A NIGHT TO REMEMBER: ALBANY’S ATTWELL PARK SPEEDWAY LAUNCHES ITS 60TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON
On Friday night, the club celebrated the beginning of its ‘60th Anniversary’ season with guests arriving in their cocktail attire to a walkway featuring an array of photos from the collections of some of the club’s legendary members. Guests then moved into the memorabilia and trophy display area and then out into a revamped club rooms. Over 130 guests mingled throughout the evening, catching up with old and new members and reminiscing about the good old days and the dreams of the club for the future.
MC for the evening, Mitchell Berliner from Speedway Australia, invited a number of special guests to the stage to share their memories. First up was Club Chairperson, Calon Ball followed by club stalwarts in Russell Pearson, Kevin Theyer and Peter Kerr. The final speaker was Junior Sedan driver Harrison Beres who is a third generation Albany member and racer and as always, he didn’t disappoint in entertaining the crowd.
A massive thank you to Joe for catering the evening, and to everyone who proudly showcased their vehicles: Jeff Bishop with his WA1 Sidecar, Gary Kingston with his Super Sedan, Murray with his QT’s, John with his Formula 500.
Later in the evening, Cameron Newbold of the ‘Albany Advertiser’ and long time commentator and supporter of the club welcomed two new life members to the club in Bill Gibbs and Terry Bailey. Bill Gibbs has been the club’s track curator for many years and has given countless hours to the club through the use of machinery, his time or his employee’s time to help ready the track for race meetings. Bill has also offered valuable support and advice to the Track Committee throughout the years, working with them to present the best possible track for whichever division is racing.
Terry Bailey has been a long time volunteer who drives the pace/push ute and gives up his time to assist the club. His genuine passion for speedway and the club was certainly evident on Friday evening when his emotions rendered him speechless as he accepted his lifetime membership.
A special presentation was also made to Committee Member Chantelle Rowley to thank her for the countless hours she had put in to researching and collating photos and memorabilia to create a club rooms that celebrates the amazing history of the Albany Speedway Club. Chantelle was the driving force behind making the 60th Anniversary event come to fruition along with the support of the Committee.
It truly was a fabulous event which saw the past, present and future of Albany’s Attwell Park Speedway come together to celebrate 60 years of achievements.