Fun times early days of speedway
demolition derby at Riverside, in which the last car moving is declared the winner. Kennard believes she would have won if her pit crew had obeyed instructions.
‘‘I told them to tie the [car] battery down and they didn’t.’’
The battery tipped over late in the derby and caused Kennard’s car to stop.
Winning the Southland Women’s Championship was another highlight for Kennard.
She and husband Ross, who was also a speedway driver, were regulars on the Christmas and New Year circuit competing in Dunedin, Oamaru, Timaru and Christchurch
‘‘Every Christmas, we’d load the kids in the car, put the [stock] car on the trailer and away we’d go.’’
On one trip, the Kennards’ family car, a 1955 Chevrolet, had gearbox trouble and couldn’t tow the trailer, with the stock car aboard, up the steep hills of the Kilmog, near Dunedin.
Kennard said the Chevrolet was ‘‘missing a gear’’ and didn’t have the power to tow a heavily loaded trailer up the Kilmog.
The stock car was taken off the trailer and driven over the the Kilmog by Ross. However, waiting at the other end was a policeman.
‘‘I’ve had several phone calls about you,’’ the policeman told Ross.
Somehow, Ross managed to talk his way out of a fine.
Without the weight of the stock car, the Chevrolet and trailer went over the The Kilmog without problem. The stock car was put back on the trailer for remainder of the journey north, with the Kennards looking for any hills approaching.
‘‘If we saw hills coming up, we’d go fast to get up them,’’ Kennard said.
Meanwhile, softball has been part of Kennard’s life for 50 years.
She started playing at 16 and went on to be a catcher (17 years) and a coach (10 years) for the old Grasmere Softball Club.
For the past 25 years, Kennard has operated the canteen at the Invercargill softball diamond every Saturday during the season, opening at 10am and closing at 5pm.
‘‘I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t go there on a Saturday.
‘‘Some of the umpires have been there as long as I’ve been there.’’