Avalon Beach SLSC's 90th Anniversary Dinner and Dance Brings Together Legends from Near and Far
May 3, 2015
On Friday evening Avalon Beach SLSC held its 90th Anniversary Celebrations for members of the club. A great meal and a fine band brought together Life Members with current patrolling members in every room of the new clubhouse.
In the boatshed the handing over of a newly arrived IRB, one of this club’s greatest contributions to Surf Life Saving through Warren Mitchell, took place.
Avalon Beach RSL has contributed towards a brand new inflatable rescue boat (IRB) for Avalon Beach SLSC which arrived just over a week after being manufactured.
One of the Directors from Avalon Beach RSL, Bob White, attended the handing over of the new rescue vessel, christening the new addition to the club’s capabilities with a bottle of champagne. All present at the official handing over traditionally take a sip of this bottle for luck.
Avalon Beach RSL also provided funding for a new Defibrillator for the surf club. Defibrillation is a common treatment for life-threatening cardiac dysrhythmias, ventricular fibrillation and pulseless ventricular tachycardia. Those utilised by our surf clubs are geared towards an aquatic and sandy environment and their use is part of training for surf lifesaving members where participants are given the knowledge and skills to ensure the treatment of a person suffering cardiac arrest.
Last yearAvalon Beach RSL club provided a new motor for the surf club as well.
The ClubGrants program provided the funds needed for these new additions. Last year registered clubs allocated more than $100 million to community groups, charities and sporting teams across NSW, with Surf Life Saving a focus of the ClubGRANTS Program
Avalon Beach RSL has been a long term participant in the scheme and its contribution to local community facilities and clubs was recognised on April 22nd 2015 when ClubGrants announced the club has been recognised as one of the top 5 most popular clubs in the state, making the finals of the prestigious 2015 People’s Choice Competition.
Coming a long way since its inception in 1950 with a shed as a club house, this is the first time Avalon Beach RSL Club has made it to the finals of the People’s Choice Competition. The club now has a nervous wait ahead to see if they’ll take out the top prize at the Clubs & Community Awards night on Friday 8 May. More on that below.
The new IRB hand over comes on a very fortuitous weekend, not only are Avalon Beach SLSC celebrating their 90th Anniversary, but the IRB shall have a second christening of sorts today as Peter Akehurst related when it is taken to Caves Beach for the opening weekend of the 2015 Inflatable Rescue Boat (IRB) Premiership Series. More on that below too.
Mr. Akehurst explained that the IRB this one replaces is being donated to The Lakes Entrance SLSC in Victoria as that was Surf Life Saving is all about. Even though Avalon Beach SLSC works hard to ensure they raise funds to maintain their equipment, or meet around half the cost of any new IRB etc., they maintain the ethos of helping their brother clubs and are glad the six year old IRB will be put to good use. Avalon Beach SLSC gave another IRB to another club, Sussex Inlet, six years ago, and that boat is still on the beach being used right now, with ‘sponsored by Avalon RSL’ all over it as well.
New IRB
Don Mitchell, brother of Warren Mitchell, who had travelled from Bicheno, Tasmania to attend the 90th Anniversary Celebrations, and related a little about the launch of the rubber duckie off Avalon Beach:
“I was the bowman on the 13th of November, 1969. My daughter, who was born on the 9th, had just come out of hospital, so about four days later. Warren had this rubber duckie, a Dunlop boat, and an old Evinrude motor, and we launched it here. We’d used it over in England, on the Cornish beaches, and brought it back here.”
Friday night’s celebrations were all about that wonderful community resource and meeting place that grows youngsters into outstanding adults and exists to serve those who get into difficulties in the waters off our beaches.
Avalon Beach SLSC came from community members, attracted people from further afield to keep going what should never cease during WWII, some of whom then moved here permanently, has records in rescue, surf sports and developments for surf life saving itself that tell of the acumen, speak of the skill and fitness, and passionate commitment that has come from past years and dynamically invests today with the same ‘right stuff’. Examining one single member you find knowledge of the ocean and the beach from constant immersion in it, levels of fitness that gains local, state, national and world firsts, and intelligence that fills the professional ranks in every aspect of what humans can do when not on a voluntary Patrol. Then put all those individuals together, as one team, with one objective, that has been refined and refined for 90 years, who all get on as one family…
‘Pretty amazing’ wouldn’t cover it. And yet it’s hard to get a single one of them to acknowledge how great they are.
The most repeated answers are ‘I love it for the camaraderie, fitness, skills learnt’ and ‘it’s a lifestyle’ but mostly ‘I wanted to put something back into the community’.
Christine Hopton, President of the Avalon Beach SLSC, gave a short speech after the wonderful paella dinner made by Food Stuff of Mona Vale, reiterating the strengths of this great surf life saving club and thanking everyone for their continued support. Along with reminding members to use the wonderful facilities of the clubhouse, a few attending Life Members, legends by any other name, were singled out and their contributions shared. John Towner, Trevor Palmer, Bob Head, Steve Davy (Bravery Certificate from Royal Shipwreck Relief & Humane Society of NSW – 1965) all Life Members, were just a few mentioned.
Geoff Searl, official Historian for Avalon Beach SLSC, has focused on some of these wonderful people as one part of the 90th Anniversary Exhibition as well, gathering and displaying parts of their stories as well as celebrating other strengths of this club.
It’s well worth popping in today to take a look if you haven’t already. This Exhibition is open to the public and you can even have a glass of wine later this afternoon as the bar is open to the public after 4 p.m.
Life Member Roger Sayers made a short speech as part of Friday’s celebrations:
“Thank you all for coming this evening. It’s wonderful to see such a wide age range here from Life Members to our younger members. It is also wonderful to hold this 90th Celebration in our new clubhouse. The old one held a lot of memories, wonderful memories, but this one is better. It is a focal point for the community as well as the surf club.
A surf club isn’t just a building though, it depends upon the members, past and present. Our present members were closely involved in having this new clubhouse built, but the whole community and our surf club members were involved in getting this club built. If it wasn’t for this team effort it wouldn’t have happened.
Similarly, this club is built on the imprint of the club prior to it where other members did the same thing. In turn, that was an extension from an earlier building and that began from the meeting of those who gathered on the steps of a home in Avalon.
This club has had a lot of things to celebrate in those 90 years. One that stands out in my mind is Warren Mitchell’s introduction of the rubber duckie to surf rescue. This literally revolutionised rescue methods in Australia and in other countries around the world.
Second on my list would be the club’s role in the introduction of Malibu surfboards to Australia because I’m a surfer first and foremost. I became a surf club member later in my life and it’s the best thing I ever did, no two ways about it.
The introduction of these surfboards revolutionised surfing in Australia and so this club has had a role in two key aspects in surfing and surf life saving in Australia.
There is of course all the rescues that have been performed here. Avalon Beach is a dangerous beach and is categorised as one of the more dangerous ones on out coast. We have a number of awards on our halls in recognition of the service that has been done here, including our first one, awarded to Steve Davy.
These things deserve recognition because they are the main reason the surf club is here.
Last, but not least, are the competition medals that we have. We’ve won an awful lot of World Championship medals, Australian and State Championship medals over the years.
Competition is great for team building, club spirit and morale, fitness and rescue capability. Which are, again, the main things that we are here for.
I’d like us all to be aware that all that work has not just been present members but many previous members of the club. And so, on our birthday, I’d like to suggest that we all charge our glasses and have a toast to ‘past and present members’!"
