Thanks to all those who have already submitted stories for the Remember When column.
A number of Rotarians who have been asked to contribute have promised to write their memories, however they have a lot on at present. The Editor looks forward to their contributions in due course.
All Members, Friends & Honorary Members are encouraged to put pen to paper and submit an article to the Editor at james.young03@bigpond.com
This week the Editor recounts his more recent memories of our Club.
When I retired towards the end of 2011, I started playing golf more regularly during the week at the Flinders Golf Club. A member at Flinders is Rotarian Frank Flowers. Over the years I became used to Frank recognising me when he was selling Rotary Raffle tickets in the Village.
In 2015, Frank drew my attention to the Rotary Golf Day being held at the Little Club. Following a most enjoyable day, Frank approached me and asked if I would like to know more about Rotary.
Towards the end of 2015 I attended several dinner meetings at Toorak College and with Frank's encouragement I joined the Club on 16 February 2016. Current President Sue Voss and I were inducted by then President Bernie Edwards on the same evening.
Since that time Rotary has become an important part of my life and I have enjoyed the friendship and fellowship of so many members.
During my first few years in the Club Tim Acton was Sergeant. A magnificent raconteur and diligent person Tim always made the Sergeant's session a joy. Trish Stamp has been Sergeant for the past couple of years and she should be thanked as Trish is still working full time in her travel business.
Many of the projects in which I have been involved require significant logistics and I have always been impressed with the organisational skills and hard work of Rowan Miller. Rowan is an absolute treasure and without his hard-work our Club would be significantly poorer.
The Huge Garage Sale (organised by Carolyn and Chris Such in particular), Annual Golf Day (thanks David & Grace Rew), Kids' Fun Run with K163 (well organised by Guenther Steinbrecher & Paul Harvey among many others), Bark in the Bark, the Raffle, Annual Book Sale (run so effectively by Merrilyn Hamilton-Smith) and the dismantling of a playground for transportation to Sri Lanka (thanks to many, especially Hardy Juraschek) were all wonderful activities.
I have been particularly impressed by Rotarians Linda Morris, Pauline McFarlane, Kerry Margalit and Rob Cracknell who seem to get in and organise things with a minimum of fuss.
The Farmers' Market and Bunnings BBQs have also been enjoyable activities and great fund-raisers.
Club Remembrance Day, Australia Day and Changeover celebrations were always successfully organised and conducted by Alex Anderson, Ross Schweitzer, Mike Weber and Linda Morris.
From a fellowship point of view Home Hosting and our Christmas & New Year functions have always provided great opportunities to enjoy the company and get to know better other Rotarians and their families.
The fact that we haven't been able to meet in person for the last nine months during COVID-19 restrictions has been a disappointment. I used to enjoy so much the fellowship of Rotarians prior to the commencement of our weekly meetings. People like Ray Manchester, John Welsh, Graham Reid, Rhonda Vincent, Karina Webb, Hanne Falkiner, Brendan Hoban, John Horscroft, the late Richard Robinson & Sander Vandeth and many others are such interesting people with wonderful life and other stories to tell.
Attendance at various District 9820 conferences and meetings has been educational and allowed me to meet other hard-working Rotarians from across the District and, at Multi-District Conference last year, across Victoria. The 2017 District Conference in Hobart was a terrific experience. With District Governor Mark Humphries and his partner Linda in our Club we have real opportunities to be more involved in the Rotary family.
The commitment of people such as Judy Coultas, Kay McCauley, Chris Angerer, Brynton Fennell and John Gilbert who do so much work behind the scenes is greatly admired.
For several years I served on the Trust Advisory Committee under the splendid leadership of Maurie Selth. The Trust presents a great opportunity for longer term funding of the Club.
We need new blood in the Club. Over the last eighteen months, it has been pleasing to see Tony Kafrouni, Caryl Coulthard and Janet Richards join. However we need to follow up with other new members as a matter of urgency. In this context President Sue's goal of setting up a Satellite Club has great merit.
There have been six Club Presidents during the time that I have been a member - Bernie Edwards, George-Ann Sullivan, David Rew, me, Ross Schweitzer and Sue Voss. Each one has been different and each has been committed to the custodianship of the Club during their time in office. Club Service Director Neil Heron will, in July next year, become the first recycled President. I look forward to Sue and Neil leading our Club over the next eighteen months as things start to return to normal.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge and thank Frank Flowers. He recruited me and has acted as my mentor throughout my time in the Club. Thank you Frank.