40th Pride of Workmanship Awards

           On Monday, 18^th May we celebrated our 40th Pride of Workmanship Awards presentations, a tradition in our club commenced by PP David Hopping and his team back in 1976 when the program was born. This year, as no doubt in most, if not all, of the previous years, we had canvassed a broad selection of businesses and organisations, inviting them to consider nominating a suitable candidate for an award. Not all responded positively to our invitation, however we did receive 8 excellent nominations, and as a result, we had just under 70 people in attendance.

            Our keynote speaker was Marelle Thornton AM. She has recently retired from her position on the board and as President of the Cerebral Palsy Alliance, an involvement spanning 35 years. She had also been a teacher with NSW Dept of Education for 39 years.

            Marelle delivered a wonderful speech which was so appropriate to the occasion. She had obviously ‘done her homework’ and skilfully wove the essence of the Pride of Workmanship Awards into her experience with the Cerebral Palsy Alliance.

            The chairman thanked Marelle for her most appropriate talk and David Firth gave a background to the awards, noting that for all but the first year in 1976, Pennant Hills Holden/Barry Smith Hyundai and its predecessors back to Les Vagg Holden have had at least 1 awardee every year. He also noted others who were present and had nominated often over the years - Hornsby Hospital, By-Dezign Pty Ltd, and Pennant Hills High School.

            The awards were then presented to the 8 awardees by Marelle Thornton and President Adrian. They also presented awards to the employers with Pennant Hills High School rewarded with an Executive Plaque in recognition of the support for the program over the years. Overall, it was a fitting 40th awards night, enjoyed by all who attended.