By RON LANE
THIS Saturday 20 September at 7am patrol season for our surf lifesaving clubs will once again get underway. Our three local clubs Peregian, Sunshine Beach and Noosa Heads will strive to uphold their proud record of no lives lost between the flags while lifesavers on patrol.
For our club mates at Peregian, last season definitely had its ups and downs. Peregian has, at the moment, only seven patrols on roster so because of their shortage of members Noosa will this season work in conjunction by bringing Peregian in as part of their patrolling system. During winter, meetings have been held between the two clubs. Also Redcliffe and Brisbane clubs have offered their services as backups. Apart from their normal patrols, Noosa will also have on call their long-service members.
This ensures that all requirements for the patrols during different seasons will be covered. Also Noosa will do any upgrading of patrol equipment that is deemed necessary. On the administration side, Peregian will have three directors working with Noosa; one each for the senior club the Nippers and lifesaving.
Regarding this, Noosa Club captain Joe Cirillo said, “This is good for lifesaving. It makes people aware that as lifesavers we all wear the Red and Yellow uniform and therefore we will always work together. From a more personal perspective by patrolling Peregian, our young members will be on a learning curve. They will be patrolling and learning on an open beach and this is the best experience they can possibly get. Also, we want to ensure that the Nipper Club keeps going. This is a great example of how our two clubs can work together.” These concepts will be subject to formal approval by Noosa members at a meeting to be held this Sunday. With regard to the Peregian Supporter Club which is the business arm of the club, it will be subject to a detailed investigation by the two clubs.
Last Saturday was the second session of the Noosa Seahorse Nippers. Once again, it was a great success with 43 children in attendance and 60 carers to ensure all went well. One of the major contributions towards the success was the outstanding support given by the Noosa Shire Council. Being able to use the car park next to the surf club was great. Allied to this was the fact that the general public, on driving into the car park were very co-operative when the attendants explained the reason for the part closure. Several parents thanked the Seahorse officials and the parking attendants for the help they received. Kelly Enever a lady who arrived with two small children, Briley and Emerson, plus a Smart Pup named Sally, said, “It makes it so much easier with this arrangement in particular for families like us. Also for families with children in wheelchairs, it is just fantastic.”
The thankless job of parking attendants which was carried out by Noosa Life Savers Peter Williams, John Little and Robbie Carrett was well performed. This job starts at 5am and goes through to11am. Many of the parents went out of their way to acknowledge these three men.
“I hope the people appreciate what the council does by donating the car park. If it was not for this, some families would have to walk a long way. Also some have driven from out of town to get their children here,” Little said.
The involvement of the Enever family and the presence of Sally has made a lot of people more aware of the life these children lead and the problems in everyday life. So to our council and support groups many thanks.
