Past President Lisa Lowcock acted as Chair for this momentous evening that marks the official changeover of club president for 2021-22 (Sunil Perera) to 2022-23 Vera Maljevac.

 

President Sunil firstly acknowledged the original owners of the land:

"I respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we meet and their rich contribution. I also acknowledge our pioneers and all those who sacrificed their lives to ensure we enjoy the life we have today in this great land of ours, and hope that we continue to move further towards equality, justice and fairness for all"

 

Sunil then welcomed guests, including District Governor Amanda Wendt, along with Greg Harbour and AG Tony Laycock. A very special welcome was offered to Joe, Jasmine and Jake Maljevac and Cayla. Also welcomed by Sunil were Eleanor de Fazio, Kerry Roe, Jane Odgers, Sue Condos, Greg Stokes and Daryl Lee.

 

DG Amanda Wendt was invited to speak. She offered sincere congratulations to RCE for its first eighty seven years of operation and sees a bright future for its eighty seventh year and beyond. On a global scale, Amanda commented that Rotary International has donated US$15M to Ukraine. This is a great indication of Rotary"s generosity and international reach.

 

Amanda toasted Rotary International.

 

As I hand over the Presidency of this great club to the incoming President, I must say once again that I felt honoured and humbled to serve as your 87 thPresident, I thank you all for giving me this opportunity. It will be one of the highlights of my life and I will always be proud of this time, and carry with me the ideals of Rotary.

 

36 years ago my wife Miriam & I landed at Tullamarine airport with no job, no home, with just a dream, and here I am today standing in front of you with humble pride to say I have been blessed with more than I expected.

So I take this opportunity to thank every member of the Board who assisted me during the year and did an excellent job, thank you very much.

I also thank the club members who helped and advised me during the year, your contributions were invaluable and will never be forgotten.

 

 

 

 

Most importantly I would like to thank my wife Miriam for her support during my year as President.

We started the year with my version of welcome to country acknowledging the original owners of the land and also all those who sacrificed much, for the freedom we enjoy today. As a first generation migrant who did not take for granted the liberty that we enjoy in this great land I thought the words resonated meaning to me as well.

I promised the year will be a fellowship year as we have been in lockdown for so long and almost half of my year as President.

 

To this end we have recognised the good work done by members with awards & recognitions. I would like to once again mention & thank some of you.

 

1. We received a very generous bequest amounting to $250,000 which was invested in a selected managed fund, I thank Tim Anderson for promoting this with his clients.

 

2. Part of this bequest was used in a Myanmar project for the construction of a road to the children’s home and medical equipment to hospitals. I once again congratulate Richard Lawrence for his dedication to complete this project in spite of the difficulties in sending money to that country. Thank you Richard!

 

3. I was humbled & honoured to receive a donation for mental health from Norman Mollica during my term amounting to $10,000 this was further increased by approximately $5,000 using funds from the Greek dinner & donations, a total of approximately $15,000 as current. Thank you very much Norm Mollica!

 

4. A new, Scholarship committee was formed comprising Maria Kouppas and Shirley Kukk and myself to ensure this amount of approximately $15,000 is used to fund a student/s to study mental health as per the wishes of Norman Mollica. The intention is to recoup amounts used each year by having a social event such as a dinner so that we can continue to honour Norm Mollica and carry out his wishes. I thank Shirley Kukk & Maria Kouppas for helping me with this project among many. Thank you Shirley & Maria

 

5. A very generous donation of $10,000 was made by Regina Davern for the Art Show – Thank you Regina

 

6. Another generous donation was made by Michael Mahoney amounting to $10,000 to be used mainly for youth projects or related projects as decided by the RCE Board. Michael could have made this donation to the Rotary Foundation and received a recognition, instead he made this donation to the club, I thank Michael Mahoney for this donation and others he has made in kind to the club. Thank you Michael!

 

7. A Member Committee as I have mentioned before was formed comprising PP Lisa Lowcock and PP Veronica O’Sullivan to look after the needs of existing and new members. Looking after existing and new members was given priority in order to foster fellowship. I thank Lisa & Veronica for their work. Thank you Lisa & Veronica!

 

8. The diverse duties of the Club Service Committee were distributed in a manner to ensure the people competent in areas such as catering and member engagement assist to get the best outcome. Once again I thank Lisa & Veronica!

 

9. The club member survey was initiated and completed to find out from members what improvements are needed for the Rotary Club of Essendon, some very interesting recommendations came from members. Hopefully some of these will be taken up in the incoming year – A big thank you to all members who participated in the survey

 

10. An alternative to physical speakers was recommended by using the RI website, I thank Vera for her interest in this!

 

11. The Chairperson/Sergeant/MC sessions were re-introduced to ensure better interaction with members in a professional & entertaining manner by selecting members on a rotational basis to be sergeant/MC. They have all done an excellent job interacting, entertaining and fostering fellowship among members. Fellowship with members I believe is very important to ensure members attend and be engaged. – Thank you to all the participants

 

12. Four (4) new members were inducted, Christine Hilbert, Susan Nippard, Regina Davern and Joanne Westover I congratulate them and wish them all the best.

 

13. Four (4) members were awarded the prestigious Royce Abbey Award for enthusiasm and commitment to the ideals of Rotary. They were all well deserving, I take this opportunity once again to congratulate the four members one of whom is yet to receive the award.

 

14. Additionally 8 Paul Harris recognitions were awarded, recognising and acknowledging the good work done by these members and one spouse of a member Andrew Lowcock who has been a great contributor to our club over time, again my congratulations to all of them.

 

15. All of these awards were given to acknowledge the good work done by the recipients and motivate & encourage them and others to continue to do the great work we do as Rotarians.

 

16. As it is often the case the main project work the real Rotary community work was done by the committees and I thank all the committee members for their dedication & passion to help the deserving members in our community.

 

17. I also want to thank the members who organised and performed the skit at the President’s night and at the Christmas party both fantastic.

 

18. Lastly, as I leave you in good hands I hope the changes made & recommended during the year will benefit the club & the members.

 

The very final act of President Sunil’s tenure was to induct the incoming 2022-23 President Vera Maljevac

Vera noted that she was a little bit overwhelmed and that she would do her formal speech later on. Vera thanked her adult children and husband for being present.

 

She also thanked Sunil for his work as President.

 

Vera passed on a warm welcome to all guests, partners and friends.

 

Vera noted that it has been a pleasure working with Sunil, Cathy Nicou, Shirley Kukk and Peter Baker. President Vera was pleased to welcome and introduce the incoming 2022-23 Board members.

 

This year we want to focus on mental health and awareness.

 

Vera noted that we have an excellent group of speakers lined up.

President Vera said that the aim is to ensure that all members are in a happy place and feel welcome as Rotary members.

We also need to remember that we are all volunteers. If any member is feeling overwhelmed or cannot undertake assigned or selected tasks, then they should feel comfortable in letting the relevant members know. President Vera encourages us to look out for each other and to reach out if members are not at ease.

President Vera reminded those at the change over evening that the 2023 Rotary International Conference was being held in Melbourne and that it promises to be exciting and stimulating.

Vera also noted that a range of interesting and motivating speakers is being organised for this year. A list of them is attached to the end of this issue of Contact. One of the most timely is Stefan Romaniv OAM from the Ukrainian Association who will speak on August 2. Michael Mahoney strongly commends him.

 

DG Amanda Wendt is the youngest DG ever and is also VP of RI’s Communications Committee. She outlined the role of districts in supporting and motivating individual Rotary clubs. Specifically Districts provide resources and guidance to clubs, learning and development programs for new and established members, and ways to share and promote projects across clubs.

 

Amanda is as DG committed to connect clubs who want to attract and engage with younger members. She noted that about 30 per cent of Australians are volunteers and that Rotary has to motivate young people to want to be a part of our service organisation. District 9800 has an on line volunteers action plan — growmyclub.org

 

Amanda finished with a quote from RI President 2022-23 Jennifer Jones : “In order to live in the kind of society you want, you have to build it.”

 

                             

 

 

 

 

 

 

The final speaker of the evening was Maria Kouppas who sketched the Royce Abbey endowment scholarships and RA awards. Interestingly Maria noted that five Australians, including our club’s own Royce Abbey have been RI Presidents. The latest was Ian Riseley in 2017-18.

 

Royce Abbey was born into a working class background but did not deter him or sap his energy and dedication. As we know Royce rose to RI President in 1987-88 and was honoured with the creation of the Royce And Jean Abbey Endowment Fund.

Maria noted that the Royce and Jean Abbey Vocational Scholarship was valued at US$10,000 and provided great learning and support both for its recipients and their communities. These scholarships are for 3 moths or more duration and can be awarded to between one and three people.

 

The Royce Abbey award is presented to Rotarians for sharing their enthusiasm and commitment. The awardee is chosen by the club president. These awards financially support the endowment fund through its scholarship program. Since the awards inception, over $450,000 has been raised.

 

Daryl Lee was called upon by Lisa Lowcock to acknowledge the $200 presented to the Strathmore Men’s Shed by RCE. Daryl duly thanked our club, noting that the money will be used to purchase parts for tools.

 

President Vera closed the evening with a vote of thanks to all those in attendance. Past President Sunil Perera was presented with a Past Presidents badge.

 

The evening closed with the playing, at President Vera’s selection of John Lennon’s timeless song Imagine.

 

 

St Bernards College

Jul 08, 2022, 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM

 

St Bernards College

Jul 09 2022, 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

 

St Bernards College

Jul 10, 2022, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM

 

The Anglers Tavern

Jul 19, 2022, 12:45 AM – 2:00 PM

 

The Anglers Tavern

Aug 02, 2022 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM

 

 

 

 

DISTRICT 9800 FOUNDATION DISTRICT GRANT INTENTION 2022-2023

CLUB NAME:

District or Global Grant Details

(If expecting to apply for more than one Foundation Grant, please complete a separate form for each prospective grant).

 

What type of Grant are you planning? Note: One Grant Type Only

Please Please tick one please.        District Local Community*.   District International District Scoping*

 

Likely TOTAL PROJECT BUDGET $

Brief description of the intended project:

 

Do you expect additional D9800 clubs to contribute? How many?

Expected Project Start Date: /.  /          Expected Completion Date:    /  /.  

Primary Project Contact:

                         Name:                      

 

Club role:

* Includes Year 11-12 Scholarship Grant

 

N.B. Rotary Clubs must be qualified to access Foundation Grants. This means that one or more representatives from your club will have attended a 2022 Grants Seminar in June 2022.

 

Clubs must also be current in the payment of dues to Rotary International and Rotary District 9800 and have no outstanding interim or final reports on District or Global grants. District 9800 Grants Management Seminars 2022

 

 

 

Help yourself and help our Club by banking with Strathmore Community Bank. Take out a loan, term deposit or open a bank account and the club will receive up to $500.

Drop into the branch at 337 Napier Street, Strathmore or call Manager David Porter on 9374-2607 for details

Rotary Club of Essendon Committee Team Members 2022-2023

 

 Rotary Club of Essendon Committee Team Members 2022-2023

 

Please note that all Committee meetings are to be held during the second week of the month.