150TH UPDATE
SESQUICENTENARY ANNIVERSARY
The Club has always had an appreciation of the importance of preserving its history and our 150th anniversary is a perfect occasion to focus on our very successful past as we look toward the future .
It is a chance to examine the ways of our Club in particular and that of our society in a more general manner . At the time of our formation we were part of the colony of New South Wales and we did not become a nation for a further 34 years .
Any organisation that survives , much less prospers over such a period of time as have we , has achieved a great deal and the occasion is indeed worthy of celebration .
As part of our celebration many guests will be invited to the Club and just as we do in our respective homes when guests are expected we are having something of a tidy up . The Club entrance is being re-built in a modern style . As part of this work the long buried cattle grid which once protected is from straying stock will be lifted . It may be of course that another function of the grid had been to keep our flock of lawn mowing sheep on site but whatever the case it is both a reminder of the past and a reflection of just how much the Club has changed .
A celebration generally involves visitors and ours will be no different . Invitations have been sent to our Nation ’ s leaders and we look forward to greeting a number of them at the culmination of festivities on Sunday October 15th next year .
There is an excellent video available on YouTube which was produced by Film Australia around 1965 to promote British migration and follows the newspaper delivery run of the local newsagent around Newport and it shows the paper being delivered to the Club with the entry through a gap in a small picket fence . There was no Clubhouse as we know it . The video is called “ Paper Delivery ” and is well worth a look .
The inaugural race held at our current site at Green Point featured Jubilees and these popular boats became a mainstay of the Club ’ s racing programme in our early
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years . A refurbished Jubilee will be on display .
A range of commemorative items will be available and these include a fine medallion which is modelled on one which was produced for our centenary . The centenary medallions have become collectors ’ items and in view of the limited number which will be produced on this occasion we anticipate that a similar situation will develop . A number of current members have medallions that have been handed down through their family .
Our Club ’ s long running Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Regatta has been enjoyed by many including of course , some who no longer sail . We are having a function in December which will be restricted to those who have participated in the series . It will not be open to friends of participants or to others . As such , it will be an unusual event and we anticipated that it will be an opportunity for friendships to be renewed and exciting moments to be relived .
In most cases membership is long held but we are struggling to locate a number of our past champions whose names appear on our honour boards . If you should be aware of the contact details of any of our lost champions please pass the information to reception so that we may seek to regain contact . During the course of the celebrations there will be a function held to recognize their contributions to the Club .
Work is proceeding on the commemorative wall , just off the club foyer . The display will present a brief history ranging from 1867 to the present in a series of display panels .
The Club ’ s major historical book of reference , “ Yachting and the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club ” by Graeme Norman has been digitised and is being updated to the present time . Both the digitised and the updated print copy will be available to members .
Bronze story boards will be displayed on a permanent basis in various locations to inform members of the specific historical links of parts of the premises .
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