Wheely Fun Day had by all!

Click here for a montage of pictures of the day

On Sunday 19 April, the TSA hosted it’s first ever Wheely Fun Day in Bayswater.

It started as a small idea to offer free senior driving sessions and grew into a day for the whole community.

I woke up bright and early on Sunday morning(4.30am to be exact), knowing the day was going to be sunny and everything would run smoothly. With the help of some dedicated, hard working volunteers on Saturday, the tents were set up, the lübecker hütchen were picked up (special thanks to the kind people at RSEA in Canterbury Rd, Bayswater for loaning these to us), the playgroup lent us some paints, brushes, etc for cardboard car making (thanks Beate Kuerschner) and the laptop and projector were available for use from the office (thanks Mark Herrmann). Things were set to go.

On the day we had a number of exhibitors and activities going on and the kids and adults alike seemed to enjoy themselves. The day started at 10am and although it took a while to kick off, during the day there were approximately 200-300 people in attendance throughout the day. There were 5 information sessions held during the day. One for L platers, well attended by the confirmants who were doing some learning of their own, a session for P Platers and a senior driving information session, all run by the men from METEC. Then we were lucky to have Barb Dumanic from Metlink do some Metlink Adventure sessions with our school aged attendees about public transport safety. All of these sessions were held for free and we thank both METEC and Metlink for their support on the day for our community.

During the day, there were a lot of other activities going on (see photos) all of which were free! These included motorcycle rides fro the Victorian Masonic Motorcycle Association (VMMA) who took people on 15 minute rides around Bayswater- these were a HUGE success and all the people I saw came away with a HUGE smile on their faces after the ride! There were also free tractor rides from the TSA (thanks Tony again and Ralph Richter for driving). These too were a success and for all the “non- Templers” there, something they had never done before and they enjoyed it! There was also a MFB Fire display including the Smokebuster bus and racing display, a police car, a Holden enthusiasts club displayed their cool cars and Knox Ford also attended with some new cars on display! There was some exhibitors including Connex, Metlink, Bike Vic, METEC, as well as cardboard car making and a race of these cars where everyone won a prize and a wheelchair circuit to demonstrate the difficulties getting around in a wheelchair.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a day among Templers and friends without food. There was a Lions Club sausage sizzle who raise a few hundred dollars from the local community, a Mr Whippy van and a café with coffee and cake made by Gabi from the TTHA café!

All up it was a fantastic day and I am pleased that Templers, as well as “non Templers” came so that people outside our community can see what a great community and group of people you all are! Special thanks to my family for putting up with me working a lot more than usual! Special thanks to the following people for making the day a success (not in any order of importance):

Dot Ware Ingrid Thomas

Peter Ware Helga Anderson

Geoff McCallum Mark Herrmann

Nanne Herrmann Rosier Real Estate

Susi Blackwell Tony Beilharz

Ralph Richter Beate Kuerschner

Barb Dumanic Dean Lugton and the VMMA members

Peter Platky and Shay from Connex Holden Enthusiasts Club

Lions Club Rowville Gabi Greiner from TTHA café

MFB Vic Police

METEC Metlink

Connex Kelly Madden

Bayswater South Primary John Maddock