What a fabulous night we all had on Tuesday. To see so many members keen to profile our beaut club warmed the hearts of all passionate and dedicated Rotarians!

After greeting our terrific members, their invited guests and the YAA youth (carefully guarded and treasured by our revered past-President Gordon) the call was placed for all Rotarians to help themselves to some of the wide variety of fresh and inviting foods on offer. As we all sat enjoying our fare and the accompanying well-matched wines, our Sergeant Mr Nicholas Kane called us to order for one of the most important ceremonial activities of this great organisation, namely the toasting to Australia and Rotary International. All rose to their feet, eager to participate in this enjoyable and very necessary aspect of our meeting. Kane then asked people to turn their mobile phones off, or put them in the ice bucket at the rear of the drawing room, which was to some very annoying, as they had much loved Blackberries or Nokia 6310’s, which are not cheap.

Our much loved and revered President Gabe then took the podium (figuratively speaking, that is) and spoke of our young club, now 10 years old. He spoke of the overt activity of our club and that our club was distinguished by our members, who are so passionate about helping the community. He centred on the 2 big projects we have been involved in, namely the Homeless World Cup Soccer and the YAA Project.
Our past-President Barbara then took the podium, advising that she was wearing her high shoes this evening so that she could see over the podium, and spoke of the 1.2 million members we have across the world. She spoke specifically of the members being the reason people love to join this great organisation. Rotary is the conduit for service to the community, and Barbara spoke of Rotary International and the beaut job it had done on reducing so dramatically the horrid effects of polio throughout the world. Barbara spoke of another fabulous project known as “Shelter Box”, which provides countries impacted by natural disaster with a kit to assist them in surviving this horror. The past-President was quick to add that community service is one of the reasons we join Rotary, however the great friendships that are forged is another parameter not to be overlooked, and are quite often the “fabric” which keeps us all involved and so in love with this organisation. It was such a valid point when Barbara mentioned the diverse cross-section of the community represented in Rotary, and the great opportunity to become a President within a club and test your leadership skills without being bullied, criticized and belted in to submission as you would be in the “real world”. This is a sheltered environment intent on developing leaders with real care, concern and commitment. 

Barbara then introduced formerly-mentioned past-President Gordon, a man who flew through the ranks to President in a very short time, and has left an indelible mark on us all (in a good way). Gordon explained the Terms of Reference of the YAA project, and was adamant that we do not get involved in the machinations of the actual projects, but are there in a support/advisory role. “Hard Yards” was the name of this now liquidated company; a company responsible for the production of the tri-plate, a fabulous product which made the company about AUD $800.00. This revelation was met with, and rightly so, much rapturous applause from the audience; an audience stunned at the achievements of such young but motivated people carefully guided to success by the very experienced Gordon. Another beaut young company representative (Jackson) then spoke of the schools involved, and Anna advised that 26 Year 11 students started the program and 22 remained at the end of the program. What a beaut effort! A trade expo including a stall, presentations at Southbank and sales at schools, to friends and family resulted in a successful venture.
Anna spoke passionately about the friends and relationships that had been made during this business, which mirrored our experiences in Rotary proper very accurately.
Past-President Phillip then enquired as to what the roles of the 2 individuals Anna and Jackson had been within the company, and was advised about Managing Directors, Finance Directors and the overall hierarchical structure of the company. Gordon chimed in with “It reflects the real world”. He also added that the company paid 3% tax, but was quickly corrected to 4%, and that the company had performed far better than Wall Street was performing at the moment. The students were then queried on the way they had all got on with their personal relationships, and Jackson responded that they had all got on well. Gordon got a lot from this experience, and spoke at length of the friendships he had made with Rotary Melbourne and associated providers. Sergeant Kane was given a big “wrap” by Gordon over his assistance with plastic to make the tri-plates from, which really had been a turning point in the whole project. Wait for Kane to bring a beanie made from this plastic!!!
This beaut present gave us all renewed faith in our succession planning for business management well in to the future.

Past-President Adams then spoke of the Soccer project and the terrific camp that had been conducted at Warburton on a chilly late May - early June Friday evening. The social aspects associated with this camp had been a real bonus for all Rotarians, and in fact prompted our most-experienced Rotarian Richard Clark to say “This has been one of the most rewarding service projects I have ever been involved in”. That, ladies and gentlemen, is a huge statement from someone so dedicated and experienced with all things Rotary, and a huge compliment to the Rotary Club and movement in general. Barbara stated that health, employment and social interaction were all offshoots of this terrific initiative.

Barbara then introduced George Halkias, who is a psychologist with the Big Issue, but spends every available waking moment furthering street soccer. George is the National Street Soccer Coach. George spoke passionately of his very real perception that Rotary was his family, and meeting with us again was like coming home. To quote Richie Benaud “Lovely comment, that”.

George spoke of the Big Issue magazine and the “catch cry”: a hand up, not a hand out. Street soccer is everything to George; his passion and love for the game and all those associated with it was evident – he spoke about the fact that those selected to play were not always the best players but the players who showed the most regularity to training, commitment and dedication to changing for the better. To represent your country is such an honour, and George is overtly involved in helping people achieve their goals. “every day we must wake up with a goal”. Trust and relationships are forged, and particularly at the weekend camp people were drawn from their comfort zones, with results that will last a lifetime. In 6 weeks, 56 countries will compete in Melbourne for the World Cup Soccer, which is very exciting.

A fabulous video clip of the 2007 Copenhagen event was then shown, which really whet the appetite of every person in that huge drawing room.

The Australian Street Socceroos’ Vice Captain Stephen Maloney then came to the lectern and spoke so passionately about his life, the hell he had endured as a result of being a chronic alcoholic and his amazing “clawing back” to recovery that a tear was evident in not only my eyes but the eyes of all genuinely caring members within the room. From a very successful jockey working for “Cups King” Bart Cummings to a homeless alcoholic without family, friends or accommodation, Stevie is a true success story. Gordon in particular, engendered a fabulous relationship with Stevie in the early mornings of the camp.

Stevie’s experience at the camp was very confronting for him, but resulted in a major breakthrough for him in confidence and a new way forward with a very supportive group of people. We all wish Stevie and the team all the very best in December.

Barbara did not take over kindly to the comment from George that Rotarians were not the best soccer players in the world, and added that Rotary had actually won the game at the camp. She did however, under severe duress, concede that George may have been marginally biased in his refereeing decisions in favour of Rotary!

The whole drawing room then thanked the two speakers of the night, and Barbara presented all the speakers with the much coveted “Penny for Polio” which was very well received by the speakers.

Our President then assumed the podium, making reference to the attendance of the YAA and Gordon in a favourable fashion. He did however, castigate Gordon on not making the most of selling the Tri-Plate to the Mums’ and Dads’, and this then developing into the Mums’ and Dads’ buying a car for the kids. A clever identification of a missed opportunity, Mr President!

“Starting with ourselves is the way we will change society” was the lynch pin of the President’s address, and passion and support were two main themes he honed in on. “A common goal to make the world better” – such a beautiful thought, and achievable.

The President presented Bettina with a beaut “Smiling Star”, advising members that on Thursday Bettina will have been with Rotary for 12 months, and has been a very valuable member. “The person is the star, not the badge” stated President Gabe very categorically.

The President ended this most gratifying and valuable meeting with his two (he knows not why he does two, but he does) thoughts for the week, which comprised (a) the time we take to serve those who need us may be the turning point in their lives and our own, and (b) if someone says you are a nobody, smile at the compliment; after all, everyone knows “nobody is perfect”.

A really beaut meeting.

END