Woolamai Newsletter - January Edition
Telephone: 0467 475 263 Postal Address: PO Box 49, San Remo, VIC, 3925 Web: www.woolamaibeach.org.au Email: secretary@woolamaibeach.asn.au
In this Edition:
President’s Update
Board Update
Woolamai Beach SLSC Nippers Wrap Up 23/24 Season
Life Saving Services Update
Patrol Roster
Club Champs
Life Members and Members Dinner (Paella Night)
Training / Member Development Update
SRC
Bass Coast Series getting closer
New Clubhouse Accommodation Policy
Callout for historic club items!
Wild About Wooli Holiday discount!
President’s Update - Jason Close
Happy New Year everyone,
Its been a big end to 2023 and a big start to 2024.
Nippers
Since Christmas our Club has held a very successful summer Nippers program, conducted Club Championships, held Paella Night and there have been plenty of other things going on and off the beach.
This season our Nippers program saw a resurgence in number back to pre-Covid levels with nearly 400 children participating in the program at Cleeland Bight and Smiths Beach. The program was a huge success with some terrific feedback from families involved.
I would like to thank Jules Hay, our new Nippers manager, the Nippers committee and all of the Club members and parents who stepped up to deliver a terrific program. Nippers has over time become a ‘whole of Club’ event and we saw enormous contributions from many of our members.
One of the best aspects of Nippers this year was seeing the increased role of our Junior Age Managers (JAMS) led by Sophia Hungerford under the mentorship of Charles Tuchtan. Our JAMS are an incredible group of young leaders. Our young SRCs and Bronzies also showed out in great force to support the Nippers by providing water safety at Cleeland Bight and Smiths. Our Nippers really look up to our JAMS and water safety team as examples of where they can be in a few years.
It was great to see our Club put our Barbeque Trailer to good use at Nippers with over 3000 sausages cooked and sold. A great fundraiser for the Club. We purchased the trailer from the Newhaven-San Remo Lions Club last year and it has already paid itself off many times over. Thanks to Nathan Pirouet and his ‘Barbeque Crew’ and our sensational sausage supplier Matt Synan from San Remo IGA.
Life Members and Members Dinner (Paella Night)
It was wonderful to see over 130 of our members and guests catch up at our annual Paella Night. This year’s event was a celebration of the 50 year anniversary of the Woolamai Beach SLSC winning the Reserve Grade Surf Boat Australian Title at Glenelg in 1974.
The boat crew of Stewart Bell, John Sill, Trevor Clauscen, Ron Barber and Ron Hay were all in attendance and were presented with a framed photo of their win. Our MC Macca got some great stories out of the winning crew. A big thanks to Macca and Graeme Clauscen for organising the event and presentation and for everyone who helped on the night with the set up, pack up, bar and raffle.
A big thanks to our generous supporters at San Remo IGA, Westernport Hotel, Rip Curl, Phillip Island Nature Parks and Beand for donating raffle prizes. Thank you also to the Melbourne Paella Company for putting on a great feed.
Next year’s Paella Night and Club Championships will be held on Saturday 11 January 2025.
Beach Safety
Unfortunately on Friday 12 January there were two drownings, one at Surf Beach in the afternoon and the other at Kilcunda in the evening. Some of our Club members attended the second incident, and we thank those members for their efforts. Attending after hours call outs are never easy. It is also a timely reminder of the importance of only swimming at patrolled beaches.
Clubhouse update - look after it!
Our Clubhouse has been a busy place over summer and at times can feel the pressure of a lot of wear and tear. Last week we had a council inspection. A big thank you to the Bass Coast lifeguard team who went all out to tidy the Clubhouse and present it in its best possible light.
Our Clubhouse is a summer home for many of us, so its important that everyone treats it with respect Simple things like cleaning up the kitchen, washing dishes as they are used, emptying bins and keeping the bunkrooms tidy and belongings not left on the floor are an important way to keep the place clean and safe.
See you down the beach soon.
Regards
Jason Close - President@woolamaibeach.asn.au
President
Decisions
$150,000 is to be transferred from the Club’s operational accounts to the Development Fund Board to invest for the future growth of the Club.
The Clubhouse electrical switchboard will be upgraded to meet current electrical standards -cost approx. $5K
A second Club IPad has been purchased to cover peak periods at bar, merchandise, Nippers.
General Business
Troy Hungerford has carried out an electrical/smoke detector audit of the Clubhouse to ensure compliance with current standards. A number of upgrades recommended and quotes are currently being sought.
Clubhouse food registration inspection carried out by Council in December - Clubhouse passed the inspection
Bass Coast Shire Council carried out an inspection of Clubhouse during December and has written to Club advising that Club requires approval for operating prescribed accommodation. Club has sought advice from LSV and believes it is exempt however should the Club wish to host school camps it may require this approval. Discussions with council ongoing.
Jules Hay provided a Nippers update. Dates set for 2024/25 -29 Dec to 5 Jan. 400 Nippers participated this season. 50 age managers, 30 junior age managers, 50+ water safety involved. 3 key strengths for this season -JAMs & activities, lesson plans, communication. A committee for 2024/25 has already been formed.
Presentation Night 2024 will ideally be held on 18 May or 25 May 2024 at Silverwater subject to venue availability.
Club Championships and Paella Night to be held on Sat 11 Jan 2025.
Director Update
See below updates from the board:
President - Jason Close
Rachel Vanketwich has offered to become the Club’s new Grants Manager. Rachel has significant professional experience in this area.
Environs Management Plan grant acquittal will occur at the end of Jan which will enable Club to receive final payment from Commonwealth for retaining wall and dune/vegetation works. A project completion event may occur.
The concrete pathway project funded by the San Remo Community Bank has been completed but the sign near the Clubhouse entrance needs to be updated and re-erected to complete the project.
Vice President - Fi Blackmore
Supporting Nippers, merch for Bronze & SRC camps & tech hardware & enablement
Communications - Ryan Box
Bass Coast Series kicking off in less than a week. Register below!
Woolamai Beach SLSC Nippers Wrap Up 23/24 Season
This season saw close to 400 Nippers participate in a 7 day program, across both Cleeland Bight and Smith's Beaches. Nippers is about children participating in safe, fun and organised activities in a beach environment, whilst developing lifesaving skills for the future. Activities were designed to progressively develop the essential skills of Nippers and life saving, as they move through each age group. This year also saw the reintroduction of our U6 age group to the program, with many budding lifesavers enjoying their first experience at the beach.
Across the 7 day program groups at Cleeland Bight, U6's to U11's developed their skills in: board, wading, beach swimming, sand running, flags, rescues, relays, beach education and the surf events of Aquacam and Iron. They also had some beach incursions, including Matt from Marine Litter Project, Ranger Grame and our very own WBSLSC jetski and IRB team display. The last day concluded with a fun 'have a go day' where Nippers were encouraged to show off their lifesaving skills learnt across the week with some fun races.
Our U12 and U13 program was held out at Smith's Surf Beach, an extension from the calmer waters at Cleeland Bight. Nippers are exposed to the waves and rip currents, and taught how to navigate these on boards and with rescue tubes. Both groups also successfully completed a rip swim, whereby the group, along with a team of water safety swim out with the rip well beyond the rocks out the back of Smith's Beach. This experience is about taking our Nippers outside their comfort zone, in a safe manner and gaining valuable water confidence. Our U12's and U13's concluded their week, with 2 days of surf races and team events. Every season we have a group of graduating Nippers and thus we say well done to our U13's and see you back next season for your Surf Rescue Certificate (SRC)!
It takes a huge team of volunteers to run our Nippers program and we couldn't do it without them. A HUGE thank you to:
Volunteer Parents/Guardians (particularly those driving our water safety and JAMS around all week)
First aid volunteers (co-ordinated by Michelle)
Water Safety volunteers (co-ordinated by Maddie & Janine, help from Stu and Nick)
Age manager mentor (Tanya) & IT support (Craig)
Our awesome JAMS! (co-ordinated by Sophia & Charles)
Our huge team of Age Managers & Assistants (often having done this for multiple years)
Logistics movement of the boards everyday and back to Smiths beach (Jeremy)
Raffle organisers (Lisa and Jason)
BBQ Team (co-ordinated by Nathan & Janine)
Beach Managers (Kathy, Bonnie and Annie)
Our jetski and IRB teams (co-ordinated by Mark)
IGA for providing our food and drinks (Matt)
Our photographers (Ivan & Athol)
Our Nippers Committee (Katie, Katie, Fi, Maddie, Janine, Matt, Alex, Jason, Bre & Erinn)
See you all 29 December this year for Nippers again!!!
Jules Hay - Nippers Coordinator
Lifesaving Services Update
Patrol Roster
We’re well underway with the lifesaving season and are halfway through main season!
Click on the link below to see upcoming patrols!
Full Patrol Roster - https://www.woolamaibeach.org.au/patrol-roster
Club Champs
Thank you to all who participated in Club Champs on the 6th January.
It was a great day with 95 registrations and wonderful conditions!
A huge thank you to Campbell Smart, our club captain for organising and running the day, as well as Athol Hill for some excellent photos, Terry Aslanidis for helping with preparation and Ryan Box for scoring and on the day admin.
Photos taken by Athol can be found HERE
There's a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes to run the day and we're always looking for helpers for next year!
A big thank you to everyone who helped out on the day with setting up events, water safety, ranking and everything else which made the day possible.
And congratulations to Watermen for winning club champs and all the age group winners below!
Patrol Standings
1st - Watermen - 189 points
2nd - Punchy’s Penguins - 132 points
3rd - Sandman - 117 points
4th - Islanders - 15 points
5th - Hellfish - 82 points
Individual Standings
Life Members and Members Dinner (Paella Night)
On the 6th of January the club held its annual Life member and member dinner was a huge success!
It was great to come together and celebrate the members from The Australian Reserve Boat Champion Glenelg 1974 team who were all in attendance - Stewart Bell, John Sill, Trevor Clauscen, Ron Barber and Ron Hay
Thank you to the following members who helped out last Saturday night!
Bar crew; Narelle Campbell, Murray Adams, Mark Roney, Michelle Murphy & Rob Williams
After event clean up; Susan Close & Paula Bain
ALL the raffle ticket sellers + anyone else I may have missed!
A great team effort on the night!
Macca (Alan McLean)
If members enjoyed their paella I'm sure Melbourne Paella Co. would love a few social media Likes / reviews
Training/Member Development Update
SRC
Our annual Surf Rescue Certificate (SRC) was held over 4 days on the 27th-30th of December 2023.
This year saw 47 candidates complete the course, with many ex nippers participating in the program. Completing the SRC allows participants to put on the red and yellow uniform and join a patrol! It’s the start of their life saving journey that can be done at 13 which teaches the foundation that the Bronze medallion builds upon which can be done at 15.
A huge thank you to Izzy Bulach, Emily Ross and Jasmine Kuerschner for doing an excellent job running the course for the 2nd year in a row.
As well as all water safety and helpers, this course couldn’t have been done without you!
Bass Coast Series getting closer!
Registrations are filling up for all 3 Bass Coast Series events which is great to see
It’s less than a week to go until the series starts with the Cape Paterson Aquathon starting at 10am next Sunday 21st January.
We look forward to seeing you compete in our most exciting year yet!
Pricing is consistent for all 3 events with no increases from 2023
Standard
Individuals 18 Plus - $60
Juniors U/18 - $40
Relay Teams - $90
New Clubhouse Accommodation Policy
In order to be able to meet a number of compliance requirements we need to keep a record of who is staying at the Clubhouse each night. Whilst accommodation at the Clubhouse is free of charge to patrolling members, we still need everyone to fill out the online form for each night that they stay - whether you are a junior or senior member. This can be found HERE
For junior members, the online form is required to be completed by a parent or guardian and part of this involves pre-arranging with a senior member that they will be available to provide supervision.
Parents are not to drop their children off at the Clubhouse for an overnight stay without first doing this.
Members are also reminded that to stay at the residence, there is a separate process. A booking must be made by contacting Carole Irving at secretary@woolamaibeach.asn.au
There is a fee payable for accommodation at the residence and this enables the Club to cover running and cleaning costs.
For more information and the full policy head to this page https://www.woolamaibeach.org.au/accommodation-policy
Thank you
Woolamai Beach SLSC Board
Social Events Calendar
If you didn’t know, we have a Social Events Calendar! You can find that by clicking “Home” > “Events” - https://www.woolamaibeach.org.au/events
Callout for historic club items!
We now have a new email address historian@woolamaibeach.asn.au which is a great way to send in any photos or historic information you might have for the club’s records!
Hello to all Woolamai Members
From Graeme Clauscen, Club Historian
From the Archives a little bit of History !
S.L.S.A. Poster from 1977
Woolamai Aerial Photo 1987
I am currently working on the Club’s archives and cataloguing a lot of new items that have been given to the Club.
It is proposed that all of the items in the Club archive will be digitized and uploaded to Victorian Collections where anybody can access all of the items, on line.
The family of Dennis Harris recently provided a large number of photos and documents collected by Dennis over many years.
This is an appeal for donations of items of Historical interest to Club Members past and present. I am looking for the following:
Club Garments
T Shirts, Tops, Shorts, other Any item of clothing with the Club Name/Logo on it, condition not important.
Photographs
Color or black and white photographs of Club activities over the years 1959 -2022. Where possible, detail of, Location, Date, Names, and any other relevant info.
General Memorabilia
Any item of Club interest, Medallions Trophies Certificates Pennants etc. In other words if it is part of Woolamai History I would like to know about it and see it.
IMPORTANT. PLEASE PROVIDE – NAMES DATES TIMES LOCATION AND ANY RELEVANT INFORMATION
If you would like to donate any item that would be great, if not we will photograph the item and return to you.
Best Wishes
Graeme Clauscen
If you would like to contact me, 0412 789 499
Wild About Wooli! A 50 Year History of the Club
Discounted for Summer
Want a segment in next Month’s newsletter?
Hi all,
If anyone would like to submit something for next month, the best way to do this is send me an email at communication@woolamaibeach.asn.au with a title for the segment, and text of what you’d like to be included as well as any pictures or images and I’ll be sure to add it in.
Deadline for January’s Newsletter - 8th of January
Cheers,
Ryan Box - Director of Communications