Committee For Lorne: A word from the Chairman – August 9, 2018

I’m not much of a television addict but occasionally I’ll tune into something that really grabs my attention and that happened recently when what flashed across the big screen was a clip of Lydia Lassila jogging across the grassed area of windy Point with Point Grey in the background. It happened to be the opening episode of Australian Survivor and Lydia’s debut as part of the Champions tribe was super impressive, just as you would expect from such a high achiever.

It was during the introductions and the background bios on the athletes that one cannot help be amazed at their strive for achievement and commitment that people like Lydia have. The Winter Olympic Gold Medalist who retired following her fifth Winter Olympics in South Korea, along with her husband and two young children, proudly call Lorne home.

Lydia’s amazing career saw her enter the history books following the Pyeong Chang 2018 Winter Olympic Games as Australia’s first female athlete to compete at five games, an amazing achievement.

Lorne is also home, albeit part time, to male Olympic athlete Colin Coates who represented Australia at a record six consecutive Winter Olympics, starting in 1968 in Grenoble, France. Colin finished up his career in 1988 at the Calgary Olympics in Canada at the age of 41. He competed over 10,000m, 5,000m, 1,500m, 1,000m and the 500m, for a best placing of 6th in the 10,000 in Innsbruck, Austria, during the 1976 Winter Olympics. For such a small town Lorne has such a unique and diverse population base who all contribute in their own way to the very special fabric of Lorne.

Hard to believe, but the last home game of the 2018 Colac and District Football and Netball season is this Saturday at Stribling Reserve when Lorne play host to the Colac Imperials. With only two rounds remaining our local footballers are well positioned to have teams in all divisions represented in the upcoming finals season. Although our ladies aren’t quite as well positioned they need to be congratulated on fielding full sides throughout the year after a mass exodus of senior players.

Thursday evening meals at the Club rooms continue to be a major drawcard across the community and if you haven’t had the chance, or been away, make sure you get up to club and support the Dolphins as our footballers begin the countdown to the 2018 finals series.

Your time is running out to get tickets for the Lorne Festival of the Performing Arts (FOPA) from August 30 through until September 2 – fopa.com.au for details and ticketing.

Ian Stewart
Chairman – Committee for Lorne