Alocal business has been recognised for its ongoing community contribution to a safety initiative.
Mount Gambier’s Barry Maney Group received a Certificate of Appreciation last week from the Lakes Rotary Club and The Rotary Foundation for its integral part in the Lakes Rotary annual light check.
The lighting checks take place annually, with the last event held in May at Barry Maney Ford’s Jubilee Highway site.
Lakes Rotary members checked all vehicle lights with proper fitting available on the day by Barry Maney and tyre checks conducted by Trident Tyre Centre.
It coincided with events at Bordertown, Naracoorte and Millicent, with 110 vehicles checked resulting in 71 light aims adjusted in Mount Gambier – making it the largest of all the events.
The initiative celebrated its 20th anniversary this year after starting out in the Mount Gambier Woolworths car park on Commercial Street East in 2002 on a Sunday afternoon.
Lakes Rotary spokesperson Darren Archibald said the lighting checks were initially funded by RAA with the help of Lakes Rotary, Cocky’s Auto assisting with the light globes and Trident Tyre Centre checking tyres.
“After a couple of years RAA stopped its support but gave us the light boards to continue with the project,” he said.
“It was decided to change the time to an evening and a shift to Trident Tyre Centre on Bay Road gave us the opportunity to do so in an undercover environment providing protection from the weather.
“This too presented its own issues, and a new location was sought after safety concerns with the build-up of traffic along Bay Road.
“Barry Maney Group stepped forward and offered their premises for use with the help of Trident.
“Once again, we had queues down Jubilee Highway, but we have now been able to divert along Fairlane Drive to get cars off the main road.”
Mr Archibald said Millicent and Naracoorte started their own light checking in 2009/2010 and later Casterton and Bordertown joined in.
“In excess of 100 cars are checked annually in Mount Gambier, with a peak of nearly 200 cars checked in 2014,” he said.
“Barry Maney Group have maintained its support (throughout), providing us with an undercover area and approximately 10 staff on the evening, which enables us to check three vehicles at any one time, checking and replacing broken or misaligned lights.
“This is done on a weeknight between 5pm and 7.30pm and all for a few sausages for the staff.
“Our light check would not be possible without the generous support offered by the Barry Maney Group and while our Certificate of Appreciation recognises the support they have directly supplied our organisation, we are also well aware we are only just a small part of what Barry Maney Group do in our local community and we acknowledge them for everything they do.”
