Sideline Sid Sports correspondant & historian www.sunlive.co.nz

Sideline Sid was born in a time where having good mates was very important and that one of the best complements that you could pay a mate was to say that he was a 'good bloke”. One such Western Bay 'good bloke” was laid to rest last Friday.

I first met Ewan Scholes over twenty years ago, when I was working for Surf Lifesaving Bay of Plenty and Ewan had started his long involvement with the Mount Maunganui Lifeguard Service, supporting his three boys who had joined the club.

I'm not sure if Ewan had qualified as a lifeguard before he took his boys along to join (what is still called the Mount Surf Club by Mount locals) but he was certainly an active patrolling member when I got to know him.

Along with the likes of KJ, Graham, John L, Muscles, Lindsay G and a number of other guys, he became a member of what was called the fossils patrol.

The older guys had a real camaraderie on-and-off patrol and used to socialise together in the clubrooms every summer.

They were always the first to volunteer for extra duties and were invariably at the beach each weekend whether or not they were rostered on duty.

The fossils patrol was first put together to cover for the club's young competitors, when they were away representing the Mount Club at carnivals.

Around the time of the World Lifeguard Championships at the Mount Main Beach in 1993, there was a need for manpower, to assist with carnivals at what we Western Bay locals believe is the best beach in the country. So was formed the Mount Surf Club work party.

The work party became a surf lifesaving institution for nearly two decades, known throughout the country, until father time saw them stand down one by one.

The group of no more than a dozen of which 'Ewie” Scholes was a key member, provided the muscle that set up the beach for competition and drove tractors and shifted anything that need shifting during the surf events.

Over the years the Mount work party provided the manpower for the Tri-Nations events, Test series, New Zealand National titles and the NRC's (Northern Regional Championships.

The work party invitation-only barbeque breakfasts were legendary and, along with the afterhours socialising after the day's work was done, played a big part in their comradeship.

However 'Ewie”, who was born almost immediately after WW2, was also a true kiwi bloke of the 1960s and 1970s who loved his rugby.

He played for Old Boys and when Old Boys and Cadets amalgamated around twenty years ago to form Tauranga Sports, he became an avid sideline supporter. Although in ill health, he was still taking his place in the stand this season to gather with his mates and barrack for 'his team”.

Ewan Scholes was a salt of the earth 'gentleman” who will be sadly missed by the myriad of people who came into contact with him during his lifetime.

RIP Ewan Scholes.