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Report: National Convention 2006 |
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Written by Anton Dyason - IPMS SA Media Group
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Monday, 17 April 2006 |
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Page 9 of 9 Awards Dinner: The awards dinner was presented at the Old Greys Sport Club with dinner in the form of a set course. Throughout the awards dinner a projected slideshow highlight the weekend’s activities. Guest of Honour was the OC of 16 Sqdn, Col Mike Baits. Facilitator was Gary Osthoff who outlined the proceedings for the evening and this was followed by brief overview of Bloemfontein and the surrounding area and the rich history the area provide. The Guest of Honour addressed the attendees with a very interesting speech – highlighted various aspects of the Rooivalk, the role of the Sqdn and the close co-operation with the Armour Division as a closely integrated unit and force multiplier. As a club project, IPMS Free State elected to build scale models of the major aircraft used throughout the history of 16 Sqdn which were donated and placed on display at 16 Sqdn. As a show of appreciation, 16 Sqdn handed over a limited edition book on the Rooivalk to IPMS Free State. Although the project was completed several months before, the official hand over of the book was scheduled as part the Convention. In the speech of the current Chairman of IPMS SA, Colin Burgess highlighted friendship which over the years, as part of IPMS in SA led to a number of persons who had become great friends due to a common interest in a rewarding hobby.A toast followed for Charlie Deale form IPMS Free State as he celebrated his birthday on the day. Several timely jokes later and with the main course completed the hand out of prizes commenced in 74 categories. The prizes were handed out by Gary Osthoff and the current Free State Club Chairman, Heinrich Spannenberg. One of the special prizes was sponsored by MiG Productions from Spain. The actual prize were split into two and awarded by Matthew Kalkwerf, the local MiG Productions representative, to Zane Wilsnach for his 35th scale Skyraider and Vaughn Melville for his 35th scale Panzer IV. |  Garry Osthoff. | | |  Winners of the MiG Productions prizes. |
Aviation Shop sponsored the prize for the Best Juinior and this went to Jaco Kaalsen. Overall Best of Show went to Peter Thomas from Kimberley for his immaculate 12 scale Lotus Grand Prix car. Afterwards he said the particular era is very dear to him as it was the time he started to attend Grand Prix races as a youngster, when they were still staged in South Africa. The particular Lotus series will always be remembered to represent the particular time period of his life and by winning the National Convention with the Lotus car model made it even more special to him. In his closing speech the new Chairman of IPMS SA, Marc Cilliers expressed great concern about the junior membership in the hobby. It is therefore the main focus of the new Committee to look at ways to get the youngsters interested in the hobby and ultimately in history, aviation, armour equipment etc. and the high technology industries. Many of the youngsters who started out with an interest in the hobby may later end up in ATC, as pilots, a career in the Armed Forces or even engineering.  Some of the prizes.
|  Overall winner - Peter Thomas.
|  Best on Show - Lotus 79D. |
And so end yet another IPMS SA National Convention in the true sense of a fully fledged Convention. IPMS Free State should be congratulated for raising the bench mark to a new level to stage perhaps the best Nationals in the history of IPMS Conventions in South Africa. It was a full weekend with lots to do and new aspects to be discovered and explored while at the same time casting new friendships for life. The co-operation between IPMS Free State and the local branches of the SAAF and SANDF certainly served as an eye opener to many. Visits to both 16 Sqdn and the School of Armour have proved very fruitful and most importantly the visitors had a lot of fun while visiting the institutions. A lot of effort by various parties was put into the “Nats” in Bloemfontein and the School of Armour went out of their way to make the Convention the success it was. IPMS Free State also proved what dedicated enthusiasts can achieve by working together as a team on club level. If you put your mind to it – great goals can be achieved. This was the second National Convention presented by IPMS Free State and will serve as the bench mark for years.
To those that did not attend….. YOU obviously missed out on a great weekend – it is hoped you don’t repeat the blunder in the future. Information on the next Convention will appear on the Website soon. After all “YOU” are the Convention, without your effort there would not be a National Convention. It was perhaps best summed up in the following statement: “Whatever you do in life, you do with people and for people….” Please make every effort to attend the next Convention and remember it is also about the scale models so move the kit which is the focus of your next project to your hobby room/area within in the next few days and turn the plastic into something to make yourself proud…. Till next time – hope to see you at Vaal. All photos: C. Hugo, A. Dyason, F. Hugo.  Gallery opens in new window.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 28 April 2006 )
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