Rowing club in Tipperary benefits from generosity of Vintage and Classic Car Club
Clonmel club plans to improve facilities at The Island
Clonmel Rowing Club took a day off the water and went to Clonmel Vintage and Classic Car Club’s annual rally, which took place at Powerstown Park.
There were some beautiful vintage cars on display, ranging from Volkswagen Beetles, Ford Escorts and Cortinas, Mercedes, a lovely Fiat 500 and an Alfa Romeo Spider from the 1980s, shown by club oarsmen Ken Hennessy.
The late Eddie Smith, who served on the committee for many years at Clonmel Rowing Club, was a keen motoring enthusiast and he would have been in his element amongst all the classic automobiles.
Every year the Clonmel Vintage and Classic Car Club provide a classic car for the raffle, with the proceeds going to a local charity or sports organisation.
This year Clonmel Rowing Club were honoured to be the beneficiaries of the generosity of the Vintage Club and it’s great to get recognition for all the hard work that the club has put into providing a rowing facility on the River Suir.
We are blessed to have the wonderful River Suir on our doorstep here in Clonmel and the club has done a great job in introducing the sport of rowing to generations of boys and girls.
One of those girls who started rowing in the 1970s was Jane Williams.
Rowing is about commitment and discipline and those values instilled into her at The Island served Jane well in her corporate career, and last year she was elected President of Rowing Ireland. She follows in the footsteps of Clonmel's Tom Fennessey.
At this point in time, Clonmel Rowing Club has its largest membership-ever and the number of crews competing at home and abroad and even the Olympics has reached record levels.
All this success has put pressure on the existing facilities and therefore a plan has been put in place to build an extension to the boat shed, modernise the gym and upgrade the boat fleet.
The helping hand that the club has received from Clonmel Vintage and Classic Car Club will go a long way to helping us to achieve those ambitions, and the members of Clonmel Rowing Club are extremely grateful to Clonmel Vintage and Classic Car Club for their support.
In the draw at the car rally, the first prize of a Rover MG went to young oarsmen Conor Corbett.
He might not have a licence to drive yet, but I’m sure his father Ronnie will take the car for the odd spin to keep it in good working order.