Vale - Joe Alia - 30 October 1948 - 21 July 2021

FCC and the paddling community are devastated to have lost one of our greats - a coach, a volunteer, a board member and a friend.  Joe Alia passed away late on 21 July after a brief illness.  Just five weeks earlier he was leading and completing the works on our new "tinnie" launch ramp and the stairs down to our dock.

We held a celebratory paddle followed by Covid safe morning tea to celebrate Joe and his contributions to paddling, to paddlers and to Fairfield on Saturday 13 November at 9am.  

Joe had so much energy and was passionate about teaching new paddlers - particularly young paddlers - how to kayak.  Since the 1970s he's been building, buying, paddling boats and persuading others to join him in our sport.  A few of the many Joe stories are here and more here.

Joe's efforts and results at FCC over many years have been so appreciated - and we've been particularly lucky to have him on the club board with us for the last two years, spearheading the transition to the online world as our membership director and more recently leading maintenance and construction projects at the canoe club.

Among many other contributions, Joe was chair and vice chair of Paddle Victoria (PV) Marathon for many years, a board member of PV, involved in delivering many successful national and state events such as the Australian Masters Games and was an ICF accredited judge.

Marathon race starts will not be the same again ... Ready-Go!

Thanks Joe.