VSCCA Yarralumla March 2010

Yarralumla Big Day Out 2010

Photos by David McDonald

One of the most memorable days the club has ever staged took place on 14 March at the Governor-General’s residence

at Yarralumla in Canberra. In support of a fundraising Open Day organized by The Smith Family, the club was invited to display a selection of the finest

cars from the golden age of motoring, and neither the members who participated nor the thousands of spectators who were

present were in the least bit disappointed with the outcome. Blessed with fine weather, and with the magnificent surroundings of the historic 54 hectare property as a backdrop, how

could it be otherwise? The club put up a magnificent range of 40 cars ranging from the vintage era to the more recent period

of eligible sports cars. To judge from the enthusiasm and interest of the public, we have done ourselves proud and played

our part in helping the less fortunate who are the beneficiaries of The Smith Family’s charity.

Whenever Government House is open for inspection, there is enormous interest from the public in going through the rooms and viewing the lavish settings and furnishings. On this occasion, the waiting time for admission remained pretty constant throughout the day at an hour and a half. However, as exhibitors, our members were fortunate to get in early and avoid the queues which formed as soon as the gates were opened to the public.

The building, which was finished by the grazier Campbell family in 1891, became the Official Residence in 1927. Like Old

Parliament House, it was only intended as a temporary fixture for our Vice-Regal representative but, unlike that other famous

old building, it has never been superseded.

Complementing the club’s fine display of vehicles were bands of pipe, wind, string and drum; dancers of various kinds,

painters, classical musicians, vintners, purveyors of all manner of wondrous things — and even some plucky army parachutistswho dropped onto the west lawns with pinpoint precision from 6,000 ft, just to say hello. There were also some heavy types decked out in chain mail and helmets, wandering about and sporting some pretty impressive broadswords and axes. We don’t know how they got past security but, who knows, maybe they were security.With such a spectacular backdrop, our cars were in their element. We could not have wished for a better event or more productive publicity for our brand of motoring. The show was heralded in the local TV and newspaper a day in advance, and the success of it all is now being written up for articles in an ACT regional magazine and in motoring journals, both here and abroad.

The Canberra Chapter was particularly pleased to have been supported by such a superb array of cars from Sydney and

the Southern Highlands. It is a great credit to those who made the trek to be with us on the day, and to all who participated

we say a big thank-you! It was a pleasure to meet you on the eve of the show for dinner at The Diplomat where the staff did

such a fantastic job of looking after our members and the cars.Open days of this sort are fairly rare but we hope that, if there are similar events in the future, we will again be able to showcase our s in such a positive and satisfying manner.