The Biggest CMPA Annual Dinner

The 2018 CMPA Annual Dinner was held at The Australian Events Centre, Essendon Fields. CMPA Member Services Manager, Gavin Moreira, reviews a night to remember.

A display of mobile plant and trucks are what greeted Members and guests to this year’s Annual Dinner. The first time an outdoor trade display was held from 5pm with a fuel tanker from Eagle Fuels & Lubricants, a Burdett’s Mack truck from CMV Truck & Bus, Mobile Jaw Crusher from Tutt Bryant Equipment, CAT 972M Wheel Loader from William Adams, XPower Wheel Loader from Liebherr Australia, Striker HQR907 Impact Crusher from Onetrak and a FM120C Washing System from Terex Jaques. Those attending were able to get a close-up look at the machines.

The CMPA Annual General Meeting also commenced at 5pm. CMPA Chairperson Mr Garry Cranny opened the meeting and addressed the assembly with highlights from the preceding twelve months. Motions were passed for acceptance of all the reports including the Financial Report and the CMPA Strategic Plan 2018-2021. There was one vacancy (for Voting Members on the 2018/19 Management Committee for a three-year period. All attendees and proxies were in favour of re-electing Drew Phillips (Castella Quarries) as a Committee Member.

Pre-dinner drinks and delicious canapes were served as guests started to trickle in to The Atrium and collect their lanyards and seating arrangements.

The room was soon abuzz with guests mingling and enjoying some networking. Dom the Magician kept everyone occupied with his intriguing tricks which continued into the dinner room as he moved around the tables. There were indoor displays as well by Associates from William Adams, Flow Power, Finlease (Aust) Pty Ltd, Finlay Screening & Crushing Systems, Onetrak, Lincom Group and Eagle Fuels & Lubricants. Also, on display were framed Member articles from the 100th Issue of Sand & Stone.

Our special guest for the evening was The Honourable Tim Pallas MP, Treasurer of Victoria and Minister for Resources who also walked through the trade display and spoke with Members in the pre-dinner area.

The curtains opened to the spectacular main dining room, which was filled with colour as guests found their way to their tables where they discovered gifts from our platinum sponsors. Each guest received either a spanner shaped bottle opener from Onetrak or a packet of chocolate rocks from Crushing Equipment. One lucky guest per table also collected a die cast model which was also provided by Onetrak and chosen at random by a hidden red dot. A special thank you to Alex Fraser Group for our table centrepieces, with a layer of recycled sand certainly making an impact.

Once again I was MC for the night and began by welcoming those present and thanking our Sponsors for the night. The tone for the night was to socialise, network, have fun, enjoy the night with your families, friends and fellow CMPA members. A special Members video was produced and played depicting a map of Victoria showing our members work authorities followed by snapshots of 8 CMPA members displaying the diversity of our membership both big and small across the state. The Honourable Tim Pallas MP, Treasurer of Victoria and Minister for Resources gave a welcome speech which was followed by the CMPA Chairperson, Garry Cranny who discussed some of the highlights from the past year and the issues that the industry faces in the future.

A mouth-watering three course meal was interspersed with a presentation from the Associate Chairperson Jason Rudge (William Adams) who took the time to thank all of our Associates for their support throughout the year and acknowledged all of our sponsors. He made special mention of the five Voting Members who also sponsored the Annual Dinner.

He then invited the 8 members present on the night to come forward to be presented with a 15+years framed certificate of appreciation for being members of the CMPA since inception. Present to accept their framed certificates were Robert Knox from South Gippsland Quarries, Basil Natoli from BCA Consulting, Michael Hocking from CJ Ham & Murray, Jack Kraan from Focus CDS Consultants, Noel Pickering from Box Hill Institute, Lew Dilkes from Crushing Equipment, Gavin Carns from Groeneveld Australia and Peter Laskey from Kinder Australia.

In keeping with tradition, the names of all those guests present went into a draw for a door prize. This year’s lucky winner was Courtney Beaumont from Conundrum Holdings who received a Hotel Windsor gift pack which was generously donated by Crushing Equipment and presented by Mr Lew Dilkes. An extra bonus for attendees this year was six FUCHS Lubricant jackets were randomly given away on the night as spot prizes.

Silent Auction items were on display in the pre-dinner room, and spirited bidding was conducted throughout the evening. Once the bidding was closed, the winners were as follows:

• Drill Rig Model – Donated by Epiroc – Won by Brendan Cornfoot from Cornfoot Bros
• Hamper & Model Pack – Donated by Liebherr Australia –  Won by Brendan Cornfoot from Cornfoot Bros
• Champagne Hamper – Donated by Oli Vibrators – Won by Luke Walsh from Walsh Ballarat Quarries
• Wheel Loader Model – Donated by William Adams – Won by Chris Roylance from Roylance’s
• Bottles of Whiskey – Donated by TSP Group of Companies –  Won by Max Rocker from Fullbore Drill & Blast

Our feature entertainment this year was ‘Like This’ a local band from Melbourne. The band provided a variation of musical numbers for guests to listen too as well as bringing many guests to their feet and on to the dance floor.

The evening ended on a high note and many guests decided to keep the mood going and move on to the ‘Mr McCracken Bar & Restaurant’ around the corner after doors closed at 11:00pm.

Once again, a tremendous night was had by all.

A final thank you to our sponsors. Without your support the night would not be able to go ahead.

The 2019 Annual Dinner will be held at VIBE Hotel, Marysville on Saturday 14th September. Located only 90 minutes from the heart of Melbourne, an excellent place to plan for a weekend getaway. Put the date in your diaries for next year and make it an exciting weekend away.

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