The Annual General Meeting of Yamba Surf Life Saving Club held recently saw only minor changes to the Board and committees that have steered the club successfully over the past 12 months. Joe Dougherty was re-elected unopposed for his fifth term as Board chairman while long standing education director Kim Morgans retired from his position on the Board.
Kim has been responsible for the education and training of members for life saving awards within the club for the last 10 years and his outstanding effort was acknowledged by the Board and members present. He has been replaced by former junior activities director, Danielle Connolly who will become education director in his place, assisted by Jill Ennever.
The other members of the Club Board are Chris Moran (deputy chair), Tim Small (finance), Leah Essex (administration), James Ryan (lifesaving), Jim Dougherty (surf sports), Alan Lawrence (clubhouse) and James Forbes (junior activities).
The AGM was attended by 40 club members who began the meeting by facing the water to observe a minute’s silence in respect of past Life Member, Andrew Tarrant who passed away at the start of the 2018/19 season.
A feature of the meeting was the awarding of Life Membership to Peter Sweetman whose long and varied service within the club was recognised with the granting of this special award. Unfortunately Peter was unable to attend the AGM and the presentation will be made to him at a later date.
The new 2019/20 season is already gaining momentum with essential renovation work currently being undertaken to replace the ceiling in the older upstairs area of the clubhouse. A recent working bee was also undertaken to clean out underneath the clubhouse where large deposits of sand from big seas had built up quite a stockpile. Again, a good turnout of members volunteered their time to assist in this activity. The club relies heavily on a band of members being ready to put their hand up to assist when these extra tasks are required.
Director of life saving, James Ryan is in the process of finalising the patrol roster for the season which begins on Saturday, September 28. The first skills maintenance day (proficiency test) for all patrolling members and nippers water safety helpers will take place on Sunday September 15 ensuring that patrolling members are up to date on skills required in helping to save lives on Main Beach this summer. This is mandatory for all lifesavers at the start of each season.
Anyone interested in becoming a patrolling member or updating their skills should contact the club office on 6646 2463 during office hours on Monday, Wednesday or Friday mornings to be included in the new training groups.
The first Bronze Medallion course of the season will commence in September. The club is always keen to encourage new members to come along and join the volunteer patrolling ranks to ease the burden on those already committed to this cause.
Memberships for the new season are now due and should be completed as soon as possible. This can be done online through the Members Area – members.sls.com.au. All fees remain the same as last season.
Yamba Surf Club is proud of its great tradition of service to the community and looks forward to maintaining these traditions of training lifesavers of the future and providing volunteer lifesavers on Main Beach during this season. Any club enquiries can be made to office@yambaslsc.com.au
Cathy Dougherty