Rotary Hawthorn 70^th Anniversary Dinner

The Club’s 70^th Anniversary dinner from my perspective was a great success at every level with over 70 current and past members plus guests in attendance.  The vintage venue Auburn Bowls Club took on a party atmosphere thanks to the planning and hard work put in by Terry and her Social Committee team. The MC for the evening Dennis Shore ensured the evening stayed on time in spite of the initial group photo session which Gordon will be sharing in the Bulletin.

The Club photos from over the years and music video which was a combined effort of Dennis’ and Noel and Lorraine McInnes plus the music quiz were highlights of the evening.  The music quiz covered the Club’s 70 year history with songs from each era and each table had to name the song and artist which required input from all the guests and some lively discussions.

The Member’s Reminiscent session was an opportunity for everyone to hear first-hand about individual’s favourite Club memories and kicked off with Noel Halford’s video message from a windswept outback setting.  We all hope Bill Troedel’s efforts to make the last train home to Geelong were successful (it feels like a new version of the classic Jimmy Barnes song may be coming out soon).

As a memento for the evening each Member and past Members were presented with a book “Reflections of 70 Years Rotary Hawthorn 1953-2023” organized by editor Dorothy Gilmour.  As a Club gift to Dorothy for all the hard work put in to research and write the book we presented her with a gift which were a ‘Red Chocolate Shoe” so now Dorothy and Toto can dream of going back to Kansas.

We have a number of spare copies of the book which will be given to members unable to attend the dinner when they attend future Club meetings.

We were also very fortunate to have a number of VIP’s in attendance DG Ron Payne and his wife Deb, AG Anne Frueh and husband Peter, RCG President Mark Howlett and his wife Donna, Dr Monique Ryan, MP for Kooyong, Councillor Felicity Sinfield, Mayor Boroondara and Cathy Irvin President CWA Boroondara.

At the end of the evening each of the VIP’s and a large number of guests came up to congratulate the Club on hosting a successful 70^th Anniversary event and wishing the Club well for the future. 

Rochester Flood Victims Relief Update

Anne Scott and myself loaded up the car with additional blankets books and some homewares collected by Anne and her team at Sackville Grange and headed up to Rochester on Wed 16^th August.

We met up with Bryan Griffith Rochester Club President and Angela Beutel Club Secretary to discuss how Hawthorn could assist the local community with their flood recovery.

Bryan suggested we look at providing local residents with support to re-establish their gardens and a $50 voucher from a local garden supply centre would be very much appreciated within the community.

Hawthorn Rotary have agreed to provide 50 Rochester residents with a $50 voucher from their local garden centres to buy plants, seeds or other garden supplies.

We have asked Bryan and Angela to include a letter with the vouchers from Hawthorn Rotary outlining the support provided by our Club to date (blankets, doonas, puzzles, children’s books, sensor lights, fire blankets and small fire extinguishers) and our ongoing commitment to provide additional support over the coming months to help the Rochester community recover.

It was very worthwhile for Anne and myself to see first hand the current condition of Rochester and appreciate how slow the recovery process has been with only about one third of the residents back in town and the many of the shops unable to reopen yet.

Bryan also showed us his house and the temporary living conditions he has in a shed (right) and motorhome parked in his driveway.  The inside of the house has been stripped back to the framing timber and is awaiting re-wiring, new plumbing, kitchen, bathroom and paster boards.  He estimates it will be another 12 months before the project is completed.

Luckily Angela’s house is much further advance and she hope to move back in within 4-6 weeks.

We have invited Bryan and Angela to join us for a weekly meeting in the near future and give all of our Members a chance to hear their story first hand.

Meeting with Felicity Sinfield Mayor of Boroondara 

The Rotary Club Presidents within Boroondara were invited to a meeting with Felicity Sinfield Mayor of Boroondara (right) on Monday 21^st August to discuss areas we can work with the local Council for the benefit of both Rotary and the local community.

I attended the meeting with PE Dorothy Gilmour and we outlined the work Hawthorn do at Auburn High School, support provided to Chances Scholarships, Servants Community Housing, Salvo Hawks footy team, MHU Care packs and the annual Christmas gift packs for isolated and disadvantaged people within Boroondara.

Dorothy provided a package of information on Rotary SAFE families to the Mayor and her team to ensure they are aware of this program.

We also highlighted Hawthorn’s issue being unable to re-establish the Kooyong Classic car parking fund raiser due to Council restrictions. The Mayor has taken note of this issue and asked Hawthorn to follow up with her to overcome the restrictions prior to the 2024 event.

Overall the session was useful as an opportunity to meet with the Mayor, Deputy Mayor with Councillor Di Gillis in attendance plus other Council staff and each Rotary Club outlined their projects within the region which is benefiting the local community.

The Mayor has proposed we hold a similar session on a half yearly basis to keep the Council up to date on Rotary activities in the area and look for opportunities to extend the good work being undertaken.

Upcoming Events

·      The Salvo Hawks will play a Grand Finals match on Thursday 31^st August at ETU Stadium, Port Melbourne starting at 11 am with David Macnamara and hopefully myself attending.

·      District Governor Ron Payne will be the guest speaker at our meeting on 19^th September at Kooyong.  The lunch meeting will be followed at 2pm by a Board meeting to be attended by Ron as well. (Right: DG Ron Payne and Deb)

·      Auburn High School Mock Interviews will be held again this year with Year 9 students on 13^th and 14^th September if you are available on either of these days contact Rashi Kapoor to be added to the roster.

·      Rotary Club of Nhill weekend 25^th & 26^th November. Save these dates in your diary as we are planning a Club visit and the Nhill Club will organise a special dinner with the local Myanmar community.  Noel Halford has organised a group booking at the Zero Inn Nhill, contact details (03) 5391 1622.

We will be having a regular meeting at Kooyong next Tuesday 29^th August and the guest speaker is Dr Michael Aston who will talk about Natural Climate Cycles over the past Millenium given the current news coming from around the globe on climate events this should be a very timely presentation.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Doug McLean

President 2023-24