NEWS DESK
Board line-up: Surfboard makers represented in Dillon Milenkovic’s travelling museum, from left, Mick Pierce, Geoff Coker, John Jolly, Steve Friedman, Bruce “Bean” Fewings, Paul Trigger, Phil Trigger, Neil “Chok” Oke, Rory Oke and Dan Oke. Picture: Tony Grace
Board shapes part of peninsula’s surf history Keith Platt keith@mpnews.com.au THREE decades of the Mornington Peninsula’s surfing history are being carried around in a mobile museum. The seven new surfboards in the museum represent the pointy end of surfing - the evolution of boards used and preferred by surfers. Dillon Milenkovic said it had “always been a dream” to order new surfboards from all local manufacturers “and see what eventuates”. His wish was granted through a $10,000 “creative arts” grant from Mornington Peninsula Shire and a decision to focus on the history of surfboard making and design. The craftmanship and innovation
shown in the completed “new but old” boards is also a conversation starter whenever Milenkovic unloads his historic cargo. He also hopes seeing the surfboards will encourage people to “fall in love with them that much that an order is placed with the local craftsman”. An avid supporter of the surf industry on the peninsula, Milenkovic sees the mobile museum as a natural progression to the Salt of the Peninsula podcasts he started in April 2022 (Time dissolves as ‘salts’ look back, The News 9/4/22). At that stage he had interviewed more than 15 surfers, mainly surfboard makers, about their times and lives chasing waves, for the podcast’s 19-episodes. Salt of the Peninsula
(Spotify and Podbean) now has 32 episodes, runs for about 100 hours, and has been downloaded more than 30,000 downloads. “To verbally extract the information from all podcast guests and to rely on listeners’ prior knowledge was what Salt Of The Peninsula was about, up until now,” Milenkovic said. “To have the surfboards in the flesh means people who listen to the podcast can also see what sort of quality and skill was put into these locally manufactured surfboards. Supporting locally built surfboards, is what drives my podcast and project.” While looking for a permanent home for the mobile museum Milenkovic has taken it to surf clubs, events, surf shops, exhibitions and other
No Regrets? Would you like to avoid the cost and potential stress of holding a traditional funeral, yet still say a dignified good-bye, and celebrate the life of a loved one with a simple yet fitting ceremony? A Small Family Farewell* with Mornington Peninsula Funerals gives immediate family members the opportunity to pay respects with as much or little ceremony as appropriate by gathering together in our viewing room or chapel, to: • spend time with a loved one, • place sentimental items in the coffin, • reflect on a life lived with music, pictures and stories, • provide a dignified send off for a family member • and then, if appropriate, follow our hearse for a final good-bye within the grounds of Bunurong Memorial Park. *includes all the care, respect and attention of a large formal funeral – in most cases for less than $5000. Details at www.mpfunerals.com.au/chapel
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Southern Peninsula News
17 January 2024
general gatherings. The boards are transported in his van, and he hopes to be able to exhibit them at least once a month. He said the seven board builders decided to make replicas of designs that were ground breaking, from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. “It’s brilliant that all seven boards are so different, this really increases the interest of each surfboard and craftsman,” Milenkovic said. “Salt Of The Peninsula now not only has audio history but has objects that the general public can see with a lot of thought and skill behind the project. “As the surfboards are all so different, you simply can’t compare and like one more than the other. They should all be marvelled on their own
individual characteristics.” In true surfer style, the board makers have also stuck to the imperial measure. The 1970s Shady Hollow is a 6ft 6in single fin; Eastern Light a 5ft 10in twin fin with laminated marine ply fins; the 6ft 2in flip tail twanga twin fin Parkinson comes with a cometinspired swirl by Geoff Coker; the 6ft belly channel double flyered thruster Oke recalls the 1980s; the Trigger Bros – A 6ft 6in stinger is a single fin swallow tail flyer with a mural by Mick Marchant from the original Trigger decal; Bruce “Bean” Fewings of Balin made a 7ft 6in Indo gun that he was famous for in the early 1990s; and Steve Friedman made his signature 7ft 6in Friedman flyer from the 1970s.
WHAT’S NEW...
The changing face of funerals FOUR months after McCrae residents Julie Davey and Andrew Ternes launched their bespoke funeral home, Covid 19 struck. Not only did it rob families of their loved ones, it also robbed many of the chance to say ‘Good-bye’. For a long time, Covid changed the way that funerals could be conducted. That change is enduring; with a growing trend nowadays for families to forgo a traditional funeral and choose Direct Cremation for their loved one. While this option has financial benefits, the emotional cost can be high. Mornington Peninsula Funerals Managing Director, Andrew Ternes recalls, “We started hearing stories from bereaved people who’d missed the chance to farewell their loved one; they felt uneasy and struggled to move on with their lives. “This led us to create a popular compromise between a regular ‘No-Service’ and the traditional ‘Full Service’ funeral experience. We established a small chapel area within our
premises, where close family members spend private time with their loved one, with an open or closed coffin, then follow in a cortege to the crematorium if appropriate. With this fresh, creative, unique and far more affordable approach; Mornington Peninsula Funerals ‘Small Family Farewell’ option is meeting the changing needs of our grateful community. While still conducting conventional funerals at various locations around the peninsula, Julie says that the comfort their Small Family Farewells have brought to many families can be just as heart-warming. So, for those who say; ‘I don’t want a funeral, take me straight to the crematorium in a cardboard box’ ... it’s worth considering your family and friends who are left behind and need the opportunity to say good-bye and grieve for you. It doesn’t have to cost a bomb – even a small gathering at this local funeral home can help with healing.
