Phil McIntosh, the driving force behind the Gears and Beers Festival, gave a report on last weekend's outstandingly successful festival.He said none of this could have been accomplished without the input of all the club members. He praised other service clubs for their contribution in particular the Rotary Club of Coolamon who did a brilliant job of making riders welcome through that section of the ride. Seeing so many guys in their white Rotary shirts "made me proud to be a Rotarian".
Phil said the Committee has worked extraordinarily well and while he was reluctant to single out personnel he said a special thanks was warranted to Peter McKinnon who stepped into the breach when Tim McGillicuddy moved. Peter did a fantastic job taking over the co-ordination and general organizing of the event. Also special thanks to Paul Milde, Frank Fuller, David Foster, Michael Knight, David Byfield, David Hodge and former member Jim Gibson for setting out a budget.
Phil said the Saturday afternoon had been an enormous success as well. Steve McCoy's big screen with the AFL Grandfinal was a great drawcard. Thanks Steve. Registrations on Sunday morning went very smoothly due to the work put in by Paul and Carolyn Murray setting up the computers for the process. Well done Murrays, and finally a thank you to Col Duff who made sure all the electronic requirements were reliable and functional.
Phil thanked Liam O'Neil for the outstanding job he has done in using social media to promote the event. This has had a dramatic impact on the increase in riders and the Festival being promoted on the Events NSW website. Phil also thanked the sponsors of the event who have been essential to the success.
He confirmed that RAFFA will again be sponsors for 2019.
Phil called on David Hodge to give us the number crunch:
- Gross takings $265,000
- Registations $147,000
- Guests and Sponsorship $70,000
- Stalls $11,000
- Gate $17,500
After tax and costs we should have a net profit of around $150,000 - $160,000
The above are interim figures and the exact figures will be available after a detailed accounting.
What a fantastic result!!!