For the members of the Sunshine Beach Surf Life Saving Club, both past and present, the afternoon of Saturday 18 March was certainly be an occasion to remember as a large number of the above named gathered in the club function room to celebrate their 40th year of patrolling and 30 years of the Nipper movement.
All those who came to bathe on this beautiful stretch of beach, be they locals, interstate or overseas, all returned home safety. Not one life was lost. On top of this (10yrs on) those little ones known as Nippers, were training to keep this way of life on Sunshine Beach progressing into the future.
For one member, Jane Pieters, it was certainly a time to reflect, and in doing so, she took the time to put history and names on paper. According to this, it all started in the late ’70s when a Sunshine Beach local, Marjorie Tripp, began pushing for community members to form a stand -alone surf lifesaving club on her local beach. And so, it came about that the club was formed with several experienced lifesavers who migrated from other clubs.
Saturday October 3 saw the first patrol on Sunshine Beach and patrolling members consisted of Mark Campbell, Gordon Clements and Garry Begam. The equipment they used consisted of a couple of boards, a reel and other basics, all of which were donated and stored, (in 1981), in the first clubhouse, a garden shed with one of the best views on the coast.
Those were the days when members met and socialised at the Reef Hotel where they ran raffles to help raise funds for vitally needed equipment. Of course, the main problem was extra equipment. This would require more space, so the concept of a clubhouse, started to take shape.
Then in 1983, the building which would also contain a supporters club, a major benefit towards raising funds, was commenced and opened by the then-State Premier Sir Joh Bjielke Petersen in March 1984.
Another highlight was the attendance of the first patrol members, clubbies who met again for the first time in many years. With approximately 200 old and current members in attendance, (under the sea eagle banner) there was lots of laughter from the many stories retold.
Supporter club president and life member Warick Redwood, led the afternoon festivities. Current Surf Club president John Gooderham gave foundation members and old boys a big welcome, and congratulations on massive and successful achievements, “40 years- service and no lives lost while members on patrol”.
Regarding the Sunshine Beach Nippers 30 years history, inaugural Nippers president Hilary Harding gave the attendees a potted history of the first years (1993/94). This was followed by Janis and Rod Evans who spoke about their involvement in setting up and supporting the first cadets in 1987.
Among the many members of note was Scott Braby – joined Sunshine in 1986 and is now a life member. The contribution of this old boy was just one of the many in Sunshine Beach Club, who quietly made an outstanding contribution to beach safety within Noosa Shire. It was in 1991 that Scotty, along with fellow member of the of the Noosa Shire Lifeguard Service Peter Whadcoat, became members of the Beach and Bar Safety Committee.
This committee also consisted of representative from the Noosa Coastguard and the Noosa Heads Surf Life Saving Club. It was formed with the purpose of constructing three radio interlinked controlled facilities in select positions (from Noosa’s Main Beach to Noosa Bar) to provide optimum surveillance of these Beach and Bar Areas.
This project was not only successful but unique. It became the first and only, “3 Observation Safety Tower System,” to be built anywhere on the coast line of Australia. Not only that, but also the only time that such a beach safety organisation was built, by uniting three water safety organisations: lifeguards, lifesavers and Coast Guard.
I am sure that Scott Braby, is just one of many veterans of Sunshine Beach Surf Life Saving club, who down through the years, have quietly made an outstanding contribution, to the community in which they serve.
In their 40 years I have cherished their friendship and respected their achievements. Their company has been my pleasure.
