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it was decided to write a letter of welcome to them, and as a result of this letter being
written, two invitations were sent to the club for two representatives to attend a Civic
Reception given to the Queen and Prince Philip. The President and Past President at that
time, namely Mr Doherty and Mr Beven attended the function held at the Exhibition
Grounds.

The idea of rally cards was first introduced in 1955 and I am sure that all will agree that
it was a very good idea as it enabled members to plan their social life around the rally
dates. This idea has fallen by the wayside, but it could be reintroduced again. Another
idea which has also fallen by the wayside, was the Honours Pennants given to the member
who introduced the most members into the club over a twelve-month period.

It was during the year 1955 that the idea of changing the club from the Caravan Club of
Australia, Brisbane Branch, to the Queensland Caravan Club was first discussed. This was
because it was a Queensland Club with Queensland members, so in March 1955, Percy
Muggeridge moved, seconded by Albert Oates that the Club’s name be changed to its
present format. As with all clubs, our club also had difficulty raising funds for all the
needs of the club, and in 1956, it was suggested that we could overcome this problem in
several ways.

The first suggestion was raising the fees which was met with loud “Boos”, the second idea
was voluntary donations which was met with more loud “Boos”, and thirdly a drive for
members which at least raised a few cheers, for at this time the club membership was
twenty-six men and twenty-three ladies; it had been fifty-two the previous year.

During this time, it was decided to keep a points-score for all members who attended each
rally. Points were scored as follows: Five points for each rally attended, 10 points for a
win in the Sunday morning competition, and in those days there were many competitions.
There was a lucky van prize and a mystery parcel. The club donated the first mystery
parcel, and after that if you were the lucky person to win that prize you had to supply the
prize for the next rally. It was usually something of small value for the caravan, but it
was always a thrill to be a winner. All these things tended to make the weekend with the
club so much more enjoyable.

The Queensland Caravan Club can be very proud of the fact that we were the first club to
give-out sample bags laden with Queensland products and brochures at a National Rally.
This was done at the Dubbo National Rally in 1974, and Mrs Evelyn Coates, Secretary of
that rally highly commended the club for its idea. At this rally, Marilyn Bow, daughter of
one of our past President, Mr Jack Bow, won the title of ‘Miss National Rally’.

Club committees are having the same difficulty finding suitable venues for caravan rallies
now as they had in earlier years. Many miles were travelled trying to find places which
weren’t too expensive and not too distant for members to travel to, because of the high
petrol prices, the same problem which exists today.

In 1972, the New South Wales Government brought-forward the idea of removing all
caravan parks from the beach front, and advising that they would not sanction any parks
being built any closer than two miles from the beach. Pottsville is another caravan park
which is in the process of being closed-down. It would appear that tourism in the form of
caravanning is no more popular today than it was then.