What a Season! Full of ups and downs, from COVID-19 lockdowns to almost ‘business as usual’; wild to mild surf days; burning sun to freezing water, days where there was lots of activity to the slow and quiet days.ย
I am very happy to say again this year that there have been no lives lost on North Steyne during patrolling hours – that is a 114 year streak!ย Go Team North Steyne! Further, I am very proud of the way that our members have adapted to the season managing the changes of procedures under COVID, stepped up to help out across all areas of club activities including the Nipper Carnival, Surfboat & Branch Carnivals.
I would also like to thank all those who participatedย in the 2020/21 Club Champs this month, a morningย of fun and (very) serious competition!ย It was also great to see many patrolling members show up for the Club photo afterwards in front of the Club House, unfortunately we could not get everyone there but it was a fantastic turn out all the same.ย I would like to give a big shout out and thanks to David Sawyer for the time and effort to get the photos of the Club Champs and the Patrol Group photo captured for our Club!
Additionally I am really impressed with the level of commitment to North Steyne this year in managing patrols and subs, it seems that everyone wants a VOUCHER!!!!!, seriously well done in terms of this patrol management and being flexible to manage the changing face of how we patrol. Your continued effort in this space has made it easier to manage the patrolling gaps that do occur across the season, so thank you very much for doing the best to support our team throughout the season.
On a sad note this year will be the last year for the Purvis Family patrolling at North Steyne and I would personally like to thank James, Jessie and Joe for their years of dedication to North Steyne, they will be sorely missed.ย James has been involved in North Steyne since around the year 2000 and has covered roles such as Nipper Dad, Age Manager, Water Safety, Bronze Member, IRB crewman, IRB Driver, ART to name a few, he has also assisted in Education and Training, was the Club Vice Captain, a massive support for me in this role. Additionally, James has a 15 year National Patrol Service Award and is an Outstanding Service winner at the club.ย I could go on, what I am trying to say is that James and the Purvis family have a great history of service to North Steyne and the Club is grateful for all their years of dedication.ย Thanks you Purvis Family……..James, we have a spot for you on the ACTIVE reserve when you are ready!
Finally, this will be my last year as Club Captain and I would like to say thank you to all our members for your support and advice it has been a great experience that I have enjoyed and I wish our next Club Captain the very best going forwards.ย I will still be around at the club so as always I look forward to seeing you on the beach!.
Dan Hillier
Club Captain