We had 29 members in attendance at our weekly Zoom meeting on Tuesday 27 October.

 

Our guest speakers for the evening were Louise Keramaris, from the Mornington Branch of The Australian Conservation Foundation, who spoke on a range of environmental issues and our Exchange Student in Finland Chloe Holmes, who provided us with an update on her activities over the last four months. Chloe's parents, Trish & Luke, also attended our meeting. They must be very proud of the way in which their daughter has matured and thrived whilst on the other side of the World during these difficult times.

 

Thanks to Chloe and Louise for a most entertaining and interesting evening.

 

Kindly note that there is no meeting next week, Tuesday 3 November, as it is Melbourne Cup Day.

 

I joined the Rotary Club of Five Dock in Sydney in 1980 after returning from a five  year busines assignment in New Zealand and South Africa.

 

I was made very welcome at the club and it was ideal for me as we lived only a five minutes walk from the Five Dock RSL where the club held their meetings. I don’t remember much about my time there as it was forty years ago, but I do remember there were always BBQ fundraisers in the little town and I am still in contact with one of the oldest Rotarians I know, a club member named Claude Bennie.

 

We moved to Melbourne in 1984 and after settling into Mount Eliza I made contact with the Rotary Club of Mount Eliza and joined (the first time) in 1985. There was a break in my membership in 1989 and I re-joined the club in March 2002, and the rest is history as they say. 
I have held most positions in the Club including that of President, and it was in my year as President that women were finally admitted to the Club. The lead up to this event was marked by numerous phone calls to my wife Patricia and myself from the wives of Rotarians stating “They did not want women in the Club dining and drinking with their husbands” which seemed rather over protective when I looked around at some of our members at that time. Additionally, three members of the club threatened to resign if I pushed this resolution through, and I’m afraid my comment to them was that I would be sorry to see them go.

 

In hindsight, it was one of the better decisions made by the club during my time, and the proof of that is in the results we achieve annually which I’m sure we would not if we had remained a male bastion. The ladies in our club, in my opinion, are more effective generally, achieve great results,  are on the whole, not interested in playing petty politics, and I believe some of our greatest assets.

 

Moving from our (my) original meeting place, The George Vowell Centre, then to Cobblestone Manor on the Nepean Highway, and then to our current meeting place, Toorak College, has seen the club prosper and grow, and we have a very good relationship with the staff at the College. 
In 2007 I was made a Paul Harris Fellow, primarily I suspect for my work as a Bail Justice and work with the Disability Services sector, and in 2008 I became a Rotary Centurion member.

 

I have had some wonderful experiences with Rotary, making up in clubs in Canada, USA, Spain, UK, Germany and Italy. My best experience was visiting the Rotary Club of Naples when the dinner meeting commenced at 8.00 pm and was served on the viewing deck of a five star hotel overlooking the starlit Bay of Naples. Most of the members were very senior legal practitioners, surgeons, physicians and initially the hotel staff did not seem to be terribly welcoming until I mentioned Rotary. There was also a couple of parliamentarians……and as a guest visiting Rotarian I was not allowed to pay for my dinner or drinks. Additionally, I was driven back to our hotel in a black limo with dark tinted windows in the company of what I guessed to be two very influential people.

 

My most interesting experience was working for two weeks (as a builder and electrician….unqualified) ) in Timor Léste on a project updating accommodation and toilet / shower facilities for young women in need who were brought from the country to this area by the Church and given education and other training. This RAWCS project was run in the village of Atabae, north east of Dili, by the Rotary Club of Flagstaff Hill in South Australia and was highly successful. We installed running water, new toilet and shower outbuildings and an enlarged and (nearly) modified undercover cooking area. Additionally we installed electric lighting in the girls dormitory, which was frowned on by the nuns as a waste of electricity…although the exterior lighting of the church was on 24/ 7. Rotarian Joe Meuris of Flagstaff Hill Rotary Club was the co-ordinator for the project and I understand that Joe is still involved in the area from time to time.

 

In 2018 I was awarded a Sapphire Pin to add to my PHF, and in 2019, an OAM for services to the Mornington Peninsula Community. Again, I believe both of those awards were connected to my activities with Rotary and the wider area.

 

My Rotary experience has been one that I greatly treasure and I have fond memories of Rotarian such as Carl Seales, John Gordon, David Watts, Herman Roth and many others, and it has been an experience I wouldn’t have missed for anything.
 

Tuesday 10 November 6pm (normal Club meeting time)

 

The art of home baking sourdough bread is much sought after, but even if you are not a breadmaker, this will be a fascinating journey. We know John's skills and he has been putting a lot of preparation into this event - he has been very generous with his time for this modest fund-raising activity. There is the opportunity to have John bake you a loaf and have it delivered to you.

 

Go to the separate email that has all the details for booking into the Zoom. 

 

The event is not restricted to Club members .... invite your friends and pass on the email so they can book too.

 

 

 

 

A woman rang her family doctor and said, Please doctor, can you come around and see my husband. He says that he is feeling most unwell."

 

The doctor replied, "I think that your husband is a hypochondriac. I'm not coming around and that's flat. He only thinks he's ill."

 

The next day the woman rang again.

 

"What is it this time?" the doctor asked "Does he still think that he is ill?"

 

"No," the wife replied, "This time he thinks he's dead!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I would like to commend the programme organiser, Kay McCauley, for having Etienne de Lavauix speaking about, plus playing and singing with his zither and guitar at our Zoom meeting on Tuesday 20th October 2020. It was most enjoyable and a real delight to hear and see him play his instruments.

 

In these COVID-19 disrupted and politically troubled times, it was great to have a relaxing break from all the bad news. Well done Etienne. 

 

Kindly note that there is no meal from Toorak for 3 November (Melbourne Cup).

 

Past President David Rew and Secretary Pauline have both suggested that it might be well worthwhile obtaining meals from Vinnie's, owned by our own Rotarian Tony Kafrouni.

 

The next Toorak Meal will be on Tuesday 10 November.