VOG's 14th birthday fell on Sunday 4th March this year - and it was decided to hold the Birthday Bash on the same day at the Little Nero's venue in North Rand road - Boksburg, Gauteng.
The occasion was celebrated on the same basis as a breakfast run, except that credits for the past year’s official outings were presented and awards made accordingly - being based on attendances of members who ride their own bikes and partners who ride pillion – as documented on run registers submitted.
With the attendance awards, we recognise every official VOG outing where an attendance register was filled in. We have unfortunately not received stats from the other regions and will not be in a position to comment on their attendances:
Gauteng had 21 official breakfast runs all in all (22 last year, 20 previously).
Logic tells us that breakfast runs attendances are affected by weather, fuel costs and personal circumstances. Remember that VOG does not impose on the membership and run attendance is not compulsory.
Attendances on breakfast runs:
Not including guests, the lowest attendance on a brekkie run in Gauteng was 14 members.
The best turnout was for both the Oukraal run in April and the Ouwerf run at the end of May – 37 members each!
Compared to previous years, the most attendances on a Gauteng run were:
2016 - 51
2015 - 50
2014 - 53
Total run attendances for 2017:
Motorcycle rider = 401 (2016 = 466/ 2015 = 376)
Motorcycle pillion/ or motor vehicle = 153 (2016 = 237/ 2015 = 234)
Combined total = 554 attendances (2016 = 703/ 2015 = 610)
That makes for an average of 26 attendances over 21 runs!
The top Gauteng attendance winners for 2017 are (presentations by Sonnika Britz):
Top Rider (Male) 1st Prize - VO 243 - Corrie J van Rensburg - 20 runs
Top Rider (Male) 2nd Prize - VO 464 - Eben Coetzee - 18 runs
Top Rider (Male) 3rd Prize - VO 318 – Werner Britz - 15 runs
Top Rider (Female) 1st Prize - VO 464 – Yolanda Coetzee -18 runs
Top Rider (Female) 2nd Prize - VO 460 – Caroline Giani - 11 runs
Top Rider (Female) 3rd Prize - VO 243 - Cathy J Van Rensburg - 10 runs
Top Rider (Female) 3rd Prize - VO 225 – Mariette Meyer - 10 runs (not present today)
In the next category, we recognise both the person riding as motorcycle pillion and attendance by car.
Top Pillion/ Cager 1st Prize - VO 428 – Babs Prinsloo - 11 attendances
Top Pillion/ Cager 2nd Prize - VO 409 - Sonja Coertzen - 10 attendances (not present today)
Top Pillion/ Cager 3rd Prize - VO 477 – Maliska Robinson - 8 attendances
We see VOG as a family-orientated club, where it would not ever be likely that children are excluded from official outings. So youngsters on runs are always welcome.
Top Pillion/ Cager Youngster 1st Prize - Shané – daughter of Werner Britz - 10 attendances
Top Pillion Youngster 2nd Prize - Weroeska - daughter of Werner Britz - 9 attendances
Top Pillion Youngster 3nd Prize - Johndré - grandson of Louis Bezuidenhout - 4 attendances
VOG memberships - a few milestones worth mentioning:
VO 001 – David V. Davy Founder member (1st March 2004)
VO 100 – Hennie Swanepoel (7th July 2006)
VO 200 - Buks Neethling (6th March 2008)
VO 300 – Mike de Beer (21st Sept 2010)
VO 400 – Robbie Kraay (2nd June 2013)
While we look forward to the next Century member - our newest recruit by the 4th March is:
VO495 Douglas Cobbledick from Sundra (approved on 1st Feb 2018)
VOG would not exist if it were not for the members, who are recruited by various means.
With the huge explosion in VOG’s public exposure, such as our recent advert in Bike SA, the VOG website, the Facebook public page and Social page – new memberships are indicative of the power of Social Media.
2016 – 16 new members
2015 – 29 new members
2014 – 12 new members
This last year, we had a total of 14 new memberships, with:
5 x credits going to Bike SA, the VOG website and a motorcycle dealership
9 x credits going to member recruits:
I am proud to announce that it was well worth the money spent on advertising and with 3 credits to their name – RECRUITER OF THE YEAR 2017 goes to BIKE SA magazine!
Corrie Janse Van Rensburg was called to accept the floating trophy on behalf of the popular magazine - to be displayed at the HEAD OFFICE in Kempton Park.
Current Statistics:
We are never 100% sure of our exact membership status until all invoices have been acknowledged for the new year – but according to records at present, we have 110 active principle members, with 3 new members having signed up since the beginning of this year.
So who does VOG appeal to?
Of the 113 active memberships as at today's posting (ages turned in the year 2018):
1 member younger than 30 (1%) – VF490 Dominic Nienaber
6 members aged 30-39 (5%)
19 principle members 40-49 (17%)
49 principle members 50-59 (45%) – talk about Midlife Crisis!!
31 principle members 60-69 (28%)
3 members 70-80 (3%)
1 member 86 years old (1%) – VO15 Neil Hamilton Wood
We called on both the youngest and oldest active members of VOG to report for a photograph:
"I give you VF490 Dominic Nienaber & VO15 Neil Hamilton Wood!"
The birthday invite was sent out by sms to about 110 members countrywide, but as you would imagine - all the attendees on the day were locals from Gauteng - for obvious reasons!!
It was however fantastic to see our friend Buks Neethling and his daughter Aimeé - having travelled 300 km from Lydenburg to be with us on the day.
To make it more worth the travel distance - Buks was presented with his 10 year membership badge and was acknowledged as the originator of the first VOG Challenge - the Four Point Star!!
It was a great day as usual - with about 50 Gauteng members and family in attendance. Besides the attendance awards, recognition was given to SCM members having served during the last year and for members coming in as SCM's for 2018-2019. A separate story has been added with these details. Lucky draw prizes are always enjoyed by all and the day was finished by tucking in to the 14th Birthday Cake.