Christmas Awards and Lunch at Sharks at Kareela

The Award Winners
Everybody The ladies in red Steve and Maree

08 December 2025 / Story-Kay Godfrey. Photos Rob Wilko and Mark Godfrey

The sun was shining and the chrome was gleaming as members gathered for our annual MX-5 Club Christmas Party — a day that always reminds us why this club is so special. It’s more than the cars we love, the roads we chase, or the kilometres we share. It’s the friendships built along the way, the laughter, the stories, and the feeling of belonging to something just a little bit wonderful.

This year, the organizing team — Steve and Maree Eccleston, along with Julie Sando — put together another fantastic day. With the festive spirit in full swing, members enjoyed a relaxed afternoon of good food, lots of laughs, and of course, the much-anticipated Trivia led by Steve. Competitive? Maybe just a little. Fun? Absolutely.

But the highlight of the afternoon was without question our Annual Awards Presentation — recognising the people who help make our club vibrant, welcoming, and full of energy.

2025 Award Recipients

  • New Member of the Year — Jonathan Wood
  • Members of the Year — Kay & Mark Godfrey
  • Young Member of the Year — Emma Wood

We also acknowledged our run leaders — those who mapped the roads, set the pace, sourced cafés, prepared routes and kept the adventures rolling throughout the year. Their contribution keeps our club active, engaged and always ready for the next corner.

A heartfelt thank-you also goes to Claudine and Alan Townsley, whose generous support provided the wonderful accommodation prizes for Cullenbone Schoolhouse and Cullenbone Cottage, Mudgee — warmly received and very much appreciated.

As the afternoon wound down, the atmosphere was filled with smiles, conversation and the feeling of a year well-lived. It was a celebration not just of Christmas, but of connection — of shared roads, shared tables, shared memories and the joy of belonging to a community that drives together and laughs together.

If this gathering was anything to go by, 2026 is already looking bright, spirited and full of adventure.

Because the MX-5 may bring us together — but it’s the people who make us stay.