I am really very proud of the achievements of our club this year. Every area of the club has performed strongly and makes a great contribution to our membership and the local community.

Our surf lifesaving year starts off in earnest in September with membership renewals coming in fast and our office staff are as usual hard-working and cheerful. We are really fortunate to have such a strong administrative team of Gavin, Betty and Donna backing up our operations.

Clearly a principal activity is providing surf lifesaving and water safety on our beaches with patrols commencing in the first week of December. Peter Sutas lead his team in preparing for the patrol season when gear and equipment is serviced and patrol rosters are completed. Patrols are the lifeblood of our club and these activities will continue through to the end of Easter and I urge all patrolling members to make sure that they either attend their patrol or find a substitute keeping their Patrol Captain informed. A special thanks to Peter Sutas and all are patrolling members and patrol captains for a sterling job over the summer.

Once again Point Lonsdale has demonstrated its strength in training future lifesavers. We have been fortunate to have our training area under the leadership of George Kelleway. George displays his keen enthusiasm for developing our young people and he is a great example to our junior members. Both our Bronze and SRC camps were a huge success with record numbers, enthusiastic trainers and a great group of people enjoying themselves. Thank you to all those leaders and instructors for their contribution in particular John Hurley, Will Ponsford, Simon Hardham and George Larsen.

Our Nipper program goes from strength to strength. Once again we have had record numbers and some age groups filled within days of applications opening. It is so pleasing to see hundreds of young people enjoying themselves and importantly developing water skills and a passion for lifesaving as an activity and as a sport. Bim Kiely-Scott leads an enthusiastic team of young leaders, parent supporters and head instructors. Again thanks to all of those involved and in particular Harriet Cordner and Jo Burch.

Our junior competition team - The Stingers have enjoyed another successful year again with a large group of supporters ably led by Ali Slorach.

This year we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Rip View Swim Classic and what a great job Kevin Carland and David Cross did in running this hugely successful event.

Rowan Cross and his team conducted the highlight of our social calendar- the Toga Party -a huge success with a big cast of volunteers both young people and parents. And from my perspective how pleasing it was that there were no complaints from the community or the police!

The bar this year proved to be an important social hub for the club with many members and friends enjoying Jay Epstein's hospitality.

Our LERT patrol had a busy summer with several after-hours callouts, Matt Ponsford and his team work all year providing after-hours emergency response.

In addition to these very obvious activities the club continues to enjoy the support of a whole range of people involved in making the club the success that it is and I think in particular of Lisa Paiman who ran a hugely successful doorknock, Tony Baenziger who continues to look after our property needs and heads up our Building Committee, Michael Harrison for his working in the background and particular clothing sales and Lachlan Coutie who leads our emerging competition team. We continue to receive great service from Emma Harrison (marketing and social coordinator), Michael Kinanhan (Treasurer), Judy Johnson (Historian), John Fergusson (Bumblebee Editor) and we have been fortunate to welcome back Rick Aitchison as Club Secretary. Finally how can I finish without thanking Mandy Grbac and Alan Joyce for their outstanding service to the club in a variety of ways.

So in closing thank you to each of our volunteers, leaders, committee members and our membership as a whole for making the Point Lonsdale Surf lifesaving Club in the envy of many and more importantly great club to be involved in- thank you.

Michael Doery, President

The highlight of the season for me was working with our 75 instructors. The instructor training day was such a positive experience. Michael Peiniger, Nipper parent and director of Kameleons Leadership Training kindly offered to facilitate the activities. It was fascinating to see how different groups worked to solve problems and to see the different styles of leadership amongst the group. We set our expectations high and I was very proud of how our instructors lead the Nipper groups. Congratulations to Justine Cain and Darcy Caddy as the first recipients of the new Burch Family Trophy for Nipper Instructor of the Year, they were certainly worthy winners but it wasn't an easy decision with so many outstanding leaders.

Thanks to Amanda Harper for doing a wonderful job co-ordinating the BBQ again this year. The BBQ raised approximately $3000 which was terrific. Sabina Read did a great job pulling the Raffle together at short notice and we really appreciate her efforts, the raffle raised over $2000. We have plans to replace many of the damaged boards for next season and hope to revamp the storage system at the Santa Casa Beach Base to store all our gear more safely and practically. We also use the funds raised to keep high cost items such as IRBs and ATVs in good working order. Georgie Brown's work with the Volunteer Roster and many other administrative jobs and was really appreciated and she was always looking to improve processes and communication within Nippers.

Thanks so much to Fron Fotiniotis who put so much work into co-ordinating the 75 Nippers who attended Cosy Corner. It was a wonderful day and terrific experience for all our Nippers.

We had three parents complete the online Age Managers Course this year Richard Grabsch, Diana Hill and Fron Fotiniotis. Qualified Age Managers means that we have more people over 18 to oversee the program and support our instructors. The course is simple and covers basic concepts related to teaching children, if you are a teacher or a coach then most of what is covered will be familiar. If you are interested in completing this for next season we'd love to hear from you.

A big thanks to Jo Burch and Harriet Cordner who help make Nippers run smoothly and were a pleasure to work with. I'd also like to thank our office staff Gavin, Betty and Donna, who do so much administration behind the scenes, as well as the committee who are very supportive of the Nipper Program.

The dates for Nippers 2013/2014 have been set Rash vest collection: Friday 27 and Sat 28 Dec S-Badge testing: Saturday 28th Jan Instructor training: Saturday 28th Jan Rip View Swim Classic: Sunday 29 Dec Nipper Day 1: Monday 30 Dec Championship Day & Presentation Night: Sat 11 Jan Enjoy your year, keep swimming and see you ready for the 2013/14 season!
Justine Kiely-Scott (Bim)

The intensive three-day course was run by Toby Dobell with instructors Ashley Baxter, Mattias Baenziger and Richard Heath. Candidates were required to digest a small mountain of pre-reading before the course, and then trained for very long days all weekend. All candidates were successful at attaining their Bronze Medallion, including one who first gained Bronze way back in 1977-1978. We look forward to their future involvement at the club.

Members and the local community have been given the opportunity to become informed and provide feedback on the new clubhouse project through a new consultation process.

The first phase of the program involves rolling out information on the need for a new Clubhouse and the different sites available for development. Interested members have become re-acquainted on the background of the project as well as the current issues facing redevelopment.

We will be seeking feedback throughout 2013 on the new Clubhouse and encouraging the community to become active participants in the decision making process.

We will be inviting members, stakeholders and interested parties to continue to receive information and be informed via the community consultation program.

Based on your level of interest, direct updates and personalised content on the status of the new Clubhouse will be sent out through a tailored email system. This way, you can stay up to date with as much or as little information as you wish.

Club affiliate and Reputation and Issues Management Company Daymark will be assisting in the implementation of the community consultation program and monitoring the community response.

To find out more about the consultation process please email john.fergusson@daymark.com.au.
Tony Baenziger Building Committee

"Thank you for the opportunity to represent Point Lonsdale Surf Lifesaving Club by attending the U13 LSV Development Camp at Wombat Corner, Emerald on 8th - 10th February, 2013. It was great to meet and socialize with new people from other Surf Life Saving Clubs around Victoria. We did various activities including low ropes and orienteering to encourage teamwork, leadership and fitness. I thoroughly enjoyed the camp weekend; It was a wonderful opportunity." Lucy Church

"We had a great time in Emerald for the 2 day SLSV Under 13 Development Camp. The activities the leaders organized were great, and we had a great time doing them. My favourite was the orienteering, when we had to use a map to find 25 numbers around the camp. The food the hosts made was really nice, we had fish 'n' chips, chicken schnitzel, hot jam doughnuts (home-made) and lots of other yum food. There was plenty to do in our free time, as there the camp had 2 trampolines, a basketball court, a mini golf course and a games room with pool and table tennis, table soccer and air hockey, so we were always entertained. We went for a walk along the Puffing Billy Railway Track after dinner, and when we got to one of the stations, Puffing Billy was there. The drivers let us walk through the cabin and the heat from the boiler was immense, then we were lucky enough to get a ride back to Lakeside Station in one of the empty carriages. I met a lot of new people that I will be able to say hi to at comps. Overall I had a great time so thanks for nominating me!" Thanks a lot, Kye Gray

To assist with funding the day to day operating expenses of LERT we successfully provided the course setup and water safety for the Queenscliff Blue Water Challenge during the Australia Day Long Weekend and will be providing water safety for the Wreck to Reef Swim at Indented Head during the Labour Day Long Weekend.

In coming weeks two of our RWC trainees will sit their RWC Operator Assessment with an additional member to sit his assessment hopefully in March and we are scheduled to do an exercise with Bellarine SES at Santa Casa in April. We advertised for expressions of interest for new members to join LERT and have been encouraged by a good sized group that we will induct in the near future.
Matthew Ponsford LERT Captain

The first "gear" shed was the Seabrook Memorial. The "Burma Road" over the sand dunes was the only access to the building, and any materials for maintenance and any rescue gear had to be manually carried up these steps. A number of 'improvements' were made over the years - a so-called shower facility and power were eventually installed. A wooden rail track was also built and a hand winch used to get the boat to and from the beach. In 1960, permission was refused for the Seabrook Memorial building to be used as a clubhouse, and a block of land in Victor Street was bought. This was eventually raffled and the Club purchased the current block of land on the corner of Ocean Road and Buckley's Road.

The present Clubhouse was built by Eric McGee with the help of members rostered at weekends, and was officially opened in 1964. It was dedicated to Ken Allen as the K D Allen Clubhouse.

On a number of occasions, modifications and improvements have been undertaken to provide members with comfortable facilities. These changes also reflect the changing nature of the Club and its members. There is an office where once there was a piano and a 'bandstand'. The hatch from which tickets were once sold for the Surf Sways is now boarded up and in its place is a first aid cabinet. In December 1997 the Glaneuse Bar was opened for members and friends to relax and enjoy, and there is an impressive display of memorabilia covering the Club's history. The original shark bell is now suitably located next to the Bar, along with displays of the barque Glaneuse, after which the reef at the back beach and the Bar are named.

As early as 1952, requests and proposals were submitted to the Queenscliff Council for a limited access roadway to be built to the back beach. A reply was not received until 1955. There was a heartfelt request to the Council in September 1969 for financial help to build a concrete slab and a simple building for a first aid centre and storage of equipment during the season. At this time the Club was using a wooden shed which had been vandalised and rebuilt several times and which was eventually destroyed.

From 1979, The Pointers were the key group within the Club community to provide the funding mechanisms and support for the construction and provision of the Beach Base. Finally, in April 1980, approval was given for the construction of a limited access roadway, and the Club was granted approval for the construction of a reinforced concrete building to contain a storeroom, first aid room and observation room with electricity and a telephone. In all, 30 years had passed before the Access Track got under way. The track's construction included the reclamation of Old Baldy, the planting of suitable vegetation and finally the construction on the roadway. Despite all these difficulties and handicaps, no lives were lost while a patrol was on duty.

In 1999, the Building Committee prepared plans to renovate and extend the Beach Base and to establish the base at Santa Casa to support the Nipper program and the Professional Lifeguards. The new Beach Base was officially opened in March 2002, with the Santa Casa facility in the following year.

In January 2007, the Beach Base was dedicated to Harry Windmill, in memory of his service and commitment to the Club.

This photo was recently received from former member Peter "Jexhead" Reed. It shows Old Baldy and was taken from the current clubhouse balcony in the 1960's. What view will we have from our Clubhouse in the future?
Judy Johnston Club Historian

Kids (Yellow) - sizes - 8,10, 12, 14, 16 = $45 Adults (Black) - small, med, large, XL = $49