Rainbow Beach Sports Club tribute to Mick ‘Parrot’ Hutchinson
The community is reeling after the shock death of a beloved character and well known face who once played with the Gympie Brothers football club and was a member of the Rainbow Beach Board Riders.
Gympie
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A beloved courtesy bus driver and a member of the Rainbow Beach Sports Club has died after about 10 years of driving club patrons home safely.
Mick “Parrot” Hutchinson died on November 17, 2022, at 69 years of age, and has been remembered by the club as well as the Rainbow Beach and wider community.
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Rainbow Beach Sports Club general manager Ashleigh Jensen described Mick as an “amazing” bus driver who was loved by everyone.
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He never needed to write an address down, he “just knew where to go” when he went out to pick up a patron, Ms Jensen said.
She described him as a “jokester” who was kind and loyal as well as a “staple to the Rainbow Beach community”.
“We have lost a legend,” Ms Jensen said.
“He was just a breath of fresh air.”
The loss of Mr Hutchinson hit the community very hard, with many patrons and staff members rushing to the club to ask if the news was true.
Ms Jensen said it was one of the hardest work days of her life having to break the news to her staff and confirming the fears of the guests.
“We were really sad to lose him.”
Never having seen his bus driving as a job, Mr Hutchinson’s purpose in his role was “only to help the community.”
He loved Rainbow Beach more than anyone and loved talking to the people who came on the bus.
“If I hear the ‘wheels on the bus go round and round’ one more time,” Mr Hutchinson would say after a night of ferrying drunk patrons.
Mr Hutchinson was an NRL player with Brothers in Gympie and was a member of the Board Riders Association.
He moved to Rainbow Beach for the ocean and was on the beach at every opportunity.
Ms Jensen said he often went walking on the beach with locals and would once go walking every single day.
Mr Hutchinson was “a hero to so many people” and an “icon for Rainbow Beach.”
“There was not a single person in this community who could say a bad word about him,” Mr Jensen said.
“He was just an amazing person and his passing has affected so many people.
“He’ll be forever missed.”
The Rainbow Beach Sports Club put up a post on Facebook following a moment of silence at their venue to honour his memory.
Members of the community posted heartfelt comments calling him a “Rainbow Beach legend” and “wonderful man.”
“Rainbow won’t be the same without Parrot,” Renee Zaks commented.
“Parrot the man of Rainbow Beach. You will be missed by so many,” Abby Baird said in the comments.
Mr Hutchinson’s ashes will be scattered on Sunday, December 4 at Lawrie Hanson Park, only one day before what would have been his 70th birthday.
Board riders will take Mr Hutchinson on his “final surf” to scatter his ashes in the ocean, a Facebook post said.
The event will be followed by a gathering at the Rainbow Beach Sports Club to honour his memory.
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