Sunday the 10th of September saw us cruising through to Anne Blackwood’s beautiful Ebony Hall to enjoy one of our favourite events of the year – Eggs Benedict, featuring Round the Buckets – in joyful memory of Maurice Blackwood.
We were treated to a stunning spring day, completing the perfect backdrop for our beloved social brunch. The brunch itself was awesome, with Anne even organising a barista to ensure coffee cravings were satisfied with aplomb.
Efforts to raise money for Beyond Blue were very successful and we raised $1,027 on the day. Thanks to Anne for organising and to all who contributed!
Making an already great day even better was the inclusion of our yearly Round the Buckets. Read on for a little history on the event, thanks to Anne.
A Brief History of ‘Round the Buckets
The much loved late Hon. John Dawson-Damer, Patron of Club Lotus Australia, started the annual Round The Buckets on his historic property Oran Park in the 1970s.
His property had previously contained a golf course which was smooth as a bub’s bum. Now, in those days, alcohol was a huge part of life and motoring and this event was often conducted under the influence. One year, in the wet, we even had a Rolls Royce taking part. (Quite a sight to see 4 tonnes sliding out of control sideways…)
D-D was also famous for distributing hay to his cattle from the whale tail of his Porsche 930. He also had one of the greatest Lotus Formula One collections in the world. All were bought for a pittance and included the FWD 63 which took him to his death at the 2000 Goodwood Festival of Speed. He had a terrible habit with seat belts and they were rarely tight.
At Lotus 1987, in torrential rain, he did not want to disappoint us and brought out the ground effects 79 to demonstrate at Oran Park Raceway. Another great sight and sound to see him spinning this wonderful toy down the straight at Oran Park and hearing that cranky DFV.
We need lovely, eccentric and passionate people like D-D and he is much missed. He was my friend. The world is definitely a bit vanilla without him and his like.
Anne Blackwood
Back in 2017 and Stephen Palmer was able to hang on to the John Dawson Damer Trophy for another year, fending off steep competition from Anne, Graham and 2015 winner Peter Walker. Congratulations Stephen!
A monumental THANK YOU to Anne for hosting the event, putting together a beautiful meal and encouraging us to play cars on her lovely property. Eggs Benedict is as pure an expression of the spirit of the club event as can be found, and is a highlight of the calendar each and every year.
Gino Valdes has very kindly shared some images from the day, which you can enjoy below.
Thanks to Gino Valdes
