By Bob Ascoli, president of Austinmer-Thirroul Lions Club
In the 1990s the Lions Club of Austinmer (now the Lions Club of Austinmer-Thirroul) commissioned a local fabricator in Helensburgh to build a new BBQ trailer for the club that became an iconic symbol in the Northern Beaches community as part of many fundraising ventures.
The Lions Club has used the trailer at the annual Thirroul Seaside and Arts Festival for 25 years. The festival has been the club’s major fundraising venture, with profits being returned to help many individuals, organisations and community groups.
The money raised has helped convert family vehicles for those with severely disabled children, buy a hospital bed to support a house-bound child, lay pathways to aid a person in a wheelchair, buy new IRBs and all-terrain vehicles for Austinmer and Thirroul SLSCs and many other projects. The club has put more than $1.5 million back into the local community since it was formed in 1959.
Covid isolation in 2021 gave me the opportunity and time to design and gain club support for the proposal and to arrange construction and acquisition of a new custom-built trailer.
The new trailer is fully enclosed with three slide-out barbecues and a fixed twin-bowl sink with gas hot water. The trailer has its own freshwater supply with electric pump, greywater tank, and 240-volt power for LED lighting over barbecues and sink areas. Most medium-size family vehicles can tow it.
The sides and rear panels fold up to provide shelter from the elements for operators as well as on-board storage of equipment, such as Bain Maries, tables, chairs, power leads, and other equipment essential for set up and clean up in any major operation.
The new fully self-contained trailer replaces the former need for a back-up vehicle towing a box trailer to transport ancillary equipment.
The trailer performed extremely well during its baptism of fire at the 2022 Seaside and Arts Festival only having been delivered two weeks earlier.
The club acknowledges the community’s significant financial support and that of the Australian Lions Foundation, One Agency Kane Downie, a grant from the Federal Government’s Community Grants programme and other local organisations and businesses, such as McCormack Signs Austinmer and KBS Coatings.
The trailer is available to support local not-for-profit organisations, such as schools, surf clubs and similar organisations.
Want to the use the trailer with Lions members in support? Email enquiries to the Austinmer-Thirroul Lions Club secretary at austinmerthirroullionsclub@gmail.com
