Professionals Tamborine Mountain 
Vanessa Hodson has been venue operations manager at Tamborine Mountain Memorial Sports Centre for 18 months, but her tenure boasts 3 years and counting. As a part of one of the most locally-minded organisations on the mountain, she shares her insights.
by Kyle Hitchmough
For those who might not understand, can you describe what the centre offers?
We have bowls and croquet here, as well as a social club. Our bistro is open five days a week for lunch and three nights a week for dinner. We have TAB, Keno, twenty gaming machines, and live music every Friday night. We have free barefoot bowls on Sundays. We’re becoming more of a community club. It was originally a bowls club, and then the croquet club joined and we became a sports club. But we’re offering a space for other community clubs like the Probus club to allow them to have their meetings here free of charge so they can utilise our facilities.
What do you think is the club’s biggest draw?
I would say it’s the social interaction. This is a place where the local crowd can catch up with friends for a drink or meal inside, or sit outside on the verandah, or have a game of pool. We’re off the tourist strip so we’re not as busy as other places. The live music is always very popular. We have days like Australia Day, where we have pig races and fundraising for th e rural fire brigade. The main thing is that it’s a relaxed atmosphere, the staff are always friendly, we have very reasonably priced drinks and meals. We cover TAB, Keno, and gaming. We do takeaway as well for our alcohol sales. We can also offer the bistro space as a function room. The RSL have a sub-branch downstairs and we work with them with their ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day functions.
There can be some controversy around gambling in rural areas— the Bearded Dragon in particular is known for its “Blow Up The Pokies” statement. Have you faced any kickback from this?
No. We have 20 machines, and that’s likely all we’ll ever have. Clubs can have quite a large number of machines, up to 300. We don’t want to go down that track where they have huge rooms full of pokies. Of course that means there’s money coming in, and the place can be renovated, but we aren’t interested in going that way. Any money that we do make, the profit goes back into the club to help the community in various ways. It’s not lining anybody’s pockets as such.
Do you have a most common kind of clientele?
We have a range from 18-year-old through to others well into their 80s. Ninety percent of our customers are locals. Young adults can come in on a Friday night to meet up. Families, it’s a nice place to come up with the kids, play a game of bowls or a quiet wine or two while the kids have a run around on the green with their soccer balls. We have a courtesy bus as well. Some tourists do find their way to us, who’ve been told ‘Oh yeah, live music at the club’.
Are you a local? What’s your opinion on the community here?
We’ve lived here over 20 years, all our children went to school here. It really is a great place to raise a family. The schools are wonderful, the community is very supportive. The kids can’t get away with too much trouble without somebody spotting them! The local police, one of whom is on our committee, is very supportive, friendly, approachable, they understand working in a small community. Everybody knows everybody. It’s certainly grown over the last twenty years—which is great. That’s what makes these little towns thrive, more people coming into them.
What do you think the club predominantly brings to the area?
A nice relaxed place to come. Somewhere where you can meet a couple of friends for a couple of drinks over lunch. We have other things, karaoke, fight nights on Foxtel, it’s just somewhere where you can relax and enjoy other people’s company. You can turn up here by yourself and there’s nearly always somebody here that you know, and I think that’s what a lot of people like about it.
Do you have a membership option? What does that entail?
We have a social membership which is five dollars per person. You get discounts on your meals and our members go into a Friday night Members’ Draw. It starts at $250 and goes up $75 each week until it’s won. At the moment it’s about $1500. You have to be present to win it! We’re also looking at updating our till system so you can get your discounts automatically and incorporating your birthday so we can give you a birthday meal, things like that. It’s only five dollars, and after a meal and a couple of drinks it pays for itself the first time you’re here.
What’s your favourite thing about this job?
I love seeing the same faces regularly, I love knowing the peoples’ names and what they drink, being able to have a chat with them about how they’re going. You know if somebody’s struggling. You feel like part of the community. Working in a more touristy place, it’s just a sea of faces. I believe in always making sure we give really good service, and here we’re able to do that. I love when somebody will come in, and maybe they’ve only been once or twice and I’ll know what beer or wine they’re having, I’ll remember what their meal was, and I love the look on their face. That’s what hospitality is about.
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Or email the writer at kyle.hitchmough@hotmail.com, and follow me on Twitter @realcasualrvws.
