After 50 years with the Lismore Kart Club, Goonellabah’s Barry Fisher this month received a Premier’s Community Service Award. However, as the award recognised, his contributions to the community have not just been on the kart track.

I was always into sport. I got picked up by a talent scout for tennis and every school holidays went off to tennis camps and I was into surfing too because I lived at Brunswick heads. After school I moved to Sydney for a while to work with the PMG (Postmaster-General's Department) and took up roller skating and speed skating and played A grade roller hockey and roller game at Rushcutters Bay Stadium. 

When I got back to Lismore I worked as a skating instructor for the late Harry Rigby. I also got back into boxing and training boxers under the banner of the PCYC in the old scouts hall in Magellan St, prior to the current PCYC being built, with Stan Hayward and Ron Davis. We trained boxers and I had a few fights under their banner. 

I used to also do a fair bit around Show time with Les McNab's boxing troupe. "Get yourself up here young Fisher, you reckon you can go a round or two?" he used to say. So I'd do that and he used to give me some cash in hand out the back of the tent. As an amateur you weren't supposed to get paid but he always made sure I didn't go home empty handed, so that was good.

The old karts Barry Sullivan used to work on and race in 1969. PHOTO: Supplied.

I got involved in karting in January of 1969 at the kart circuit called Round Swamp Raceway on the Tenterfield Road west of Casino. I started out as a pit crew driver and drove other people’s karts in return for me helping them. My first kart was an old-home made chassis with a McCulloch 30 motor. I think it cost around $100 and we raced on an oil sealed circuit.

At the end of 1969 the lease ceased on the Round Swamp Circuit and the club was without a home. I called a meeting of interested parties and was given the task of obtaining land to establish a kart circuit. This was done with the then local member Bruce Duncan MLA and Show Society President Spencer Spinaze. The new circuit started in 1970 with a small band of members.

Over the years, I’ve travelled and raced from Sydney through to Bundaberg in Queensland and won a National and a number of State championships all whilst preparing and servicing my own equipment.

The thing I enjoyed most was the friendship. There was a great bunch of guys. I enjoyed going out there and racing hard and yet we were still able to socialize and be friendly about it afterwards, which was great. I must admit, as the years have gone on, things have changed a bit to the early days. But that's how life changes.

I also enjoyed the adrenaline of going quick. The last kart that I put together that I've got in the shed at the moment, it's got two engines on it - twin 125 water-cooled, electric start engines - and it's capable of over 160km/h.

Barry Fisher gets some air on the kart track. PHOTO: Supplied.

It's a real buzz with your bum 20-25mm off the ground. If you hit a rough section of the track, you can feel it in the bottom of the seat. It's just the adrenaline of going fast and going around corners fast. And if you haven't driven one you haven't experienced the real thrill of cruising cause that close to the ground, it feels like a thousand miles per hour.

Me and my daughters always attended meetings as a family and a highlight was when my middle daughter took up driving. She is my son and daughter in one. Absolutely loves motorsport. Loves driving. Another highlight for me was when my son-in-law and my three grandsons also took up the sport. Karting was always marketed as a family sport and it certainly was for this family.

When we first started in Lismore, there was an old tin wash shed we used to use as a canteen, just a table and that. Very primitive. The club has grown and the facilities have come a long way since 1970. We started with a membership of six and now today have about 170. The club has a bitumen circuit with covered outgrid, and a state of the art control tower and so on. We’ve hosted a National Championship and two State Championships.

Everything has been funded and built by the club and while it might just look like a big paddock, it would be about $2 million to redevelop it if you had to go and build it again. We have only had one grant in the club's lifetime, the 50 years I've been there. We got a $19,000 grant which allowed us to put up the brand new control tower and that went up last year

I reckon 25 years out of the past 50 I've been president of the kart club and when I wasn't president, I was always doing something. After a number of years officiating, I was nominated to a grade 1 official which gave me the opportunity to travel to various states in Australia - with the exception of West Australia and Tasmania - to conduct both National and State championships. I also did 11 years in the pit lane at Indy Cars on the Gold Coast.

About eight years ago, I started driving for the Leukemia Foundation. Friends that we go old time dancing with lost their son to leukemia. He was about 28 or something, young. My friend said one day that they were stretched for drivers, would I be interested in doing some driving? And I said, why not. I was also happy to do it because I lost my dad to leukemia as well. So it's giving something back and I've been doing it ever since.

We're rostered on basically once a week but sometimes when we're really busy, we're running two or three days. It's great. You meet some lovely people, unfortunately most are elderly and have either lost their partner or they don't drive. The lady I picked up yesterday, she's on her own and doesn't have a lot of friends so when she gets in the car it's very much shut up and listen, but she's got a heart of gold. When you lose one it's like losing a family member because you do get attached. They're all really nice genuine people.

Barry Fisher receives his NSW Premier's Award from Lismore State MP Thomas George. PHOTO: Supplied.

My wife knew about the Premier’s Award for about six months beforehand. The night I was due to receive it, she said we have to go to the kart club meeting. I told her I didn't want to go, I wanted to watch a show on telly. And she said: "We'll record it". She insisted, saying something was happening and I had to go.

I walked in and Thomas and Austin Curtin were there and I thought they must be going to give something to the club as part of their election campaign. Then Thomas started talking and I realised he was talking about me and gave me the award. I had no idea, didn't expect it. 

I went to Sydney the year before last and got an award for the Queen's birthday and the same year I got a life membership with Karting NSW, so this really tops it all off.

Looking back, what I’m most proud of is my family; my wife and daughters. We've always been a pretty close knit family and always there for each other.

I worked at Telstra for 43 years and when I retired in back in 2006 I was planning manager for the North Coast. Looking back the achievements I got through work were a highlight. I didn't expect to achieve what I did.

My time with the kart club has been good and bad. The things the club have been able to achieve make me very proud, even though there are some issues the with which club hasn’t been able to get an acceptable result.

Barry Fisher's current kart. PHOTO: Supplied.

These days, I’m keen to do some some caravanning and let the younger membership progress the club but I’ll keep my competition licence. I haven't driven a kart for over 18 months because of my hip replacement so I'm still waiting to see how that goes. Hopefully I can get back in the thing and have another couple of pedals before I give it away altogether.