Rotarian Frank Flowers has kindly spent time writing about his involvement and favourite memories of our Club as we celebrate 50 years of Rotary in Mt Eliza, as follows:
My journey in Rotary started in May, 1999, when I was Proposed as a Member by Alex Pigdon and inducted into the Club by the then President, Harry Macdonald. Both Barb and I received a terrific welcome, and before that Rotary year was out, we had enjoyed Home Hosting at the Manchester’s home. This was the first of many Home Hosting events over the past 21 years and they were a wonderful way to get to know the other Rotarians and their partners.
In my third year I was appointed Community Services Director, a role that I enjoyed. One of the projects was the Community Notice Board outside what was then known as Safeway. This was to be built by Council contractors as part of the Streetscape project, with the Club paying half of the cost. It was a relatively simple structure which cost $5,200, with our share being $2,600. I think our share was plenty to pay for this item, having unwieldy top hinged screens and being located on Safeway land. It was my first experience of dealing with the Council, and I was not impressed.
In 2004, Past President Harry Macdonald persuaded the Minister for Veterans Affairs, Bruce Billson, to provide $4,000 seed funding for the Memorial Garden. Various locations were considered, with the North Eastern corner of the grassed area in front of the Community Centre being preferred. In the end, the current location in front of the Senior Citizen’s building was chosen. This has proved to be an excellent choice, having tea and coffee facilities close by, power available and the ability to borrow chairs for the Anzac and Remembrance Day services. The design for the garden was prepared by Ric Berg, with virtually no change to that design in the final result. The white stone for the wall came from the fountain on the Village green. Contractors built the wall on an extremely strong, well engineered footing. When the wall was finished, we had a large number of stones left over. These stones were about 60cm. x 45cm. x 45cm, very heavy. We put them behind the wall for the Council to collect, but some unknown person collected them first. We should have left them out the front of the wall and made their job harder. The wall was finished, the plaque installed and the lone pine planted in time for Remembrance Day, 2007. The footing for the flagpole was prepared but not complete. By the next April, for Anzac Day, we were in much better shape. We had to fund the paving, to be repaid for by Council. This amount was eventually recovered some 15 months later. When it came to the solar powered floodlight costing about $7,000, we waited until the Council were prepared to actually pay for it. They had money from CB Hotel to cover lighting, which was offset against a deficit in parking spaces. The initial watering of the garden was from the Hotel supply. Our Club paid for the two seats, which were made from recycled material with vandal proof screws. It was a project that I was proud to be part of from start to finish, with a result that has been a great asset to the community, with Anzac and Remembrance Day services presided over, firstly by Harry Macdonald and for the past 9 or 10 years by Alex Anderson.
In 2006, I accepted nomination as President for the 2008 – 2009 Rotary year. The year as President Elect – Club/ Service Director was very valuable preparation for the role, with a lot of help from John Horscroft and Paul Harvey, being my previous Presidents. I felt very happy, in retrospect, that I accepted the President’s role and felt that it helped my knowledge of Rotary, communication skills and the honour of dealing with people outside of Rotary as President gave me much satisfaction. We maintained a membership in the high 50’s with strong Fellowship within the Club.
We continued with the development of the Young Carers Scholarships, with over 70 scholarships of average $500 provided to young people who had a Carers role for their parent or sibling. This was funded by the Young Carers Race Day at Mornington Racecourse. The first of the Gigantic Garage Sale was held at Peninsula School. This event, proposed by Richard Robinson, continued for many years and raised substantial funds for Rotary projects.
In my third year I was appointed Community Services Director, a role that I enjoyed. One of the projects was the Community Notice Board outside what was then known as Safeway. This was to be built by Council contractors as part of the Streetscape project, with the Club paying half of the cost. It was a relatively simple structure which cost $5,200, with our share being $2,600. I think our share was plenty to pay for this item, having unwieldy top hinged screens and being located on Safeway land. It was my first experience of dealing with the Council, and I was not impressed.
In 2004, Past President Harry Macdonald persuaded the Minister for Veterans Affairs, Bruce Billson, to provide $4,000 seed funding for the Memorial Garden. Various locations were considered, with the North Eastern corner of the grassed area in front of the Community Centre being preferred. In the end, the current location in front of the Senior Citizen’s building was chosen. This has proved to be an excellent choice, having tea and coffee facilities close by, power available and the ability to borrow chairs for the Anzac and Remembrance Day services. The design for the garden was prepared by Ric Berg, with virtually no change to that design in the final result. The white stone for the wall came from the fountain on the Village green. Contractors built the wall on an extremely strong, well engineered footing. When the wall was finished, we had a large number of stones left over. These stones were about 60cm. x 45cm. x 45cm, very heavy. We put them behind the wall for the Council to collect, but some unknown person collected them first. We should have left them out the front of the wall and made their job harder. The wall was finished, the plaque installed and the lone pine planted in time for Remembrance Day, 2007. The footing for the flagpole was prepared but not complete. By the next April, for Anzac Day, we were in much better shape. We had to fund the paving, to be repaid for by Council. This amount was eventually recovered some 15 months later. When it came to the solar powered floodlight costing about $7,000, we waited until the Council were prepared to actually pay for it. They had money from CB Hotel to cover lighting, which was offset against a deficit in parking spaces. The initial watering of the garden was from the Hotel supply. Our Club paid for the two seats, which were made from recycled material with vandal proof screws. It was a project that I was proud to be part of from start to finish, with a result that has been a great asset to the community, with Anzac and Remembrance Day services presided over, firstly by Harry Macdonald and for the past 9 or 10 years by Alex Anderson.
In 2006, I accepted nomination as President for the 2008 – 2009 Rotary year. The year as President Elect – Club/ Service Director was very valuable preparation for the role, with a lot of help from John Horscroft and Paul Harvey, being my previous Presidents. I felt very happy, in retrospect, that I accepted the President’s role and felt that it helped my knowledge of Rotary, communication skills and the honour of dealing with people outside of Rotary as President gave me much satisfaction. We maintained a membership in the high 50’s with strong Fellowship within the Club.
We continued with the development of the Young Carers Scholarships, with over 70 scholarships of average $500 provided to young people who had a Carers role for their parent or sibling. This was funded by the Young Carers Race Day at Mornington Racecourse. The first of the Gigantic Garage Sale was held at Peninsula School. This event, proposed by Richard Robinson, continued for many years and raised substantial funds for Rotary projects.
Internationally, initiated by our first Friend of the Rotary Club of Mt Eliza, Alana Street, we funded food vouchers for the nursing mothers at the Kimbe Maternity Hospital. This was done in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Kimbe. The Hospital did not provide meals, nor many other necessities, and for a modest amount, we provided many vouchers for the nursing mothers from the local food store.
Locally, we renovated all of the bedrooms at Fusion, which accommodates young people who have an upset home life or are otherwise at risk. Painting all of the rooms, providing new beds, mattresses and bedding helped give these young people more comfortable rooms.
One of the roles I enjoyed, starting prior to my Presidency and continuing thereafter was as Chair of the Membership Committee for several years. The first time on the Membership Committee was working with PDG John Dunn, who gave excellent guidance, particularly with respect to the information session with each proposed new member. I feel it is a gift that we can offer membership to Rotary, and it is our duty to ensure that each new member is best prepared about our Club on the benefits and responsibilities of Rotary Membership. In 2016-17, the then Membership Chairman resigned from Rotary early in the Rotary year, so I again took on that role. I had a target of 8 new members, just missing by 1, and 3 of those members in that year have gone on to be President. I also looked after the Bulletin for 4 years, which again helps one know about what is going on within the Club. It also forced me to improve my computer skills. All of these roles are very much dependent on support from others and the fellowship and teamwork of Rotary are what makes Rotary such a wonderful organisation.
In 2012, a speaker from the Peninsula Branch of the Riding for the Disabled spoke at Rotary, suggesting that they were looking for volunteers. I took up that suggestion and have very much enjoyed my involvement in the RDA. Although not from a horse background, I have learnt so much about grooming, saddling, feeding and handling horses, particularly with respect to young riders with a disability. The reward that one gets from helping a young person with a disability grow from being too shy to even get on a horse, to the stage that they can confidently ride a 15 hand, 500 kg. horse is most heart-warming, and for that reason I look forward to attending every week. In the past 8 years, Rotary Mt Eliza has made substantial donations towards the purchase of horses, horse shelters, stall matting and the arena fencing.
To the many friendships that Barb and I have made through Rotary, for the opportunity to be part of the Community Projects and for the self-development through Rotary roles, I am extremely grateful.
Locally, we renovated all of the bedrooms at Fusion, which accommodates young people who have an upset home life or are otherwise at risk. Painting all of the rooms, providing new beds, mattresses and bedding helped give these young people more comfortable rooms.
One of the roles I enjoyed, starting prior to my Presidency and continuing thereafter was as Chair of the Membership Committee for several years. The first time on the Membership Committee was working with PDG John Dunn, who gave excellent guidance, particularly with respect to the information session with each proposed new member. I feel it is a gift that we can offer membership to Rotary, and it is our duty to ensure that each new member is best prepared about our Club on the benefits and responsibilities of Rotary Membership. In 2016-17, the then Membership Chairman resigned from Rotary early in the Rotary year, so I again took on that role. I had a target of 8 new members, just missing by 1, and 3 of those members in that year have gone on to be President. I also looked after the Bulletin for 4 years, which again helps one know about what is going on within the Club. It also forced me to improve my computer skills. All of these roles are very much dependent on support from others and the fellowship and teamwork of Rotary are what makes Rotary such a wonderful organisation.
In 2012, a speaker from the Peninsula Branch of the Riding for the Disabled spoke at Rotary, suggesting that they were looking for volunteers. I took up that suggestion and have very much enjoyed my involvement in the RDA. Although not from a horse background, I have learnt so much about grooming, saddling, feeding and handling horses, particularly with respect to young riders with a disability. The reward that one gets from helping a young person with a disability grow from being too shy to even get on a horse, to the stage that they can confidently ride a 15 hand, 500 kg. horse is most heart-warming, and for that reason I look forward to attending every week. In the past 8 years, Rotary Mt Eliza has made substantial donations towards the purchase of horses, horse shelters, stall matting and the arena fencing.
To the many friendships that Barb and I have made through Rotary, for the opportunity to be part of the Community Projects and for the self-development through Rotary roles, I am extremely grateful.
Our first female Rotarian at Mt Eliza, Trish Stamp, recounts her introduction to and memories of Rotary:
It was a bit of a thrill when Harry McDonald and John Dunn came into my office many years ago to see if I would like to join the Rotary Club of Mt Eliza. I of course accepted the invitation and off I went to George Vowell a few Tuesday nights later to my first meeting. I was greeted quite warmly but there was one member in particular (Harry, and I can't think of his surname) who was trying to do his best to make me shocked and perhaps leave by telling dirty jokes. I was not shocked and just laughed with the rest of the members. I loved the projects we did as in tidying up the walking paths at George Vowell so the visually impaired didn’t have obstacles, as in branches and twigs, to contend with. Another one was going up to the market gardens in the Cheltenham area and get to harvest the vegetables that were not considered good enough for the shops. They we just wonky shapes but fine to eat. We took them to a food bank in Dandenong. John Dunn would entertain us doing his exercises between the garden beds. John was a fair age at that stage but fit as a fiddle and very entertaining and loved the ladies. I love the reason for Rotary and these days love organizing the hampers at Christmas that was started by a past member Bev Clancy. This year may be a challenge getting all the donations that I have managed to get over the past couple of years. Another great project that I was involved with were the initial talks on was the Farmers Market. In normal times the Market brings in some good revenue for our club. There have been interesting moments at the club over the last couple of years, and I can't wait to get back to proper meetings at Toorak College. I love hearing the guest speakers at meetings and we have been very lucky with them still being able to talk at the zoom meetings. However, just not the same as being at Toorak.
Due to space constraints, further great Graham Reid stories will appear next time. In addition, Honorary Member Reg Smith has also made a wonderful contribution. Stand by!