The Winter 2020 Newsletter is Now Available to Members

3 days ago

FOCIS president Graeme Clauscen is a man of many talents, and recently became a published author! Graeme has written a history of the Woolamai Surf Life Club, which of course is not far from Churchill Island as the crow flies. WSLSC members have acted as car parking attendants at various Churchill Island events over the years. Graeme presented a talk at the Phillip Island & District Historical Society first quarterly meeting last Monday on his adventures of writing and publishing the book, which is a fundraiser for the WSLC. The Historical Society secretary notes of Graeme's talk begin:
At the very first (WSLSC) meeting he attended, he walked away having accepted the job as Treasurer and remained on the committee for about 12 years. On taking on the role of Treasurer, Graeme recalls that he was handed the account book which
showed that there was ʻabout 3/6dʼ in the bank and a collection tin which was essentially empty.
He was also handed a collection of press clippings which he compiled into a scrap book, which he built on over the years, culminating in some 15 books of press clippings and photos documenting the progress of the Club.
It was a few years ago when these books were on display at a ʻknees upʼ event at the Club, that someone made the suggestion to Graeme that a book should be written. This sowed the seed for Graeme.
He was able to source much of the data required for his vision of the book from Lifesaving Victoria such as the list of all bronze medallion members, list of office bearers and Presidents etc. Graeme had kept every copy of the Annual Reports and was able to resurrect all the names of the life members from them ‒ however
his quest to locate photographs of these life members proved to be harder than squeezing blood out of a stone!" Graeme persevered and the result is his beautiful book: "Wild about Woolie", which was finished with the help of a few skilled people after several rough drafts. Photos show the drafts in progress and Graeme with the finished book. Great job Graeme! ... See MoreSee Less

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1 week ago

What an interesting talk FOCIS member Jeff Cole gave today about the dray restoration project at our General Meeting. Jeff outlined the aims of the project being not so much to produce a perfect restoration of the original dray, as to provide the public with an insight into how such a restoration project can proceed. They will be provided with updates on a noticeboard in Amess barn where the restoration will take place and can watch whenever volunteers are working there on the dray. They can also see the blacksmiths making new metal parts for the tray at any time when the blacksmiths are available to operate the Forge in the blacksmith shop next door to Amess Barn. Jeff is currently making arrangements to source the timber which will need to be especially cut to imperial measurements. The wheels may well be problematic as they are mostly intact but not in good condition and may not be strong enough to hold up the rebuilt dray. We really look forward to seeing this FOCIS project progress and welcome you all to come along to Churchill Island, find your way to Amess barn and view the progress of the dray restoration. Photo shows Jeff with some of the remnants of the dray which he showed to the meeting, including the step which was attached to one side of the dray to help the operator hop up onto the seat. Also shown are FOCIS members Warwick and Daniel Tempany after the meeting, viewing the current signage and one of the original parts of the dray. ... See MoreSee Less

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Thank you Jeff! So interesting & enjoyable!!!!

1 week ago

You can now pay online using Apple Pay ... See MoreSee Less

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2 weeks ago

At our General Meeting on Saturday May 8. starting 1.30 p.m. at the CI visitors centre, FOCIS volunteer Jeff Cole will present a Power Point run down on how we are approaching the project to rebuild the 2 wheel tipping wagon. Jeff has been documenting and photographing everything done to this point. At the conclusion of the meeting, our secretary Leah will share a reading of a lovely snippet of the revision of Pat Baird's book "Churchill Island History and Her Story" currently being done by FOCIS members Christine Grayden and David Maunders. All welcome, but please RSVP to Leah by tomorrow afternoon, Friday 7 May. Photo shows the wagon being used as a great prop for a very early Garden Festival, which FOCIS used to run in the 2000s. What a great pumpkin harvest! ... See MoreSee Less

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