On May 22, 62 Life Members and their partners met at the Mulgrave Club for their Annual Luncheon. Stories of wins, losses and remember whens filtered through the air as former teammates, trainers and officials reacquainted one another.

Chairman of the Life Members Committee, John O’Mahony introduced the MC for the day, former player Daniel Harford, renowned for introducing “Harf’s Half-Hour” with Graham Arthur on Thursday nights in the Social Club in the mid 1990s and now a media star on SEN radio.

Garry Young was honoured for his 50 years as a Life Member with a certificate to mark the occasion. New Club President, Richard Garvey presented a well-received update on the fortunes of the Hawthorn Football Club. This was his first appearance as President at the Life Members Luncheon.

Left: John Silvester and wife Jenny. Right: Richie Vandenberg, wife Jasmine and children.

The featured speaker for the day, Hawthorn tragic and the Crime Reporter for the Age Newspaper, John Silvester held the audience spell bound with his engrossing tales of the seamy side of Melbourne’s underworld and his recollections of following his beloved Hawks.

A moving moment followed with the introduction of former player Luke McCabe who lost his family home and farm in the recent devastating bush fires in South Australia. Luke was presented with a Life Members Tie, Certificate and Medallion, Debut Order Tie No 754 and a set of team photos from his playing days, replacing the ones lost.

Left: Mary and Graham Arthur celebrating his 80th birthday. Right: Luke McCabe and Daniel Harford.

It was pleasing to see a number of the players from the 1990s join in the festivities, Mark Graham, Ben Dixon, Rayden Tallis, Richie Vandenberg, Luke McCabe and 2008 premiership hero Ric Ladson as they are the future of this illustrious group. Also in attendance were the Club’s four lady Life Members, Jenny Brown, June Nicholas, Silvana Hurst and Jas Paic.