Surf club seeks material for its 100th anniversary

Ocean Beach lifesave, Brian Pitt, surfing in 1928

Ocean Beach Surf Life Saving Club is seeking help from residents as it prepares for its 100th anniversary in 2022.

Historian Ms Julie Aitchison is looking for Peninsula locals who own memorabilia and souvenirs from the club.

“We are hoping the public will look through all their old photos, newspaper clippings or any paperwork that might be associated with the surf club,” Ms Aitchison said.

The club already has a number of historic items, including a program from a 1928 surf carnival, photos of the Pitt Brothers who were members in the late 1920s, and blazers from the 1950s.

Minutes of a meeting held in September 1939

Ms Aitchison said all the items were precious to the community and helped to tell the story of the club’s history.

A 1939 minute book has helped the club uncover some helpful history, but Ms Aitchison believes Peninsula locals could own earlier books.

She said the club was the oldest surf life-saving club on the Central Coast and was formed in January 1922, by several locals who visited the Peninsula each weekend.

“The Ocean Beach Surf Life Saving Club was formed several weeks before the Morning Star Masonic Lodge in Woy Woy, and years before the formation of the Woy Woy Ettalong Sub Branch of the RSL,” Ms Aitchison said.

SOURCE:
Media Release, 11 Aug 2020
Ocean Beach Surf Life Saving Club