By Fiona Fagan
When my grandfather, JK, and my dad, Roger, started Cub back in 1968, I bet they never imagined it would still be going fifty years later – but here we are 50 years later and stronger than ever. This is thanks to our incredible team and the wonderful Cub owners who are such brilliant ambassadors for our brand. It was such an honour for me to meet many of those owners at our Jamboree celebration at Del Rio Riverside Resort in Wiseman’s Ferry on the weekend of 19 October 2018.
All up, more than 100 Cub owners (camping in around 40 Cubs) attended the event. We are all pretty sure there have never been so many Cubs in one place, and what a sight it was! The event started with registration under the marquee, where we gave out goody bags containing a Cub hat, bottle opener, bumper stickers and other items. We then had drinks and nibbles and were officially welcomed by our CEO, Simon McMillan, who has been part of the Cub team for a year. The rest of the evening was pretty casual – and a few of us (me included) stayed up close to midnight, talking Cub and having a bit of a laugh (and perhaps a wine or two).
Saturday was a busy day. The day’s activities kicked off with a presentation given my dad, Roger Fagan, who has been retired since 2011 but came along to provide a bit of background into the history of the company. This was followed in the early afternoon by the much anticipated Cub Set-Up competition.
It was a highly competitive event with singles and couples racing against the clock to see who could set up a Traveller in the fastest time. As we know, Cubs are fast to set up so the average time of the day was only around 2 minutes and 30 seconds. The fastest time of the day for couples was a blazing 1 minute and 38 seconds by Tania and Iro Schembri, while the fastest time for an individual was Cub’s Managing Director, Shane Fagan with 1 minute 40 seconds.
After the setup event, it was time for the Cub Trivia Competition to see who knew the most about Cub’s history as well as little-known adventure locations around Australia, and the the questions turned out to be pretty tough! We ended up with 3 winning teams for the event :Team Alpha, Pagpew and Russt Rob, all with 12 points out of a possible 20.
Almost immediately after the trivia ended, ominous clouds rolled overhead and the heavens opened. Despite the thunder, rain and heavy wind, spirits were high as we huddled under the marquee, enjoying a few pre-dinner drinks. It was great to see all the Cubs hold fast against the tempest, staying put and keeping out the rain.
Fortunately the weather calmed in time for the big event – the gala dinner in the Del Rio Marquee. With a beautiful meal and fantastic live music, we all had a great evening. Matt, our NSW Sales Manager and YouTube star, showed how he is a man of many talents when he jumped on stage with the band to join in with the guitar.
The weekend wound down with a few of the Cub owners helping out to cook breakfast on the Sunday morning before we all said goodbye.
The event exceeded all expectations. We had a great time, a lot of fun, and made many new friendships.
As a third generation owner of Cub Campers (along with my brother Shane and sister Melissa), I am incredibly proud to continue what my grandfather and dad started. Our 50th Anniversary year has been a record sales year for CUB, so lets hope Cub will be marking it’s 100th Anniversary with just as much joy and laughter as it did for it’s 50th.
I wonder what a Cub camper will look like in 50 years?
