Club honours Dennis More with rooms naming

ONE of the stalwarts of the Leopold Angling and Aquatic Club has been remembered by having the group’s clubrooms named in his honour.

Club members, families and their friends packed into what is now known as the Dennis More Rooms on Saturday for their official opening.

Mr More, who passed away in February at the age of 72, was remembered as one of the loudest voices supporting the construction of a formal home for the club, which met for several years in a shed he owned, and a strong supporter of the club’s activities since its earliest days.

Event MC Andrew McLaughlin said the Leopold Angling and Aquatic Club’s origins could be traced to December 18. 2012, when Mr More – a noted developer and landowner in the town – held an open day for the leisure park project in Leopold.

“He ran into current president Murray McLaren, and said ‘We should start a fishing club’, and that’s when the fishing club was born.

“He had a vision, and that vision was to create a club for like-minded people that supported the local community.

“Well, here we are today, almost 12 years later, to celebrate a really significant milestone in the journey, with that vision now being a reality.”

He referenced the famous line from Hollywood film Field of Dreams: “If you build it, he will come”.

“To me, that was Dennis,” he said.

“To have this many people attend today’s official opening of this magnificent facility is testament to Dennis and his vision for the community of Leopold.”

Club vice-president Terry Whitehead acknowledged the many existing and previous club members, supporters and sponsors that had helped make the clubhouse happen.

He said Mr More had widened a canal on his land in 2005 without seeking authority first from the council, which ended up in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

“Dennis would say ‘It’s easy to do things without permission and beg forgiveness later’ – a mantra I came to see with Dennis on a few occasions.”

The club, off Alexandra Avenue in Leopold, offers its members an association that provides direction, leadership and commitment to the safe enjoyment of the waters of Corio Bay via foreshore access next to Leopold.

It presently has more than 170 members and more than 250 associate members.

For more information, head to leopoldaac.com/home