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Our History

THE IDEA OF A CLUB

As early as 1949, an attempt was made by a few members of the Noosa Heads Surf Club, under the captaincy of Maurie Cave, to start patrols at Sunshine Beach (then known as Golden Beach).

This plan folded soon after and the idea of a Surf Club was no resurrected until the mid 1970s, when a steering committee was formed to look into the situation, but this effort also failed. On 10th April 1981 the Noosa News published a letter from Sunshine Beach resident Mrs Marjorie Tripp, drawing attention to the fact that the whole scheme for the formation of a surf club had been moribund for two and a half years.

Mrs Tripp's letter stated that the Noosa Shire Council had set aside land for the clubhouse, but needed definite assurance that the Sunshine Beach residents would have an active committee and strong financial backing before permission was granted for the building to go ahead.

STEERING COMMITTEE

Mrs Tripp was instrumental in motivating former sterring committee members Vic Guest, Mike Gowland, Mike Pilling, Gary Biggam, John Roberts, Max Halloway, Peter Hogan, Mark Clyne, Dr Richard Pearson, Geoff Potter and the late Wayne Schulstad and Richard Harrington (Snr), who put their weight behind the team and the Club.

PUBLIC MEETING

A Public Meeting was advertised in the local press for Wednesday 6th May 1981 at the Noosa Heads Bowls Club, inviting residents to discuss the establishment of a surf club at our own Sunshine Beach.

Poor attendance at the meeting was disappointing, however a steering committee was reformed and plans were made for a further public meeting to be held on 20th May.

This later meeting was the most positive yet, with twice as many interested residents taking part and the steering committee was able to elect three people for a sub-committee to plan a strategy for establishment of the club, fundraising and publicity.

The meeting agreed to give priority to establishing a beach patrol and then erecting a tin shed for housing lifesaving equipment.

FIRST COMMITTEE MEETING

In June 1981 the Sunshine Beach Surf Life Saving Club's inaugural committee met, comprising:

Following this committee meeting, a delegation of three people - Vic Guest, Gary Biggam and Mike Gowland - sought approval at the Annual General Meeting of Surf Life Saving Sunshine Coast Branch to form a surf club at Sunshine Beach.

The then President of Branch, the late Jack Spender, supported our application and we were granted the right to become a Surf Club and to patrol Sunshine Beach in the 1981/82 season. A tin shed was erected to house the essential equipment as determined by the Branch.

Michael Gowland's mother, Pat, made all the required flags, whilst Michael and Gary Biggam made the shark tower and the patrol arena. Dave Allen donated a shark attack kit and the Quota club of Noosa donated two rescue boards. SLSQ State Centre gave us two reel lines and belts, plus a rescue board and a first aid stretcher.

CLUB COLOURS AND EMBLEM

It was decided because of the beautiful sunrises and sunsets colouring the skies over our beach that two of our tri colours must be yellow and red. Then it was at the Reef Hotel after patrol that our third colour of black was chosen - from the prominent displays of Fourex and Bundaberg Rum signs - so our official colours became yellow, red and black.

The Club emblem adopted was the Seaeagle, following a sighting of the bird by Michale Gowland and Geoff Potter, while standing on the beach steps on Sunday morning. The seaeagle spotted was hovering around where the Surf Clubhouse is now situated.

The artwork for the Seaeagle logo was designed by Peter Campbell.

FIRST BEACH PATROLS

The first weekend of October 1981 saw the initial surf patrols on the beach. There were 25 qualified and proficient members, with more Bronze squads on the way, bringing the total to 50 lifesavers, which ensured that the club maintained good patrols over their first summer season.

Patrol number 1 members were Gary Biggam, Mark Campbell and Gordon Clements.

SOCIAL GATHERINGS - REEF HOTEL

The Reef Hotel was the first local watering hole and provided a venue for post-patrol gatherings and many other social events. One of the two compulsory conditions to attend the post-patrol 'meeting' at the hotel was to wear a special yellow club t-shirt and be prepared to spend the same amount of time at the hotel as on patrol (i.e. four hours on patrol, four hours at the Reef). This type of activity has no doubt contributed to the sense of camaraderie between members and also attracted many new arrivals in town to join our club, surfers, professionals, local business and trades people alike.

COUNCIL BUILDING APPROVAL

Just prior to Christmas 1981, Noosa Shire Council officially approved the building of a clubhouse in the not too distant future. There were one or two objections to the proposal but, according to Council advice, nothing that couldn't be overcome with correct planning and attitude to community service that the club would provide.

The President, Vic Guest, informed the public that "The Surf Life Saving movement is strictly a volunteer organization, and as such is heavily reliant upon the general public for donations. Therefore we must always show that we are providing a necessary and well organized service to the public."

Club Captain, Mike Gowland, stressed that the first obligation of the club was to provide a safe, patrolled bathing area for the public to enjoy and that all other club activities such as fundraising and carnival competition must take second place to patrols. These sentiments have remained intact right through to the present day, and will continue throughout this millennium.