By Phil Jarratt
A record crowd of more than 600 helped the Board Meeting charity celebrate its 10th anniversary at Twin Waters last Friday by raising almost $100,000 to help out Sunshine Coast families in need.
But no matter how deep the lunching revellers dug into their pockets as surfboards and surf art fetched crazy prices at auction, no one would have left feeling they didn’t get their money’s worth. Apart from the obvious feel-good factor of helping founders Mark and Bev Skinner make a difference in the lives of so many needy local kids, the reason was that keynote speaker Shaun Tomson, the 1977 world professional surfing champion, proved once and for all that he is not only surfing’s greatest orator, but can stand tall as a speaker in any company.
Shaun held the audience in his thrall for more than two hours, joined by good pal Rabbit Bartholomew, who succeeded him as world champ in 1978, for a robust final session, moderated by MC John Charlton. But this was far more than old surfers relating tales from their long-gone glory days. Shaun took us on a wild ride through the highs and lows of his adventurous life, culminating in what he has done since hanging up the competitor’s jersey for the last time 20 years ago.
To be honest, life coaches and self-help gurus are not really my cup of tea, but Shaun Tomson has so perfected his low-key approach to moving seamlessly from life story to life lessons that you hardly notice you’ve been blindsided. For me the realisation that I’d been well and truly Shauned came when I found myself willingly writing an “I will” affirmation and texting it to be flashed up on the big screen along with hundreds of others. I think mine was: “I will try to be a less grumpy old man.”
It was a remarkable gathering of the surfing tribe, from octogenarian pioneer Hayden Kenny down to pre-teen tee shirt designers, with a whole bunch of surf champions in the middle, but the Board Meeting lunch was also an opportunity to show the general community that surfers care about more than the next wave.
