The Community Aid Mission Amid Celebrations at Crescent Head Country Club

The Club’s Secretary Manager Colan Ryan invited all 35 staff members and their families to thank them for their efforts that led to the Club winning the Heart of the Community award and receiving Highly Commended in the Environmental Sustainability category — as well as being finalists in two other categories.

“I wanted to congratulate them on what they're doing and let them all know that they're getting recognised statewide,” Colan said.

“I explained to them how there are 1400 clubs or so in the state and to be recognised at that level is huge and that it’s because of them — they're all doing such a good job.”

The Heart of the Community Award was won because of the Club’s response to a local tragedy as well as dozens of other local initiatives it’s involved in, offering both volunteer hours and monetary donations.

The celebration day even produced an example of the staff’s dedication to the community, when a local came to the Club mid-celebration to retrieve the AED hosted at the Club as well as two of the 30 first aid-trained staff to rush to a medical emergency at a nearby home.

“A car came and pulled up at the foot of the Club and someone rushed in and grabbed our staff as they wanted the defibrillator because someone down the road required medical assistance, so two of my staff left with the defibrillator to go to someone's house to help someone,” Colan explained.

“While we were celebrating the Heart of the Community, we were actually helping save someone in the community at the same time.”

It was later revealed that the person had fainted for other reasons and was okay. 

The day was catered by Colan’s wife who baked cakes and other refreshments to thank the staff, and while he had all the staff together, Colan also took the opportunity to celebrate the retirement of a much-loved staff member, John Bird. John had worked at the Club for 40 years before retiring in the weeks prior.

The day of celebration was also an opportunity for Colan to reiterate to his staff that they play a pivotal role in the decisions made at the Club.

“They're involved in decisions that we make, and if they have ideas, we want to hear their ideas — sometimes things start off from a little idea from someone and it grows,” he said.

As for the impact the Club has seen in a business sense since its success at the June 6 award ceremony, it has been astronomical with the Club up $100,000 year-on-year in the month of June.

“When I spoke about the award and I said it's like winning the grand final, when you've won it that's not when people can slack off, this is when most people are going to be looking at you because they’ve heard you won an award — people will come and look at the Club and they look at you a different way,” Colan said.

“Obviously, it doesn't hurt when you get good publicity.”