HISTORY

The MMACA is a Tasmanian based organization made up of affiliated clubs and private individuals. It can, however, have members from anywhere in the world but its primary benefits are of a Tasmanian/Australian nature e.g. discounts at local Hobby Shops and Public Liability Insurance.

Roger King and Brian Johnson had known each other for years. At least twenty! Neither being quite sure where one met the other but the friendship goes back to the mid 1960s when Brian Johnson managed Australian Model Raceways, a commercial Slot Car Centre in the Hobart suburb of Sandy Bay. Roger was a customer and that's probably where it all started. (Roger has been thinking since this was written and reckons it was 1964 when he bought a tool kit from Brian who was then still in his first job at A. H. Gifford Pty. Ltd.).

Over the ensuing years they continued to run into each other mainly through business which in Brian's case was a number of Engineering Equipment Supply outlets. Roger's career was considerably more stable working first for the Education Department and then the Department of Main Roads / Department of Construction.

In 1991 they were both called up for Jury Duty at the same time and while waiting to be allocated cases to be heard they talked and realized that both had held a long time idea, quite independently of each other, to put on a Model Exhibition that replicated the Model Engineering Exhibitions that were held in the Hobart City Hall way back in the late 1940s and the early 1950s.

Both had attended these as kids and the atmosphere was still fresh in their minds. Both believed it could be done in the 1990s.

They both had almost the same idea but with a slightly different approach. Brian wanted to form an association and then put on the Exhibition whereas Roger wanted to put on the Exhibition and then form an association. Brian soon recognized the wisdom of Roger's approach and after their turn at Jury Duty they got down to planning the first ever Model Makers And Collectors Exhibition.

The name was originally going to be the "Model Makers Exhibition" but at the suggestion of the now late Peter DeGroot, who at the time owned the Elizabeth Newsagency and specialized in Die Cast Collectable Cars, the word 'Collectors' was included. And it would be fair to say that the various Die Cast Collectors, both Clubs and Private, have always supported the Exhibitions.

Roger and Brian contacted as many people as they could that they knew were involved with Model Making, both Clubs and Privateers. A meeting was arranged at the Derwent Regional Library in Glenorchy where they both outlined their plan. Costs for the hire of the Derwent Entertainment Centre had been obtained and other possible venues were discussed. The idea after gaining the support of those present was to take the complete proposal to the Glenorchy Lions Club as a charity fund raising exercise.

While there were some present at that meeting who said it would never work, the majority were in total agreement and pledged their support as Exhibitors. Upward of 20 people attended that meeting and some are still participating today.

After deciding that the Derwent Entertainment Centre was the best venue and confirming costs Brian drew up what might be best described as a business plan and Roger drew up plans and construction method for a portable lake of what seemed at the time to be enormous proportions (27m X 18m) and a rough layout of the Centre based on the pledges from the meeting.

The whole concept was then taken to a meeting of the Lions Club of Glenorchy where a video presentation of the types of Models that were likely to be seen was shown and Roger and Brian addressed the Club with the idea. On Brian's first calculations it was shown that a sum of up to two thousand dollars could be raised for charity but this did not include TV advertising. With careful management using TV this sum would go up to approximately $3000.

Needless to say, to their credit, after some deliberation the Lions Club accepted the proposal.

That first Exhibition in 1992 raised just over $5000 for charity and the Exhibitions have gone on to be the Lions Club's major ongoing fund raiser.

The Association was loosely established following the 1993 Exhibition and the next year discussions started with the Glenorchy City Council about a possible site for a Model Operating Park within that City's precincts. As time progressed it was found to be in the Association's best interests to incorporate, so in 2000 the Model Makers And Collectors Association Inc. came into being.

The Lions have been a tremendous help to both the Exhibitions and the Association by providing up front funds for things like the significant deposit on the Entertainment Centre and some pre - event advertising. As well they provide upward of 30 members who do a huge amount of lift and carry on set up day of the Exhibition. They also provide the Public Liability Insurance under which the Exhibitions are conducted.

The Lions Club is the Patron Body of The Model Makers and Collectors Association Inc. and as such they are now providing much needed assistance with the construction of the Model Park, Stage 1 of which opened in December 2006.

Kristie Johnston, Alderman and Mayor of Glenorchy City Council, was during her tenure, Patron of the MMACA. Both she and her husband Ben, are keen railway enthusiasts and are playing a major role in trying to establish a light rail commuter service to the Northern Suburbs of Hobart utilising the now closed section of the old Rail corridor into Hobart. Ben is very much into live steam gauge 1.