75th Celebration Event
The recent 75th Anniversary celebration of the Karekare Surfclub went off without a hitch and was a night to be remembered by all. Perfectly still summer weather made for a fitting evening in the valley, and it was great to see the clubs lifesaving veterans of decades past standing shoulder to shoulder and swapping stories with our current crop of lifeguards. The 180+ crowd also contained a range of people who get in behind the scenes of daily club operations and help it run successfully including extended families through to sponsors, suppliers, neighboring club members, and Surf lifesaving NZ. There was also more than a just a few ankle biters there to represent the rapidly growing junior and nipper movement within the club, and if they can lifeguard as well as they showed they can consume ice-cream then it is a bright future for lifeguards on Karekare indeed!
The formalities for the evening included a moving Mihi by Karel Witten-Hannah, a humorous yet stirring round up of the comings and goings of the club over the last few decades by Stephen Pye, a brief overview of the building project including a formal acknowledgement of the hard yet highly valued work undertaken over the past 7 years by Phil Parks finally culminating in a successful resource consent application, an address and historical review of the clubs origins and early members by Bob Harvey, an acknowledgement of all life members and group photo’s to adorn the wall of the yet to be built new clubhouse. As dusk settled an overhead projector beamed up a montage of nostalgic images of the club spanning the past 75 years up to present day captivating the audience. A huge thanks to the event organizers Mark Chaafe and Bob Cook (Junior Surf and Nipper Dads) who worked tirelessly not only in making the event a reality, but also on the night, working hard behind the bar and ensuring that the catered dinner was absolutely perfect and hassle free. Like all good Surf Club events people danced and partied the night away with a rocking band, good company and some good laughs.
Lastly, big thanks from our membership to the clubs sponsors who helped make this event possible - leading sponsors Leighton and Auckland Council, and associated sponsors - New Zealand Sponsorship Agency, Pernod Ricard New Zealand, Prestige Loos, The Produce Company, Double Design (Julia Moore) Chaafe Graphics, Peter Dowling and Messenger Services Ltd. Having now past this important milestone, the focus for the club is now directed at fundraising for, and the building of the new clubhouse, hopefully in time to see in the eightieth celebrations!
Visit our 75th
Anniversary web
site.
If
you've ever been involved with Karekare Surf
Club as a member or supporter, visit
the
karekare75years
site and register your
details.
The Surf Club will be holding its
75th Annual
General Meeting this winter. Thats right
folks its time to celebrate and reminisce.
Our 75th anniversary coincides nicely with
the beginning stages of fundraising for our
new clubhouse.
Email your details to the Club Secretary and we
will be in touch to let you now how
you can become a member and join in
the fun, excitement and reward...
The Karekare Surf Life Saving
Patrol maintains an active patrol at the
beach in the weekends and on public holidays from
Labour Weekend to Easter each year.
During this season, Lifeguards provide a voluntary service that is mainly preventative in nature, encouraging beach users to swim in the safer regions of the beach (i.e., between the flags). However, lifeguards also respond to a wide variety of emergency situations.
The duties lifeguards at Karekare perform include:
During this season, Lifeguards provide a voluntary service that is mainly preventative in nature, encouraging beach users to swim in the safer regions of the beach (i.e., between the flags). However, lifeguards also respond to a wide variety of emergency situations.
The duties lifeguards at Karekare perform include:
- providing a patrolled area for swimmers,
- preventing people from getting into trouble by educating them about the surf and its dangers,
- rescuing fisherman, surfers and swimmers who get into difficulties,
- searching for missing persons and administering first aid and advanced emergency care,
- attending after hours call-outs, and
- protecting the shellfish beds.
The Place
Karekare is a small community and popular recreational destination on Auckland's West Coast, approximately 40km from Auckland's City Centre. The beach is part of a rugged coastline surrounded almost entirely by Auckland Regional Parkland. Popular activities in the area include swimming, tramping, fishing, horse riding, surfing, abseiling, parapenting, and running. Karekare has been classified the fourth most dangerous beach for swimming in New Zealand.Take up the Challenge and Become a Lifeguard at Karekare
Being part of the Karekare Surf Lifesaving Club is lots of fun and can provided some of the most rewarding experiences of a person's life. There are enormous opportunities to learn new things and to further develop your talents and abilities in a supportive environment. Through being a member of the Club you meet all sorts of interesting people and can make life-long friends.
The People
The Karekare Surf Lifesaving Patrol is a friendly, family-oriented organisation. The Club has around 100 active members and a junior surf lifeguard squad for young people aged from 10-14 years.Club members work together as part of a team and are encouraged to develop leadership, administrative and management skills in a supportive environment.
Through becoming a volunteer lifeguard there is also the opportunity to work as a paid lifeguard over the summer school holiday period or/and as a beach education instructor, teaching school children about surf safety.
Almost anyone can become a
lifeguard and/or member of the Club and
you don't have to be super-fit or even be able to
swim in the surf to make a valuable contribution.
Some of the areas in which you might like to
contribute are:
If you would like to join the Club (even just thinking about it) please contact the Club's secretary Shalema Wanden-Hannay:
Shalema Wanden-Hannay PO Box 21 636 Henderson
Ph: 8128 788 or e-mail: secretary@karekaresurfclub.org.nz
- Beach management and public relations (i.e., ensuring the flags are correctly located, watching the beach and warning people of dangers),
- Carrying out rescues (i.e., swimming, driving boats, paddling boards),
- Incident management (i.e., coordinating emergency situations),
- First aid and resuscitation,
- Radio operation,
- Club management and administration, and
- Organisation of social events and competitions.
If you would like to join the Club (even just thinking about it) please contact the Club's secretary Shalema Wanden-Hannay:
Shalema Wanden-Hannay PO Box 21 636 Henderson
Ph: 8128 788 or e-mail: secretary@karekaresurfclub.org.nz
Make a donation
The demands made on lifeguards are increasing as the population of Auckland grows and the West Coast becomes an ever-more popular tourist destination. Donations enable the Karekare Surf Lifesaving Patrol to continue to grow and develop and meet the increasing demands placed on the service.You can make a donation by sending a cheque to:
Karekare Surf Lifesaving Patrol
Or by contacting the Club's secretary:
Shalema Wanden-Hannay
Ph: 8128 788 or e-mail: secretary@karekaresurfclub.org.nz
We would love to hear from you if you would like to contribute to the Club through a professional skill you have or through a business service you provide (i.e., screen printing, graphic design, legal skills, engineering skills, photography, fundraising, photocopying and printing services).
Use the Clubhouse
If you are interested in using the clubhouse please contact the Clubhouse Director, Phil Parks, on 812 8911 or e-mail: ppkk@mac.comA Brief History of the Karekare Surf Lifesaving Patrol
The Karekare Surf Lifesaving Patrol started in 1935 after a dramatic sea plane rescue in Karekare. A group from the Manukau Amateur Cycling Club, who were present at the plane rescue asked the Piha Surf Club for advice, and started to form the Karekare Surf Lifesaving Patrol.In the early days teaching and training of new members was the key focus and over time the KKSLSP began to compete in surf carnivals. A local family allowed the KKSLSP to use their tennis changing sheds and some rooms at the base of the Watchman as the surf clubhouse.
In 1939, the war brought changes, and the surf club went into recess as members went off to war to do their duty. During this time the club bus was parked permanently in Karekare, without wheels, in case the Japanese invaded via the coast.
The KKSLSP built a gear shed on a rock in the centre of the beach in the late 1940's, all that remains are now almost covered by moving sand dunes.
The current clubhouse opened in 1982 and has space for 30 bunk beds, with areas to store rescue boats and equipment, and all the modern first aid apparatus such as oxygen and defibrillators, to give fast medical attention in the quickest time possible.
Karekare is one of the most dangerous places to swim in New Zealand. This has lead to the KKSLSP being awarded the most meritorious rescue awards of any Lifesaving Club in New Zealand. The KKSLSP also prides itself on having very high patrolling standards and constantly having the highest preventative rescue statistics relative to the number of people that use the beach.
Over the period of the KKSLSP existence more than 5,000 people have been rescued at Karekare beach.
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