hobby and engage AFOLs and the viewing public my prior interactions had been online. While at at exhibitions and community meet-ups. Brickvention I spoke to a gentleman from Fairy The Bricks on the Border team consists of Bricks UK who told me about how they donate five committee members, three of whom are LEGO sets to children’s wards in England and how founding members and the driving force behind they wanted to bring this joy to other parts of the our club. Gus Terry (President) is a keen builder world, so I said count us in, and they did just that. and collector who colltaborates on LEGO projects With a generous donation of LEGO sets from Fairy with Matthew Fankhauser (Events Co-ordinator). Bricks UK, our club presented them to the Their latest MOC is a Medieval Castle which was Base Hospital Paediatric Ward. It was such a good by Geoffrey Reid, Bricks on the Border™ Inc. Club on display at ‘Brickvention’ 2020. Geoffrey Reid feeling to be able to do this. Secretary and RLUG Ambassador (Secretary & RLUG Ambassador) is a LEGO custom The COVID-19 crisis has had a devastating effect * facebook.com/bricksontheborder/ builder of TV & Movie MOCs as well as a builder on our LEGO community, as we have not been of local Albury- iconic buildings and able to hold exhibitions and club meetings or he name of our LEGO® community is Bricks attend other events. But being a resilient bunch on the Border™ Inc. or BOBLUG, and as we have soldiered on and held club meetings Tan Australian LEGO club on the border of online and communicated with other LEGO and New South Wales, in the twin cities communities to bolster the morale of all our of Albury-Wodonga, we thought it would be a LEGO friends. fitting name for our club. We held a few building competitions online The origins of our LEGO club started in 2015 for our members, and even put together a when like-minded AFOLs found each other at LEGO COVID-19 stimulus package of sets for our ‘Inside the Brick’–a Melbourne based company members to build during self-isolation. Our main holding a LEGO exhibition in Albury-Wodonga for source of funding is through raffles of LEGO sets at the first time. We started with three members our events and sponsorship from local businesses, who have a passion for building with LEGO and but for now that revenue stream has dried up we now have over twenty active members who landmarks. Peter Fartuszynski (Vice President) and we still have overheads like insurance, build in all sorts of LEGO themes. We hold two loves building with LEGO Technic, and built a government fees and other costs. general LEGO exhibitions at the MYER department replica of the historic Bakery where Once this crisis is over all our LEGO communities store and attend ’s biggest LEGO he works as a pastry chef. And Neil Strachan will be back bigger and better than ever in 2021, exhibition ‘Brickvention’ in Melbourne each year. (Treasurer) is a passionate builder of LEGO train ready to recommence our LEGO exhibitions and We also run several minor LEGO displays at other layouts. Many of our other members build and bring joy to the viewing public. events in regional Victoria and New South Wales. create awesome LEGO MOC’s and are immensely Our LEGO club was organising its own major proud of their achievements. LEGO exhibition ‘Brick Muster™’ in October 2020 Some of the highlights of our club’s history but due to the COVID-19 crisis we had no option would, for me, be going to Brickvention 2020 but to postpone the event for everyone’s safety. in Melbourne for the first time. Being in a Achieving RLUG status in 2018 gave us a wheelchair, it has always been a difficult task huge lift and sense of pride to be more closely travelling to other places. While there I displayed involved with The LEGO Group. As the clubs RLUG my ‘MALCOLM’ Film MOC which caught the Ambassador, I find LAN to be an especially useful attention of Ryan McNaught (AKA The Brickman), tool for keeping up to date with all things LEGO- host of LEGO Master Australia. I also got to meet related which I can then relay to our community up with other AFOLs and RLUG Ambassadors members. We are being proactive with other over the weekend, and it was awesome to see LEGO communities and media to promote the everyone in person for the first time since all

46 HISPABRICK MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2020