Balmain Rowing Club Honor Board Unveiled

 

The club house of the Balmain Rowing club was the scene, yesterday, of both soleminity and gaiety, when a Honor Board was unveiled and a racing eight christened. There were 74 names on the Honor Roll, including 11 who had made the supreme sacrifice.  In the absence of the local Mayor (Ald R Thornton), the unveiling ceremony was performed by Mr Frank Smith, M.L.A., who in a vigorous speech, said the club should be proud of a representative enlistment of 70 per cent. In some quarters, he added, there was the feeling that we should forget the soldiers in getting back to the hard facts of life. But we could not afford to forget the men who gave, or risked, their lives and left wives and dependants to our care.  Ald W Beavis also spoke.  An appeal for the support of rowing to bring it up to pre-war standard as a sport was made by Mr J W Hence, ex-chairman of the N.S. Wales Rowing Association.

 

The christening of the racing eight was performed by Mr J B Sharp; and Dr Athol Mobbs, president of the club in a breezy speech humorously remarked that he regetted the boat could not be launched in the rain, particularly because it was hoped to have the aldermen as her first crew. (Laughter.)

 

 

Sunday Times 9 October 1921