Holden Retirees Club News
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Trafalgar Museum's 10th Anniversary Cruise
Just a few words on the Route 69 Cruise that took place at the Trafalgar Holden Museum last weekend (20 October).
This weekend was an absolute resounding success for the Museum and its passion for things Holden and above all that, a mammoth tribute and tipping of the hat to the Museum's founder and developer, Neil Joiner. Never has the Museum seen such numbers, with hundreds pouring through the Museum and an estimate of about 350 plus Holden vehicles participating in the Cruise itself. The packed street outside the museum was only further enhanced by the presence of some historical police vehicles parked next to the last Victorian Police VF Commodore pursuit vehicle which the museum holds and treasures so dearly. The VF police car and the historical models headed the cavalcade, along with every conceivable version of the Holden range. Naturally a 48/215 was close to the front as well.
It seems the passion for the brand is perpetual as is the passion for the museum that seeks to perpetuate it.
One hell of a day.
[Thanks to Brett Murray for this article]
12th December Lunch report
Some 140 members joined us at the Mulgrave Country Club to enjoy what was later agreed to be an excellent, three-course Christmas lunch! Bill Hooper was back as President and opened the proceedings at 12:30, welcoming members and guests. One member in particular received special mention; Kevin Cox, who is our longest-serving member and one of only two who saw every model from the 48-215 up to the close of production. Kevin started in the Toolroom in 1948, and during his long career with GMH, he served in Marketing in several Management roles and represented Holden at the New York State Fair. But he spent most of his time in public relations, including 10 years as the editor of People Magazine. He 'retired' in 1986, but soon returned on contract for a six-week job in Asia-Pacific Engineering, which turned into 11 more years!
Marc McInnes also came down from Sydney for the Lunch and called on Leo Pruneau on the way. Leo is in fine fettle and asked that his good wishes for Christmas and the New Year be passed on to members.
Next, Bill welcomed our four new members:
Mike (Chee) Lee, Engineering, Fishermens Bend & Proving Ground
Leo Leontaridis, Sales & Mkt, Acacia Ridge
Andrew Kohut, Planning, Fishermens Bend
Kevin Yardley, Engineering, Fishermens Bend
Those new members in attendance were welcomed with applause.
Bill then went on to name the members who had passed away since the last lunch:
Peter McDonald, Eddi Azzopardi, Don Brooks and Audrey Anthony.
Members stood for a minute's silence in memory of the departed colleagues.
The three-course delicious Lunch was then served.
ooo000ooo
Following lunch, Bill introduced our guest speaker, Gary Kendrick, "General Manager of keeping busy in retirement".
Gary started his work life at GM Holden in 1980 as a first-year Fitting and Machining Apprentice. His career at Holden lasted 39.8 years and covered a range of responsibilities and experiences.
- 6 years shop floor as a Fitter and Turner
- - Moved into purchasing, having many purchasing roles, working closely with the
- Engineering and Design teams
- - Parts Readiness manager for new model launches
- - Supplier Quality Manager for Holden
- - 2012 went to St Petersburg Russia for 3 months to run Supplier Quality GM Russia
- - Holden Program Purchasing Manager for new models
- - 2015 – 2019 ISP assignment to India as Supplier Quality Director, looking after 400 suppliers in India and 3 manufacturing plants
- In late 2019, he returned to Australia, retired and has been flat out ever since.
Gary has always had a keen interest in car rallying, as a driver and car builder and still competes. He has 3 rally cars, a Datsun 1600 and 2 Commodore V8s. All the family is involved with his son competing at a high level in his VN V8 rally car, his daughter an experienced navigator and his wife as service crew.
Outback travel is another of Gary and Barb’s passions. They have travelled extensively to many parts of Australia that most of us would like to see but never actually get there! These included Cape York, the Kimberley, Simpson Desert and Canning Stock Route to name a few.
Gary also makes his own wine, "Chateau Shed", with some of his mates. He says it helps with the Cost-of-Living Crisis! But they use 2 tons of grapes at a time, so it is quite a significant venture!
Gary spoke at length about his life adventures, both overseas and in the Outback. He illustrated his talk with many striking images that would do justice to a commercial travelogue. His talk has been recorded and is available for download here.
Gary was thanked by acclamation and a bottle of wine, which Bill assured him would be drinkable, if not up to Chateau Shed quality!
We then had the Lucky Door prize draw, with the usual prizes plus three packs of memorabilia donated by Russell Nainie.
General Business
Bill moved to general business.
Firstly, he advised that the Committee had decided to stop giving Westfield Cards for door prizes, in favour of giving the cash equivalent. The prizes would remain unchanged at $30, $20 and $10 but would now be paid in cash.
Secondly, he reminded those members who had not yet paid their $10 subscription for 2025, it was now due.
Then, he passed the microphone over to Treasurer, Neil Pogson.
Neil advised that the website, which lately has been having a few issues, has been completely rewritten and refreshed, and (all going well) the new version would be up and running over the next weekend. This change was a major undertaking, and even though the new site has been tested for a month by six members, some errors may still be present. So if you use the new site and something does not work as you expect it to, please send an email to Neil at his
Bill returned to close the meeting, but in doing so, thanked Secretary Peter Roberts and Treasurer Neil Pogson for their work on behalf of the Club, which was greeted with applause by the members. He also thanked the Mulgrave Club for the excellent way they have looked after us this year.
Peter Roberts responded by asking for a round of applause to thank Bill for his efforts as President of the Club.
The meeting closed at 3:30 PM.
ooo000ooo
The next lunch will be Thursday 6th March 2025
We look forward to seeing you there!
Woodville Toolroom 25 Year Club 2024 Annual Dinner
On Friday night the 18th October 2024, the West Lakes Golf Club again played host to 60 GMH Woodville Toolroom 25 Year Club members for their 2024 Annual Dinner. This was the club’s 43rd Annual Dinner, which incidentally, was our 25th dinner at that venue.
Members were treated to a three-course dinner with raffles and speeches throughout the evening.
Our Chairman Pat Beerworth introduced our Special Guest Speaker for the evening, Mr. Rod Keane, retired GM Holden Ltd Executive Director of Manufacturing. Rod gave members an interesting speech on his overseas assignments in the wider northern hemisphere GM plants, particularly Italy, with some humorous experiences with his management meetings, with varied culture and language implications.
Members attending our Annual Diners are passionate Holden people, developed from a strong culture which existed in the Woodville Toolroom during its historic existence. In the 1950’s and 1960’s the Woodville Toolroom was the largest toolroom facility of its type in the southern hemisphere. Members really enjoy the re-kindling of friendships and reminiscing the stories from their time in the Woodville Toolroom, working with the ‘General’, as the organisation was commonly and proudly referred to at that time. [Thanks to Darrell Thomas for this article].
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The Gold Coast Retiree Lunch was held at the Parkwood Tavern, Southport, on December 5, 2024
L– R Carole Hickey, Sue Colman, Sue Bryant, Jill Ashmore, John Ashmore, Rod Alford, Garry Newsome, Ron Stewart, Ted Bryant, Maureen Roberts, Jan Alford, Ron Colman, Graeme Roberts, Basil Hickey.
Thanks to Ted Bryant for this information.
Members who are users of Social Media might like to know that there are some pages of interest to both current and retired Holden employees. The first is the “GM Holden Alumni Group” on Facebook, which at the time of writing, has 1,647 members. This is a Private Group, so you must apply on the site to join, but only other members can see who is in the group and what they post. It is a lively group, started and moderated by HRC member, Thalia Abramzon.
The second is the “Holden Engineering Alumni” Group, which also a Private Group on Facebook, but you must have been a member of Engineering at some time to join. It currently has 465 members and is moderated by Sharmy Francis and Rod Pettit. Quote: “The aim of the Group is to share photos, news, stories & thoughts between past & current Holden Engineering team members. Any group member can invite others to join. All members MUST BE or HAVE BEEN Holden Engineering Team members. Please ensure that people you invite to join meet this simple criteria. Posts must be positive, professional & appropriate. No GM Confidential information.”
Lastly, for users of LinkedIn there is a “GM Holden Alumni” page with 367 members in the network at present, again administered by Thalia Abramzon. The direct link to the Group is: www.linkedin.com/groups/12295307.
All these groups are recommended to interested members who want to keep in touch with current and past mates.