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Canterbury has always had a strong emphasis on fellowship, and it has had a valuable bonding effect for members and their families. Partners Nights are normally held once a month, but there is a standing invitation to partners of members to attend any dinner meeting. There are the normal events in a club calendar: The Christmas Party, Club Birthday Party (in April), and Changeover Night, which are always great fellowship occasions and always well attended.
One activity which has been held several times since 1990 is the “Aquatic Weekend”, a long weekend in April or May during which yachts or cruisers are hired, generally from Riviera Nautic at Metung, and a very relaxing time is had cruising about the Gippsland Lakes. Usually the boats gather at the one point each night, and a very merry evening follows. The lakes tend to be rather shallow and boats sometimes run aground. As the lake bed is sandy little damage is done, except to the helmsman’s reputation.
On one occasion the venue was changed to the Murray River, with houseboats hired at Echuca. This was also an enjoyable outing, but in comparison to the lakes there was not too much room to manoeuvre, leading to occasional encounters with the riverbank and near misses with paddle steamers.
Another annual event for many years was a social cricket match and family barbecue. Generally the two teams were captained by the President and President Elect. Although not notable for displays of sporting prowess, these were enjoyable occasions. However, they have been dropped from the program in recent years (due to advancing age of members?).
In addition to the Aquatic weekends, more conventional weekend trips have been occasionally organised for members and their families. Places visited included Mt. Buller and Mt. Hotham (in summer), Lorne, Warburton and Port Fairy (hosted by Alan Stevens).
District Conferences are generally well attended by Canterbury people. The Club usually makes its own accommodation arrangements, and many members plan additional holidays before or after the conference.
Other regular Fellowship activities include:
- “Friendly Flickers”, Sunday night films at the Balwyn Cinema with discounted tickets; often followed by a late meal
- Oz Tennis: A special charity day at Melbourne Park on the Sunday before the start of the Australian Open Tennis Championship. Proceeds went towards training of young tennis players.
- “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”: Several families act as hosts and names of the guests for each host family are drawn out on the night.
