7 June 2010
Perth-Bayswater's Hundred Years of Perth Rugby celebration culminated on Sunday night in the Black and White Ball at the Astral Ballroom, Burswood.
MC for the evening, Darren de Mello of 96FM opened proceedings for the evening and introduced club president Jack Seymour. Jack welcomed the 200 current and former players and members to the occasion that marked a historic milestone in the history of Western Australia's oldest continuous rugby club. He paid tribute to the efforts of the organising committee of Barry Guzder, Di Scholes, Debbie Hutson, Noel Spittal and Rick Boyd and to sponsors Greg Jones of Electrical Distributors WA and the City of Bayswater.
The mayor of the City of Bayswater, Terry Kenyon JP, congratulated the club on marking such an important and valuable achievement for a sporting organisation, and detailed some of the club's history from the beginnings of the Perth Rugby Club in 1906 and its evolution through the cessation and rebirth of WA rugby between 1911 and 1928, its amalgamation with Northern Suburbs in 1951 and finally the move out to the City of Bayswater in 1970 that saw the club adopt its current form of Perth-Bayswater. He spoke of the close and valued association betwen the club and the City of Bayswater over the years and the local government body's efforts to support local sport in the shape of well organised and long-standing clubs such as Perth-Bayswater. He recognised the outstanding work the club and its Junior Committee have done in growing the game and providing team sport activities for increasing numbers of youngsters in the area.
City of Bayswater Mayor Terry Kenyon
Guests enjoyed a delicious seafood entree before moving on to a sumptuous buffet banquet accompanied by quality wines, Crown Lagers and soft drinks as the evening continued.
Darren then introduced and interviewed the evening's guest speaker, Western Force captain Nathan Sharpe, who entertained the crowd with relaxed and humorous responses on a wide range of subjects and congratulated the club on such a major milestone. Nathan answered questions from the floor from guests in various stages of sobriety and afterwards mingled with the guests for a chat and an endless procession of photos with good humour. It was a great pleasure for the club to have Sharpie at the event and to have him involved in Western Australian club rugby.
