Life Members' Annual Lunch

On Sunday May 27, the Life Members and their partners of the Hawthorn Football Club met at the Mulgrave Country Club for their Annual Luncheon.

Stories of famous victories, high marks, long kicks and ‘remember when’ filtered through the air as former teammates, trainers and officials were reacquainted with one another.

In the absence of the Chairman of the Life Members Committee, Daniel Harford, John Kennedy Jnr stepped in at the last minute. He introduced Club Director Peter Nankivell and wife Andrea, Club Chief Operating Officer Tim Silvers, Senior Events Executive, Annelie Smith and then welcomed all attending Life Members and their partners.

A moving video presentation followed as recently deceased Life Members, Norm Lord and Brian Kann who were recognized for their valuable contributions to the Club. Norm Lord served as President of the Past Players and Officials Association. Norm Lord also served as Club Runner in the 1978 Premiership and Brian Kann captained the 1958 & 1959 Reserves Premiership team, served on the Board, President of the Social Club and played a key role in Operation Payback in 1996.

In their absence the Ian Law and recently departed Alf Hughes were presented certificates honouring the 50 years as Life Members of the Hawthorn Football Club.

The MC for the day, John Kennedy Jnr then introduced Club Chief Operating Officer Tim Silvers who gave a very informative video presentation outlining the Club’s proposed new future home at the Kennedy Community Centre at Dingley. The audience of which many had only experienced the basic club facilities at Glenferrie was held spellbound with the cutting edge vision for the Club’s future.

A major highlight of the day followed, when John Kennedy Jnr introduced fellow teammate and five times premiership player Gary Ayres to the microphone. Together they reminisced their playing days and the 30^th anniversary of the 1989 Premiership. Stories from the premierships they had experienced together, the countless humorous experiences at training nights, end of season trips enthralled all in attendance. Gary Ayres is currently the coach of Port Melbourne in the VFL with two Premierships to his credit enlightened the audiences understanding of the differing tasks of recruiting, training and coaching a stand alone VFL Club in its pursuit to gain success.

John Kennedy Jnr then conducted the draw for a trip to see the 2019 Hawks play in kindly donated by the Club. To the delight of all in attendance, the popular cult hero James ‘The Freak’ Morrissey held the lucky ticket.

The afternoon came to a close with the now mandatory photo of the Life Members, who crammed together on the stage, ensuring that many more entertaining tall stories would be heard.

The Life Members would like to acknowledge the generosity of the Hawthorn Football Club, whose support of our LM Luncheon is greatly appreciated.