A meeting held in Urunga on the 3rd of December, 1946 gave rise to the
formation of the Bellingen Urunga Surf Life Saving Club. Mr Nicholas Gleeson,
local publican of the Ocean View Hotel, was elected as the club’s first
President.
Membership fees were fixed at 5 shillings (50c) for active members and 10
shillings ($1.00) for Associate Members. Harry Bradley, one of the clubs
earliest members recalls when the club first took possession of a surf boat in
1948. “We stored the boat along with a reel and othe equipment in an old
boatshed near where today’s watchtower is located”
During the record level floods of 1950, a crew made up of Harry Bradley, Ivan
Fields, Arthur Paterson, Toby Myers and sweep Billy Telford were used to rescue
families from their rooftops in the Raleigh area.
Since those early beginnings our club has seen many changes. A name change to
Urunga SLSC took place in 1952. Over the years our clubhouse has evolved from,
a roughly built boatshed to the current building erected in 1987 using
voluntary labour and funds from State and Local Governments. In between there
have been 3 other buildings – a wooden clubhouse tucked into the headland, a
single story brick building constructed in 1966 and a double storey building
completed in 1972.
