PART III

Chapter 9 - Off to the Paces

It’s Tuesday at the AGM. No clutches out; we get to sleep in a bit. Then it’s a short distance to the Rally site proper. Tents and bikes, food concessions and trade booths, and factory displays with test rides. We do some gear shopping and then it’s a snack and walkabout to meet everybody. Denis is the National President after all so he knows everybody and everybody knows him and now we do, too. We do a meet up with our friends Russ and Jan to make arrangements for Thursday (more on them then).

We drive into town proper to do some grocery shopping and lay in supplies for Monkey Shoulder. While we’re on our way back to the Resort we come across the “Whirly Wind”. Evidently the City fathers have been following the Pale Riders blog, heard of our impending arrival and erected the tornado artwork to welcome us and forever commemorate our visit. Who knew?

It’s back to the Resort for a rest and then Kristy and Denis and I are off to the reception thrown by the Mayor and City Council for the executive board of the Ulysses Club in honor of the AGM being held in their fair City. A super reception with a great catered spread held at an historic homestead site. The reception proper was held in the old, but converted, shearing shed. There were some speeches, and Kristy and I got a shout out. I had conversations with the Mayor and City Council members and also got into a quite lengthy chat with the Superintendent of the Victoria Police, a position that, while not translating exactly, is as close to the same position of Undersheriff which I held in Teton County, Wyoming as they can get here in Oz.

We were then rushed out of the reception by Max, and taken “Off to the Paces”, literally. Among other distinctions, Mildura is a horse racing hub and Barry, the President of the Mildura Harness Racing Club, had invited Denis, Kristy and I to his private table at the finish line to watch the harness races, which they refer to as “paces”. Good company, food and drink while watching the ponies run; all great fun. There were even more shouts out for us on the public address system.

In honor of the Ulysses Club being in town the 7th Pace was named the, “Ulysses Grow Old Disgracefully Pace”. Denis, Kristy and I were given the distinct honor of presenting the award to the winning trainer of the pace in the Winners’ Circle. And just to make everything even more perfect, the award for the pace was a slow cooker, a crockpot; which was fitting indeed because that’s where the horse I bet on in that race was headed.

It’s all too fantastic.

Chapter 10 – Races; No Kidding This Time

We slept in again this morning and then headed on over to the AGM proper to continue looking around at bikes and booths and bike booths.

Word got around that “Alan from America” was around and the lady disk Jockey running the radio station that has set up broadcasting from the AGM for the entire duration of the event, tracked me down. So there I was, broadcasting live on Ulysses 92.3 FM (the station even changed its name to “Ulysses” in honor of the AGM coming to town); American accent intact.

Back to the resort for a hot tub with the Bob, Rob, and Ronnie and clean-up, and I even had a chance to catch up on the blog for all youse guys (American accent intact). Then it was off to a Happy Hour reception; everyone is so nice here. Immediately after the reception we were waylaid by a new good mate, call sign “Darkie”. Trust me, a character.

Once we got Darkie and his entourage to turn loose of us we we’re off to the races. The Mildura Motorcycle Club was holding a special event in our honor on their dirt track oval. Our seats were so good that whenever the racers came in hard around the corner we got dirt thrown on us. There were quite a few sidecar races and it was great fun to watch the Monkeys leaning hard on the bikes.

Alexa, Stephen Dearnley’s (“Old No. 1”, the Ulysses Club founder) daughter, sat with us to make the evening that much more memorable.

Lots of fun here.

Chapter 11 – Celebration

The day started with a sleeping in and then a sorting out of the room. We were then handed off to our dear friends Russ and Jan. We first met Russ and Jan back in 2010 when they were passing through Jackson the same time as the “American Wild West Tour” with Vic and Lyn, and now we have become fast friends with them as well.

The first item on the agenda was the Memorial Service for Ol’ No.1, Stephen Dearnley, the founder of the Ulysses Club. The Service was moving for many reasons, and for many reasons Stephen was loved. You can find out more about him by going down the column on the right to the “Grow Old Disgracefully Memoriam”; click that picture for more information on Ol’ No. 1.

After the Service, Russ and Jan took us for a tour of a local winery. We did some tasting and had a great snack of local delicacies at the winery right there on the bank of the Murray River.

After closing down the winery we went to town for a walkabout where bikes were starting to line the street in preparation for an evening street concert for the Ulyssians. We sat at a café table and watched it all go by as Russ kept checking his watch.

Russ was timing our arrival for our dinner reservation which was a surprise for Kristy and me; a dinner cruise on a paddle wheel boat at sunset down the Murray River. How fantastic! Great food and beverage on an old style boat with well over a hundred others, mostly Ulyssians, with a live band and dancing included. There was so much fun some were dancing in the aisles. That lasted for hours and we were sorry when it had to come to an end. Russ and Jan, thank you so much, again.

Chapter 12

Denis is still so busy doing what Club Presidents do so today Bob, Ronnie, Rob, Kristy and I piled in to the car and went down the road a ways to a town named Wentworth.

We went on a tour of the old “gaol” (that’s “jail” to all yous Pale Riders). It was all very historic. After gaol it was lunch at a pub. Lamb fry for me; it needs the sauce.

Next was the lookout at the convergence of the Murray and Darling Rivers. Quite interesting.

Then we did a bit of a walkabout at the AGM before it was back to the resort where I had to give a “you may think there is a WiFi internet connection to the guest rooms but there really isn’t” lesson to the resort manager who had insisted the guest rooms had WiFi until I invited him to try for himself. It was all taken courteously and in good spirits and I was invited to continue using the internet connection in the reception area where it really does work until they actually fix what they thought had been fixed yesterday. Fun. The curious part is that none of the guest rooms have had WiFi internet all week and I’m the only one who has brought it to the attention of management. I guess I’m the only one blogging his friends back home; lucky yous.

In the evening we head off to the AGM event Friday night banquet. 4,000 people in one big tent, the “Hoeckker”. They manage to provide food and beverage to this huge crowd effortlessly and without anyone waiting in lines. Good work. As guests of Denis, we were seated with the Mayor of Midura and the Mayor of Frasier Coast, the site of next year’s AGM.

Old friends came up to chat and new friends came up to introduce themselves. What a fabulous time. At 9:00 the live entertainment started and the huge dance floor became jammed with revelers; a sight to see.

And just when you might think that I ran out of Wizard of OZ references, check out Denis, Kristy and me with all the scarecrows from the Hills Branch in the photo below; no shortage of hearts here.

Chapter 13 – Everybody Loves a Parade

It’s clutch out at 0745 to get out to the starting point of the Parade, ours of course. This is one of the big highlights of the AGM. Everybody, over 3,000 bikes, rides to a staging area on the outskirts of town where we mingle and marvel for a while and then at 0900 sharp the parade starts. Denis led the parade, of course, as a local police car with lights flashing cleared the way in front. As a visiting dignitary or whatever, I’m assigned to be near the front of the parade, but as we departed the staging area just the way we were positioned in relation to the staging area exit and without even planning it Bob, Rob, and I all ended up just a few bikes behind Denis at the lead. As thousands of Mildurians lined the streets of the city we drove triumphantly through town waving back at all the locals the whole time and acknowledging the signs many held up saying “Come Back Soon”. First time I’ve ever had a police escort actually lead me INTO a town. Great fun!

The parade ended up back at the big city park next to the river where a big rally was held with the Ulysses Club recognizing accomplishments of the branches and members, and recognizing others whom have been given awards by the club. The Mayor of Mildura gave another speech and, as he and I have become good mates, Kristy and I got another shout out from the stage. Denis congratulated everyone as he proudly announced that a study being done by Cambridge University regarding the declining membership of service clubs in the world has acknowledged and recognized the Ulysses Club as the only service club in the world to actually be increasing in membership. WELL DONE.

After the parade it’s a quick snack and then off to the AGM meeting proper. Club business is addressed and Denis and his entire national committee is all re-elected without challenge.

After a bit of a rest we’re off to the farewell dinner; another huge production in the “Hoeckker”; this time featuring a steak dinner; well done!

Many Club branches dress-up in their traditional costume regalia; honey bees, waldos; etc. Wild. We met new friends and talked all night. The huge dance floor jammed up as the band played on.

We kissed our new friends goodbye and went back to the hospitality suit for a lesson in Monkey Shoulder and to make our plans for the next morning’s departure from Mildura.