By DEAN SMALLMAN
WHAT a grand weekend it was for Sunshine Beach SLSC and in particular its Nipper ranks. On Sunday morning the Under 14 group, led by the very patient Dan Moore and Peter Nolan, were presented to the Nipper family as Sunshine Beach’s largest ever group to complete their Surf Rescue Certificate (SRC) and as such, increase patrol ranks by 22 new and fit lifesavers.
After weeks of training and using all their skills they were tested across a variety of practical applications as well as theory based first aid and beach management disciplines.
With Paul Brady, Sunshine Head Trainer looking on, the entire group performed exceptionally well. From next weekend these 22 lifesavers will bolster patrol ranks by the equivalent of almost three patrols.
Keeping the grand theme alive, the major fund-raiser for the Nippers at Sunshine, Ten Grand in the Hand, took place last Sunday with 800 very happy draw entrants once again enjoying this much-anticipated and as always sold-out event.
With 20 prizes of $100 given out it was time to hand out the $10,000.
After more lead-up than a Gold Logie presentation, the number 30 ball was drawn from the barrel to both the sounds of disappointment and the sounds of rapture. The winner, Gerard Crow, is a member of the club and is a huge contributor to the club and an all-round super bloke.
The third grand event was the Under 8-Under 10 carnival being held this year for the first time at Noosa main beach in very hot conditions. As always the Sunshine Crew performed well above their weight with a big congrats to Jacquie Otto for doing a great job managing these feisty Nippers.
Next weekend the bigger kids are off to Maroochydore for what is always a huge carnival, and finally the Sunshine Coast Branch team – with many Sunshine Beach Members – won the Queensland branch titles for the eighth year in a row.
