A welcome visitor to the old Carlton ground recently was Joan Eudey RSM, who came armed with a charming item of memorabilia she believed once belonged to her maternal grandparents.
Joan saw fit to donate the item – a souvenir programme of a Kia-Ora Sports Parade convened at the Melbourne Town Hall on the evening of Friday, May 27, 1949 - at which the then Carlton President Ken Luke, Coach Perc Bentley and Captain Ern Henfry featured in a £100 Footballers’ Quiz and Footballers’ Drama.
The programme.
The programme also featured, amongst other acts, Max Reddy (father of Helen) performing Jingle Bells Parodies, with Tom Davidson and his Orchestra providing the dulcet musical tones.
Joan isn’t sure how the programme came to be in her family’s possession, but knows her maternal family connections were very much in the Carlton area.
“My grandparents lived in and around Carlton mostly, so their support of the football club was territorially-driven,” Joan said. “Perhaps they attended this particular function. Whatever the case, I thought that this program might be of use to the football club,” Joan said.
A Sister of Mercy since the age of 23, Joan described her vocation as “fulfilling and interesting”. As for her football allegiance, North Melbourne holds sway - the legacy of her father Jack’s three-game tenure with “The Shinboners” in 1926.
The quintessential post-WW2 Carlton players review.
The Kia-Ora Sports Parade of 1949 is acknowledged on page six of the Carlton Football Club’s Annual Report of that year, and reads as follows;
“Your Committee wishes to thank the Management of Kia-Ora Products, John Clemenger Pty. Ltd., 3KZ, and, in particular, Messrs. Doug Elliot, Max Reddy and Norm. Banks who make for the success of ‘Sports Parades’. The publicity and service to football and the individual clubs rendered by the above-mentioned is recognised, and your Club’s night on 27th May, and again on 9th September when we shared the Melbourne Town Hall with our semi-final opponents, were bright and successful shows.”
