I missed the very start of the meeting. The Central Court car parking spaces were designed for vehicles smaller than those which most members now drive. So first in tend to get two parks per car, which meant I had to adopt Father Scott Lowery‘s technique of parking in the grounds of the Catholic Church. Very ecumenical.

As I walked in the door I heard talk of the club having a long lunch for its birthday on second October next. The long lunch has become something of a happy tradition. A one-off in contrast to our normal schtick 1230 to 2 pm. I did hear the lunch referred to as the club’s 30th birthday, but as the club, I think, formed in 1988 I make it 31 years old? Either way, it was fun last year so let’s do it again!

Bob Coffey and Garry Askew undertook the traditional fundraising at the end of the footy tipping season, but even though Garry has 10 fingers to Bomber Raymond’s 9, he seemed to let more coins slip through the floor, and against all odds, most people avoided having to pay double.

Brian Dillon reported that “Hospice in the Home” are starting a fresh training session soon, so any interested members, or others connected with members, can engage.

It was good to see our attendance climbed significantly from last week, with 32 present including Mary from Switzerland, Rowan O’Brien‘s neighbour and guest Ken Barrett, and guest speaker David Mills, manager of the speedway at Allansford. David was a terrific speaker and gave a very entertaining address. I’m sure many of us didn’t realise how significant the Warrnambool speedway is in terms of the sport nationally and internationally. Speedway in Warrnambool began in 1958 at the Warrnambool Showgrounds before moving to the racecourse. Then in 1972 the club purchased the land at Allansford where it has evolved since then. It has a membership base of between 650 to 750 members. They get 23,000 attending over the three nights of the 26 January event. They run on 13 to 15 nights per year and attract huge number of visitors to the town. A turnover of around $2.4 million, Most of which is ploughed back into improvements at the venue. The season operates from November to Easter and relies on a significant volunteer base. David describes the venue as something of a giant men’s shed! Members literally take holidays to come out and help set up for the Australia Day event. It is one of only 34.5 star rated venues in Australia and punches very much above its weight.

 

One of only three venues in Australia which can start 24 cars. It’s a quarter mile track with Jamie Veal of Warrnambool holding the lap record Time of 9.963 seconds being an average of around 150 km/h. The sprint cars in the main event 900 hp and involve incredible technology. A new engine will set you back $70 or $80,000. The cars have a bit of power to weight ratio than Formula One vehicles. Patrons have the opportunity to mingle in the pits with the drivers and it makes for a great atmosphere.

The club has established a close sister-city relationship with Knoxville in Iowa which is a great speedway centre even though the population of the town is only 7000. Knoxville has only two motels, yet 23,000 people attend the two week Nationals each year.

Weather can impact the event, and if it rains, Speedway can’t race.

At the end of his address David was presented with the traditional club gift of some quints paste from Malcolm MacPherson. These cars normally run on methanol, but keep an eye on the exhaust colour next season. I suspect it could well be purple given the potent nature of Quincey’s paste.

David’s address was so interesting and such fun that we didn’t have any time for fines at the end. Sergeant Paul O’Brien appointed Geoff Taylor on fines for next weeks meeting.

President Tim concluded the meeting with a Chinese proverb worth remembering, “He who asks questions is a full for five minutes. He who does not ask questions is a full forever“.

Robbo.

Mary’s (Marjolein Overberg) presentation at our 28 August meeting two weeks ago was absolutely fantastic. Although we got a good turn up to bowls that night, we had a fairly light attendance of only 20+3 guests for Mary‘s presentation, so it’s worth re-capping her 16-year-old life to date as she related it. With any luck we will be able to have her deliver an expanded version at some later time during her year in Australia, which by then could incorporate her Australian activities.

Her parents are age 49 and 48. Her father is Dutch and so she has family in the Netherlands. She is an only child, and her only cousin is a younger boy with whom she is very close. That family have moved back to the Netherlands for the parents’ work, and so she is missing her younger cousin.

Her favourite activities include scuba-diving where she is licensed to dive to 30 m. The Swiss lakes must be pretty high, because the photographs of her in full diving gear appeared to show Lakes thousands of feet below the point where the photograph was taken.

She also loves dancing, having taken up classical Ballet at the age of four, but now enjoying modern dance and jazz, just for fun. The Europa League ( a division below the Champions League Soccer) had its’ final in Basel in 2016. Mary was part of the dance troupe which performed before the start of the match, and in front of a packed stadium of over 35,000 people it was a memorable experience.

She also plays the Picollo, loves snow skiing and indoor hockey or floor ball as they call it, travel, archery and sailing, cooking (but not cleaning). After last weekend with Catherine Goodall we can add riding horses on the beach.

Having commenced at Emanuel College she reported that she is getting used to the concept of a school uniform. Another stark difference is that in Switzerland students don’t get to choose subjects. The differences in schooling are very interesting. After primary school students going to different streams of classes based on results and aptitude. Sounds familiar? We used to do it. Swiss “ High School“ is apparently the last four years of one’s schooling, with students finishing at an age of 19 or 20.

Mary aims to attend medical school as a tertiary pursuit.

She had always dreamt of going on exchange to another country and expressed her gratitude for taking her on, assuring us,  “I don’t take it for granted”.

Her English language skills and sense of humour, saw her deliver a very high-quality presentation indeed. Thank you Mary!