The Cobram-Barooga Apex Club presented Bradley Sneddon with a life membership on Saturday, February 7.
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After 19 years of service to the Cobram-Barooga Apex Club, Bradley Sneddon was honoured with a life membership, the first to be handed out in 27 years.
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The ceremony was held on Saturday, February 7 with around 50 people in attendance, and was a “special night” for all involved.
Club secretary Liam Gilmour said he spent 12 months putting the application together.
“It’s a fairly prestigious award to get, not everyone can get it, you have to dedicate a lot of your time to Apex and there is a lot of criteria that need to meet,” Mr Gilmour said.
“It was something that our club really wanted to do for him, just to acknowledge all the effort and time that he’s put in for us and paved the way for the club as it is now.”
Mr Sneddon was a member for 19 years and in that time he achieved more than 1200 service hours.
“He was president of our club back in 2009, and also held many other positions throughout his time,” Mr Gilmour said.
“Brad was one of the main instigators for a membership drive back in 2009, which brought 13 members into our club in one night.
“That hasn’t happened ever in our club’s history and has very rarely happened throughout Apex in general, apart from a new club forming.”
Mr Sneddon was also a founding member of the ‘Koonoomoo Picker and Packers ball’ that the club used to run.
“That raised a lot of funds for many community projects that have happened over the last 15 years,” Mr Gilmour said.
The Sneddon family: Lauren, Brad, Michelle and Cam.
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The ceremony was disguised as a fundraiser for ‘Team Hammer Time,’ a group of students raising money to fly to Switzerland for the ‘World Hydrogen Remote Control Grand Prix’.
Mr Gilmour said the club raised two and a half thousand dollars for Team Hammer Time.
“It was all a smokescreen just to get Brad there and not tell him that he was getting his life membership, so it was very much a surprise,” he said.
“He had no idea it was coming, and I think I saw a few little tears escape from all the emotion.”
The club members put together a booklet for Mr Sneddon, showcasing his time in Apex over the years.
“It had letters from about 30 past and current members that supported his application,” Mr Gilmour said.
“It got shared around and everyone was reading it, marvelling at all the different things and all the nice words that everyone said.
“Our club wouldn’t be nearly as successful as it is without him.”
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