The meeting proper started with our own MC Nick introducing AG Gary
to toast to Australia and PDG Ann White to toast to Rotary
International - and we had a bit of fun going up and down too!
PP Rhys then introduced us to the crosswords we are about to do ...
and they were fun but not easy at all. After ordering our
dinner, we were all ears for President Barbara's speech.
President Barbara (as she then was) thanked many people, both within
the Club and without. President Barbara presented Gillian
Pryde with a bouquet for her work as our Club's de facto Treasurer,
keeping Wendy and the Club "balanced". Gillian was
unfortunately not able to be with us at the Dinner so Wendy accepted
the bouquet on her behalf.
Next, President Barbara presented the Rotary Club of Melbourne with
a T-shirt signed by all the players from the Street Soccer State
Championship Camp. James Pullar accepted the framed T-shirt on
behalf of RC Melbourne. RC Melbourne and RC Southbank's joint
PACE project focuses on homelessness and, in partnership with The
Big Issue, the Soccer Camp was held at the end of May and was a
fantastic success. PP Tracey then presented George Halkias and
Felicia Welstead, both from The Big Issue, with another T-shirt from
the same camp. George, the National Street Socceroo Coach,
have been working with the street Socceroos for a long time and
Felicia and Tracey were the main architects of the State
Championship camp. Two days after the Camp, RC Southbank
presented George with his Paul Harris Fellow Recognition, which
George worn at the Dinner.
Bobbi was named Rotarian of The Year by President Barbara. She
had worked tirelessly for the Club even after moving to a remote
corner of no-man's land. Congratulations, Bobbi!
President Barbara inducted Gabe as President of the Rotary Club of
Southbank - which was a traumatic event for Gabe because Past
President Barbara suddenly seemed very eager to leave the lectern
... President Gabe presented PP Barbara with her new PP Pin
and, on behalf of the Club, thanked PP Barbara for her leadership
and for a very successful year. PP Barbara was then released
back to her table. President Gabe told all those present that
a very
long speech will not be read to them and he received a very big
round of applause - little did they know that they would not be
spare from a
shorter version of the speech. The speech received a much
smaller round of applause. The new leadership team was
introduced to the Club, when President Gabe was kissed by Secretary
Charles!
PP Bryce Lillecrapp of RC Barossa Valley and President Veronica Semmler of RC Barossa District, both in D9500, exchanged banners
with RC Southbank. President Veronica also presented a
hand-made blanket for the auction.
Then entree was served and the real fun began! We were split
into teams and each team had a male "table captain" and a female
"mummy". We were then told to gather in the games area and
each team was to surround their respective "mummy". Only then
was the objective of the game disclosed. Each team were given
2 rolls of one-ply toilet paper and were told to wrap up our
"mummy". The teams all did a great job but our table won -
with Bettina being the winning "mummy"! The winning team/table were
given a free trip to their travel agent to book a trip to Egypt;
brochures on visiting Egypt were provided!
PP Richard and PP Rhys then gave some awards to members, including:
-
a
chair in the middle of nowhere for Carl to sit on - so he could be
"on his own" as PP Barbara had foretold!
-
Andrew Jones was fined because no one could find any dirt to fine
him with. Andrew was given a pair of Mr Nice Guy underpants
which he wore on the outside - just like the superhero he is.
-
Charles was given a note pad, for accepting to be the secretary
before evening joining the Club! Well done, Charles.
-
Philip got a
pair of binoculars so he can look over his "Big Deck" in Tasmania.
-
Bettina's display of soccer skills at the soccer camp was justly
rewarded with a T-shirt that reads "Bend it Like Bettina"!
-
Bobbi received her 2nd award of the evening for her love of the
Crocs footwear and was given a little croc toy!
-
Some of those Rotarians who played at the soccer camp also got
soccer balls.
-
Leigh got a large new dog and so was awarded a large scoop to ...
The "Golden Gnome Awards" this year was neither golden nor were they
gnomes. The awards were very cute plush doggies and a BIG
BITCH! President Gabe won a doggie for having the same
election strategy as President Robert Gabriel Mugabe! PP
Richard pointed out that Mugabe has agreed to help President Gabe
eliminate any "opposition", so if President Gabe asks you to do
something, it's best to say yes! After all, you don't know if
it is President Gabe or President "Mu"-Gabe! Sergeant Nick, PP
Tracey and others also won doggies. Ross Pilkington, PP
Tracey's hubbie won the BIG BITCH! Someone protested "But he's
a man", to which Ross replied "I can be a bitch!" Sergeant
Nick had a poem written for him and we all joined in: "Um Er Um Um
Er Um Um Um Um Er"!
MC Nick gave a generous gift of Rotary business cards to President
Gabe some of which President Gabe used only 2 days after the Dinner.
The crosswords winners were announced and PP Barbara's team won!
Well Done! The team was awarded with Smarties.
The auction was conducted by our own Jason "Hoover" Burnett (yes, we
still think of him as one of us) who did a fabulous job. The
auction items included 6 bottles of wines donated by Bronwyn
Lillecrapp, winemaker at Fernfield Wines and member of RC Barossa
Valley. 6 bottles of wines from President Gabe's "Harry Potter
Room", vouchers for 4 people to enjoy High Tea at The Hotel Windsor
from President Gabe and of course the hand-made blanket donated by
President Veronica of RC Barossa District. Jason was so good a
few members were bidding against themselves! The auction
raised $1,280 - more than one ShelterBox! Thank you to all the
generous winners of the auctions!
After the auctions, we had more fellowship before the meeting was
closed by President Gabe. A special thank you to:
-
The musicians, Agatha and Mary who had to leave early but were each
given a small gift for their help in making the Changeover a special
night for all. Thanks, Agatha and Mary.
-
PP Rhys and PP Richard did a sensational job entertaining us all and
were pivotal in making it a most enjoyable night. Much time
and hard work were spent by our "2 Rrrr's" putting the wonderful
program together, not to mention getting the sound system and
donating the gifts for the games. Thank you both for making it
a great night in true Southbank tradition!
-
The doggies and the BIG BITCH were donated by Leigh - thanks, Leigh!
-
Thanks also to PDG Ann White, "Mother" to RC Southbank, AG Gary
Goldsmith and AG Chris Wang for taking time from their busy schedule
to share our changeover night with us.
-
Jason, thank you for being the auctioneer at such short notice and a
great job not only in raising funds but also entertaining at the
same time!
-
Thank you to all the former Members of Southbank for coming and
making this an even more special night. It was great to see
you all and thank you all for your on-going support of Southbank.
Marion, Alex, Justine, Caroline, Andrew, Marg, John and Jason: we
all miss you and would love to see you more.
-
Thank you to the SA Rotarians (D9500), from RC Barossa Valley:
Bronwyn and PP Bryce Lillecrapp, PP Peter Perkins and PP John Semmler; from RC Barossa District President Veronica Semmler and
also Joanne Perkins. Thank you all for coming all this way to
join us. You have all made this an extra special night for me!
-
Thank you also to the PACE group from RC Melbourne (PP Chris Wang
and Janet, James and Judy Pullar and Lawton Cooke, for coming,
Your ongoing support and friendship means a great deal to me and our
joint venture has already seen much success - but there is so much
more still to be done. I hope you all had a great night and
look forward to serving the community with you in the coming year.
-
George Halkias and Felicia Welstead, thank you for coming.
Your work with the homeless is greatly admired by us all and we look
forward to continuing our relationship to make an even bigger
difference to the homeless.
-
Duncan and Erol McArthur, thank you both for your ongoing support of
our Club. We love seeing you, so please visit us more often!
-
Thank you also to my family and friends who have come to support me.
I hope you all enjoyed the Dinner. Thank you to my parents
Agnes and Albert Hau, my in-laws Thomas and Athena Poon and my
neighbours Henri, Cleone and Helen Lee.
-
Thank you also to all the catering staff at The Willows Restaurant -
your professionalism and service is appreciated by us all. The
food was fabulous and I'm hungry just thinking about it!
-
Thanks also to PP Barbara for her assistance and advice which is
greatly valued and appreciated!
-
Bobbi, thank you for all your help chasing people! You (and
your Crocs) make a great debt collector!
-
Aurora, thank you for all the help with place cards, badges and all
the other bits and pieces but most of all thank you for your
unwavering support; I love you!
To all our guests, thank you for your contribution to a great night
and thank you to the funds you have helped raise. In total, we
raised just over $5,000 (including the auction). It is a
fantastic effort and a sensational start to a new Rotary year.
This will be an exciting year for us all.
Join me in our Hobby of Hope in the coming year and Make Dreams
Real!
President Gabe
8
July 2008
