President Doug McLean gives us a summary of today's lunch-time meeting.
Today’s Meeting
Today’s guest speaker Susan-Gaye Anderson shared a very interesting and humorous history of the Early Days of Television and how she was part of this era, starting as a 17 year old on-screen personality.
Her main role was in children’s programs but she was also involved in some TV ads and had a very brief stint as the “Weather Girl” on GTV 9.
We also heard a few stories from David McNamara (Big Mac) of his recent travels to the UK for the Ashes Series, British Open Golf and he attended a Southport Rotary Club meeting.
At the meeting today we had a collection for Camcare, which is the final collection for this year and we will total up the value of the goods received and provide an update to members next week.
Club Announcements
Salvo Hawks
The Salvo Hawks had their final home game for the season on Wednesday 26th July against the Kardinia Tigers; both teams had a large turnout of players and appreciated the support and pizza lunch provided by Hawthorn Rotary, organised by Big Mac, Geoff Wright, Kevin Rose and myself.
Rotary Youth Exchange Support
Hawthorn Rotary were approached by the Rotary Youth Exchange’s District Coordinator to act as the Sponsor Club for Evangeline (Evie) Flynn, a year 10 student from MLC who is applying for an outbound Exchange in 2024 to a high school in France.
We have agreed to act as the Sponsor Club and Rashi Kapoor, Youth Service Director, will act as our Club contact person with Evie prior to the start of her Exchange and while she is attending school in France.
We plan to invite Evie to a Club meeting before she relocates to France to give us an overview of her background and expectations for the Exchange experience with a second update upon her return in late 2024.
Update of Club Website
A working group of Ian Bentley, Ari Talantis and myself will be working with support from the Club Board on an update of the Club’s website.
The objective is to make the website more informative to current members, appealing to potential new members and Club sponsors plus to ensure the information on Club activities and projects is current.
Rochester Flood Victims Support Project
The Club has received an additional donation of $400 for the Rochester Flood Victims from a party that has requested to remain anonymous, bringing the total Club commitment from Sackville Grange and Survey Street to $6,400.
Unfortunately the Rochester Club President, Bryan Griffith, has been unwell over the past few weeks and the Club has not been able to work out how they would like to use the balance of the funds available ($4,400) to support their local community.
Upcoming Events
Rotary Hawthorn 70th Anniversary Dinner. As you would know, the Club’s 70th Anniversary Dinner is being held on Thursday 24th August. We are getting to the point where we need members to commit so the organising committee can finalise logistics and catering. Please don’t leave it to the last minute to purchase your ticket - if you need assistance, contact Terry on 0419 508821.- District Governor Ron Payne will be the guest speaker at our meeting on 19thSeptember at Kooyong. The lunch meeting will be followed at 2pm by a Board meeting to be attended by Ron as well.
- Rotary Club of Nhill weekend 25th & 26th November. A reminder to 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; you can contact them on 03 5391 1622 to confirm your accommodation.
Next Tuesday is the Club Board meeting, which has a full agenda given the July meeting was deferred due to the President’s lack of IT knowledge on the Club computer and Zoom setup.
The next in-person Club meeting is on Tuesday 15st August at Kooyong and the guest speaker will be Henry Drury sharing with us a Member Behind The Badge talk. Henry has been a long-term member of the Club since 1991 and has been involved in a large number of Club projects over the years so I’m sure he has some interesting tales to share.
There will be no meeting on Tuesday 22nd August due to the Anniversary Dinner being held on Thursday 24th.
In the interim I hope we can all get out and enjoy the early spring weather over the next few days.
Doug McLean
President 2023-24