General News
28 March, 2024
The biggest picnic in years
MORTLAKE hosted one of its largest gatherings of rare and unique motor vehicles over the weekend.
The Federation of Veteran, Vintage and Classic Vehicle Car Clubs (FVVCVCC) members descended on Mortlake’s Tea Tree Lake on Sunday, with hundreds attending to get up close and personal with motoring history.
The annual Federation Picnic Days event celebrated it’s 20th year with more than 100 iconic vehicles lining the lake.
FVVCVCC vice president John Kennett said he believed the event was easily the biggest in at least six years.
“After COVID-19 things were a bit wishy-washy, across every organisation, but this one of the biggest we’ve had,” he said.
“We had excellent turnout from members in Geelong, Ballarat and excellent participation from clubs like Hamilton, Colac and Camperdown.
“Our members all played a wonderful part in the day.
“We had cars from as early as 1911, 1912 and 1913 as part of the early section, right through to the latest of the classic vehicles, so it was a great cross section of motoring history and it’s not always something you can get to see these days.”
Mr Kennett said he was thrilled to see so many members of the community coming along to get a closer look at the vehicles on display.
“We were very pleased with the community support,” he said.
“It’s a picnic for the clubs but it’s great to have so much support from the local community, who showed up with quite a bit of enthusiasm.
“We see some of the same faces, and it’s lovely to see new faces every year.
“Who knows, we might even get some new members out of it as well.”
Members of the Mortlake Lions and Country Women’s Association day group offered their support with a sausage sizzle and sweets, which Mr Kennett said was well received by attendees.
“They worked together which I thought was a great effort,” he said.
“We’ve asked them both to come back next year, and I think they were happy with their results.
“Both organisations did a great job and to see them working together was great.”
The event will return Sunday, March 30 in 2025 after having been held a week earlier this year due to the long weekend.
Mr Kennett said he hoped next year could be even bigger and better.
“We’ll be back to our normal format and we look forward to seeing even more cars and more people wandering through,” he said.
