THE SCOTTISH KIWI

"The adverts should have read,..."Scotsmen and a Kiwi in Kilts,............Pray For Wind!".  A fine collection of knees were on show at the WSRA (World Speedway Riders, Association) Scottish Committee's Annual Dinner Dance last Saturday evening, held in The Almondvale Suite of Livingstone Football Club and one set of these bare knees did not belong to a Scotsman.

It was a special occasion , in fact a VERY special occasion, as this was the 6th Annual Scottish Dinner Dance and our Guest of Honour was legendary Kiwi, Ivan Mauger who, by co-incidence, had Six World Individual titles to his name.

Not only were we honoured with Ivan's presence, but the guest list included the one and only, Ronnie Moore and a "Mystery Guest" who turned out to be Barry Briggs, who had flown over from his home in California to attend the dinner,......Three Kiwi World Speedway Champions and all from Christchurch in the South Island of New Zealand and all having enough fond memories and respect for Scottish Speedway that they honoured us with their presence at our dinner in the small town of Livingstone. That may sound a little bit patronizing, but there cannot be too many events throughout the world (other than the main WSRA Dinner)  where these three great champions are together, especially when Ronnie lives in New Zealand, Ivan in Australia and Barry, as I mentioned, in California, so it really was an honour for Jimmy Tannock and the hard-working Scottish Committee, and all of Scottish Speedway, to have them at the Dinner.

Briggo, Ivan & Ronnie were not the only visitors from the Land of The Long White Cloud as former Glasgow Tiger, Joe Hicks and fellow Kiwi, but now living in Perth, Western Australia, ex-Edinburgh Monarch, Colin McKee also joined the party with Peter Lipscombe flying in from Thailand, Darryl & Sue Mason from Teneriffe, Terry Stone, Jim McMillan,  Peter Oakes and Dave Younghusband coming from south of the border, and WSRA President (until next Saturday), Jack Geran and Tony Letheridge making their way up from the deep south of Exeter. Truly an International occasion.

Everyone who was anyone in Scottish Speedway was there and Glasgow Tigers, Aussie skipper, Shane Parker had rushed over from the Lanark Motorcycle Show where Glasgow Speedway had a stand showing Speedway bikes and handing out posters, let's hope that their enterprise pays off with some extra numbers on the gate. 

Ivan had promised us that when he came to Scotland, he would wear the kilt, and true to his word, we had a "Scottish Kiwi" as Guest of Honour. Unfortunately, he couldn't find a MacMauger Tartan , so, in honour of wife, Raye's Scottish ancestry, he wore the Royal Stewart tartan on his kilt. He would not prove whether he was dressed like a true Scotsman or not, so only
Raye can answer that question. (Send your requests on the back of an old five pound note to Speedway Star). Despite wearing full Highland dress, Ivan made one small acknowledgement to his racing days by wearing a black & white chequered bow tie just like the design on his crash helmet.

With so many famous Speedway people in the room, it looked like the Hollywood Oscars Ceremony, with camera flashes going off everywhere, as guests made the most of capturing this unique occasion on film. Speeches were made and toasts were given, including one to "The Kiwis in Scotland" in the form of a Maori Ha'aka  from Jim Henry and a poem from Scottish Speedway's Official Poet, Ian "Mose" Hutchison. We even had the pre-dinner Grace spoken in Maori by Geoff Craythorne, so the Kiwis could feel at home, then we all sat down to a great four-course meal from the special souvenir menu designed by Allan McDade, father of Scottish Junior Champion, Cal McDade.

Scottish Chairman, Jimmy Tannock was the Master of Ceremonies and made the introductions although Kenny McKinna suggested we should hold up a sign with sub-titles translating Jimmy's strong Glasgow accent, then Mike Hunter and referee, Ronnie Allan, with their softer Edinburgh accents, gave us their memories of Ivan's great career and his battles with top Scots, Dougie Templeton and George Hunter.

As Ronnie is one of our top referees, we had thought of putting him on Two Minutes as his speech lasted longer than the time taken for Ivan to win his World titles, but with that man Mauger having such a long and successful career, it would take a book the size of War and Peace to list all of his accomplishments, so there was a lot of ground for Ronnie to cover.

It was the wee sma' hours of the morning before guests began drifting away from the venue. With so many old friends to catch up with, we could have 'blethered' , i.e.,...' talked' all night but the catering staff wanted to go home. Ivan, Barry & 'Mirac', Ronnie Moore, will be in UK for a little bit longer. Ivan has some training Academies to run, Barry has some golf to play in Speedway's "Rider Cup" Tournament, and all three Kiwis will be reunited at the World Speedway Riders' Association Dinner Dance at the Coventry Hilton on Saturday.   I just wonder if Ivan will wear the kilt THIS time like the rest of us Scots,.......... so with so many Kilties arriving in Coventry on Saturday,......Let's pray for wind!"
 

Bert Harkins