2016 Christmas Party and Awards night

And what a night it was. Our hardworking new Committee member, Bronwyn Smedley Read, excelled herself in the organization with the RACV Club, which was a welcome upgrade in the choice of venue.

The band, the Brightside Duo, despite their dorky name had the music business down pat and Bronwyn’s black-and-white themed night was parlayed into some interesting fashion, especially with the males of the species.

Fewer trophies made the night a little less like the Brownlow Medal count, and helped prevent the comperes falling asleep at the mike. Penguin 1 and Penguin 2 (dinner-suited MCs Nathan Gordon and Chris Ralph) acted out a convincing two-hander on the stage, but the highlight was the interview of Just Cars CEO Ashley Hunter by Nathan.

These two riffed off each other in a hilarious bromance and Ash himself, aided by his team of Just Group execs really helped make the night boogie. With a big stage presence and bonhomie, Ash not only presented trophies and drew raffle tickets but also said some very nice things about the Club, our racing and how the Just Cars sponsorship plan was working for all concerned – and that he was not just in it for the short term.

Thanks also to Ms Zsuzsa Zalatnai, Marketing Director of Gold Sponsor Bob Jane T-Marts for presenting trophies and fellow Gold Sponsor Weber Performance’s Daniel van Stokrom for doing the same. This included an affable presentation to his father Rob for his 3rd in class and even funnier moment when he presented a 2nd in class trophy to himself with a spinning self air-hug and a DR shooey out of one white sneaker.

There were thousands of dollars in raffle items to be had for the tickets sold, amazingly, Julie Eeles won both the two main items, the WAECO fridge (approx. $800) and the Dobbs Family Hamper (approx. $350). It was a touching moment when she recounted the recent worries of husband John’s recent health.

But by far the most touching moment came after the presentation of the Sneddon Family Clubman of the Year not to a person, but to the Gordon Family (see the story in Short Shifts) and Shirley Gordon came on stage to accept the trophy with Nathan.

It was a terrific night and capped off a great year for the Club, reflecting the boom times that historic touring racing is currently enjoying.

Chris Ralph