Changeover at Beaufort Manor
Complimentary champagne for all and lovely music from RYLArian Julian Laucius set the tone for a lovely evening of celebration, reflection and fellowship. President Ken welcomed a long list of guests including; State Member for Eildon Cindy McLeish, Councillor Rebecca Bowles, DG Malcolm Kerr and Jill, DG nominee Anne Reid, PDG David Anderson, AG Elizabeth McCormick, Rotary Guests from other clubs, members, partners and friends. There was also a list of apologies acknowledged. The RC of Yea’s 48th member, Sandra Davey was inducted by President Ken in his almost last task as President.
Presentations were made to Donations in Kind and Australian Rotary Health. Community Service Award—presented to David Ralph by Rick Long.
Paul Harris Fellow Recognition—presented to community members Janet Forde and Terry Chaplin and PHF sapphires to Rotarians Julie Lynch, Glenda Woods, Les Hall and Terry Hubbard.
Ken Foletta's Changeover Photos
President Ken's penultimate meeting - Pie Night
The penultimate meeting for President Ken is all about Pie, Pies and more Pies! We had lamb, beef and chicken pies and lemon meringue pies for our evening meal and then Bobbie Dewar had an excellent array of pies to purchase if you were prepared to dip into your pocket for the privilege! Beef and ale, Rabbit, Venison, Chicken, Goat curry, Lamb marsala and pasties were the choices. After an entertaining auction led by Ando, complete with phone bids from Terry, the pies were all sold for the grand total of $924. What a fantastic outcome for both members and the club. Thanks Bobbie for such a generous gesture and all members for being prepared to buy!Les Hall and President Ken
Guest Speaker: Constable Eva Mercier - Cyber Awareness and Security.
C
onstable Eva Mercier is stationed at Seymour. She often speaks to students at schools about cyber awareness and security. She works in Crime Prevention, works the van, including night shift. Her role is part-time and she has been in the police force for 8 years.
onstable Eva Mercier is stationed at Seymour. She often speaks to students at schools about cyber awareness and security. She works in Crime Prevention, works the van, including night shift. Her role is part-time and she has been in the police force for 8 years.Eva is involved in the ’education of online safety’. A great deal of her work involves under 18 year olds sharing explicit images online. One of the biggest issues with Face-book is keeping online profiles out of the public eye. She spoke of some of the issues that she comes across in her role, and the things that people need to think about and act upon in order to keep their information secure from identity thieves, hackers and scammers.
FAREWELL KIMBERLEY - Our Swiss exchange students year on exchange
Kimberley gave a wonderful talk on her year as an exchange student in Australia. She made some great comparisons between Australia and Switzerland, sharing some funny anecdotes and realisations, and her message conveyed a great deal of gratitude to Rotary, her host families, and her experience overall. We will surely miss you Kimberley. Best of luck from all at Yea Rotary.Kimberley is now back in Switzerland
Kimberley and President Ken
Kimberley, Host Families and President Ken
The 5th. Thursday of the Month - Time for a Social - Friendship Evening.
A fun night was had by all, which included a celebration cake for 33 years of the Yea Rotary Club. Marj and Patty organised a surprise night, which included Rotarian Don McQueen, who recited a few famous and hilarious poems.
Dinner was served up by Limestone Fresh. This was followed by some trivia, which entailed identifying hidden animals, became a competitive battle for a bottle of wine for the winner.
Bush Balladeer Don McQueen - Evening Organisers Marj and Patti
Guest Speaker: Ben Rimmer
Ben is a former CEO of Melbourne City Council, and has worked in both State and Federal Government and Public Service. He is married to Past President Marj Hamilton’s daughter and is a Rhode Scholar. Ben talked about some of the things that happen behind the scenes in Canberra at a time like this, when there has been an election. He talked about some of the duties of a principle policy advisor, and of the management and administration. They need to advise on issues of public service that will be good for the current government and for the next government. He talked about election time, and the inner workings of what goes on behind the scenes, and the support networks behind them.
Guest Speaker: Gordon Davis Greening Australia
Gordon is a famer at Glenburn who trained at Melbourne Uni as a Forrester, and has worked in a variety of roles and is now chair at Green-ing Australia. He spoke about Reef Aid, and talked about Global Warming and how it af-fects the ecological balance of the reef. Given that we cant change global temperatures, Greening Australia have been restoring 3000 Hectares of river and wetlands to improve wa-ter quality. Wetlands act as a filter. Greening Australia have been repairing at upper levels, reducing sediment, erosion and nutrient loads. The organisation has sought to engage with indigenous groups and worked in collaboration with the CSIRO and universities to reform and protect the landscape. They have needed to rely on supporters other than government and work with com-panies that wish to offset their carbon footprints.Guest Speaker: Grace McDonald. Year 11 student from Yea High School.
Grace had the opportunity to attend Rotary in Adventures Citizenship program, Grace spent a week in Canberra with a family that hosted her. She thanked Rotary for the opportunity that enabled her to make new friends, gain knowledge and create valued memories. Some of the experiences she reflected upon were her visits to the War Memorial, the Budget Speech, tours of the new and old parliament, bush-dancing and the budget reply, (which she particularly enjoyed). She became intrigued in politics and shared this fun fact: The flag at Parliament House is the size of a double decker bus.Guest Speaker: Jeffrey Swain
Jeffrey is well know to club members and this time spoke about the theme of ‘Home Coming’. Jeff is president of the Yea/Kinglake sub branch of the RSL and was a regular soldier in 1968, did a tour of Vietnam and in 1971 did Officer training at Portsea. He worked for the Australian Defence Department at Puckapunyal for a long time. It had been a long day for Jeff, having attended the dawn service at Kinglake, where speaker Paul Bannon gave an interesting address about the importance of connections, mateship and friendships. Jeff covered a range of topics, talking about the formation of the Yea RSL, the Soldier Settlement Scheme, the formation of National Identity after the landing at Gallipoli, and some of his own person experience as being part of regular Army. He also spoke of homecoming, and how it was not always joyful; not all marriages survived and how times were tough for those who did return.Finally Jeff talked of the role of the RSL and how it has grown in the past 100 years and is now, as then, so important for the veterans and their families. He made the comment that soldiers are much more effective if their families are supported.
The fourth Cycle Dindi was a success and again showcased the scenic Great Victorian Rail Trail, through the Shires of Murrindindi and Mansfield.
Organised by the Rotary Clubs of Yea and Alexandra, and this year joined by the Rotary Club of Mansfield, almost 80 riders, many from Melbourne cycled all or part of the way, with most riders starting out from Yea. The morning was perfect, and riders enjoyed the flexible starting times. It was great to see some Yea scouts with their Leader Andrew Fulford take part this year. Lunch was beside the Goulburn River at Cremona and the historic John Monash designed bridge and riders enjoyed this beautiful location and the chance to relax, enjoy some food, coffee (by mobile Café Amore) and be entertained by well-known local Julian Laucius.
