The Friday afternoon closing ceremony was held in the undercover area. Kevin Phillips thanked everyone for their attendance, the fantastic time had, the friendships formed or renewed & the positive feedback from members. He went on to also thank the Mendooran community for the hospitality shown during the week.

Kevin handed Lyndal O'Leary & Stuart Neal representing the Mendooran Community Progress Group, the sum of $6,864 which was the proceeds of the auction night, trivia night gold coin entry, raffle, Rogers blade sharpening, baby photo guessing competition, lollies in the jar guessing competition & where the national meet will be held next year guessing competition. Lyndal thanked the group for such a generous donation that will be put to good use within the community.

Rob thanked local community groups & businesses for their participation in the week & presented them with a certificate of appreciation including 'The Bee Farmer' Adrian Grew, Mendooran Show Society representative Lyndal O'Leary for the Monday evening meal, Mendooran Men's Shed president Dennis Althofer who cooked breakfast on the Wednesday morning, as well as the Wednesday evening meal & Rusty Jones representing the Mendooran Merrygoen Memorial Club who hosted the Wednesday evening meal cooked by the Mendooran Men's Shed.

Rob then thanked members who had presented workshops during the week & gave each a certificate of appreciation.

Kev & Kathleen organised the lollies in the jar guessing competition which raised $262 for Mendooran Community Progress Group. The closest guess of 1398 was Barry Cotterill with grandchildren Hunter & Kieran. The jar held 1374 lollies. Second was Lindsay Baker with 1399, while the least lollies in the jar guess was Walter Arnott with 210 & received three lollies.

Baby photo guessing competition raising $305 for the Mendooran Community Progress Group. Winners were.....
Three photos correct - David Wilkinson, Jan Cook, Elaine Baker, Donna Zwerus.
Most picked names - Ros Currey.
Most wrong answers - Mike Edwards.
Four photos correct - Jason Cox, Sean McCombe, Jan langfield, Barry Collier.

Spirit of the Group Award is awarded to a person who is brought to the attention of the CamperTrailers Group co-owners for a good hearted deed or generosity helping others during the week long meet. The award was for the first time presented to two members. Cyan Lacey was presented the Spirit of the Group award for always helping were she could over the years. She works behind the scenes without being asked, including making sure the ladies amenities are clean & topping up supplies when needed.

Ray Dederer was in town when he noticed the back of a ute on fire. Without thinking of his own personal safety, he helped the young bloke remove the camping fridge & put out the fire with the aid of an extinguisher from the nearby pub. Rob presented the award to Cyan. Ray had left earlier in the day to return home as their daughter was arriving for the long weekend.

The Mendooran Meathead Award is for the funniest or most embarrassing moment during the week. Each entry was read out & members voted by clapping & cheering. Ray Dederer's name once again popped up as one of the contenders. After trying to get the diesel heater going for a long time & near pulling all the wiring out, his wife Sheree asked if he had turned the kill switch on.

Rob came second when he was wondering why the camera flash was not working & trying everything possible. He was noticed & told the flash will work if he took his hat off.

Lyndal drew the four winning tickets of the raffle which raised $438 for the Mendooran Community Progress Group. First out was Louise Burton, followed by Elaine Collier, Richelle Roberts & Keith Brown.

Rob told the story of how members Lindsay & Sandra had taken home a large firewood log from the 2012 Wellington national meet & then took it along to the members Flinders South Australian week long meet hosted by Mike Fretwell in May 2013.  After the log was burnt, affectionately known as 'Big Bertha', it was decided the ashes should be taken to the Batlow national meet where it would be presented to the Groups co-owners at the opening ceremony. In the meantime Phil Reid had turned an 'ashes' replica urn on his lathe to hold the remains. Since then ashes from all national meets have been added. Rob then added the ashes of the Mendooran campfires to the urn.

 $125 was raised guessing where next years national meet will be held, also donated to the Mendooran Community Progress Group. The winner closest to the location was Julie Eller with West Wyalong.

Jason then announced that Ariah Park in the New South Wales Riverina would be the venue of the Australian CamperTrailers Group's 19th national meet from Monday 30th September to Friday 4th October 2024. 

The18th national meet was declared closed & we hope to see everyone again next year at Ariah Park NSW.