Author: Kerri Lacey
VALE: Alan Kennedy
It is with great sadness we mark the passing of Alan Kennedy. Alan was the beloved husband of Life Member Sharyn Crystal. Sharyn’s memory has been forever honoured by the establishment of the “Crystal Award”, which is presented at the Annual Banquet. The “Crystal Award” is presented to member of the ALVA Community who goes above and beyond to help others.
For newer members who may not know of Sharyn’s amazing life please google Sharyn Killens and also her book “The Inconvenient Child”, co written with ALVA Member Lindsay Lewis.
Alan was not only her major supporter during Sharyn’s showbusiness career, sadly when Sharyn’s heath issues really took hold, Alan was her rock. He was there every step of the way supporting Sharyn and both their families through it all. He never left her side during the heart transplant journey and then some. Alan was shattered when she passed, and found it difficult to continue without her. So now we pray for a beautiful reunion of this amazing couple – they will be together laughing and loving as they always did.
Alan was a real Aussie bloke and a true gentleman always. The care and love he showed Sharyn was a truly beautiful thing to watch. ALVA’s love and condolences goes to Alan’s son Gerrard and daughter Kate, Sharyn’s son Jason and all the extended Australian and American familiy that will be very shattered with this lost.
Vale Alan Kennedy and hope you are dancing with your sweetheart.
Who was Barry Stanton?
For those members who are perhaps a little too young to remember Barry, ALVA thought we would just let you know a little of what he achieved in his fantastic lifetime.
Barry Stanton was an English-Australian rock and roll musician who performed on Six O’Clock Rock, Bandstand, Johnny O’Keefe Show, Sing Sing Sing, Saturday Date, and Woody’s Teen Time. In 1988 he issued a compilation album, A Tribute to the King Rare Songs 1957-1965.
Stanton released singles via Leedon Records, starting with “Don’t Let Go” in April 1960. His second, “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout That” (September), was written by O’Keefe, which reached number 3 on the local Top 40. His fourth single, “Beggin’ on My Knees” (November 1961), was written by his brother Rod and reached number 16, nationally. Stanton was signed by RCA in 1964 and issued another single, “A Tribute to the King”. This was written by fellow musician and the label’s A&R, Johnny Devlin. He followed with “My Little Emmy” in July 1965, which was written by Stanton. Even though he was a popular performer locally, he achieved little commercial success internationally. Stanton subsequently performed with other early Australian rockers.
VALE: Barry Stanton
ALVA Goes Gold Coast
Dress: Smart Casual
ALVA Buzz Vol 2
Well it is with super excitement that we report that the Buzz is so big, that emailing it might be a bit of an issue for some inboxes. So to that end, we have decided to provide the Buzz through our website. So all you need to do, is to click on the link below to view or download Volume 2 of the ALVA Buzz.