The meeting this week at Kooyong was well attended and our guest speaker Dr Jacqueline Kuruppu gave a very good overview on her PhD research topic Exploring the Response to Child Abuse and Neglect in Primary Care Settings. She highlighted the dilemma medical staff have in trying to identify situations which they suspect as child abuse and the decision to report it.
The meeting included the induction of Alan Thomas as a new member under the vocation classification of Printing and highlighted his prior background as a long-term member of Rotary Balwyn from 1974 to 1996.
As part of the meeting we had a brief Special General Meeting to approve amendments to the revised standard Rotary Clubs Constitution (Rules), which Andrew Crockett had previously circulated to members.
I also presented Members with an overview on the current discussions with Kooyong LTC on the increased charges for meals $5 ($40 to $45) and a new meeting room charge of $200 effective from today’s meeting. A number of alternative venues have been researched to host our in-person meetings and at the Board meeting next Tuesday we will discuss this and decide the best option for Club meetings in 2024.
On Friday last week I attended a thank you lunch provided by the Adolescent Mental Health Unit at Box Hill for their updated Sensory Garden. The work was undertaken by Katrina and her team of Sue Z, Denbigh and Noel H with funding provided by the bequest from Dr John Carre-Riddell’s Estate. John’s daughter, Sue Felton, joined us for the lunch and the staff at Box Hill were very appreciative of the work completed to bring this garden back to life.
Announcements:
Anne Scott has initiated a new
Club project called “Every Rotarian Every Year” to commemorate the 119th anniversary of Paul Harris establishing Rotary on 23rd February in Chicago.
At our next in-person meeting on 20th February, Anne would like each member to consider a donation of $100 to the Rotary Foundation which will be acknowledged in the Member’s name and is tax deductible. The Foundation supports a large number of worthwhile projects around the globe and if you need any additional background information, our own Dennis Shore can fill you in.
Rotary Hawtho
rn will again this year be selling Taverners Sporting Chance Raffle tickets with the major prize a trip for two to London including tickets to the One Day International at Lords, with a $10,000 Harvey Norman voucher as the second prize. Tickets are $5 each and half of the proceeds are given back to Rotary Hawthorn. Books of tickets will be at the front desk for our next in-person meeting and on-line tickets can be purchased via the link in the Taverners flyer which is included in this week’s Bulletin. www.taverners.org.au
Rotary District Conference Bendigo Weekend 12th – 14th April. David Pisterman, as Club Conference Coordinator, has been advised by the Shamrock Hotel in Bendigo they no longer have any rooms available for Rotary Hawthorn members. If you are planning to attend the conference it would be worthwhile locking in your accommodation prior to booking in for the Conference.
The Annual Award for Service to Seniors Presentation will be on Tuesday 19th March. Our special guest speaker is Gerard Mansour former Commissioner for Seniors. Gerard is President of Winteringham, a not-for-profit welfare organisation created to address the scourge of elderly homelessness and will present our award. We would encourage members to invite family and friends to this very special meeting.
The next Club meeting will be at Kooyong on Tuesday 20th February. The guest speaker will be our own Noel McInnes with a Member behind the Badge presentation with a twist. Anyone who has spent time with Noel will know this is going to be something very different to our normal Member Behind the Badge and I hope you will be able to join in on the fun.
Doug McLean
President 2023-24