Forty years ago, I had the pleasure of being the President of the Rotaract Club of Essendon. After completing University and starting work on the 1st December 1975, I was at a loss for something to do. Not being partial to long days at the pub or the disco scene I wanted to find something useful to do with my time. Either John Lynch or another University friend, Jenny Hartigan suggested Rotaract. We became Presidents of our respective Clubs, John of Nunawading and Jenny of Templestowe. I have many fond memories of my time in Rotaract, especially the exchange trip to Chiba, Japan in 1977, the fun weekends away and especially the “Pavlova Party” held by Rotaract Club of Hunters Hill. By that time I was living in Sydney, a member of Lane Cove Rotaract Club, and it was at that party that I met Sue. The rest is history.
Royce Abbey was a Past President of Rotary International during my time living in Essendon. As an Essendon Rotarian, he was often at their meetings and I had the chance to talk with him. What struck me about the man was his friendly nature and his real interest in encouraging Rotaracters to be proud of their careers and to strive for high ideals. We had several meetings at his impressive home, Granite Tor, but were unsuccessful in convincing his son to become involved in Rotaract.
On Tuesday 13th March, Rotarians from all over Victoria will gather at Government House for the Governor, the Hon. Linda Dessau AC to honour Rotary International President Ian Riseley and his wife Juliet. This garden party will be far from the intimate one-on-one time that I spent talking to Royce Abbey. However, it will be wonderful to join in the celebration of Ian’s achievement with 300 - 400 other Rotarians.
When the invitation was received from District, I had the difficult task of selecting three Rotarians to attend with me. So I asked a number of Rotarians how they would go about the task and who would they choose. Several of those asked made it clear that they did not want to be included in the attendees. The suggested criteria also varied from “Make a decision” to “Ask for expressions of interest and have a ballot”. There was universal agreement that several Club members should attend, so I made the decision.
Representing Nunawading will be me as President and
- Janette Etherington as President-Elect
- Ian Armstrong for his years of contribution to Nunawading, Rotary and EERN
- Judith Eadon for her lifetime of contribution to service Clubs within Whitehorse and the District.
Please join with me in congratulating these members.
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