“This night is about celebrating the good things in life – good food, good times and good company,“ renowned poet and MC Rupert McCall told a dazzling event, Under the Stars annual charity gala, hosted at Peregian Beach to raise money for the rebuild of its surf club.
Guests donned dinner suits and ball gowns to sit under the tipi tents at Peregian Park and enjoy a three-course dinner prepared by extraordinary chefs Peter Kuruvita, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Adriano Zumbo.
The event commemorated the second anniversary of the Peregian Beach bushfires and the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 Twin Tower tragedy for which Rupert McCall had written and recited at a poem, A Firefighters Dream, at Ground Zero.
Event organiser Leigh McCready told guests how the Peregian Beach Family and Friend organisation had formed in 2017 to revive the surf club closed down in 2014.
Since then hundreds of children had joined the nippers and 30 adults had completed their life saver training but there was more to do, including the securing of a long-term lease for the surf club and training of enough volunteer lifesavers to keep everyone safe on the beach.
Ms McCready said a survey conducted by Peregian Family and Friends found 80 per cent of participants wanted a traditional surf club with a restaurant, bar and facilities for lifesaving training and activities.
“The work is not done,“ she said.
