This is a tribute to Rimvydas Švambarys, who was a member of FCC for more than 40 years. Rim, who died in 2014, left $10,000 to the club as a bequest in his will. The TC2 Toro (painted in British racing green) that Rim built with Bob Pierce is still in use today as part of the club fleet.
Many FCC paddlers have ventured up to NSW to do the "Hawkesbury 100" and invariably have stories of pain and suffering. Typically they will recall the hazards of the Hawkesbury as the distance (~111km) and hence sore backside, the tides, the wide river, the fact that it is held overnight and the boat crushing cables of the cross river ferries.
What is this fabled event of the past that both Jonathon Mayne and his paddling partner Jim Simpson mention? Time for some research.
The Canoe Assoc. Award Card states that this event was held on the 20/10/1957. It’s a long time ago and I recall that race as one of the most significant events I ever paddled. Jim Simpson and I were magic together, particularly in the rapids.
“Winter Series Postponed” – Who would have thought it possible?
Well it has happened three times now!
Our One Hundred Year Club history has been bookended by event-cancelling catastrophes, WWI & Spanish Flu and now the COVID-19 pandemic. Time has passed; much has been written and reflected in our archives.
Whilst exploring the club newsletters, we found a handful created in the period 1936-1949. It is fascinating to read how WWII crept into view in the newsletters as we move from 1939 to 1944.
As discussed in the last snippet (Evolution of Club Newsletter) most articles reported upon were serious or informative. However, right from earliest editions humour and ‘scuttlebutt’ was included. This took on a more regular format in 1989 when there started to be some more light-hearted content included, with cartoons, gossip (not always politically correct) and humorous anecdotes beginning to appear more regularly. By 1994, there was a special place reserved for these titled “Under the Yarra”.
A few examples of the content follows.
As part of the FCC History Group’s activities we have been endeavouring to track down all the old club newsletters. In the first two decades of our history, it seems that club activities were reported in the press of the day rather than a club generated product., FCC activities are regularly found reported in ‘The Age’, ‘The Herald’, the ‘Argus’, the social newspaper, ‘Table Talk’, and the local ‘Hurstbridge Advertiser’. In addition, our Club Secretary published regular FCC and VACA reports in the USA magazine – ‘Water Sports’ (see History Snippet 19) through the 1920’s.
