Today we had a great turnout to celebrate being back at Kooyong for our Tuesday meeting.
We reflected on The Australia day celebration and showcased a video of the day for all to enjoy. The day was a true reflection of what Rotary can achieve when its members work together for a common goal.
Douglas McLean was born in Windsor Canada, and he qualified as a CA with Price Waterhouse Cooper in Canada.
He has a long term partner Terry Kitchen, and they have two daughters, Laura and Charlotte.
Doug worked in a cross section of companies in senior finance and management roles, and his talk today focussed on his experience in the timber industry.
When it became apparent that it was not going to be possible to stage a community lunch for 250 people, the indefatigable Noel Halford and the irrepressible Di Gillies began planning for an alternative way of reaching out to those who would have attended the lunch.
Hawthorn’s involvement as part of the consortium of clubs providing care packs to the mental health patients at Alfred Hospital, and Hawthorn’s extension of that to include patients at Box Hill’s Upton House, gave rise to the idea of providing individual and family Christmas gift bags.
On Australia Day, we had a great opportunity to showcase Rotary’s centenary of service in this country via a centralised event live-streamed across Australia to approximately 5,000 viewers. In addition, 46 super clusters each of up to 15 Rotary clubs created their own events at which many had large screens live-streaming the event to their communities.
Bernie Walshe was our Club President in 2001-02, and then District Governor in 2006-07.
When asked for some comments about his year as President, he modestly presented us with the bigger picture: some of the projects adopted by the club over the years.
We include some of Bernie's slides for your enjoyment.
The Paul Harris Society recognizes Rotary members and friends of The Rotary Foundation who elect to contribute $1,000 or more each year to the Annual Fund, PolioPlus Fund, or approved global grants.
The purpose of the Paul Harris Society is to honor and thank individuals for their generous, ongoing support of The Rotary Foundation.
Wasn’t it nice to get back to a normal Rotary meeting again? Our members certainly looked happy, mingling and swapping lies as usual. New members Jane Drury, Pam Crockett and Julie Colette mingled with the “oldies”, while David McNamara won the raffle: a nice bottle of red.
President Tilak gave an update of what has been happening behind the scenes, and some plans for the future: Doug McLean’s “Man Behind the Badge” focused on the Forestry and Timber industries, and afterwards it looked like no-one wanted to go home, as members sat around and chatted.
We have certainly missed our Rotary meetings: isn’t it grand to be back?