Attendance: Nooka recorded twenty-two members and one guest in attendance.  We welcomed Bruce Anson as our guest.  Members in attendance included a returning Pip Ritchie, who is firmly in the top two of our favourite Pips.

• Members have indicated when the are able to help collect cans during the May Races.  Please assist us Thursday arvo if you are able.  Arrive about 3.00 to 3.30 Tue, Wed and Thu if you are helping.
• We will set up at the racetrack Monday at 9.00am.
• Signage has been installed on the Bonomatic 2000.  It is cherry ripe for the races.
• The Trigg foundation is very generously storing the Bonomatic 2000 for us in their shed in Strong Street.  We thank them for this.
• The Push-up Challenge is on again this June.  We will have a guest speaker on the subject shortly, so stay tuned.
• Our handover dinner will be Friday the 26^th of June.  Be there!

• Tony D announced the next District Conference will be at the Lighthouse Theatre in Warrnambool.  The District Environment Committee is hoping we may off to do container recycling at the event to showcase our container recycling and the Bonomatic 2000.
• Hayesey reported the Eisteddfod is really in need of volunteers.  Stay tuned for more details on how you can help.
• Dillo brought us news of the Warrnambool Festival of Arts.  See below for details.
• Bob thanked members who donated wine for the Thoroughbred Club Luncheon.
• Bob also reminded members to sell two books of Golden Community Raffle tickets. 
• Nooka advised that ‘Go Slow Garry’, aka ‘O What A’ was still out in front in the footy tipping with 49 winners so far.

 

This week Glenn asked us some more interesting quiz questions, including one about barrels of oil. 

 

When ‘Colonel’ Edwin Drake (Drake promoted himself to the rank of colonel despite never serving in the armed forces) dug the first oil well in Titusville, Pennsylvania he started the oil industry and the first oil rush.  While the first oil men had oil gushing out of the ground, they had now way to store the oil and get it to market.  They grabbed what ever was available which, in the 1860’s, was wooden barrels.

 

When it came time to standardise the size of a barrel of oil, there were several options; the 31.5-gallon wine barrel, the 32-gallon London ale barrel, and the 36-gallon London beer barrel.  However, the 42-gallon British herring barrel was chosen.  Why is a herring barrel 42 gallons?  King Edward IV established this by statute in 1482.

 

 

 

These and many other useless facts about the oil industry can be found in Daniel Yergin’s The Prize.  Yergin won a Pulitzer Prize for the book and it is generally regarded as the definitive history of the oil industry.  It might even slightly change your perspective on the current oil crisis.