plan unfold as I waited for the main group. Roger came through about fifteen minutes before the main group arrived to see if his plan was being followed, as did a member of the police force. A cheery wave confirmed that we were at the right location.

As I waited for the participants, I was approached by several people asking when the bikes would be passing through. I wasn't quite sure, as all I was sure of was that the run would start at 11:00, and made an estimate based on that. One lady came up to me and handed over ten dollars as a donation. (I did donate the money to the Red Cross.) It's good to see that the public had advanced knowledge of the event.

As the riders approached, I stepped out and halted the traffic. The first I stopped car cheerfully acknowledged my stop signal and patiently waited.

The bikers were preceded with a police car which periodically wailed its sirens to indicate its presence. All of the biker participants followed. Quite a lot of the bikers had taken the trouble to decorate their motorcycles and themselves with Christmas decorations. A few had full Santa suits, followed by antlers taped to helmets and nearly all had tinsel wrapped around their motorcycles.

At the end was a vehicle provided by the Shire indicating the end of the event.

I was able to join in with the event at the 'gathering area' on the west side of the Commercial Road.

I then followed the riders as they traveled to the Moe Racecourse via Newborough.

From what I could see, everything went like clockwork. The Police and Ulyssians supported each other to make a seamless path for the 'Toy Run'.

At the Moe racecourse I made my customary donation of money, including the amount that I had been given.

This year, the organisers had seen fit to include some live music. Powerhouse Blues Band were performing for the attendees. I left before a passing shower made its presence felt. Hope they had covers for all of that delicate electronic equipment.

All in all, I was a small gear in a complex machine and I was happy to help out.

In comparison to last weeks Stockland Santa event, I'm surprised at the difference between how the Police performed. Last week the police seemed to have no idea, this week everything was under control. I wonder what the difference was?

P.S. At Moe Racecourse, one of the participants, Greg Trevorrow, told me that he thought something fell off my motorcycle as we were coming in to "Gunn's Gully". Sure enough, I checked my bike and found that one of the stick on reflectors had fallen off. I bought a bolt on one the next day.