By Ron Lane
ON Monday a team of 13 children from the small island of Yorke, 80 kilometres south/west of New Guinea, arrived at the Noosa Surf Life Saving Club for a Surf Education Training Program, followed by a welcome barbecue.
Under the supervision of Education Manager, Greg McLaughlin, and his training team, they were introduced to the basic fundamentals of life saving.
For these children the trip down to Australia was their first trip away from their island homes.
All children are Grades 5 and 6 pupils of the Tagai State College, and for this trip they are under the care of husband and wife team of Dan and Sarah Tonon.
Dan is the Principal of the Tagai College and Sarah is a member of the teaching staff.
For the Noosa club, the arrival of the group bought a pleasant surprise, for Sarah was a member of the Noosa Surf Club staff for six years, and as such worked under present manager Anton Mogg.
“Sarah was a highly regarded staff member,” said Anton, “and while working with us she was working her way through Uni. It is really great to see how things have worked out for Sarah. In those days she was Sarah Finnemore.
“This group has a bit of background,” said Dan. “The last trip for our students was back in 1988, and now some of those students are the parents of pupils here today; and with Sarah’s background in the Supporter Club it gives everything a personal touch.
Describing the children Dan said, “With the children coming from an island environment, they are salt water children so they fit in nicely. At home they dive for turtles and all kinds of fish life.
“The ocean is their home and this gives them a look at another side of things. Up in the Torres Strait Islands we have what we call The Campus. There are 17 of these and they are spread throughout the 47,000 square kilometres of ocean. This covers an area from the tip of Queensland to the border of Papua New Guinea.
“When they finish at Tagai, where students start pre-prep age and go through to Grade 6, they either go to Thursday Island or the Australian mainland to further their education. At present we have 56 students enrolled at Tagai College.’’
This one week educational trip comes at a cost of $36,000 and much fund-raising was required, so all community groups on the islands worked in together. This plus Government Gaming Grants made the trip possible.
The training and courtesy is just another example of the success of the school programs conducted by Noosa and totally supported by the schools. This program has been operating for several years and it involves schools from Cooran to Yandina; and other invitees, such as our Tagai students.
“We have a very good team of experienced coaches and trainers on call at all times,” said Greg. “This ensures that all students are in the very best of care. We could not ask for more.”
The smiles on the faces of the little visitors said it all.
This Educational program plus the Seahorse Nippers would have to be two of the great success stories in the 86-year history of the Noosa Club.
Sunday morning some 53 members of the Noosa Heads Club attended a club council meeting at the Peregian clubhouse. The agenda drawn up centered on the future of the premises and the steps needed to ensure a positive outcome for all aspects of the project.
With regard to patrols on Peregian Beach, all in attendance were in total agreeance that patrols will continue to be conducted and fully supported.
The present work agreement between the lifeguards and lifesavers has been very successful and on-going and a high standard of patrolling is being maintained; and this will be continued.
The people in the community of Peregian can rest assured that their beach safety is in good hands.
It was good to see the hundreds of little Nippers back on the beach for the start of yet another season.
All the team at Noosa Today wish our Nippers a happy and safe summer.
