Forum: Northern California Sprint Car (go)
Moderators: StuDeedooo

If you pray, please say one for our Hosers in Christchurch.

Their city has been devastated by another earthquake and I have not had contact with Batman.

I e-mailed him but have not gotten a reply yet. If I hear anything I will post it here.

Thoughts and prayers to the Roger Gleeson ( Hunt Magnetos). family and friends. May God be with them...

The Padjen's

From the Allard Motorsports Facebook page: Jonathan is back in Auckland safe.

I hope we hear something from our friends there soon.

Mike, thanks for the update on Jonathan. Sounds like Ricky Logan is safely on the north island too. Glad they are ok.

I talked to Alan Wakeling (in Auckland) a bit ago and he reports he has talked to Batman. They are without water and electricity but safe and healthy. Their home is ok, but Batt's place of business is leveled. He found an old dial type telephone in his garage and hooked it up to his land line and it works. I put a call into him but had to leave a message.

Also, Wakeo reports that from what info he has, Roger Gleeson's sister and family are ok as well.

Thanks for the update Jim.

Finally had some contact with Batman and as sometimes happens in these situations, early reports can sometimes be wrong. As you can see by the below message I received from him, his place of business is not leveled. Sorry for the mis-information.

thanks Jim..we are all ok in the Batt house...no power, water, sewage...cell phone died,...house OK, but significant damage to street and surrounds... I am at work where there is power and charging everything up.... That was very nasty...know several of the dead, and fear for a couple more guys.
Actually broke down before watching TV images, as weve seen nothing until now...just so sad-its a place I love so much, and we have such a big job in front of us...took 5 1/2 hours to do 15 mile yesterday..dont know when I can email again, but please send through your phone number and cell...appreciate your concern- could you please put something on the Northern CA Message board

And this is a second "broadcast" type message he sent.

sorry I cant reply individually, but I have taken the liberty of cranking up internet at work
>
>
> hi guys...short and sweet- pass onto who ever as I know that Ive forgotten > a few people..I am not thinking that straight!
>
> got to work this morning and just seen electricity for first time since earthquake..my family are all fit, healthy
> and ...well very frazzled..tired, but atleast we are well. Our house is
> ok...alot of property damage. and our street is just a mess- burst water
> main, burst sewage. We were prepared- water, batteries..have got a nice
> toilet outside protected by a $5 blue tarp from the warehouse... We dont expect
> power/water/sewage for weeks at home as our area has been badly hit. My daughters friends mother is
> missing in the CTV building (search abandoned). My sisters brother in law was rescued from the
> PGC building but in critical care in Auckland...Ihave to say that I was not
> prepared for what I saw on TV here at work, and had to walk away..as you
> all know I am so proud of Christchurch and Canterbury,and on Monday I was sitting in the Cathedral Square admiring the beauty of our city and this is a dagger> through our heart...
>
> must keep moving, but boy, this is a huge job in front of us...BTW, got to our office at > Woolston yesterday and it took 5 1/2 hours to get home....15 kilometers away..I will try to keep in touch but it could be several days!
>
> take care
>
> Batman
>
> Regards
>
> Allan Batt
> Logistics Co-Ordinator
> Lyttelton

BatMan sent me a text message a bit after 4PM on Monday. Very brief but I could tell he was distrought. We exchanged a couple more texts and then nothing until the message several us got that Jim posted above. We had just talked last Saturday about his trrip over this year for Gold Cup. He was planning on bringing the whole family.....I sure hope they can get things together and make it over. With all the trouble they've been having down there if they do come I don't think I'll let them go back.

Our VP of Engineering is also from Christchurch. So far all his family has been accounted for but he's been walking around this week visibly not his normal cheerful self. We were talking today about the inactive volcanoes just off the coast from Christchurch and some geologists are worried about their future status.

I never met a Kiwi I didn't like. I don't want to se anyone suffer but these people are special. We all need to focus all of our mental powers on their well being.

A status update from Batman:

thanks Jim..I think that the family are coping remarkably well. Being a countrybred boy, I am pretty resourceful and have built a pretty
good outside toilet! we're working our way through food stocks ok...of course no electricity = no freezer, and that darn thing is always full!managed a shower at a friends place and that was absolute heaven..Mobil are being awesome...they are shipping a power generator to me from Wellington- now all I need is the gasoline to run it, but I will siphon the vintage Midget etc, and maybe barter generator time with neighbours in lieu of gas to keep it running....saw a bit more TV coverage at my friends place last night, and the whole family mate, well we sat like 'stunned mullets'...God has looked down on my family, but I have genuine fears for many more, including a couple of mates...but communication has been patchy. Please thank the Hoser Community for their thoughts..I have printed off the emails and will take them home for Kerry, Alannah and Daniel to read.As far as contributions go thanks- but I have no idea- maybe the Red Cross?
I will try to keep contact up next week

cheers, many thanks, our sincere gratitude to you all

Batman

For those of you that don't know Allan, he is very involved in sprint car racing in New Zealand. He has promoted and does PR and announcing duties at Raupuna I believe. He has a midget that he restored and has some track time with it. During his visits to America, he has visited a number of tracks and spent time in the booth with Troy Hennig at Chico and Bobby Gerould at Calistoga. He just wrote a book about a what could be that country's best ever driver, Barry Butterworth. Barry spent time in California and at one point was the USAC RoY. The book is titled "One Tough Dude".

I asked Batman if there was anything we Hosers could do for them. Money, clothing, food, anything? His repy was maybe the Red Cross. Well, I was thinking that if there were a sudden surge of orders for his book, that would certainly help pump him up. Anyway, for those so inclined, here is the web site for ordering... www.barrybutterworth.co.nz. Be sure to listen to the interview of Allan where he tells some storys from the book, good stuff.

Thanks for the updates Jim and Rich.

http://www.raceimages.net

thanks for the updates you guys! Thoughts and prayers for the people of Christchurch.

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Thanks for the updates.My prayers go out to the families.

Steven

hi guys...at last a chance to respond. I am grateful for your thoughts and prayers for all of us here in Christchurch..it means a lot to me, and is very special to me and my family....Things are starting to happen , although there are still around 100 bodies still to be found and returned to their loved ones. I know that the city that I loved and cared for so much will never be the same. My descendants came out on the Sir George Seymour, which was one of the four pilgrim ships that came here in 1850...any wonder I feel so parochial?I am grateful that my family have emerged unscathed physically, but the continuous aftershocks are wearing us down mentally...spend 10 minutes on www.christchurchquakemap.co.nz

it'll stagger you! once again many thanks for your collective thoughts....my Hoserville shirt got a good showing on Sunday as many in our street joined forces clearing silt out of the gutters and trying to give our area a sense of 'normality'

cheers to all, and thanks so much

Batman

check the boxes for the sticky dots and fault line, then sit back and watch it light up. Crazy!

Hang in there you guys. I know after Loma Prieta, the aftershocks had us spooked for a really long time.

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