Mooloolaba Surf Life Saving Club is gearing up for its centenary celebrations, and is calling on the Sunshine Coast community to get involved.
In 2022, one of the Sunshine Coast’s biggest surf clubs, Mooloolaba Surf Life Saving Club, will celebrate 100 years of community service.
A commemorative logo has been designed, and planning is well underway to make the centenary season at Mooloolaba SLSC its biggest ever.
A host of exciting celebrations for locals, visitors, members and former members will run during the lifesaving season, which starts on November 19, 2022 and finishes in July 2023.
Mooloolaba SLSC is calling on locals, and past and present members, to get involved with the surf club’s centenary, with the launch of the Mooloolaba SLSC-specific 100 years Facebook group. Members of the public can join the centenary group, check out the images, and share their own.
The 100 years Facebook group already has a library of historical images and film footage from the past 100 years. Images include Prince Charles visiting Mooloolaba, the original clubhouse in 1933 and the Buderim to Mooloolaba road from 1918. It is a fascinating insight into the life of Mooloolaba SLSC and the local Sunshine Coast community as a whole.
The 100 years committee would like anyone who has had an association with Mooloolaba to share their photos and memories of Mooloolaba SLSC and Mooloolaba township past and present.
They could be an active member, former nipper, been rescued or competed at Mooloolaba or just love this beautiful place we call home. Some images may be selected to feature in the Mooloolaba SLSC 100-year book to commemorate this auspicious occasion.
The Facebook page will build awareness and inform the local community of the exciting 100-year celebration events.
“Mooloolaba Surf Life Saving Club will be 100 years old on November 19, 2022,” Alan Murray, chairman of The Mooloolaba Surf Life Saving Club 100-year committee, says.
“To celebrate this milestone, a centenary committee is organising a series of activities over the 22/23 lifesaving season. As a permanent reminder of Mooloolaba’s 100-year history, a centenary book will be produced, complemented by a pictorial representation of lifesaving at Mooloolaba over the decades, to be showcased in the foyer of The Surf Club, Mooloolaba.
“A re-enactment of beach patrols and surf sports will be demonstrated on the beach to coincide with the first patrol at Mooloolaba in early 1923. Concluding the celebrations, there will be a gala dinner in July 2023.”
The Mooloolaba SLSC’s 100 Year History book will be one of the club’s centenary celebrations centrepieces. It will provide a tangible record of all the years that have gone before.
It will showcase a rich history of individual and joint achievement dating from a time when Mooloolaba was an isolated settlement of holiday shacks surrounded by scrub, river flats and sand dunes to the iconic holiday destination it is today.
“What an exciting time for Mooloolaba SLSC and every member of our community who has been involved with the club,” Mooloolaba SLSC president Darryl Johnson says.
“Mooloolaba is one of the most recognisable beaches and towns in Australia and to have our club patrol our beach and support our community for a century is something to celebrate.”
Fast facts
Mooloolaba Surf Life Saving Club
- More than 1425 members
- Each season, lifesavers complete 14,000 volunteer patrol hours
- They perform more than 1800 preventative actions and rescues per season
- The Surf Club, Mooloolaba’s supporters club, hosts more than 260,000 visitors per year
- It has 50,000-plus members
- Mooloolaba Nippers has more than 400 children participating per season and Starfish Nippers for children with disabilities.
