TigerOars - Balmain Rowing Club

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Page 2 TigerOars F RO M THE P RESIDENT My lingering impression of Balmain Rowing Club when I joined around 1971 is of an old grey timber shed filled with timber boats and high spirited young men who rowed hard and played even harder. My second recollection is of a group of gentlemen mostly born in Balmain, “because where else would you want to be born?”. All from diverse backgrounds and professions they supported the club at regattas and held gettogethers on a Sunday morning at the shed every few months. All good hearted men who called themselves “The BOBs” (Balmain Old Boys), gentlemen such as Sid Sharp, Bill Nix, Jack Hocking, Frank Hidden, Norm Fauvel and many more. Wonderful role models, they were always willing to lend a hand with repairs to the shed and the boats and occasionally assist us with a few dollars. The youngest member of the BOBs, in fact the only surviving member of the original merry band of that era, is one of our Co-Patrons, George Maxwell Neilson. George had been a pretty handy sculler, rowing at the same time as Merv Woods, the former NSW Commissioner of Police who was of a similar age and went on to win Gold, Silver and Bronze medals at consecutive Olympic Games between 1948 and 1956. George learnt a lot about running second in sculling events when he came up against Merv, although when Merv finished outside the marker bouy in one particularly tight finish on the Leichhardt course George was pleasantly surprised to be awarded the trophy. Merv had been disqualified for not finishing on the course. Speaking of trophies, for many years Balmain had an impressive trophy which was a model of a timber four mounted in a glass case. I only learnt a year or two ago it had been won at a regatta held by the Pittwater Aquatic Club in 1939. George rowed in the three seat of the Balmain Heavyweight Junior Four that won that trophy. I went with him to Pittwater Aquatic Club (the club no longer rows,) to return the trophy he and his fellow crew mates won on Monday October 2 nd 1939. The trophy had been in Balmain’s possession since that date, the year in which the world went to war. George occasionally coached scullers at Balmain as well as elsewhere. One of his great successes was with a young sculler from St George Rowing Club, Stephen Callaghan who won the Australian Lightweight Sculling Championship in 1981, defeating the legendary Peter Antonie. Eleven years ago at 83 years of age, George Neilson drove the commentators’ vehicle that followed the races down the course for the Sydney Olympics. The lead up regatta the previous year, as well as during the 2000 Olympics, required 3am starts from home as we had to be briefed and on the water before sun-up each day of the regattas and we had to get there by public transport as for security purposes there was no parking at the regatta site. George has been involved in many community activities throughout the years I have known him. After he had finished building his waterfront “shack” in Lovetts Bay, Pittwater in the late 60s he and a few of his neighbours built the Fire Station, “obtained a fire truck” and then became the Lovetts Bay Bush Fire Brigade. Until quite recently George spent at least one day a week for over 15 years at the Sydney Heritage Fleet using his skills to restore small timber boats. He also spent a similar number of years delivering Mealson-Wheels to members of his local Fivedock/Abbotsford community where many of his “customers” were 20 or more years his junior. In fact he only retired from these last two “jobs” after turning 90 years of age. George is now in his 95 th Year! Unfortunately coinciding with my writing of this column George had a fall after parking his car outside of the block of units where he lives in Abbottsford. He has broken his hip but not his spirit and by the time Balmain members read this he should have moved into a rehabilitation unit and be well on the way to recovery. Go-the-Tigers! David Longhurst
BRC F UNDRAISING UPDATE In recent months, a fundraising committee has been set up to kick-start our efforts at raising enough money to build your new shed. The current members are: - Matt Braithwaite-Young - Marissa Thomas-Broome - Robyn Schremmer - Whit Mason You may be interested to know a little more about the fundraising committee, so here are some of the questions you might have, and some answers for you: Remind me, why do we need a new clubhouse? Because the current clubhouse will not last much longer, and you deserve the best rowing facilities in the state. Right now, the construction certificate is being prepared. This will allow us to create a final construction and funding plan. Why does BRC need to fundraise? Isn't there a major benefactor? Because the cost of the new clubhouse will be more than we can reasonably raise from our members alone. Although we have some club members who have made some How our members alone. Although we have some club members who have made some significant pledges, however we are nowhere near funding the project without some very - significant funds from outside sources. (Note: That said, if you do happen to have a spare $2M, please let us know!) What is the focus of the fundraising committee? To identify, structure and lead our whole-of-club approach to finding the money to complete the new clubhouse on time. Important areas of consideration are - Government funding sources (Local, State, Federal) - Corporate donations and support - Benefactors and major donors - Identifying what we need to do as a total club to make BRC attractive to these groups (eg positive local reputation, high profile, etc). - How we can inspire the entire membership to work together to support the fundraising goals, and help wherever possible. Can I get involved? In the next weeks and months, the fundraising committee will approach everyone to explain how you can help. Remember, the fundraising committee IS all about finding the right ways to generate major donations. The fundraising committee is not about creating a bureaucracy or "approval" mentality in the club. If you have a great idea for raising money for the club, go right ahead and do it. Would you like to get involved? Please contact any of the current fundraising committee members and we will welcome you onto the committee. Any member is welcome - and encouraged - to join this vital committee. Above all, we will never raise the money we need unless we continue to be seen as a valuable asset to the local community. So anything you can think of to build our profile in the community will be essential for our success. For more information contact Matt Braithwaite-Young Email : matt@turning-leaf.com.au Matthew Braithwaite-Young Photos below : Sunken BRC pontoon in August 2010 Page 3
Page 1: INSIDE THIS ISSUE: From the Preside
Page 5 and 6: BRC’ S M ENS EIGH T Club Captain
Page 7 and 8: T RY ROWING D AY : AP RIL 17 2011 B
Page 9 and 10: S UPPORTER EYEVIEW We had promised

TigerOars - Balmain Rowing Club

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