Seaforth Boating Club – 30 Years Pro Bono

President of the Seaforth Boating Club, Gordon Baxter, and past President, Phil Murphy, have recently presented John Formosa and our firm with a plaque thanking John and our firm for over thirty years of providing “pro bono” legal services to the Club.

The Seaforth Boating Club’s first President Mr Keith Trevaskis was a client of our firm and through his association with John Formosa and their common interest in boating and fishing they developed a life time friendship.

Keith through the Club was instrumental in having navigation aids installed in Victor Creek and he organised for Club members and the Seaforth Primary School to provide seven day a week radio coverage for Club members and other boaters in the area.  He was also responsible for obtaining the original lease from the then Pioneer Shire Council (now the Mackay City Council) for the Club’s compound at Victor Creek.

The radio coverage provided by the Club seven days a week was a service that Keith thought was needed because in those days Volunteer Marine Rescue Mackay only provided radio coverage on weekends and public holidays.

Over the years however, as the Club found it more difficult to have radio monitors monitor the radio in their houses and this service, which has gone by the way, but is of less importance these days because Volunteer Marine Rescue Mackay now provide a seven day a week service.

The original Club compound near the Victor Creek boat ramp was used for boat and car trailer parking.  Subsequently a caretaker’s residence was built, and in recent times the leased area has been increased considerably.

The compound is now used for the storage of member’s boats as well as car and boat trailer parking.

Our firm has provided and does provide pro bono legal services to many not-for-profit organisations in the Mackay and Whitsunday area, and when the services are recognised by these associations, such as the presentation of the plaque to John Formosa, it is greatly appreciated by our firm and our staff, that we are being recognised for “putting back” into the community in which we live and do business in.