Guest Speakers: Exchange students Reece (Finland 2020 for 3 months) and Caitlyn (USA 2006)
Reece spoke about living in Turku with his host family. In his short time there he attended language school, visited Lapland as well as learning to ski. He showed a powerpoint with an emphasis on family, friends and food!
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Caitlyn spoke about her ‘life defining year’ in the US when she was hosted in Troy Missouri. She loved her year away learning to be more independent and resilient. Caitlyn thanked the club for providing the opportunity for her to experience Youth Exchange.
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| Caitlyn and Family |
Peter Tull made club presentations to both Caitlyn and Reece.
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| An attentive audience - Rotarians John and Les | |
CLUB ASSEMBLY and GOOD BYE to TERRY THE BARMAN
GOODBYE TERRY
Tonight was Terry Chaplin’s last night as our barman and Terry Hubbard was quick to note that members would be much poorer when he left, not only for the wonderful contribution Terry has given the club but for the constantly generous serves we get for our money.
Our very best wishes go with you Terry.
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| Terry Hubbard farewelling Terry | The Farewell Cake | President Carol and Bobby Dewar cutting the cake |
REPORT FROM BOARD — President Carol
May 22nd has been finalised as the date for the Trivia Night at Beaufort Manor
June 26 will be changeover night at Beaufort Manor
September will see the Goulburn Valley Suicide Awareness Walk take place
Guest Speaker: Kerry Cooke Chaplain Flowerdale PS
Kerry addressed the club outlining her role and duties at the school which are many and varied– camp cook, social worker, mosaic tutor, gardener, florist, grant writer, photographer and breakfast club coordinator!
Kerry works 1 1/2 days per week with a focus on building happy, healthy and safe students, healthy staff and engaging parents and carers.
The beautifying of an ugly blank wall at the back of the sandpit has enabled Kerry to build on the wellbeing of the school community. With the aid of a PP presentation Kerry described the process from approaching community sponsors, concept development, solo and teamwork, family and guided work to the construction by the children and their families.
Kerry thanked the club for its support of such a unique and creative project.
After a number of questions from members, Will de Castella thanked both Kerry and Sandra.
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| The Sandpit Wall - Before and After | ||
GUEST SPEAKER TRACEY UKOSICH - HER JOURNEY WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS
Tracey is about to embark on a cycling trip across the Nullabor to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis. Tonight, she told us that MS is a condition of the central nervous system which manifests itself in lots of different symptoms including extreme fatigue, blurred vision, loss of balance and muscle co-ordination. MS cannot be cured. It costs $70,000 per year for Tracey’s medication and it is all paid for.She is taking 12 months off and travelling solo by bicycle across the Nullabor where she is hoping to resolve personal issues, face mental challenges and do something meaningful by raising money for MS
Want to know more? Go to Tracey’s Facebook page
The Long Road to Me
You can donate via www.doitforms.org.au/fundraisers/tracey ukosich
Or you can donate through the Rotary Club of Yea as below.
Donations towards Tracey’s MS Fundraiser can be made as follows
RC Yea Project Account
BSB: 633 000
Account: 144 545 126
REF: TRACEY MS
Guest Speaker: Deb Robinson Real Estate Agent
Deb gave some insight into the industry and some of the changes/developments over the years.
Deb grew up in Glen Waverley and attended a Girls Grammar in St Kilda but always loved the country, being a regular visitor to her Uncle’s farm.
Deb began in RE in the 2000’s and worked in Croydon, Ringwood and Monbulk, initially with a sub licence, before moving to Yea and getting her full licence.
Things were slow in Yea 10 years ago with lots of listings and not much movement whereas now it is the opposite. Prices of course have increased a lot, particularly in the last couple of years. Deb was attracted to Yea because of its small country town appeal and hopes that by doing her job, she doesn't change Yea into something else altogether. Like everyone else, Deb loves the community and the feeling of being able to live safely. Now of course, with more people able to work from home, Yea should continue to be a sought after place to live.
Deb was then called on to draw the Art Show Raffle
 | Prize Winners 1st Prize—Jan Green—Julian Bruere painting 2nd Prize—John Brick—voucher Royal Mail Hotel 3rd prize—Mother Eden—hamper of local goods | ||
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GUEST SPEAKER MATT SPURGEON Manager—Yea and District Community Bank Branch - Bendigo Bank
Matt started with his personal journey so far and the fact that he’s originally from Corryong. He’s a Hawthorn supporter and has been involved with sports since he was young throwing a lot of energy into Carrum Downs Cricket Club. Somehow he got into cycling and took up the challenge to ride from Melbourne to the Gold Coast for a conference. It took 14 days. Glenda and Julie have almost got him committed to Cycle Dindi this year.There was a stint of Amateur Boxing and Matt wrote a book about his experiences with that. (something about blood on the pillow for 5 weeks after his first major fight).
Professionally, Matt’s journey has seen him working with companies such as Nissan, Audi and Volvo where he was regional manager covering 3 states.
Here at the Yea Bank, he was the first male employee and arrived to find such things as high accumulated losses, low lend-ing, low confidence and narrow skill sets among the staff.
Now he has seen a 28% increase in lending, the bank is breaking even and there are increased sales of all their products.
In the future, Matt intends to settle in this area. He outlined his personal goals and is well on the way to achieving them.
Ann Drysdale gave a vote of thanks.
Guest Speaker Kelly Wilsmore Optometrist - OPTAIR EYECARE
Chairman Bob Dewar introduced Kelly Wilsmore who has a property at Glenburn and has been living here with her family for about 7 years. Kelly has been working out of Seymour during that time and in March 2020 had her first appointments in Yea. Kelly took us through the biology of an eye and what is involved in an eye exam. She had lots of stories to tell including being called out on Christ-mas morning to get an object out of a patient’s eye. ‘I love doing those’, she said.
There was information about a couple of common eye complaints including Dry Eye and Cataracts. Would you believe that the aver-age age for cataracts is 82!
Kelly also told us about her new machine which was very costly but allows her to see a much wider scan of the eye and pick up problems which might be otherwise missed.
Questions flowed from the floor and Terry Hubbard was asked to give a vote of thanks.
Terry made the point that Kelly was the first guest speaker for ages and she’d given us an informative update on her work while entertaining us all at the same time.
Changeover (at last) and Christmas Breakup at Beaufort Manor
PP Sue welcomed special guests Cindy McLeish and Mayor Sandice McAulay (pictured with Sue and Di Welsh) along with Rotarians and partners.PP John Sinclair proposed a toast to Rotary
PP Sue presented a review of 2019/2020 and referred members to the Annual Report for more information.
Richard Long presented the David Long Community Service Award to Julie Lynch, introduced by Glenda Woods who told the gathering all the things Julie has done, and continues to do for the community.
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| Glenda, Julie and Richard | Richard presenting the award | Julie's acceptance speech. |
Photos: Ken Foletta
Paul Harris Fellowship Recipients
The Paul Harris Fellow recognition acknowledges individuals who contribute, or who have contributions made in their name, of $1,000 to The Rotary Foundation.
This year’s recipients from left: Ken Foletta, Bob Dewar and Gary Cocks with PP Sue.
Photo: Glenda
Induction of Carol Hogg as President 2020/2021
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| David Anderson officiated with Carol Hogg’s induction as President | PP Sue passes the chain of office to our President, Carol |
President Carol, addressed those present. President Carol talked about the goals and ideas she had had for her year as President which officially started in July this year and how they had been forced to change because of Covid 19 but how much she was looking forward to the club getting back to normal in 2021.
