By Ron Lane
On Saturday morning at 9.30 the Sunshine Coast Surf Life Saving Branch held its Annual General Meeting for the season 2019/20. To say it was a season with a difference would have to be the understatement of the decade. Held at the Maroochydore Surf Life Saving Club it was attended by Branch life members club Presidents and club representatives.
In his report, Branch President Gerard O’Brien said, “While the season started with great promise, members were soon pushed out of their comfort zones: responding to the bush fire crisis right on our doorstep, our members and clubs responded magnificently to this challenge. However, as the season passed and the season started to reach its peak, Covid 19 raised its ugly head and impacted on every thing we do in every way. Supporter clubs were almost immediately shut down, creating severe financial stress for many clubs. Lifesaving activities soon followed suit and the last month of patrols were thrown into chaos with flags down and volunteer surveillance patrols for most clubs in the region.”
Never before in the history of our organisation, have our members been confronted by such problems and as stated, performed magnificently still maintaining the tradition of no lives lost between “ the red and yellow flags.” He then went on to acknowledge the incredible number of hours ( 135,578) performed by our volunteers and (also)in addition to the many extra hours given by our Operational Services: RWC, Duty Officers, Surfcom and After Hours call out crews.
He also acknowledged all boards, directors and officers for their hard work: called on others to share the view that lifesaving movement needs a more open view to new ways of doing things; and pushing for reform in the conduct of surf sport carnivals. He was also generous in his praise of surf sports: team managers, coaches and competitors.
In particular, he recognised the outstanding contribution of John Thorpe for 12 years as President and Tanya Duncan as Branch Administrator for 17.
This year the major award for the Surf Club of the Year the Buhk-Wilkes Trophy was won by Maroochydore with Mooloolaba second and Coolum Beach third. Congratulations to all patrolling members. Regarding the stats for all aspects of our core business, the figures are as followers: Preventative Actions 19,187, Rescues 217,Volunteer Patrol Hours135,578 and First Aid 7661.Total Active Members 3849 and total Juniors 4213. Preventative Actions19187:actions performed by patrol members, who go to speak to people either on the sand or in the water, without having to perform an actual rescue.
The number of hours that your lifesavers, as members of the 14 clubs on the Sunshine Coast contribute to beach safety, is a staggering 135,578; total visitations are 1,063,642. When speaking of hours patrolled by your lifesavers at individual clubs it is interesting to note the numbers: i.e. Noosa’s Main Beach,14062 and at Sunshine Beach it is 6094. The reason for the difference is that Main Beach, is considered a protected family beach and Sunshine is an open beach; that, is one that has no protection points and is therefore subject to big surf.
After the official speech, it was announced that there was a Life Membership Award to be made. The recipient was Tanya Duncan; this was awarded for 17 years of outstanding service as Branch Administer. This was a lady who, despite her office work load, would always find time to be of assistance; her loyalty and personality was beyond reproach.
This was followed by two framed articles, presented in recognition, to two recipients, who had, on a previous occasion, been awarded Life Membership of Surf Life Saving Australia Certificates. The first was to Mrs Tallon, wife of a deceased recipient, the legendary Bopper Tallon of Mooloolaba: a man, who amongst many things, made a major contribution to coaching March Past teams in Noosa. The second went to Doug Bolton of Met Caloundra.It was some years ago, that Doug travelled to Noosa for the weekend to act as a neutral carnival referee for the Noosa Club championships. Both had over the following years remained good friends of the Noosa veterans. To me, seeing Doug receive his award was indeed something to remember.
In his report Santo Della Bianco Branch, Director of Surf Sports, made two mentions of note. The first was when he thanked Sunshines Craig Law, for his outstanding 10 years as Team Manager: a great performance from a very respected member. His other comment, was to call on all clubs to make an effort to form a March Past team and hopefully resurrect what was once a very prestigious event. “March past is an event that signifies who we are and is an iconic symbol of our movement.”
With the National Titles to be held on the Sunshine Coast next season, it would be great to see local March Past teams competing. Unfortunately, this event which was one of the greatest Life Saving traditions, was allowed to die. This could be a big step , for as we all know tradition and pride go hand in hand.
It is very interesting to note, that in the annual report, under the Noosa Beach Management Plan, our patrol area extends from Tea Tree/Granite Bay to the North Shore. The days when we showed little concern away from the flags, are well and truly finished. With vast increase in visitation to Noosa, visits to National Park are also on the increase. Unfortunately, so to are the number of major rescues in this scenic place of natural beauty.
Lifeguards and Lifesavers involved in these rescues, have noted that the access to danger spots such as the Fairy Pools, are totally unacceptable: Chief Noosa Lifeguard Isaac Smith and Noosa Surf Club Captain Roger Aspinall, have taken steps to eliminate this problem. However, it is now up to those in positions of authority, to give these two men and support teams such as the, QAS, FIRE and RESCUE, PARAMEDICS, POLICE and HELICOPTER RESCUE, their total support.
It is the mention of such as the Noosa Beach Management Plan,( and the resulting discussions and actions that follow,) that makes these sometimes, tedious Annual General Reports, essential reading.
At the recent Annual General Meeting, of the Sunshine Beach Surf Life Saving Club, John Gooderham was elected to the office of Club President. Next week we talk up with the new man and family.
