Additional Highlights
Thank you Grant Nichol for the photos
Woolamai Beach SLSC 60th Anniversary Celebration
By Jason Close
On Saturday 26 October 2019 the Club celebrated its 60th Anniversary with a special celebration at the Glen Waverley Novotel.
Over 120 past and present members enjoyed a night of cocktails and canapes and re-lived many of the Club’s greatest memories.
Several guests traveled from interstate for the big night and it was terrific to see members of all ages sharing stories of their time at the Club.
President, Rob Murphy resplendent in his 1970’s snugly fitting lime tracksuit top welcomed our guests. Club Captain, Max Eldridge walked to the stage accompanied by Bondi Rescue music and also said a few words.
MCs Annie Coleman and Campbell Smart introduced an array of outstanding speakers who were each given 5 minutes, to sum up, each decade of the Club’s history.
Trevor ‘Belts’ Clauscen talked about the early days of the Club in the 1960s when the Club started out with a handful of members, very little equipment, and a Nissan hut. But they managed to have a great time and laid the foundations of a great Club.
After walking on stage to the sounds of Skyhooks ‘Living In the 70’s’, Ron Hay shared lots of amusing stories about living in the 1970s at Woolamai, the sacrifices made to build the old Clubhouse, tin rattles, the surfboat era, the great parties, the infamous Woolamai Road and the larger than life characters that helped shape the Club
Craig ‘Nappas’ Ross and Brian ‘Reggie’ Whittaker took us through the 1980s where the Club took huge steps forward with Victoria’s first female lifesavers, the lifeguard program, IRBS, the beach numbering system, the Channel Challenge, and some great fundraising initiatives. Although it was also another era of bad fashion and hideous hairdos.
Jason Close gave a short history of the Club’s award-winning Nippers program, from its origins at Woolamai Waters and Cowes through to the juggernaut it has now become with over 400 children enrolled each season.
Adam Alsbury summed up the 1990’s by sharing the last days of the old Clubhouse, the rats and being awoken each morning by engine noise and fumes, the way driving down the old road felt like leaving civilization, big New Years Eve parties, long days lifeguarding, development of the Club residence and the visit from the Russians.
Stafford Smith OAM covered the 2000’s when the current Clubhouse emerged, Australian Club of the Year award in 2007, and a period which marked the start of the enormously successful Upwey Secondary College relationship with the Club. Over 20 years nearly 600 Upwey students have gained their Bronze medallion at Woolamai. Many have gone on to become clubs and emergency services leaders.
Hannah Tzimokas and Liam O’Brien shared some highlights from the 2010s which saw Clubhouse floods, the great water tank explosion, giant king tides, and other many other myths, mysteries, and legends. This period also saw many significant mass rescues, offshore and cliff rescues, the introduction of jet skis, the development of the Smiths Beach Rescue Base, Pink and Blue Zinc Patrol and Nippers going from strength to strength.
Common to all eras were the unfortunate realities of drownings, but also the heroic rescues, extraordinary service to the community, outstanding competition results, awards, great on the beach camaraderie, personal growth, lifelong friendships, and family culture developed at the world’s best surf life saving club.
At the end of the formalities, our life governors Ron Nicholson, John Thompson, and Al Lawry proposed a toast to the Club and wished it well for its next 60 years.
Throughout the night we watched a terrific slideshow -it was generally agreed that while the 80’s fashion was the worst, the Clubbies of the ’70s had the biggest baddest hairstyles and beards.
A big thank you to event organizer Jason Close and also Georgie Wettenhall and Alan McLean for some behind the scenes help, MCs Annie Coleman and Campbell Smart, Erin Close and Georgie Donnelly for their great work at the registration desk and Murray and Maureen Adams for selling a stack of raffle tickets.
A fantastic night and some terrific stories -someone should write a book.
Woolamai Wipeouts
It has been another successful season for the Wooli Wipeouts.
The group was fortunate enough to be successful for a grant which enabled us to purchase five new sustainably sourced boards from Spooked Kooks. These boards are available to be used by members of the Wooli Wipeouts to gain confidence in the water and develop surfing skills. This opportunity was thanks to the Bass Coast Shire Council, and to celebrate the new boards, the Wooli Wipeouts held a surfing day at Smith's Beach which was welcome to all members of WBSLSC. Whilst conditions on the day were poor, spirits remained high as the joy of the day could not be brought down by the weather. We hope this program will continue to benefit our members with an array of disciplines and skills by providing them a supportive environment where they can learn to surf.
Additionally, we aim to maintain our strong focus on inclusivity and team bonding to ensure we have as much fun as possible. The group has been running for the past two seasons and is only moving forwards with plans underway for future projects. We look forwards to bigger and better things for season 2020/21!!
Much Love,
The Wooli Wipeouts