Bronte Surf Riders Celebrate 50 Years

By Tom Penistone on April 2, 2014 in News

The Bronte Surf Riders will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a reunion later this month.

The club was formed on April 21, 1964 and originally boasted over 120 members, all of whom shared a passion for boardriding, whether it was social or competitive.

The event itself will take place at the Bronte Surf Life Saving Club on Saturday, April 26, with many old and new members of the club in attendance, as well as Waverley Mayor Sally Betts.

In commemoration of the anniversary, one of the founding members of the club, Lee Cross, has created a historical documentary about the group. Cross, who was previously the editor and publisher of Australia’s first surfing magazine, The Australian Surfer, has worked hard to gather archival footage of the Bronte Surf Riders.

The documentary will show how the group was formed and showcase many of the club’s triumphs, including the 1966 Board Riding World Championships in San Diego.

Among those interviewed for the piece are former celebrity members of the club including Australian rock music pioneer Col Joye and rock and roll band The Delltones.

In addition to the video footage, former member Tony Haid has also contributed twelve music tracks written by himself in the genre of the beach music at the time. The tracks will provide the background music to the documentary and will also be available in CD format.

The documentary will be played at the event and a copy will be given to those in attendance.

This is the first major reunion of the original group for some time, with the last event of this kind being held in 1987.

“A lot of the guys are really excited about it; it’s going to be a really intense and good evening,” Mr. Cross told The Beast.

While the Bronte Surf Riders Club is no longer in existence, the Bronte Boardriders Club is as strong as ever, placing third in the recent NSW South Jim Beam Surftag event and finishing second in last year’s Jim Beam Surftag national titles.

For more information on the 50th Anniversary and the history of the club visit the Bronte Surf Life Saving Club located at Bronte Beach or call Malcolm Cooper on (02) 9949 6141 or 0409 154 557.