Commodore’s Notes

Things are going along quietly at the club with the restrictions slowly easing.
At the time of writing this we can have 10 people inside and 30 outside, which is fine for most evenings but on Wednesdays, our $2 pot night and Friday our ‘Toss the Boss’ night you will need to get there early or have to wait out the front.
Unfortunately there can be no exceptions, we have had Committee Members including myself in the queue several times. The wait time is usually only 10 to 15 minutes.
As the vaccination rates increase we have our fingers crossed that the restrictions will be eased.
It appears that the non vaccinated won’t be allowed entry to any hospitality venue so we will be enforcing whatever the ruling is at the time. We encourage everyone to download the new Service Victoria App and link it to your My Gov account on your smart phone. This will then show that you have been fully vaccinated every time you check in with the QR code.
We are still asking that anyone who has been in Melbourne over the last 14 days to please stay away from the club. We would like nothing better than to welcome back our Melbourne Members so hopefully this will soon change.
Anyway enough of the sad stuff. To all our regional and local members, drop in, say G’day and enjoy the Worlds Best and Coldest Beer at the Worlds Friendliest Club.

UPCOMING EVENTS

MAJOR FISHING COMPETITION ON SUNDAY THE 31st of OCTOBER
SPONSORED BY LORNE HARDWARE

This will be our last competition for the year and it’s going down to the wire. Anyone in the top 5 can win it. The scores at the moment are:
Keith Miller 10,172 points
Paul Staley 10,129
Brett Stewart 9,853
Andrew Clarke 9,285
Tony Gallaher 8,627
Naturally I’m winning because I add up the scores ?
The weigh in starts at midday with the cut off time at 12.30pm, this will be closely followed by the presentation of prizes to the winners then our traditional roast lunch will be served up free of charge to all competitors and only $10 for members.
Come and give it a go, especially the juniors.

WORLD SAUSAGE ROLL CHAMPIONSHIPS SATURDAY 30th OCTOBER
SPONSORED BY LORNE CENTRAL
Note: Lorne Central are moving into the old KAOS building very soon.

To enter you have to be a member then simply turn up at about 4pm with your sausage rolls. The judges only need a couple but please bring extras to feed the hungry hordes.
We will have 3 local celebrity judges sitting up on a raised stage so you can watch their scientific techniques in tasting and scoring the many different sausage rolls. They will be judging appearance, texture, taste etc.
We will be awarding huge prizes in several different categories.
The winner will also receive a trophy and will be officially listed as the World Sausage Roll Champion. We have registered the name and actually own it so it’s a legitimate title. All members are welcome.

MELBOURNE CUP EXTRAVAGANZA

It will be on again, Tuesday 2nd November starting at 11am with a free champagne on arrival, free chicken platters, sausage sizzle, sweeps on every race, fashions on the field with prizes for best dressed lady, best dressed gentleman and lots of other novelty prizes. If you prefer you can BYO food. We recommend you reserve a spot with Hutch.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (AGM)
SPONSORED BY FOODWORKS LORNE

Saturday 27th November, the meeting will start at 5pm. If the Covid restrictions don’t change we will be limited to only 40 members being able to attend. If this is still the case we will also do it on Zoom.
As usual the bar will close for the meeting which will be followed by the fishing competition trophy presentations. We will then have an open bar for one hour and a free BBQ.

PUB TO PIER
SPONSORED BY GREAT OCEAN ROAD BAKERY

On Australian Day, Wednesday 26th January the annual Pub to Pier Swim which starts in front of the Surf Club and finishes at our club house has quickly become a tradition.
As it’s on Australia Day we will be getting into the spirit by handing out free Vegemite Sandwiches and Lamingtons all supplied free of charge by our sponsors of the day Great Ocean Road Bakery.
Our local CFA will be running a sausage sizzle and a few raffles. All the profits will go to them so come along and support a great cause.

GREAT OCEAN ROAD GARLIC CHAMPIONSHIP
SPONSORED BY LORNE PHARMACY

Friday the 10th of December, don’t forget to start nurturing your garlic now.
All you need to do to enter is firstly be a member and just turn up before 5pm with your garlic.
We will be awarding prizes for several different categories ; biggest, smallest, funniest shape, overall champion etc. There will also be a junior section so encourage the kids to get involved.

FISHING REPORT

Spring is always the worst season for wind and this year is no exception.
Mother Nature is also throwing in a lot of rain as well so it hasn’t been ideal weather for fishing. We are still managing to get out once or twice each week.
All I can say is thank god for the Gummy Sharks. If it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t be catching anything at all other than the usual pests. Gurnards and Barbered Perch (or silkies). They never go off the bite. The Gummy fishing has been extraordinary over the last two months. They are everywhere. They are being caught in large numbers off the beaches, the pier, the rocks, in deep water and in shallow water. We were drifting for flathead the other day in only about 12 metres of water and were catching nothing but Gummy Sharks. I’m not complaining because they are great fighters and beautiful eating.
The Pier is still performing reasonably well with reports of Salmon, Trevally, King George Whiting, Calamari, Grass Whiting and of course plenty of Gummy’s.

MELBOURNE FINALLY TRIUMPH

After many years of disappointment the Demons finally came up with the goods and most of their loyal supporters have stuck with them for the whole 57 years.
We have a lot of very happy members but also a lot of disappointed Footscray Fans. I can’t think of anyone happier than this bloke in the photo below except maybe his wife Annie.

CALENDAR YEAR FISHING COMPETITION
SPONSORED BY BENDIGO BANK

We’ve had a bit of excitement recently with our local legend lady angler Carolyn Griffiths catching the biggest bream this year and getting her name up on the board.
The ink hadn’t even dried when our Local Bream King Miah Atwell caught a bigger one so Carolyn’s name wasn’t up there for very long.
Miah is (was) good friends with the Griffiths but I’ve warned him not to accept any invitations to their place for a meal for a while or until Carolyn catches a bigger one.

MEMBER OF THE MONTH

CHRIS TUTUNGI, Better known as Tull.
Parents Fred & Merle built and ran the first fish & chip shop in Lorne in the 1950’s. Merle had four children and raised them all whilst working in the fish shop. It was very popular as the food was all very local and fresh. Fred would buy shark bodies and barracouta from the local fishermen. He would fillet them in a room at the fish shop and serve them the next day. It was a very busy business on weekends and in the summer period it employed about 8 people back then. There were white pointer shark jaws and King Crabs hanging on the walls of the shop, many people still remember these. The chips were made from potatoes, generally Kennebec or Sebago grown in Deans Marsh by Marshall Smith who delivered them by tray truck in large hessian bags tons at a time. Marshall later bought the property and business in the early sixties and ran the fish and chips shop for a number of years.
Fred went on and managed the fishermen’s Co/op after that for a couple of years and Tull thinks he probably found his love of fishing at that time. Growing up as a young boy with so many fishermen and boats at Lorne was a wonderful time. Having spent as much time as he could fishing from the pier with mates and learnt much about fishing and the different cultures and nationalities that had a passion for fishing also, Tull enjoyed fishing for trout in the Allen dam with lures and rode his bike there after school some nights.

Tull camped with mates through the Otway’s growing up and enjoying fishing in many different rivers around the area. Along with many of those mates at that time, he did Cubs and Scouts run by local parents, it was educational and much fun.

Tull’s first job in the late sixties was working at the fishermen’s Co/op run by Henry Love, selling fish and bait from the shop approximately where the restaurant is now located.
His recreational boat fishing started in the early 70’s, as Fred had purchased an ex abalone boat from a friend and abalone diver Gordon Avery it was a Brooker aluminium boat 14.5 feet long and they fished when the weather allowed, after work and weekends. This is when Tull joined the LAAC. The only fishing competition run by the LAAC back then was a snapper competition every Easter. In 1985, he purchased a new larger aluminium boat 5.3 made by Savage Boats in Melbourne it provide more comfort and so they could fish when conditions were not as good. This boat went onto Troy, Tull’s son who lives at Port Campbell and loves fishing, it has been replaced by him into a larger glass boat.

Tull attended school in Lorne until 16 then did an apprenticeship as a dental technician under Fred’s guidance. He attended the RMIT once a week, and Fred and Tull drove to Geelong every day for work. He did this for approximately 35 years. He also attended Melbourne University Dental School in that time to do a course as a Dental Prosthesis.

Tull was fortunate enough to be able to play football with a great group of boys, growing into men from their time in the Polwarth League to the Colac & District Football League. They had quite a bit of success and some premierships along the way, and the friendships and memories live on. He became president of the football club in 1979 and served as a committee member and trainer for many years.

Tull’s married Carol in 1983 after Ash Wednesday and had three wonderful children Troy, Casey and Skye, and six beautiful granddaughters.
Ash Wednesday took their home away but they knew that we always wanted to live in this beautiful area and went about rebuilding that same year. They moved into a near complete new home a week after Troy was born in March 1984. Many people living in Lorne now, experienced Ash Wednesday and remember that unforgettable experience one that hopefully makes us all stronger. On the evening of the fire passing through this area, Tull ventured on the back of a motorbike with Michael Callahan to their property via a bush track to see what had survived, pretty much everything had gone, but to Michael’s and Tull’s amazement, his sister’s horses that were here at the time survived with a few spark burns. He managed to lead them into Lorne by their halters later that night and they settled eating grass on Merle and Fred’s back yard in George St like nothing had happened.

Tull and Carol established Lorne Bush House Cottages & Eco Retreats in 1996 and continue to be apart the tourism sector of Lorne.
He has been chairperson of the Lorne Business & Tourism Association, CFA volunteer, Lion’s member, Committee for Lorne, Committee member, LAAC committee member and a member LSLC.
Now days, he enjoys getting away with a few mates on 4×4 adventures to different parts of the State and hopefully soon interstate as well.
The highlight this year was being able to get away with a few mates on a fishing trip to Sweers Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria to fish for different species than what we catch here at Lorne and Bass Strait.

Tull and his beautiful wife Carol are extremely well respected and much loved members of our wonderful community. Personally I’m proud to call them good friends.
Although after he sees these photos below I might get the arse. He doesn’t know I got hold of them ?

SAYING OF THE MONTH

From now on each month I’m going to include a saying that tickles my fancy. There are hundreds of them out there but I reckon the oldies are the best ones. If anyone out there has a favourite please email it to me keith.miller@live.com.au.

This months is:
“NEVER ARGUE WITH AN IDIOT. THEY WILL BRING YOU DOWN TO THEIR LEVEL THEN BEAT YOU WITH EXPERIENCE”.

MERCHANDISE

We have new stock of top quality navy blue hoodies along with our range of different colours of short and long sleeve tshirts. Also caps, stubby holders, stickers and gift vouchers. Contact keith.miller@live.com.au if you’d like to arrange for anything to be sent by post.

When Covid first hit us we sold masks and couldn’t keep the supply up. We donated all the profits to the Lorne Hospital and thought that masks were going to be a part of history. How wrong were we. We are going to start selling them again but will be going up market with a better fitted type mask. As soon as they arrive I’ll display photos and prices.
As before all the profits will go to the hospital.

T Shirts $35
Long Sleeve T Shirts $39
Stubby Holders $8
Caps $25
Stickers $3
Hoodies $80
Domestic Postage $10

MEMBERSHIPS FOR 2022

The new members cards will be arriving next week so you can join up any time you like. The fees are the same as last year.

Pensioner $25
Single $45
Family $60, Two Adults and Children under 18
Boat $75, Same as Family and allows you to use our boat wash.
Commercial $180

R.I.P CRAIG ATKINSON

COFFEE

Jason is serving his delicious tea and coffee Friday to Monday 8am to 1pm
He’ll be back 7 days a week in summer.

COURTESY BUS

Our bus will be running on Friday’s and Saturdays. If anyone out there can help us out driving it please let Hutch know. Please be generous with your gold coin donations. Phone 0408 041234.

Cheers,

Commodore

Thanks to our sponsors:

KEANE CONTRACTING BRICK/BLOCK and SCAFFOLDING – Gary Keane
SURFCOAST GARDENING – Kerry Webster & Rob Dalziel