D’s Club raise a glass to anniversary

THEY don’t need too much of an excuse to get together for a beer, but the D’s Club’s 61st anniversary isn’t a bad one.

The 50-member strong group, plus plenty of guests on the day, enjoyed heading down to their favourite watering hole, the Torquay Hotel, on Friday to have a chat, relive old times and most importantly reconnect after a year where get-togethers like these weren’t often possible.

So why are they called the D’s Club?

When the group, which has steadily grown since the early days, would meet for a drink or three, the entry fee was simple – have a dozen long necks tucked under your arm upon arrival. Or, as they would ask, “have you got your D’s?”.

Foundation member Adrian McKenzie perhaps best sums it up.

“We’ve never had a committee, we’ve never had a president, all we’ve had is a lot of fun,” Mr McKenzie said.

Forming in the early days of Torquay’s surfing history and loosely associated with the Torquay SLSC, the D’s Club has never been one for official standings within the group, let alone a clubrooms.

However, the one constant at their events is a door salvaged from one of the shacks they used to call home in Boot Hill many years ago.