Car cruise for fires

By Kath Gannaway
STACEY Kinsmore feels sure her friend Kate Ansett would have been just as overwhelmed as she was by the response to the Black Saturday Remembrance Cruise.
The cruise, held on Saturday, passed through Toolangi where Kate and fiancée Steve Fisher died on 7 February 2009.
“I know she would be proud, and perhaps overwhelmed as I am, but she was a performer, so I’m sure also that it would have made her happy,” Stacey said as more than 400 cars and an estimated 100 motor bikes finished the remembrance cruise at Healesville railway station.
Stacey and husband Troy organised the cruise as a tribute to Kate, and to all who died and ,whose lives were affected on Black Saturday.
The response was phenomenal and moving as the cars and bikes, headlights on, made their way from Lilydale to Healesville travelling through the fire-affected communities along the Melba Highway and on to Toolangi and Chum Creek.
Many of the people in the cruise had their own stories to tell of Black Saturday, of loss and escape and the three years since.
It was an emotional journey for many with people standing by the roadside, waving, or crying or just standing in a silent salute.
Graham Smith of Yarra Glen drove a 1970 ZD Fairlane, which miraculously was spared when all else around it was destroyed. He bought the car from the owner after the fires and says he is pleased he has been able to keep it in Yarra Glen.
“We knew of course what the cruise was about, but when we went past a little girl, and she was crying, then it really hits home,” he said.
Stacey’s sister Wendy Bennett dedicated a beautiful poem to her sister, and said the cruise allowed people to pay tribute to not only all those people who lost their lives and whose lives were affected, but to remember the animals that perished, and to say thank you.
“This is also to say thanks to all the brave women and men who helped communities stay safe, fight the fires, and help people rebuild,” she said.
Cr Jeanette McRae called for a minute’s silence, and spoke the names of the 12 people who died in Yarra Ranges. “They were all part of our community. We miss them,” she said. “It has changed our community.”
Stacey said the event was not about cars or bikes. “I’m glad that emotion is still there and that perhaps it is what some people needed to move on.”
The Black Saturday Remembrance Cruise raised almost $10,000 for Healesville CFA.