Rotaract Club of Whitehorse

We meet on the 2nd and 4th Monday of the month 

7:30pm start at Melbourne Baseball Club, Surrey Drive, Box Hill.

Rotaract is a worldwide organisation of young people aged 18+ working together to change our world through community service, international understanding, professional development, friendship & fun.

https://www.facebook.com/WhitehorseRotaract

Currently we have put in for a couple of grants to help support the Umbrella Dementia organisation to give support and education for the caters of Dementia and speaking from personal experience this can sometimes be so challenging.

Left Jess Conley - coordinator - Burwood Cafe  Right Kirsty Porter CEO and Founder of Umbrella Dementia Cafe

Share a Plate for Our Dementia Café

How you can help:

• Savoury plates: Finger sandwiches, sausage rolls, quiches, or crackers and dip.
• Sweet plates: Slices, biscuits, muffins, or cakes.
• Donations can be dropped off directly to the Brickworks Café or call/text Silvana on 0401‑690‑939 to confirm the best way for your donation to reach the café.
• When & Where:  Dementia Cafe at the Burwood Brickworks Shopping Centre, 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month from February to December, 1.30pm - 3.30pm

Volunteer Here

Congratulations-Gabby  

Choosing and EV for Our Own Use

Bryce Gaton presented a review of purchasing, driving and charging an EV car.

Bryce has been working and writing about the EV car sector since 2008. He runs ‘EV Choice’ developing EV fleet and charging transition plans for government, business, homeowners and apartment complexes. He has extensive EV industry experience, including designing, electrician training on EV Charger installations, contributing to the ACT policy on EV Ready Developments and working with Standards Australia on guidance for EV charging installations in multi-residential buildings.

Bryce is also a writer for ‘The Driven’, where he reviews many new and upcoming EV models.

In his spare time, Bryce writes for ‘Review’ magazine, as well as producing a series of over 150 fact Sheets, which are available through the Australian Electric Vehicle Association's website.

To review Bryce's presentation slides click here 

The latest issue of Eastsider News is now on-line. Click on the link to read the May 2026 issue.

Even better, subscribe (it’s free) and you will get automatically notified of each new edition. The more subscribers we have the better the chance of survival of our community newspaper - and the more those subscribers ‘hit’ on Rotary articles and read them the better publicity for Rotary. Send this edition to your friends to read as well.

Enjoy! 
Glenys

Nunawading Club and 2 Members receive Certificates at 2026 Deakin Community Awards 

On Friday evening 10 July at Whitefriars College, approximately 140 people representing local clubs and organisations in the Deakin Federal Electorate, gathered at Whitefriars College to receive 2026 Deakin Community Awards, presented by Matt Gregg MP.

Among the recipients, the Rotary Club of Nunawading nominated for a Volunteer impact Award, while Harvey Lane and Russell Warmington nominated for an Evergreen Spirit Award. Both Categories reflect contributions to the local community.

Russell Warmington was an apology for the evening as he was on a holiday.

Details of the two awards are as follows:

• Volunteer Impact Award: Celebrates individuals or groups whose volunteering has resulted in a demonstrable, positive change. It usually highlights pioneers or dedicated workers who make a profound, tangible difference for a local community, cause, or organization. [1]. Volunteer Impact Award was won by Eastern Emergency Relief Network [EERN].
• Evergreen Spirit Award: Typically honors long-serving, older, or enduring members of the community. It celebrates individuals who embody a lasting, resilient commitment to helping others and who consistently inspire those around them year after year. Evergreen Spirit Award was won by Harvey and Russell.  

In addition, club member Gabby Knaepple was present with members from Eastern Emergency Resource Network [EERN] who also won multiple awards. 

Gabby, Ian, Matt Gregg MP, Margaret and Harvey 

It was great to see such a diversity of community groups come together. The awards certainly celebrated the multiculturalism and inclusiveness of the Deakin electorate.

Jets Juniors Football Club, we would like to thank Rotary Nunawading for their ongoing support of our players, families, and community.

We are excited to invite you to our upcoming Jets Juniors Social Night, which will be a fantastic opportunity for players, parents, coaches, volunteers, sponsors, and supporters to come together and celebrate the season.

As part of the evening, we will be holding a raffle to help raise funds for the club. The proceeds will contribute towards equipment, player development programs, and ensuring our young athletes continue to enjoy a positive sporting experience.

We would be incredibly grateful if your business could support the event with a donation for the raffle. Donations may include gift vouchers, products, services, merchandise, or any other item you feel would be suitable.

If you are able to assist, please let us know by Wednesday 13th July, and we can arrange collection and/or delivery of your donation.

Thank you for considering our request and for your continued support of Jets Juniors. We hope to see you at our Social Night and look forward to celebrating together.

Blackburn Lake Sanctuary wetlands project.

On Sunday, the 28^th of June, the local community was invited to join in a walk through the wetlands, followed by an overview of the regeneration project.

Since the start of the project in 2025 volunteers have planted 5955 plants, including trees, mid-storey species and tussock forming species.
(There are still 122 plants left to be planted during the next working bee).
All the plants were grown at the Bungalook Nursery.

A massive 2,440 kg of weeds were removed from the wetlands.

The total volunteer hours for planting and weeding exceeded 680 hours.

In January and February, there were 23 sessions to water the plants during the dry spell, requiring an additional 140 volunteer hours.
The benefits of the project include a better habitat for birds, possums, sugar gliders, rakali and insects, better water for the lake and Gardiners Creek and a nicer environment for the community.
A wonderful project completed with the help of the volunteers at the working bees, Bungalook Nursery, Whitehorse Council, BLSAC Advisory Committee and all other organisations involved.

Address by 2026-27 RI President Olayinka Hakeem Babalola

 At last Rotary night's meeting, John Lynch played a short video of 2026-27 Rotary International President Olayinka Hakeem Babalola, addressing delegates at the 2026 Rotary International Convention in Taipei. President Babalola spoke about his family and the “family of Rotary” and his theme “Create Lasting Impact”. 

President Babalola acknowledged the real impact Rotarians make in their communities, forging friendships and lifelong bonds to help make change for the better in health, education and wellbeing. We measure not just what we did, but what changed and whether that change will endure. That shift is what the message Create Lasting Impact is about. 

Nowhere is that distinction more important than when we talk about peace. Peace must be deliberately pursued. It must be built into the design of what we do, not assumed as a by-product. 

Last year, Rotary launched a program of scale in Colombia called Pathways to Peace and Prosperity. It works in communities scarred by decades of armed conflict, poverty, and forced displacement. The program trains local leaders in conflict resolution. It pairs economic empowerment with peacebuilding skills. It builds the capacity of communities to manage disagreement and work toward reconciliation, together. By building peace from the ground up — with dignity, opportunity, and trust — we are planting the seeds of transformation that will grow for generations.

As part of everything we do, we must ask: Does this create the conditions for peace? Not just improving lives, but building the trust, the understanding, and the structures that make lasting peace possible.

Because there were many members absent, please find a link to the video on rotary.org 

Upcoming Umbrella Dementia Cafe 10 Year Anniversary Gala Ball - Saturday 19th September 2026 at the Box Hill Town Hall

Kirsty Porter (CEO & Founder) is celebrating the impact Umbrella Dementia Cafés has had over the past 10 years and the people, community and organisations that have got us here. 
However, before we start selling to the general public mid-July, Kirsty would really like to reserve a table for the Rotary Club of Nunawading crew. As we only have 18 tables, I suspect they will go rather quickly. 
The evening will be a black-tie event, featuring:

A three-course meal and bar
A celebrity MC 
A live band
Dancing and celebration
A silent auction hosted through GalaBid. Hosted in the beautiful federation style, main dance hall.
Tickets will be sold at $1,700 for a table of 10 or $170 per person.

We would absolutely love for members of the RCN to be part of this very special evening. I’m keen to fill the room full of people who have helped UDC before promoting more broadly, please let me know as soon as possible if the RCN is interested in attending or reserving a table.

The Dementia Cafe was well attended once again and kind contributions from Dementia cafe on the 10th June was well attended.

Food supplied by Sue Warmington and Roslyn Wilson was greatly appreciated . Not only do the guests enjoy social time and delicious food they participate in activities especially formulated to promote cognitive function.

Nunawading Rotary is supporting Umbrella Dementia cafe and making such a valuable and practical contribution to our local community .

Next cafe is Wednesday 24^th June

Please drop off at - 12 The Avenue, Blackburn.

 

Please add your volunteer commitments to the Sign-Up List.

Silvana

In August 2025, I attended a 10-day medical camp with a team of doctors from USA, NZ and Canada in Saralana Park, Port Vila, VANUATU.

We managed to see 1000 patients over 10 days. Communication was easy as the people speak English. I had tremendous support and encouragement from the ROTARY CLUB of Port Vila. I attended their luncheon meeting. They took care of local transport and accommodation for me. I was introduced to a doctor who was a Port Vila Rotarian and that helped immensely to have the patients whom we saw, have their follow up at the Vanuatu base hospital. 

Additionally, I conducted educational health talks for the women. Kawa is their national beverage and is the root cause of many aches and pains we found in the youngsters. With the support of the Health Minister of Vanuatu, we organised “Kawa workshops” and also had the privilege of having the scripts issued by us honoured by the local pharmacies. 

The Australian Volunteers Program assisted us with services of nurses, dentists, chefs, physiotherapists and drivers. The nurses from the local military hospital also helped out with instruments and diagnostic kits and doing pre-clinical assessment. 

It was indeed gratifying and a great learning to be a part of a MULTIDISCIPLINARY, MULTICULTURAL team even though we went through experience of earthquake tremors, tsunami warning sirens and sleeping under mosquito nets as a prophylaxis from contracting malaria. 
 

The playgroup pictured above was “harvested” in Eltham North by our Rotary Overseas Recycled Playgrounds (RORP) team in March 2025. It was dismantled carefully and every single part was labelled and colour-coded. It was stored at Arena Gardens in Kilsyth and, along with 12 other playgrounds was loaded into a 40-foot container, shipped to Sri Lanka in December 2025.

On 15^th May this year, this playground was re-installed by Rotary Clubs in Colombo, Sri Lanka. You will see in the photos below that it has a new lease of life, bringing pleasure to hundreds more school children.

Shane Jay addressed the Club about his organisation that he founded, Safe Roads For Us. 

Shane was in the prime of his youth when, on a fateful day he was involved in a car crash. Though he escaped with minor injuries, another human being lost his life.

He could not ever imagine the pain caused to that family. This event changed everything for him, his family and loved ones. Since the incident, he have been passionate about making a difference by speaking and sharing his story to help others make better choices for over a decade.

Shane has participated often in the Ryda segment “Crash Investigators” telling secondary school students about the trauma.

Ethan Newnham is a worthy recipient of a Rotary Global Grant Scholarship funded by the Rotary Foundation. He has completed his Masters degree at Oxford and is now working towards his PhD. PDG Bob Laslett arranged the funding and hosting by local Rotarians. As his mentor, Bob has kept in constant touch with Ethann during his time overseas. Here is his latest message:

That's fantastic news that the final report for the Global Grant has been submitted.

It's been brilliant over here at Oxford.  I had my first big result a few weeks ago, so now I'm hunkering down doing all of my controls to convince even the most sceptical reviewer! I've been off crutches for a while now, thank goodness, although not quite well enough to go to trampolining. The summer is indeed on its way and I'll be heading out with some friends for our first river swim of the season later this week :)

Please pass on my thanks to everyone at the Rotary Club. There's never a day I don't feel grateful for the support of Rotary. I went to see some of this years' scholars speak a few weeks ago which was lots of fun. Rotarians Richard, Julian and his wife Sue continue to be beautiful people looking after me, even though they are officially off the hook!

There is more information about Ethan's work at Oxford here.

Many thanks to Shia, Don and Janette for the wonderful contribution to the special women afternoon tea at Dementia Cafe .
The spread this week was a real tribute to all the wonderful women.
Next cafe Wednesday 27th May - thank you in anticipation.

Please add your volunteer commitments to the Sign-Up Liat.

Silvana

The latest issue of Eastsider News is now on-line. Click on the link to read the May 2026 issue.

Even better, subscribe (it’s free) and you will get automatically notified of each new edition. The more subscribers we have the better the chance of survival of our community newspaper - and the more those subscribers ‘hit’ on Rotary articles and read them the better publicity for Rotary. Send this edition to your friends to read as well.

The contents this time include four articles from us:

History: P4   Excavation of a Time Capsule in Blackburn.

Environment activities: P12  Volunteering at Bungalook

Rotary: 
P21   Hearing and Vision Testing. Check out the delightful children and how Rotary is helping them with this new youth project.

P24  Tom Thorpe OAM JP -what a wonderful man and Rotary star.

Enjoy! 
Glenys

This week at Dementia Cafe, Anzac Day (see picture) was commemorated. With the delicious contributions of Shia and Judy, the guests at Dementia Cafe came together to honour this special day.

The next cafe is Wednesday 13^th May celebrating Mother's Day. We still need more food donations on an ongoing basis.

Please add your volunteer commitments to the Sign-Up Liat.

Silvana

Please save these items for recycling:

• Used stamps
• Medicine blister packs
• Foreign coins

Gabby will accept all these and ensure that they go to the correct places.

I thought it important to mention how well Peter Behm responded to our request for his input to the recent Ryda - Trailer Sponsorship proposal and other Ryda activity.

Following my recent meeting and discussions with Peter (pre-Conference) regarding several projects, he received our call for help with enthusiasm and constructive input. As our next Ryda session at Sandown was looming, we agreed Peter and his team would set up on the day and create a short video. As you know, Peter produces 'DG News' on a regular basis and on this occasion Anton Hockey from Road Safety Education was the star attraction. Anton did a great job in reminding us that it was originally a Rotary initiative and went on to explain its growth and importance in the fight against road trauma.

We will also use this footage as part of a general Press Release to local media such as 3WBC, Eastern FM, 3AW and TV stations.

So, in case you missed it, below is the email from David Button and the link to the video. It's David Button, your District 9815 Communications Chair, back with another thrilling DG News edition that you won't want to miss!

Prepare to be inspired as DG Peter walks us through a game-changing program that's making waves in our communities: Rotary Youth Driving Awareness, or RYDA! This phenomenal initiative is all about empowering our young drivers with the crucial knowledge and skills they need to conquer the roads safely.

DG Peter is diving deep with RYDA Co-Ordinator Anton Hockey into why RYDA is an absolute must for our District's youth and how every single one of our clubs can jump on board and champion this life-saving mission.

So, let's jump right in and hear the excitement straight from DG Peter Behm himself about Rotary Youth Driving Awareness!

You can catch the action here.

Robert Raaymakers spoke to our meeting about his work as a volunteer with Victoria Police Legacy. 

Victoria Police Legacy is a charitable not-for-profit organisation that provides a range of services to police families throughout Victoria who have suffered the loss of a loved one.

Should a serving or retired police officer or protective services officer, or their spouse/partner pass away, Victoria Police Legacy is there to provide ongoing support to the spouse/partner and children.

Rotary South Pacific has confirmed its widely reported “nationwide ban” on sausage sizzles was, in fact, an April Fools’ campaign.

The tongue-in-cheek announcement captured attention across media, radio and social platforms, with Australians quick to weigh in on everything from onion placement to the correct way to eat a sausage.

“We’re pleased to confirm sausage sizzles are safe,” said Rotary International Director Jennifer Scott. “What the response showed us is just how deeply connected these moments are to Australian communities — and how powerful they are in bringing people together.”

While the campaign began as a joke, its intent was to highlight something more meaningful.

Read more here.

Janette did a wonderful job updating us all about Interplast.

Rotary Club of Nunawading’s first hearing and vision community testing on Saturday March 28 has been a great success. Thanks to Mitcham Community House for allowing use of their facilities; the Audiology and Optometry students and supervisors from University of Melbourne and the club Youth Services team and other volunteers.

Twelve post graduate students, six from each speciality, worked in teams of two and tested 23 children aged from 4-6.

Results for vision loss showed 11 youngsters were at risk and required referral, and for hearing loss five needed referral. Two further children had possible loss and needed retesting. 
These results have shown how important this program is, and how worthwhile the efforts of everyone involved. 

Thanks to the Youth Service Committee and Graeme for all their efforts in putting on such a great inaugural event. 

Club members attended the Whitehorse Business Group 2025 Excellence in Business Awards Gala Dinner on Thursday 19^th March at the Box Hill Town Hall.

Attendees were Bob D, President Mike, Gabby, Judith, Coral and Stuart.

Picture the incredible power of every club in the South Pacific coming together, each taking on a project that ignites their passion, all on the same day! Imagine the energy as we unite to make a difference and reveal Rotary’s true impact within our communities.

How It Works

In 2025, Rotarians, Rotaractors, and community partners from five continents, eight countries, twenty states, fifty-seven districts, and 539 clubs joined forces in 613 projects, with 6,557 volunteers serving together.
Nine of those clubs were in Rotary South Pacific—just think how much greater our impact will be if we step up even further in 2026. The possibilities are limitless, and the ripple effect of our service can inspire real, lasting change!

Read the Rotary Magazine article (Jan 2026)

Get Involved!

Save the Date: 16 May 2026 - Epic Day of Service
Do a project you’re already doing, just do it on 16 May 2026 and leverage the power of Rotary for global impact. Take this to your clubs, have a think about one of your current projects that you could action on the Epic Day of Service. 

Find out more here.

Brief Summary of Event

Over 100 people were in attendance.
Speakers included:
Matt Gregg, Federal Member for Deakin
Sam Rea, Federal Minister for Aged Care and Seniors
Representatives from Australian Tax Office (ATO) and Whitehorse Council.
 

The following Community Service Clubs were represented:
Nunawading Rotary. Thanks to Harvey for an excellent overview of our club. Along with Margaret, we had three in attendance.
Nunawading Lions. Spoke on club projects and have 28 members. Projects are similar to some of our own projects. Lions had three in attendance.
Mitcham Rotary. Advised their Opportunity Shop is now open following the fire and they now meet at Mitcham Hotel on a Tuesday from 12:00 noon and had one member present.
Others spoke on seniors and aged care home help, such as services detailed in the My Aged Care brochure, and a more detailed Support at Home, booklet. This could include the likes of; getting dressed or showering, help in preparing meals, cleaning, gardening, provision of equipment like walking frames etc. 
Also provided  was a Seniors and Pensioners Kit which outlines the full range of Federal Government assistanceand a document on how to avoid Scams. 
An ATO representative spoke on help for individuals and sole traders  to protect tax and superannuation information.

Two representatives from Whitehorse Council advised on help available for Senior citizens through the Council.

This year's Conference Gala Dinner had a nautical theme.

We decided to dress up as Lifeguards and even brought along our own shark (aka PP Rob).

However Emerald Rotary had a similar idea with the message “Rotary Saves Lives” and took away Second prize.

Peter Koens (left) representing the Rotary Club of Nunawading on Clean Up Australia Day at Blackburn Lake.

This is a photo of our daughter-in-law Jo (left) delivering exercise books to Operations Manager, Colleen at Donations in Kind (DIK) in Footscray.

Bronwyn Stephens, DIK manager and treasurer says, “Bob, what you are offering are the most sought-after gifts.  Every project that comes into our aisle requests exercise books. We ration them as we know there are so few to go around. On Tuesday, a container was packed, destined to South Sudan.  here were educational resources in it.  This is a continuous cycle. On behalf of all the students and teachers that will receive your books, I say thank you and we fellow volunteers and Rotarians also are exceptionally grateful".

So, a huge thanks to our enthusiastic collectors and to Jo

Recently the four Victorian Emergency Relief Networks (VicERNs) met to discuss a joint response to the January Bushfires and agreed to establish the VicERN Bushfire Relief Program. I believe we are strategically better placed to respond jointly than any time previously and our geographic locations provide logistical support potential to each community and District impacted. In discussions to date, it is clear there is no one fix for all and Districts and Communities are all underway at various levels and directions. VIcERN's Bushfire Relief Program can and will assist from the sidelines when and where it is desired by the communities.

The 4 Networks agreed to a Joint response for the purposes below:

Establish a Joint Victorian Emergency Relief Networks Bushfire Response Program and Committee for the purposes of:

• Liaison with each Emergency Relief Network to encourage Bushfire Relief Donations.

• Coordinate Corporate, Agency and Government approaches and activities with VicERNs;

• Liaison with Districts, Clubs, Local Community Organisations, Support Agencies, Local and State Government to access required donated goods and/or funds without cost;

• Establish and manage a central Donations Centre for ERNs, partner Corporates and interested public to contribute and deliver to;

• Manage the donation offers and receipt of goods and or Funds donated in accord with the needs of the affected Communities.

• Determine what range and quantities of goods will be required initially and longer-term in liaison with Clubs and affected Families balanced with available space and financial resources;

• Assist Lead Clubs to identify/assess local needs and support families; &

• Manage the distribution of donated goods to Lead Clubs or Community Hubs.

Victorian Emergency Relief Networks Bushfire Relief Program:

The Joint Emergency Relief Networks' Bushfire Relief Program and Team is established to support the Program's purposes. Partner Groups (Fire impacted Rotary Districts, Clubs, Community Groups and organisations), Government agencies or Partner Support Agencies supporting the Bushfire Recovery efforts are invited to apply for free 'Partner' membership.

The AFL Football season starts on Thursday 5^th March with Round 0! There also further changes in the fixture with “Floating Finals (TM)” leading to more revenue for the AFL and more gambling ads on TV.

Again, we will be supporting Hope Katolo Nursery School with 50% of the entry fees being donated to the school.

This year:

• Entry fee is $40.00 per tipster to be paid into the Rotary account. (Details provided on entry).
• We will only play the 25 rounds of the normal AFL fixture.
• We will not use the “Joker” feature
• Tipsters win an extra point if they get all games correct in a round.
• If a game is drawn, you only get 1 point if you specifically tip a Draw.
• There will be a weekly prize for the highest score per round. The prize is shared if there is a tie.
• At the end of the season; 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes will be awarded

If we get 40 tipsters, the Prize pool will be $800, distributed as follows:

Prizes will be adjusted based on the final number of entries.

This year, we will be using iTipFooty.com.au which has fewer advertisements (especially on the mobile app).

=============== HOW DO PEOPLE JOIN THE COMP? ==============
1) Go to iTipFooty and register a user account if you don't already have one.
2) Login with your user account and click the 'JOIN COMP' button.
3) Enter Comp # 115889 and Comp Password Rotary3131!
4) Click 'Join Comp'......and start tipping!
===========================================================
John Lynch

Beverley Hoskins celebrated a major birthday milestone recently. One of the guests at her party was Louise Popowitz, a former Exchange Student from Denmark that Nunawading hosted. Louise now lives in Sydney. Here are some thoughts that she shared with everyone that evening.

Dear Bev,

First and foremost, happy birthday!

When we spoke on the phone a few weeks back, you subtly said to me that I'd be representing all the exchange students you've hosted throughout the years. That would be  13!, so quite a responsibility to take on.

I can only imagine how much it takes to open your home to a young person from across the world, who comes with a different cultural background and most likely does not speak your language, at least not to begin with. But Bev, without having spoken with the other 12 students you've hosted throughout the years, I have no doubt that I am speaking for all of us; that year changed our lives more than we could have possibly imagined!

The fact that I am standing here today, not only as a Danish citizen, but also Australian, I think says more than words about the impact the year had on me. Not only did I find an extended family in you and Bob, and my other host-families, I found a home and 16 years later, my Australian life partner. I cannot imagine what my life would look like if it hadn't been for that year back in 1999 / 2000.

Bev, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for everything you've done and been for me these last 26 years. I, and I'm sure the 12 other students, will forever be grateful that Bob and you opened up your home and lives to us.

Thank you. Lots of love.

Louise. 💗
 

• The price is $70.00 for Rotarians and students.  $75.00 for general admission/non-Rotarians
• Date is Wednesday 4^th March from 7:15am at the Box Hill Town Hall.
  More information here.

Our annual Chinese New Year Dinner is tentatively scheduled for a 7.30 pm start on Wednesday, 25 February 2026 at Nan Yang Flavour Kitchen located at Lot 1/15 Andersons Creek Road, Doncaster East. This is a tentative booking only for three tables as I have to confirm this booking with the restaurant by Monday, 09 February 2026. 

This special banquet menu that the restaurant has issued for the Chinese New Year season is as follows:

• Salmon Yee Sang
• Crab meat Shark's Fin Soup
• Abalone Prosperity Treasure Pot
• Steamed Chilled Golden Pompret
• Buddha's Delight
• Braised Pork Knuckle in Auspicious Sauce
• Lotus Leaf Glutinous Rice with Chinese Preserved Meat
• Dessert (Sweet Longan & Sea Coconut Soup)

Salmon Yee Sang, the first dish in the menu, is ALWAYS a MUST HAVE at all Chinese New Year Banquets. Click here to better understand the history and significance of this dish. You will be fascinated by the history and background of the dish from Malaysia, my previous homeland.

This year is the "Year of the Horse" which falls on 17 February 2026. For the next 15 days this festive season will be celebrated with great gusto by the Chinese Diaspora throughout the world including in Australia particularly in Chinatowns in all our capital cities. Even in our local Box Hill at Station Street.

For those Rotarians intending to bring their own wine I believe there will be a corkage charge. I will be negotiating with the restaurant how much the charge will be, most likely a charge per bottle. 

This year I managed to locate this restaurant with a more reasonable cost. As I will be required to pay the restaurant the total cost at the conclusion of the dinner, as well as to lock in our booking, I will require payment up front from all attendees.

I would be grateful if I could have a “show of hands” by email from Rotarians that will be attending by 9th February.

In the 2026 Australia Day Honours List, past-member Bruce Atkinson was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service in a particular locality or field of activity or to a particular group. The full citation is here.

Listed here are some of the Order of Australia award statistics for  2026 and how they involved Rotarians or those with Rotary Awards.

For AM appointments, out of 160 awarded, four have Rotary listed as part of their portfolio. They were from three States ie 1 x SA , 1 from NT, two from Vic. One of those awarded from Vic was our own Bruce Atkinson, and the Rotary Clubs of Mitcham and Nunawading were mentioned.

With the OAMs we did significantly better in numbers. Rotary was mentioned in the listings of 32 appointments.
They were distributed this way:
NSW had the most with 8.
Qld and WA had 6 each
Vic were next with 5.
Then came NT, SA and ACT with two each Finally came Tassie with one Rotary awardee.

Out of the 32 OAMs that mentioned Rotary about 8 listed significant Rotary involvement.

Rotarians do great work and, as we know, don’t look for praise or fame.  But it’s important to get acknowledgment for Rotary for its community work and excellent achievements, both locally and internationally.

It would be good if more Rotarians were acknowledged in coming years so perhaps District 9815 or our clubs should be on the lookout every year for those giving significant service and doing good in the world - and nominate them.
 

Glenys

Rebekah Abblitt is the Community Engagement Officer for headspace Box Hill. Rebekah is also the President of Lightbox Productions and a woman of many hats, overseeing the production, direction, choreography, costume design, and production management.

headspace Box Hill has a team of dedicated and passionate youth health professionals who support clients. These include youth mental health practitioners, peer practitioners, community engagement workers, adolescent health nurses, alcohol & drug workers, and GPs and private practitioners.

Sarah Stancombe is a musician, radio producer and a bellringer. She is a member and Secretary of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Bellringers.

With her colleagues, she demonstrated rounds, queens and tittums on handbells and invited Coral, President Mike and Bob D to participate in the process.

New Date: 19^th March 2026

6:00 PM - 10:30 PM

Box Hill Town Hall

Following on from the Bendigo Bank, Blackburn South branch staff members presentation at our 10^th December 2025 club meeting, the offer was made to have a club stand at the bank during January 2026.

Thanks to Harvey Lane, Bob Davis and Ken Smith for assisting with the presentation of the stand.

On Saturday 20^th December, ten members of the Rotary Club of Nunawading, two members of the Rotary Club of Lilydale and 4 friends of Rotary worked to load a 40-foot container with 13 second-hand playgrounds.

The playgrounds were mainly sourced from local City Councils. The councils tend to replace these playgrounds every 15-20 years – some much sooner. The playgrounds are mostly still quite safe and serviceable.

Rotary helps to give these a second life. This container is bound for Sri Lanka where local Rotarians will arrange for them to be re-installed and bring joy to hundreds of local children.

Chelsea Deacon is the Community Engagement Consultant for Bendigo Bank. Her Blackburn South branch is a Community Bank, and she was accompanied by the new manager, Elio Kosmidis. 

To celebrate 20 years of community banking, the Bank launched its 20th Anniversary Grants Program. These are significant investments, over three years, into organisations making a big difference in the Whitehorse community. This multi-year approach allows them to plan, grow, and deliver a more profound and sustainable impact. Recipients included Umbrella Dementia Cafes, SALT (Sport and Life Training) and Whitehorse Churches Care.

Chelsea explained that her philosophy is to engage early with community groups and to assist them in maximising the benefits that the community derives for their association with the Bank.

Our club has been offered the opportunity to promote our projects at a static display in the Bank in January.

Recently, Glenys was awarded two certificates in the City of Whitehorse Community Awards.

One was for 15 years of Enviromental Education volunteering and the other for 15 years of voluntary service to the Whitehorse community.

Also, at their Christmas celebration last week, bestchance referred to Glenys as their “living legend”. She has just entered her 48^th year on the Board and Governance committees. They have named a large teaching room after her in their main premises.

Here is the latest newsletter with an update on Community Employment Partnerships.

This year the club is donating 70 Christmas hampers to the Ringwood Salvation Army, to distribute to families in need in Maroondah and Whitehorse. This continues a long tradition in our club, supporting those doing it tough via the Salvos.

The hampers contain a Christmas dinner - ham, veggies, cake, pudding, custard, milk, tea, coffee, chocolates, soft drink, fruit, jelly, etc, and an additional meal of pasta.

Rachel Sietzema is a holistic Mindset Coach who helps people get out of the rut and uncover their true confidence while finding inner peace.

She has spent most of her life assisting others to uncover their blockages with procrastination or to improve relationships and deal with trauma. It started unintentionally with friends and family and then colleagues too.

Rachel spoke at our Club meeting about training your subconscious mind to make confident decisions and being able to take sensible risks without worry, while facing each day with more energy and purpose.

She also provided us with practical tips to ease tension by utilising an unusual breathing technique. Her website is here.

The Club cooked sausages at the Mount Pleasant Road Primary School Fair last Saturday. Nick McGowan MP provided sausages, onions, bread, condiments, serviettes, gloves etc.

It was a fun-filled day with food trucks, carnival games, petting zoo, face painting, raffles, student performances.

Shia & Coral in support front of house, with Ian cooking to perfection...well that's what he told us!

Year 6 students from Parkmore Primary School, Rangeview Primary School, Vermont Primary School, Vermont South Special School, Weeden Heights Primary School and Whitehorse Primary School were presented with Youth Achievement Awards.

These worthy recipients were nominated by their school. All awardees received a Citation and a Certificate from District Governor Nominee, Murray Wilson. Additionally, Chelse Deacon (Community Engagement Advisor- Bendigo Bank, Blackburn South) presented them with a “goody bag”.

Year 6 students from Burwood Heights Primary School, Nunawading Christian College, Mount Pleasant Road Primary School, Livingstone Primary School, Orchard Grove Primary School and Blackburn Lake Primary School were presented with Youth Achievement Awards.

These worthy recipients were nominated by their school. All awardees received a Citation and a Certificate from District Governor Elect, Emma Clark. Additionally, Chelse Deacon (Community Engagement Manager - Bendigo Bank, Blackburn South) presented them with a “goody bag”.

Ian is raising funds and awareness this Movember for all the dads, brothers, sons and mates in our lives. He needs your help. Please donate to support men's health.

To support his fundraising and check his progress towards his goal, go to: https://au.movember.com/mospace/14900831 

If you think he looks funny in the previous picture, just look at him now! 

Deborah Nicolson - 'Community Engagement Adviser' at Government House, took us through the planning, building, history and significance of this iconic mansion house in Melbourne. Built between 1872 - and 1876, it is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register and is recognised for having historical, architectural and aesthetic significance to the State. According to the Register, "It is one of the largest and most beautiful mansion houses in Australia and is considered to be one of the finest examples of 19th - century residential architecture".

Deborah brought to life the people and events of the past, with the reminder, that some 30 Governors later, our Current Governor is Her Excellency Professor the Honourable Margaret Gardner AC.

There were many questions following Deborah's presentation, with some members suggesting a group tour. I can vouch for the tour, having experienced it earlier this year and thoroughly recommend it, and... it's free! If any members are interested, please make contact on 0408 378 138 or by email.

Last Monday, Road Safety Education (RSE) and Nunawading Rotarians hosted some 140 students from Keysborough College. The venue was Sandown Racetrack with the rain holding off for the day. This was good for the 'Speed & Stopping' session!
We were light on helpers, however the management skills of Karen from RSE came into play, organising a seamless delivery of each segment. Students and teachers were most attentive, with one teacher commenting - it was her first Ryda and how impressed she was with the program! 

You were missed Bob W, so there was lots of talk behind your back!

A new school, Lilydale Heights College has recently joined the program with their date being Monday 10^th November. Lilydale Youth Chair, Simon advised he has three volunteers of the six required and will seek more at their meeting next week. Simon asked if Nunawading could please assist. I am OK to help and provide transport to Lilydale Lake for any Nunawading members who could assist. 
Please let Bob Williams know if you can help. We need only two.

Hajera Akram is a qualified audiologist and recently attended the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) in Phillip Island along with Erin McCulloch. Hajera spoke of the many friends that she made and the range of activities, games, challenges and workshops that they participated in. Like Erin, Hajera has been inducted as an Honorary Member of the Rotary Club of Nunawading.

Our club manned a booth at the Whitehorse Spring Festival on Sunday 19^th October. This is an annual event organised by the Whitehorse City Council as a showcase for local organisations. The weather was kind and the festival was attended by at least 20,000 people. On the same day as the violent protests against immigration in the city this the multicultural crowd largely composed of families were enjoying interacting with each other.

Thank you to members Shia, Hank, Bob W, Ian E, Rob and Wan for helping out at the booth throughout the day. There was a lot of interest about our club and its activities throughout the day with quite a few showing interest in our AED project. There were 4 enquiries about membership and 6 offers for potential speakers from local organisations. 

Highlights of the day included:

• Meeting Jenny Donnet from Whitehorse Divers, a quadruple-Olympian who knows Ethan Newnham.
• An invitation for the club to visit the Blackburn Sikh Temple
• An offer to collaborate with our AED Project from St John’s Ambulance

A new school, Keysborough College has only recently organised a day with Anton and with so little notice it was too late to involve another Club. Hence, we seek six Nunawading volunteers for Sandown greyhound track on Monday 27^th October. My email gained two members, Ken and Ian so we need another four please. Email me please if you can assist.

Last Friday Gabby, Graeme and I teamed up with Maroondah to assist with 230 Year 10 Yarra Valley Grammar students. 22^nd October sees six Rotarians from M.A.S.H. assisting Koonung Secondary and 23^rd October has Boronia and Mitcham clubs assisting students from Boronia (new), Whitefriars (new) and Mullauna Colleges. 24^th October, Barb and I will team with Wonthaggi Rotarians at Bass Coast College in Wonthaggi.

28^th October is Carey Grammar with 300 students at Lilydale with three from each of Lilydale, Maroondah and Nunawading Clubs making the nine volunteers. Our volunteers are Roger, my schoolmate Hans and me.
11^th November is another new school, Lilydale Heights that Lilydale club is assisting and 1^st December, Billanook College needs three also from Lilydale Club. 3^rd December is the last scheduled day with Nazareth College at Sandown, and we have our six in Gabby, Roger, Stuart, John, Col and me.

Last school year, 65,000 students Australia and New Zealand wide attended Ryda days. Our District assisted around 5,000 students with their days and this year will be closer to 6,000 students for 2025.

We had 3 members report on a wonderful outing - Ed.

From Stuart Williams -

On Friday 17^th October we visited the historic homestead--Mont de Lancey.  It was a lovely morning, the sun was out, and the 24 attendees had a wonderful time. Glenys Grant had recommended the venue and so many of us said: “Why haven't we been here before.”

A special thanks to Harvey Lane for organising the day. We had a tasty lunch and a coffee for $22.  Entry fee, which included excellent guides, was $10.

A delightful way to spend 4 hours... home to home.

From Harvey Lane -

This historic 1882 homestead originally stood on 80 acres and now just 4 acres of home and gardens, outbuildings and a cafe. The visit allowed the members to discover what daily life was like back then. The museum area and home photographs illustrated the history of Henry and Martha Sebrie and 4 children commencing a 4-generation, 100-year commitment to the area.

From the local history, both Sue Warmington and Barb Williams found their own local connection.
A comprehensive 9-minute video showed the development of the Wandin area. The early need for major tree clearing that was required to provide the pastoral land today. The early focus was on fruit  growing and Wandin today is now known for its fresh berry and quality cherry supply to local and interstate markets.

The tour also provided interesting blacksmith and wood turning presentations by local representatives and the day finished with a pleasant lunch and fellowship at the Two Peas Cafe, on site.
A good day was had by all.

From Ken Smith - (with photos)

Harvey's time machine was hard at work, taking us back to 1867! Following a very friendly greeting we were transported back to a time where man and bullocks helped clear the land of dense trees which, in turn, were used to build their homes and outhouses. 
Our Friendly guide - 'Liz Harvey' delivered a thorough narration of life at the time, taking us through the original church, the Homestead and outbuildings, including the working Blacksmiths! If you're game, you can enrol for 'Blacksmith Classes' at $400.00 over four Saturdays between 9.00am - 12.00pm. Hot Work!

All in all, a very enjoyable reflection of the history and workings of the time. Followed by a country lunch and terrific banter.

John Lynch spoke about his Rotary Journey which started when he joined the Rotaract Club of Nunawading at the age of 25. He was subsequently selected for Group Study Exchange to visit District 119 in the Lake District of England. Finally at age 37, he was inducted into the Rotary Club of Nunawading.

John stated that the things that personally keep him in Rotary are:

• The Four-Way Test
• Global Polio Eradication Initiative
• Vocational Service
• Fellowship

For decades, Rotary members have joined forces with governments, nongovernmental organisations, and local communities to fight polio. We’ve made incredible progress, but the mission isn’t over yet.

This powerful video shows why our commitment is more critical than ever.

As World Polio Day approaches, a new Rotary Service in Action blog post details the challenges we face, explains how supporting polio eradication promotes peace, and offers simple ways your club can take action through fundraising, education, and advocacy.

Read the post and start planning your World Polio Day event today.

Every October, Ambulance Victoria aims to raise awareness about cardiac arrest and the power of early intervention. This year, they are encouraging everyone to take action by finding their nearest Automated External Defibrillator (AED) or registering their AED and help to save lives in their community.

Samantha and Nick from the Nunawading station gave a very informative presentation and demonstration of the use of an AED. Everyone in attendance was given a Call, Push, Shock kit which contains a fridge magnet, a life-size poster and a rubber heart to practice compressions on. We also collected more packs and brochures to distribute at the upcoming Spring Festival. 

There is a wealth of additional information on the Ambulance Victoria site including this video.

Stuart and Bob Williams co-hosted a fun night of footy commentary, trivia and jokes.

They performed under the stage name of “The Couldas” - Could have been Brothers.

There were many clever one-liners such as:

• What is the only ship that never comes to Freemantle?  An AFL premiership.
• Why can’t you swim between the flags at St Kilda?  They only have one.
• Melbourne is just like an OLD BRA - no cups and NO SUPPORT.

There was lots of trivia presented and quizzes about famous players and their nicknames.

Stuart presented the Tipping Competition prizes for those participant presents. Full results are here.

All Rotary Clubs and Rotaract Clubs across District 9815 are encouraged to host a Lift the Lid Hat Day at a club meeting in October, in support of Australian Rotary Health’s (ARH) vital mental health research.
It's quite simple really, just allocate a club meeting, where all members are encouraged to wear a hat to participate. Hat Day is a fun and meaningful way to engage your members and raise awareness. Grab your quirkiest hat and rally your club members to make a small donation to ARH.

Mental illness affects one in five Australians, and through this initiative, we can help fund prevention, early intervention, and education programs that change lives. Resources and promotional materials are available to help you—just visit www.australianrotaryhealth.org.au.  Don’t forget to share your photos and stories to inspire others and showcase your club’s creativity!  Let’s, lift the lid, raise awareness, and make a difference—one hat at a time. 

Other ways you can help:
•    Invite an ARH guest speaker to your club later in the year or early next year.
•    Arrange a Lift The Lid Walk.
•    Encourage your club to partner with Australian Rotary Health to sponsor a Rural Medical Scholarship, Rural Nursing Scholarship or Indigenous Health Scholarship. These scholarships are $5,000 funded 50/50 with your club at $2,500 each.
 

(Contact PDG Paul Mee -Director, Australian Rotary Health. M: 0466 208 577 E: Paul.Mee@rotary9815.org.au )

 Australian Rotary Health is one of the success stories of Rotary in Australia. All Rotarians can be very proud of ARH’s achievements over the past 40 years, but there is still lots more we need to do.

Kind regards

Peter Behm

D9815 District Governor 2025/26

Last week, we were delighted to welcome our Rotary Scholar, Ethan Newnham, who shared the exciting news of his successful completion of a Master of Science (MSc) degree at Oxford University. He was joined by his proud parents, Jane and Glenn.
Ethan first connected with the Rotary Club of Forest Hill after earning his Bachelor of Science (BSc) from the University of Melbourne. At the time, he was conducting research at the Howard Florey Institute and volunteering at both the Umbrella Dementia Café and the University of the Third Age (U3A). Although he had secured a place at Oxford to pursue his MSc, he lacked the necessary funding. Thanks to Bob Laslett’s efforts in rallying support from clubs across the District and securing a Rotary Foundation Global Grant, Ethan was able to embark on his academic journey.
Ethan enthusiastically reported that he was Dux of his class and has now received a fully funded offer to continue at Oxford for a D.Phil. (PhD) over the next three years. In addition to his academic achievements, he represented Oxford in trampolining and enjoyed a vibrant social life with classmates and fellow Rotary Scholars.
We are incredibly proud of Ethan and confident he will continue to excel in all his future endeavours. The Club looks forward to following his journey with great interest.

Kirsty is the Founder and CEO of Umbrella Dementia Cafes (UDC). She is a registered Division1 nurse with a degree and expertise in Aged Services Management in the UK and Australia.

Drawing on international models from the UK and The Netherlands, Kirsty established the charity in 2016 and successfully implemented the evidence- based, dementia cafe ‘village model’ across multiple Victorian communities to address the gap in post-diagnosis social support.

On Sunday 19 October 2025, the Rotary Club of Mont Albert & Surrey Hills (MASH) is running its inaugural High Tea at the Box Hill Town Hall.

The event falls in Senior’s Month and is supported by Whitehorse Council.

Tickets can be purchased at https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1349245

All profits from the event will be used to support the disability organisation, Alkira Centre Box Hill, where we are installing solar panels and batteries on three buildings at their residential property in Churchill Street Mont Albert.

The theme of the afternoon is The 100 Project: Celebrating the extraordinary lives of 100-year-old Australians https://www.the100project.com

Through the eyes of our oldest citizens, filmmakers John Winter & Ros Walker will present a remarkable journey back through Australia’s past. John is best known for producing Rabbit-Proof Fence and Paperback Hero and Ros’ producer credits include Everybody's Oma and Netflix’s Into the Deep. The 100 Project has reached millions online — with 1.6 million TikTok views and a Facebook video of 107-year-old Violet Stephens going viral with over 1.5 million views. It has featured at Boroondara Council’s annual high tea for centenarians, Australian Association of Gerontology Conference, Oral History Australia Conference and ABC Radio Saturday Mornings with Matt Tribe.

Rotary club members will be making the food and participants will enjoy the Big Band music from the 1940s – our centenarians’ music. A fun and fascinating afternoon to share with family and friends. Please contact David Winter 0438 833 917 if you have any questions.

Hat Day is Australian Rotary Health’s longest running mental health research fundraising event, held on the 10^th of October every World Mental Health Day.

It is a day to wear an exciting hat and spread awareness of the 1 in 5 Australians suffering a mental health disorder.

Hat Day began as a fun and easy way for Rotary clubs around Australia to get together to raise money for mental health research through Australian Rotary Health. ​Since its fruition more than 10 years ago, Hat Day is now an annual event in every Rotary club’s calendar. A day for all to wear an exciting hat and raise money for the one in five Australians who suffer a mental health disorder every year.

​Hat Day events are not just about wearing an exciting hat. Rotary clubs have hosted Hat Day themed raffle nights, murder mystery role playing dinners and even fashion show extravaganzas!

One hundred per cent of Hat Day proceeds go into mental health research. Starting from 2023, Australian Rotary Health will be narrowing its research to the mental health of 0-12-year-olds.

Erin with Julie and Bev Hoskins

Erin McCulloch spoke to the Club about her attendance at the week-long Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) camp at Phillip Island with 39 other Rylarians.

Erin is a senior player with the Blackburn Football Club and was nominated by Julie Hoskins, Vice President – Womens Football Director.

President Mike inducted Erin as an honorary member of the club.

Jets Junior Football Club held its end of season awards afternoon on Sunday 31 August for teams ranging from 11-year-old players to under 18-year-old girls’ team. The 10 and under players had their awards ceremony on Sunday 3 August. 
Ian E, Judith, Bob W and President Mike represented the club and there were over 200 in attendance. Other club members were able to attend events during the footy season. Mike presented some of the awards.
The coaches all spoke very well, and passionately about their players as they received their award.

From the outset, one knows that this is a very well-run club with a volunteer administration of parents of players and an organisation structure which could have some similarity to a senior suburban football club or even higher level. The Club President for many years Joanne Hart – Parker, has been associated with the club since 1981. 
There was a raffle, the top prize being a bicycle valued at several hundred dollars along with many other lower value prizes. First prize was won by Bob Williams who instantly became the owner of the bike. Bob tells me one of his grandchildren now has a new bike.  
It was a terrific afternoon, and Nunawading Rotary was mentioned many times in addition to a prominently located retractable banner as well as on a digital screen. Our Premium Sponsorship is very much appreciated and this season we sponsored the Sports and Life Training sessions held during May and June which some of our members were able to attend.
 

The Dementia Cafe is on this Wednesday, and we are looking for afternoon tea donations, either store bought or homemade, something bite-sized.  If you are able to provide some afternoon tea, you can either drop it off on Wednesday morning at Shia's house before 10:00am where Sue will collect it and take it for you. Or you can contact Sue directly to arrange collection with her.

The Umbrella Dementia Cafe is scheduled for every 2^nd and 4^th Wednesday from 1:30 - 3:30 pm at the Hollows, Level 1, Burwood Brickworks Shopping Centre, 70 Middleborough Road, BURWOOD EAST.

Our Club's contribution is to provide a lovely afternoon tea, often based on a theme (see below). Contributions from you all will make it extra special. If you're able donate anything — baked goods, sandwiches, or other treats — that would be fantastic.

Please contact Sue W. if you are able to assist. The more members that are involved, the better.

December
•     10^th – End of Year Christmas Party

Hi everyone!

I wanted to share the exciting news that I've submitted my final Master's thesis, and that my year in Oxford is coming to an end. On the 10^th of September, I'll sit my Viva Voce exam (an oral defence of my thesis) and that will be the final piece of assessment. I'll get a bit of time at home before coming back to Oxford to start my DPhil (PhD) in October, which I'm incredibly excited for!

While I'm in Melbourne I'd love to have the opportunity to thank you for supporting me, and making this life-changing year possible. If you'd like me to speak at your club in the second half of September, please let me know and I'd love to say hi!

All the best,
Ethan Newnham

25^th August for Cheltenham Secondary, all volunteers will be provided by Bentleigh-Moorabbin club.
1^st September for De La Salle College, at Sandown with our club providing the six volunteers and they are Janette, Wendy, Ken, Ian, John and Bob W.
10^th October for Yarra Valley Grammar, we combine with Maroondah proving three volunteers each and ours are Gabby, Graeme and Bob W
20^th October for Mentone Girls Secondary, all volunteers usually provided by Mordialloc club but many now not available so I am seeking any Nunawading members who could assist.
22^nd October for Koonung Secondary, all volunteers to be provided by MASH club
23^rd October Boronia, Mullauna and Lilydale colleges, all volunteers to be provided by Boronia, Mitcham and Lilydale clubs
24^th October Bass Coast College Wonthaggi, Barb and Bob W to assist with Wonthaggi club members
28^th October Carey Baptist Grammar with 300 students at Lilydale Lake, so Maroondah, Lilydale and Nunawading clubs to provide three volunteers each and ours are Gabby, Roger and Bob W
3^rd December Final school for the year is Nazareth College at Sandown with volunteers from Noble Park Dingley and Nunawading clubs yet to be sought.

Len and Jill thoroughly recommend this Bridge Course and the Waverley Bridge Club.

Bridge Beginners Class Starts Tuesday 2^nd September.

👉 Please note:

The first class will be held only on Tuesday mornings at 10:00am, beginning 2nd September.
Spots are strictly limited to 24, and pre-payment is required to secure your place.

📘 Course Information:
•    Runs for 6 weeks
•    Taught by ABF-accredited teachers
•    Perfect for absolute beginners
•    Cost: $125
•    Includes take-home learning materials
•    Comes with 2 complimentary supervised play vouchers (valued at $40)
•    Certificate of completion provided

For further information, please contact Len or Jill.

Our club is implementing a program to improve the awareness and utility of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) within the Whitehorse council area. Use of AEDs within 10 minutes can reduce the chance of the person dying by up to a factor of 6. For a video on the use of an AED follow this link.

How Did this Begin?
This project has been developed following advocacy by the former “Yellow Wiggle”, Greg Page, who suffered a cardiac arrest on stage and whose life was saved by the quick actions of a nearby nurse and the use of an AED. He founded an organisation called “The Heart of the Nation” promoting better access to AEDs in the community. This organisation has since merged with the Heart Foundation. Leading the fight to save Australian hearts.

Ambulance Victoria (AV)
We have been in contact with AV which has been developing a few initiatives that are due to mature shortly and will complement our program. These initiatives involve the use of the GoodSam App GoodSAM In the event of an emergency call to AV following a cardiac arrest. AV will notify the nearest 3 “Responders” of the whereabouts of that arrest. AV will transfer the coordinates of AEDs that are currently on its register to both the Responder and the person who called. There are, however, quite a few of AEDs which are not currently registered; something we aim to change in our area.

What Does the Rotary Club of Nunawading AED Project Involve?
Our club will take the following steps:
•    Survey businesses within the Whitehorse area to identify AEDs in the area and to encourage the registration of their AED with Ambulance Victoria.      
•    Increase awareness in the Whitehorse community with presentations at events such as the Whitehorse Market and the Whitehorse Spring Festival
•    Engage with local organisations such as the Whitehorse Business Group
•    Promote awareness within the community of what to do in the event of a suspected cardiac arrest that will include:

• Checking for DANGER
• Reviewing RESPONSE
• SEND for help (Call 000 or 911) and the AED
• Checking the AIRWAY
• Checking for BREATHING
• Commence CARDIAC COMPRESSION
• Use the DEFIBRILLATOR

We will be asking for volunteers from the club to make contact businesses in the Whitehorse area, implement the survey, promote better awareness of AEDs and cardiac resuscitation
For more information on how to respond to a cardiac arrest, watch “Shock Verdict Video”

We all want to keep our friends and family safe online. Feel confident on the internet and when giving advice to your loved ones about scams. The number of scams in Victoria is growing. According to Scamwatch, Victorians of all ages lost almost $70 million to scams in 2024. Knowing how to identify scams and what to do afterwards will help you and your loved ones stay safe.

Tips for avoiding scams
Stop: don’t give money or personal information to anyone if unsure.
Check: ask yourself if the message, call or website link looks suspicious or could be fake.
Protect: act quickly if something feels wrong.

There is a wealth of information here.

Rotary stories in this edition are:

• Busy Bees at Parkmore school and Rotary etc.
• ‘Wasted?’ A new environment novel for teenagers - review.
• Ethan, our Rotary global scholarship student at Oxford and RC Nunawading (We are in touch with him all the time)
• Clean Waterways Expo at Blackburn Lake - great success. Two RC Nunawading club-members involved.
• We also have had stories in every recent edition of Burwood Bulletin.

To access, click here. Enjoy the read… 

Belonging Matters is an organisation that aims to give people living with a disability a better life and equal opportunities to all others in the community. At last week's meeting Sarah-Jayne and Emily spoke on the Community Employment Partnership project, and how this helps create employment for those with intellectual disabilities.

Emily spoke from personal experience on how the scheme has benefitted and supported her.

Sarah Jayne and Emily are seen here talking with President Mike Finke and Past President Cr. Ben Stennett.

Past President Gabby is also the Secretary of Eastern Emergency Relief Network (EERN). She presented the history of EERN which was founded in 1995. EERN procures and supplies its member welfare agencies and their clients with furniture, whitegoods, bedding, nonperishable food free of charge. Most clients are from Family and Domestic Violence situations, refugees, homelessness due to illness and/or financially destitute.

After the presentation, Glenys took a photo of Gabby with Ian A, a former President of EERN.

Here is a link to the July 2025 Newsletter.

This week we had the pleasure of harvesting another playground. This one from the Halidon Close Playground in St Helena, courtesy of the Banyule Council.

Thanks to Ian Armstrong, Peter Koens, Graeme Moorfoot Bob Davis and Harvey Lane. And a special thank you to the contractor (Safe Play) for their help and to Phil and Steve for bring the EERN truck and helping load, transport and unload the playground at Kilsyth South.

I am currently working to arrange a shipment of playgrounds to an overseas location, Watch this space for details.
 

Ryda is a youth program of Road Safety Education Limited (RSE).  RSE is a not for profit and leading learning organisation operating throughout Australia and New Zealand, committed to creating communities free from road deaths and injury (our vision) through the provision of engaging, interactive and personalised learning for youth (our mission).

Ryda is a whole school approach partnership with Rotary which supports teachers on the journey as they provide their students with the tools and understanding they need to see themselves as active, responsible road citizens.  Ryda features a highly engaging and memorable one-day workshop which front-loads students’ understanding of road safety and gives them the tools, habits and motivation to take action and stay safe on our roads as both drivers and passengers throughout their lives.

Watch this short video from RSE for a summary of Ryda's statistics over the past 12 months.

Ann and I attended the Convention in Calgary, Canada from June 21 - 25, 2025.

16,000 Rotary members and participants from 140 countries registered for the event. “The world right now can feel divided,” said Rotary International President Stephanie Urchick. “But Rotary brings together people from every corner of the globe, not to erase our differences, but to celebrate them. That’s how we spread peace, because peace is more than the absence of conflict: It’s the presence of understanding.”

Rotary announced the extension of its joint commitment of up to US$450 million with the Gates Foundation to end polio, a Rotary-led peacebuilding program to help strengthen communities affected by conflict in Colombia, and a partnership with Symbiosis International University to establish a Rotary Peace Center in India. In the House of Friendship, more than 240 booths showcased Rotary club humanitarian projects, Rotary’s global initiatives, partners, and vendors in a space of 3,000+ net square metres.

We attended the Opening Ceremony (in two separate sessions), a preview of the Calgary Stampede, Home Hospitality, a “Pancakes for Polio” breakfast, and the Zone 8 breakfast with over 150 Australian and New Zealand Rotarians. WE also attended plenary sessions and workshops with many thought-provoking and innovative ideas.

Jess and guests at Umbrella dementia café at Brickworks have sent their thanks and appreciation of our wonderful treats for afternoon tea today.

Thanks to Mike F, Gabby, Len, Shia and Janette for their generous contributions.

Jess said this is what community is all about. Our Rotary ethos of service for our community was really apparent as a little goes a long way.

MARCH 25 - 26

• 2022 District Conference has been announced.
• at the Caulfield Racecourse on March 25^th and 26th.
• Bookings at https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing?eid=809916&
• program and other relevant links at

Our own Judith Eadon was recently asked to speak at the Box Hill Historical Society and she was invited to share her presentation with us.

• Government-suppled milk in Tetra Paks that was sometimes left out in the sun
• School banking sponsored by the State Bank of Victoria (now defunct)
• Monday morning Assembly
• The standardised books for each year level
• The segregated play areas and the stereotypical roles for boy and girls

• Ian S said the weekend away will be on 11 and 12 November 2017.  He will send out a separate email detailing accommodation, dining etc.  Need to book accommodation early.   
• District Changeover is on 24/06/2017 so need to advise attendance ASAP
• Hank advised there will be a working bee at Aurora School to build 6 vegie boxes.  It will be held on the Saturday/Sunday 23 and 24 September 2017.  Probably will have a BBQ.  Need as many hands on deck as possible. 
• Sue C - Carina (our last exchange student) is arriving in Australia on 27/09/2017 and will be staying with Sue and Rob so we will see Carina at some meetings
• Bruce S had a email from Michael Sukkar regarding the Deakin Community Awards.  These awards are for service within Deakin.  Nominations are closing soon
• Ian A spoke about the Paraplegic Benefit Fund (PRF) - the dues are $45.00 - please pay to Ian by the middle of July.
• Mike P mentioned the recent Dads Group Inc. BBQ at Antonio Park. The group has been meeting for the past 12 to 18 months.  There were around 20 to 25 Dads, their partners and children.  RC of Nunawading supplied sausages, eggs and bacon. 
• Janette advised the 2 recent sausage sizzles at Bunnings raised a nett profit of $2,060 - we sold 930 sausages.  Many thanks to Joe and Mary V who did all the shopping, set up, sliced 30 kg of onions, picked up stuff after closing etc.  Janette also advised we had done 12 sizzles since October 2016 and raised over $13,000 which is a great result.

• Celeste was a courtesan who was born in Paris in 1824.  She later became an actress and author.
• She fell in love with Lionel de Chabrillan who was a Count and they eventually married in 1854.  A few days later they left for Australia and Lionel became the French Counsel-General in Melbourne.  They had no children.  Lionel liked to gamble and lost a lot of money
• Celeste wrote her memoirs in 4 volumes and these preceded her arrival in Australia. Consequently she had difficulty making friends and being accepted by society.
• Celeste returned to France to get her jewellery from Lionel's brother - she used them to pay off debt.
• She funded a home for orphaned children and also a chapel but her name was not able to be attached to either due to her past.
• She died in 1909.  She wrote 12 novels and 26 plays.
• Under her stage name Celeste Mogador she wrote "Daughter of Paris" and under her married name she wrote "The French Consuls Wife"