THE community is encouraged to ride the nostalgia wave this Easter at a special event celebrating the history of surfing at Robe and 50 years of the Easter Classic.
The event on Good Friday is being organised by the Robe Local History Group, in conjunction with local surf shop Steve’s Place to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Easter Classic.
According to history group convenor Liz Harfull, research indicates the Easter Classic may be the second oldest continuously held surfing competition in the world, second only to the famous Bells Beach Surfing Championships in Victoria, first held in 1961.
“Our special guest on the night will be local surfing legend Steve Woolston, who set up the Robe competition in 1968,” Ms Harfull said.
“Steve was a shearer from Keith, who took up surfing in the early 1960s, during the years when thousands of young Australians were discovering the joys of riding long boards.”
Ms Harfull said he was part of a crew from Keith, known as the Green Desert Surf Riders, who would drive across to Robe whenever the conditions were right and spend the weekend surfing.
Tribute will also be paid to the memory of two men honoured every Easter when trophies bearing their names are handed out – Dr Don Jacobs, who was the local doctor and Ian Jennings, a fisherman and keen surfer who drowned off the coast of Western Australia in 1995.
The history group is planning to show an excerpt from one of Australia’s best known surf films, On Any Morning, which opens with brief scenes filmed on the track to Stony Rise, just west of the town, where most of the surfing competitions have been held in recent years.
The film was directed by David “The Mexican” Sumpter, a surf movie entrepreneur who came to Robe every summer for a few years during the 1970s to show films at the Robe Institute.
The history group has put a call out to people who have photographs or even home movies related to surfing at Robe to add to the program.
“We already have some great images but we would love to have more and we need to know about them in advance so we can make sure they are in the right format to put up on the screen where everyone can see them,” Ms Harfull said.
People with memorabilia are also being encouraged to come forward for a pop-up museum that will be staged at the event.
“We are looking for items such as surf boards, surf movie posters, mementos of past competitions and even old surf wear such as early board shorts and t-shirts from famous brands that started up in the 1970s and ’80s,” Ms Harfull said.
The event will be held at the Robe Institute, with doors opening at 7pm for a 7.30pm start.
Tickets are now on sale at the Robe Library and Visitor Information Centre.
People with stories and items should contact Liz Harfull on 0409 674 941 or email lizharfull@internode.on.net to contribute.
Unless sold out in advance, tickets will also be available at the door.
