Club stalwarts Craig Dillon
(above right) and Chris Gurr are two of four people to be awarded a Life Membership of Red Beach Surf Life Saving Club. The honour was bestowed on them at the 69th Annual General Meeting of the club on Sunday 28th August 2022.

Also receiving the prestigious award were Mark Scheib and Debra Cairns. All four have remarkable histories of service to the club.

Craig Dillon began his surf lifesaving career with the Orewa club before joining Red Beach as an active member in 2003. 
Enticed by the opportunity to get back into surf boats, he became the sweep of the men's A crew which tasted victory at the Goodwill surf boat event in 2003. In the same season, his crew competed in the VB Surf Boat Series in Queensland and at the Australian Championships.
These events were the forerunner to numerous trips across the Tasman to take on Aussie surf boat crews.  He became Red Beach's surf boat captain in 2004 and filled this role for 4 summers. He was also a member of the Surf Committee for the same length of time.
 
He swept a Red Beach crew to the club's first-ever NZ surf boat title - a double gold at New Plymouth in 2006.  He has also been prominent in organising surf boat sweep schools - 4 in total - along with the Puhoi Pub to Club boat event on three occasions. He was the prime mover in getting women's boat crews underway at Red Beach. 

He has been an active patrolling lifeguard for 26 years, a Patrol Captain for three years, and a competitor for 19 years. 
From 2008, and for seven years, he was a member of the club's Building Committee and was heavily involved in the building of the clubhouse deck and the Flying Herons Room.
He coached surf boat crews for a period of eight years. From 2012, for five consecutive years, he was a New Zealand Surf Boat Selector for representative crews. 

From 2015, for two years, he was a Northern Region official in the boat arena, and during this time, he was also an SLSNR surf boat selector.  In February 2018, he swept the Red Beach Boomers men's crew when they represented New Zealand at the Trans-Tasman Surf Boat Challenge in Australia.

Craig holds a Distinguished Service Award with Surf Life Saving Northern Region and a Service Award with SLSNZ.


Chris Gurr (above left) began his surf lifesaving career in 1955 as a Nipper member with the South Brighton Surf Club, remaining a member of that club for 27 years before moving to Auckland.
He joined Red Beach in 1982 and became the R & R coach for the U18 members. For the next 8 years, he played a key role as an instructor and a coach for R & R teams, with Seniors, Juniors, and women members under his wing. He was a club coach when Red Beach won the Allan Gardner Trophy in 1991 for the very first time.

Besides coaching, he was a member of the Auckland Helicopter Squad for 5 years. Chris also joined the Auckland Board of Judges and was a member for 8 years; he was a National judge for 6 years.
His R & R coaching extended to Auckland rep teams, and in 1990 he was the coach of the Red Beach Junior tour to Queensland. Through the 1990s, he was an Active Reserve member, having stepped down from coaching. However, in 2008, he became the coach for an U19 women’s canoe crew and assisted with beach management for the club at surf carnivals.

He took on the roles of Club Captain and Lifesaving Manager in 2009, became a member of the Surf Committee, and was instrumental in the start-up of patrols at Pakiri.  He was, in fact, the club’s pioneer of patrolling at Pakiri.
He carried out the twin roles of Club Captain and Lifesaving Manager for 4 years, making a major contribution to the Red Beach Surf Club.

He was a member of the club’s 60th Jubilee organising committee and during the celebrations, he was presented with a 50 Years Service Badge from Surf Life Saving NZ. He’s not quite in retirement … he pops up dressed as Mr Candy Stripes at the Owen Chapman carnival, strutting his stuff along the beach.

Chris holds a Service Award with Surf Life Saving Northern Region and a Distinguished Service Award with SLSNZ.

Article & photo by Ross Malyon.