I first came to Lorne in December 1971, immediately after I had completed my Year 12 exams. There was no such thing as ‘schoolies week’ back then. I came to stay at the surf club, as some of my school friends had already joined the club three years earlier through a teacher at school. Two of these friends are still members of the club today, and one still does his voluntary patrolling after almost 50 years!
I enjoyed the camaraderie of the surf club from the moment I arrived, getting to know and stay with a diverse bunch of new friends. The total membership in those days was around 50 males, so we got to know one another very well, staying in the bunkhouse together. It was a marked contrast to today, where the club now has well over 1,200 members, both male and female.
We enjoyed endless days on the beach, and endless nights at Jon Crawford’s Grand Pacific Hotel. This was the place to party throughout the Seventies, with live bands and seemingly little regard for licensing laws, particularly if you were a surf club member. We were regarded by Jon as ‘house guests’ or ‘bona fide travellers’.
I joined the surf club committee in 1974 as assistant secretary, and served continuously on the committee until 1993, my last six years as president. My professional career has always been in construction and property. I relinquished the role of president to become project director of the Crown Melbourne project, an all consuming task for nearly five years. However, it never stopped me from spending at least three weeks each summer on the beach at Lorne. I managed the extensions to the clubhouse in 1984 to accommodate our new female members. I also was an early advocate for the new clubhouse that was ultimately built in 2000.
In 1980, I met my wife, Carolyn on the deck of the Lorne Hotel, where the live music had moved to after Jon Crawford sold the Pacific. We have been coming to Lorne ever since, and we built our own house in Clovelly Court in 1999. Our son Rohan grew up on the beach each summer, participated in the Nipper programme, and then as a full member of the club, where he made many friends from outside school. I have made countless friendships throughout my 45 years at Lorne, through the clubs and activities that I have been involved with. I have been a member of the Country Club, and the tennis club as it was before it merged with the golf club.
Only this season, encouraged by my old friend Big Kev van Deuren, I have joined the bowls club and aquatic club, where I have met a fantastic new group of local people, both young and old. I can’t imagine summer without being at Lorne. It is the best place on the planet to relax, catch up with old and new friends and family, and to enjoy everything that life has to offer.
