It's a big weekend ahead for members of the Fairy Meadow Surf Club which is celebrating its 75th birthday.
Surf Club President Jeremy Kuiper says the main celebration will take place at the city Collegians club on Saturday night when 150 people will reminisce about the great achievements of the club over all those years.
On Sunday, at Fairy Meadow Beach from 10am, there will be an open day targeting families for a day of friendly fun, rescue demonstrations, and even an appearance by the fire truck from Balgownie.
Jeremy joined the club 28 years ago as a nipper. "Mum and dad ran the nippers and so I probably didn't have much say in it. It was a family thing." Jeremy was just five when he signed up. "Every weekend we were at the beach, mum, dad and my sister."
At 16, Jeremy took on the club captain's role. "That helped me grow and develop as a person." It certainly laid the foundation for him taking on the club captain's role earlier this year.
"It's such a good club. Everything is about being active, promoting a healthy lifestyle, and sharing the beach with good friends."
The club became a home for migrants
A long-time member of the club, Hans Kampen, joined the Fairy Meadow Surf Club in 1961. He came to Australia with his family from Holland as a six-year-old 10 years earlier in 1951.
He recalls living in a makeshift camping area for migrants at Stuart Park for a time before his father built their home in Fairy Meadow in 1954, just a few hundred metres from the surf club.
Hans laughed when he explained his motivation to join the club as a teenager was to allow him to store his big surfboard at the club rather than having to carry it to and from the beach every time he wanted to have a surf.
Fellow migrants who lived at the hostel were always at highest risk. Hans said those coming from the United Kingdom had to deal with much bigger waves than they'd encountered back home. Migrants from non-English speaking countries had to quickly learn the rules about swimming between the flags.
There are so many happy memories about being a part of this club," Hans said. "The fellowship, the mates you've shared adventures with travelling to compete. I've made so many lifelong friends over the years, but of course most of them have now passed on."
Documenting the proud history
Another of the legends from the club, Lawrence 'Lou' Bond is credited for documenting much of the history.
He joined in the summer of 1957/58 and has remained a member for all those years.
"Fairy Meadow Surf Life Saving Club was founded in 1950 by a group of local residents, to safeguard the people of Fairy Meadow and Balgownie," Lou wrote on the club's website.
"The members walked each Sunday to North Wollongong Beach to borrow a surf reel and take it back again in the evening. Their first surfboat was an old clinker-built double-ended boat also acquired from North Wollongong Surf Club.
"In the off season this boat was left submerged in Fairy Creek to prevent the boards from shrinking, so when it was pulled out of the water at the start of summer it didn't leak. It weighed a ton and took around 10 or more blokes to lift it.
From humble beginnings
"The first clubhouse was an old brick and corrugated iron boat shed with two swinging doors and it had a very small canteen attached... it was a sad day when we knocked it down."
In the 1960s and 70s, Lou recorded that the number of members "fluctuated up and down. At one stage down to about four or five members."
He recalled one of the saddest days in the club's history. It was 12 January 1970, when Cheryl Grimmer, a three-year-old girl from the Fairy Meadow migrant hostel, was abducted from the beach. Members of the surf club spent many days trying to help locate Cheryl. She is still missing.
"The Illawarra Rescue Helicopter was stationed at Fairy Meadow Surf Club for some years but disbanded not long after a fatal crash that killed Towradgi member, Tommy Thompson. The helicopter hit power lines and went down while transporting a seriously ill pregnant woman to hospital."
In 2021, Lou was awarded a Queen's Birthday Order of Australia Medal, recognising his outstanding contribution to surf lifesaving and his local community.
The club is always on the lookout for new members. Nipper registrations for the upcoming season this Sunday are between 10am and 1pm and families are encouraged to come along to get a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to be a lifesaver.
There will also be surf skills demonstrations, a sausage sizzle, and a jumping castle for the kids.
