Ulysses Club
Encyclopedia
The Ulysses Club is a club for motorcyclists over age 40 in Australia.
, Australia
in December 1983 in reply to a letter in the now defunct Bike Australia magazine, the editor
being Peter "The Bear" Thoeming. The name Ulysses Club was the idea of Rob Hall, while the club's motto of "Grow Old Disgracefully" was devised by his then-girlfriend Pat Lynch. Peter "The Bear" Thoeming sketched the "old man" logo that is still used by the club in its original hand-sketched form. The inaugural meeting of the club was held in Sydney on 6 December 1983 when the five people present approved a draft constitution
and the Ulysses Club was duly formed. From this meeting a draft constitution was adopted, and the three basic principles or purposes of the club were formulated. These principles are:
These original purposes are entrenched in the club's constitutions and have stood the test of time unchanged.
At that initial meeting the five founding members became an interim management committee, until two months later, on 7 February 1984, 11 of the club's total membership of 25 members attended the club's first annual general meeting, formally electing the very first National Committee and adopting the club's constitution.
The name comes from Ulysses
by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
. It tells how the great Greek hero Ulysses
, now middle-aged and securely in charge of his kingdom of Ithaca
, is getting bored with things around him and longs to go adventuring again with his shipmates of old. It describes very well indeed the sort of person who still has enough spark to go on riding into middle and later years.
It is the largest organisation of its kind with over 138 branches in Australia and it now has branches in Germany
, New Zealand (1988)
, Vietnam (2008)
, South Africa (1997)
, Norway
, Zimbabwe, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom
, and members in Italy
, Papua New Guinea
, Shanghai
, Singapore
, Fiji
, China
, Austria
and Thailand
.
Membership of the club is open to any person, subject to National Committee approval, who has attained the age of 40 years and who holds a current motorcycle licence.
Additionally, the spouse or regular companion of a member, who has attained the age of 40 years, may also be admitted as a member on application.
Until a member attains the age of 50 years, he or she shall be deemed to be a Junior Member, but nevertheless has full membership rights and privileges.
Membership has now passed 29.000 (Source: Natcom Meeting Minutes, October 2010, Page 3).
Each year the AGM is held in a different location throughout Australia. The AGM locations are chosen by the National Committee and ratified by the Extended Natcom meeting, usually three years prior to the event being held. The AGM event has formal fixtures running for four days of the event, namely the Road Safety Forum on the Thursday, the Extended Natcom meeting held on the Friday, the Friday night Meet and Greet social and meal, the Grand Parade and Opening Ceremony on the Saturday morning and the AGM itself on the Saturday afternoon. These are followed by the Saturday night dinner and the Sunday morning church service, and finally the closing ceremony after the church service.
Additional to these fixtures, trade displays, bike test rides, organised rides, and social gatherings have been included in past events by the host committee, starting as early as the Monday preceding the actual meeting weekend, for the benefit and entertainment of visiting members.
In 2009 the Annual General Meeting was held in Penrith
, New South Wales
and attracted some 7,000 members to the city.
Albany
, Western Australia
was the scene of the 2010 Annual General Meeting and club members camped at Centennial Oval
for the week of the event. Approximately 3000 members attended the event.
History
The Ulysses Club was formed for motorcyclists aged 40 years and older at the instigation of Stephen Dearnley in SydneySydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in December 1983 in reply to a letter in the now defunct Bike Australia magazine, the editor
Editor
The term editor may refer to:As a person who does editing:* Editor in chief, having final responsibility for a publication's operations and policies* Copy editing, making formatting changes and other improvements to text...
being Peter "The Bear" Thoeming. The name Ulysses Club was the idea of Rob Hall, while the club's motto of "Grow Old Disgracefully" was devised by his then-girlfriend Pat Lynch. Peter "The Bear" Thoeming sketched the "old man" logo that is still used by the club in its original hand-sketched form. The inaugural meeting of the club was held in Sydney on 6 December 1983 when the five people present approved a draft constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
and the Ulysses Club was duly formed. From this meeting a draft constitution was adopted, and the three basic principles or purposes of the club were formulated. These principles are:
- To provide ways in which older motorcyclists can get together for companionship and mutual support;
- To show by example that motor cycling can be an enjoyable and practical activity for riders of all ages;
- To draw the attention of public and private institutions to the needs and views of older riders.
These original purposes are entrenched in the club's constitutions and have stood the test of time unchanged.
At that initial meeting the five founding members became an interim management committee, until two months later, on 7 February 1984, 11 of the club's total membership of 25 members attended the club's first annual general meeting, formally electing the very first National Committee and adopting the club's constitution.
The name comes from Ulysses
Ulysses (poem)
"Ulysses" is a poem in blank verse by the Victorian poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson , written in 1833 and published in 1842 in Tennyson's well-received second volume of poetry. An oft-quoted poem, it is popularly used to illustrate the dramatic monologue form...
by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, FRS was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular poets in the English language....
. It tells how the great Greek hero Ulysses
Odysseus
Odysseus or Ulysses was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in the Epic Cycle....
, now middle-aged and securely in charge of his kingdom of Ithaca
Ithaca
Ithaca or Ithaka is an island located in the Ionian Sea, in Greece, with an area of and a little more than three thousand inhabitants. It is also a separate regional unit of the Ionian Islands region, and the only municipality of the regional unit. It lies off the northeast coast of Kefalonia and...
, is getting bored with things around him and longs to go adventuring again with his shipmates of old. It describes very well indeed the sort of person who still has enough spark to go on riding into middle and later years.
It is the largest organisation of its kind with over 138 branches in Australia and it now has branches in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, New Zealand (1988)
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Vietnam (2008)
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, South Africa (1997)
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, Zimbabwe, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and members in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
, Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
.
Membership of the club is open to any person, subject to National Committee approval, who has attained the age of 40 years and who holds a current motorcycle licence.
Additionally, the spouse or regular companion of a member, who has attained the age of 40 years, may also be admitted as a member on application.
Until a member attains the age of 50 years, he or she shall be deemed to be a Junior Member, but nevertheless has full membership rights and privileges.
Membership has now passed 29.000 (Source: Natcom Meeting Minutes, October 2010, Page 3).
Annual general meeting
The club's annual general meeting (AGM) is held each year between 1 January and 30 June. The purpose of the AGM is to affirm minutes of the previous meeting, receive reports, consider the financial statements for the year ending 31 December previous and to elect office bearers.Each year the AGM is held in a different location throughout Australia. The AGM locations are chosen by the National Committee and ratified by the Extended Natcom meeting, usually three years prior to the event being held. The AGM event has formal fixtures running for four days of the event, namely the Road Safety Forum on the Thursday, the Extended Natcom meeting held on the Friday, the Friday night Meet and Greet social and meal, the Grand Parade and Opening Ceremony on the Saturday morning and the AGM itself on the Saturday afternoon. These are followed by the Saturday night dinner and the Sunday morning church service, and finally the closing ceremony after the church service.
Additional to these fixtures, trade displays, bike test rides, organised rides, and social gatherings have been included in past events by the host committee, starting as early as the Monday preceding the actual meeting weekend, for the benefit and entertainment of visiting members.
In 2009 the Annual General Meeting was held in Penrith
Penrith, New South Wales
Penrith is a suburb in western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Penrith is located west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of Penrith...
, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
and attracted some 7,000 members to the city.
Albany
Albany, Western Australia
Albany is a port city in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, some 418 km SE of Perth, the state capital. As of 2009, Albany's population was estimated at 33,600, making it the 6th-largest city in the state....
, Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
was the scene of the 2010 Annual General Meeting and club members camped at Centennial Oval
Centennial Park, Western Australia
Centennial Park is an inner suburb of Albany, Western Australia, immediately north of the CBD. Its Local Government Area is the City of Albany...
for the week of the event. Approximately 3000 members attended the event.