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Rotary Club of Croydon Annual Report 2014-2015 Page 1

The Annual Report of the Rotary Club of Croydon -‐ 2014 -‐ 2015

Left to right: Lindsay Hurford, Edwina Ricci, John van Holsteyn, Eric Thomas, Greg O’Neill, Jill Fletcher, David Ferres, Stephen Bode, Michael Jackomos, Ian Cumming, John Hexter, Rachael (Dorset Gardens), Rowan Cole, Marlene Sinclair, Jean Stuart, Brian McDaid, Roger Paul, Christina Gleeson, Ross Taylor, Richard Gilham.

Community for Community


Table of Contents CLUB LEADERSHIP 2014-‐2015 ..................................................................................................................... 3 PRESIDENT’S REPORT BY JOHN VAN HOLSTEYN ....................................................................................... 4 SECRETARY’S REPORT BY PP JOY VARUGHESE (DR) ................................................................................ 5 FINANCIAL REPORTS BY ERIC THOMAS ....................................................................................................... 6 2015 DISTRICT CONFERENCE REPORT BY STEPHEN BODE ................................................................ 10 ROTARY RIDE FOR RESEARCH BY DAVID FERRES ................................................................................. 11 ROTARY FOUNDATION BY BRIAN MCDAID ............................................................................................... 12 CLUB PROGRAM BY ROSS TAYLOR AND JEAN STUART ............................................................................ 13 PR COMMUNICATIONS REPORT BY RICHARD GILHAM ......................................................................... 15 FUND RAISING REPORT – GOLF BY TONY WRIGHT ................................................................................ 16 OTHER FUNDRAISING BY JOHN VAN HOLSTEYN ..................................................................................... 17 INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE REPORT BY DAVID FERRES ................................................................ 18 MY KOKODA EXPERIENCE BY DAVID FERRES .......................................................................................... 19 COMMUNITY SERVICE REPORT BY EDWINA RICCI ................................................................................ 22 SPECIAL PROJECTS REPORT BY BRIAN MCDAID ..................................................................................... 25 YOUTH REPORT BY ROGER PAUL ................................................................................................................ 26 ATTENDANCE REPORT .................................................................................................................................. 27 VOCATIONAL REPORT ................................................................................................................................... 27 SOCIAL PROGRAM ........................................................................................................................................... 27 THE LADIES PROBUS CLUB OF CROYDON REPORT ............................................................................. 28 THE ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PROBUS CLUB OF CROYDON, INC. (YEAR 31). ........................... 30 PAST PRESIDENTS OF THE ROTARY CLUB OF CROYDON .................................................................. 35 PAUL HARRIS FELLOWS OF THE ROTARY CLUB OF CROYDON ........................................................ 36 MEMBERS CALLED TO HIGHER SERVICE ................................................................................................. 37


Club Leadership 2014-‐2015

Office Bearers President Imm. Past President President-‐Elect President Nominee John van Holsteyn David Ferres Richard Gilham Susan Jonas Secretary Treasurer Joy Varughese, PP Eric Thomas, PP

Directors Club Administration Membership PR & Communication Foundation Richard Gilham John Van Holsteyn Richard Gilham Brian McDaid, PP Community Youth Vocational International Edwina Ricci Roger Paul, PP Glen Lowther David Ferres, IPP Public Officer Property Protection Joy Varughese, PP Tony Wright, PP

Chairs Programme Almoner Attendance Bulletin Editor Ross Taylor, PP Clive Baum, PP Jean Stuart Richard Gilham Historian Auditor On To Conference Lindsay Hurford Lakhani & Co. David Ferres, IPP

Club Committees Nominating PHF Selection Richard Gilham John van Holsteyn John van Holsteyn Clive Baum Brian McDaid John Gander Marlene Sinclair

The front page of this annual report reflects the achievement and engagement of our members in the projects we have undertaken. Thank you all!


President’s Report by John van Holsteyn

After reading the last 35 annual reports of the Rotary Club of Croydon to collate some history for our recent charter anniversary, I am overawed by what the Rotarians from Croydon did achieve over the last 42 years and by the energy that they applied to working towards the goals of serving our own and international communities. I now know of the rich history of completed projects that seemed out of proportion to the number of members. Therefore, I am proud and honoured to have represented our club this year at many levels of our community. Maybe I would have thought twice about undertaking the responsibility of leading our club if I’d been fully aware of what has gone before us. But then, I was not aware of the strengths that we do have in our club, strengths on which I could rely and could call upon to move forward. There is Ross Taylor, our Rotarian of the year, who with Jean Stuart created a dynamic weekly program that went outside the boundaries of usual guest speakers. Who would have thought of inviting two artists who were given the task of completing a painting and drawing, whilst engaging in explanations of what they were doing. How could they concentrate? Or a hypnotist, who could not be goaded to organise free drinks from the bar, or a musician telling his father’s story accompanied by the very music that saved his father’s life when confronted by the Germans in Russia during WWII. Ross also excels in those mundane and necessary jobs of organising invitations, nametags, and compiling the annual report. I therefore chose Ross as the Rotarian of the Year. This year, we have grown our membership from 35 to 37 and we have a number of prospective members to be inducted in July. We awarded two PHF’s to members for their contribution to Rotary: to Richard Gilham and David Ferres. Member Julie Olney was awarded her PHF for her work in the community as funeral director, and David Anderson received his PHF for his long association and work with local sporting groups and for the continuing support we do get from his accounting firm. I relied very much on our newish member, secretary Joy Varughese, who mentored me in the necessary Rotarian procedures and who took care of RI requirements. Clive Baum supported me with his knowledge of our Rotary community and alerted me to what had happened to people, providing continuity and respect. Brian McDaid kept me up-‐to-‐date with the customs and history of our club and showed an enormous amount of energy in optimising the special projects we are involved in. Thanks to these and other drivers in our club, we are as vibrant and effective as we deserve to be, especially through the efforts of all Committee Chairs, whose reports you can read further down in this annual summary. I’d like to give special thanks to Marjan who was there when I needed her. Finally, I am delighted that Richard Gilham is taking on the presidency. He has connections, enthusiasm, and resilience and will inspire you all into joining him in the projects he and his Board has chosen. Given my motto for the year ’community for community’, I continue to be inspired by Edwina Ricci, who works at so many levels in the community (Rotary, Chamber of Commerce, Maroondah Council, Melba school, netball, and United Youth Media) towards the goal of making Maroondah a City of Wellbeing, based on proven scientific principles. We all know intuitively what personal wellbeing is; a city of wellbeing goes beyond that and fosters a high level of personal wellbeing through its services, facilities, and social connectedness. Our Rotary club is involved in many projects already to raise the level of wellbeing, of hope, and of leadership. Think of the primary school speaking competition and the four-‐way test competition at secondary schools, both brilliantly run by Marlene Sinclair; think of our Rotary Youth programs for future leaders, including our student exchange. This coming year, Croydon accounts for two out of five exchange students in our district, bringing the total of Croydon exchange students since our charter to 44 (in and out). We supported a student to go to the National Youth Science Forum. We were involved with the prestigious ANZAC celebration at Ringwood Lake for local schools; and we mentored a Rotoractor in the District’s Future Focus program. At the other end of the age scale, we are supporting a newly established OM;NI (old men; new ideas) discussion group, and in the coming year we have been invited to mentor the manager of crime in the Maroondah Police District and assist him in improving two-‐way communication processes between police and community in order to decrease the crime rate.


The Friends of Croydon approach had a promising launch to initiate the long-‐term project of the eradication of loneliness, but did not yet become a functioning entity. However, the relevance of our local community has been clearly acknowledged and will continue to be a major focus of the Rotary Club of Croydon. I thank you all for being part of this process. Overall, our club is healthy and vibrant, has clear goals, is recognised in our district for its initiatives and achievements, and is effective in its execution. My congratulations to all members, partners, and friends for their participation. I’m honoured to have been given the opportunity to lead our club for the year 2014/2015, and wish Richard and his team the strength and insight to continue developing our club, thereby making a major contribution to our communities.

Secretary’s Report by PP Joy Varughese (Dr)

Rotary Year 2014-‐2015 started on 1st July 2014 with the membership being 35. The club admitted 6 members during the year but regrettably lost 5 members for various reasons. Hence the membership as on 30th June 2015 will be 36. The Honorary members of the club as at 30th June 2015 is 12, I wish to record our sense of loss at the demise of our Hon. Member, PP Ian Brodie during the year. I also wish to place on record our heartfelt condolence at the demise of Jeanette, the partner of our Hon. Member Fred Griffiths. I congratulate PE Richard Gilham for having sponsored 4 new members, IPP David Ferres for having sponsored 1 new member and Rtn Glenn Lowther for having sponsored 1 new member. I congratulate President John van Holsteyn on successfully completing his Presidency and the Board of Directors for a successful year of service to the club. I wish Incoming President Richard Gilham and his Board of Directors a successful year in office. Finally let me thank President John for having given me the privilege of serving as Secretary during the current year. I have enjoyed serving and doing my part in ensuring the well being of the club. I also thank the club for electing me for a second year to continue as Secretary. I look forward to working with the Incoming Board of Directors.


Financial reports by Eric Thomas

Balance sheet administration account as of June 2015 Current assets

Bendigo Bank account 3,340.97 CBA bank account 0.29 Total current assets

3,341.26

Non-‐current assets

Plant & Equipment @ cost

12,353.00

Accumulated depreciation -‐

12,353.00 Total non-‐current assets

-‐

Total assets

3,341.26 Liabilities

-‐

Net assets

3,341.26

Equity Retained earnings

3,819.01 Current year earnings

-‐477.75

Total equity

3,341.26 Balance sheet community services, as of June 2015 Current assets

Bendigo Bank account

30,116.00

CBA bank account 123.95

Term deposit

10,000.00 Total current assets

40,239.95

Total assets

40,239.95 Liabilities

-‐

Net assets

40,239.95 Equity

Retained earnings

37,783.80 Current year earnings

2,456.15

Total equity

40,239.95


Profit and loss statement Administration account, July 2014 to June 2015 Income

Dinners

25,050.30

Entrance fees

210.00 Interest

0.07

Raffles

226.00

Subscriptions

11,470.00

Total income and gross profit

36,956.37

Expenses Annual return 218.50

Badges 492.56 Banners 284.00 Bank charges 2.10 Computer software 395.00

Dinners

23,513.20 District assembly 288.00 District conference levy 570.00 District insurance 1,064.00 District levy 2,546.00 Death notices 422.18 Dues -‐ Rotary International 2,618.56 Flowers 230.00 Gifts -‐ guest speakers 223.73 Maroondah Festival 88.00 Membership 700.00 Postage 172.00 President-‐Elect training 371.00 Printing and stationery 21.74 RDU magazine 1,553.55 Repairs and maintenance 1,460.00 Web site 200.00

Total expenses

37,434.12 Net profit

-‐477.75


Profit and loss statement Community Services, July 2014 to June 2015 Income

We supported: Community

Bicycle network 450.00 ANZAC Day primary schools 473.40

Canteen 3,418.85 Croydon Football club 2,585.55

Christmas card sales 300.00 Croydon Primary School 2,000.00

Christmas raffle 9,612.50 Dear Holly project 250.00

Concert 7,339.00 Cathy Monley's project 500.00

Craft night 839.00 Eastern Domestic Violence 330.00

Copper pot 609.25 Friends of Croydon 2,420.00

District 9810 bike ride 19.25 Kalinda Rd PS 115.00

District Grant 1,000.00 Knitting -‐ Ruskin PS 16.60

Donations 50.00 Maroondah Hospital 1,157.02

Friends of Croydon 37.90 Ms Pham Tiffany 250.00

Golf Day 14,818.00 Radio Eastern FM 45.00

Nth Ringwood Football club 500.00 Ringwood Heights PS 87.50

Other income 663.68 Ruskin Park PS 45.00

Pegasus Rod Club -‐ BBQ 2,990.00 Treasured Babies 483.55

Raffle 342.45 Variety Bash 800.00

Ray White Christmas tree 500.00 Primary Schools Speech comp 318.99

Theatre night 3,665.00 Ray White Christmas tree 611.65

Warranwood PS 137.00

Total income and gross profit

47,154.88

Yarra Road PS 217.50

Direct Costs Total Community

12,843.76

Canteen expenses 2,089.39 Bank charges 21.20 International

Christmas cards 310.00 Disaster Aid Australia 1,000.00

Christmas raffle 705.10 Polio 1,000.00

Concert expenses 9,136.24 Rotarians Against Malaria 1,000.00

Craft night 478.00 RAWCS 2,500.00

Golf day 999.03 Rotary Peace & Reconciliation 2,000.00

Pegasus Rod Club -‐ BBQ 1,273.51 Theatre night 1,882.50 Total international 7,500.00

Total direct costs

16,894.97

Youth

Gross profit

30,259.91

Exchange student 430.00

Four-‐way speaking contest 100.00

Total support

27,803.76 National Youth Science Forum 2,550.00

RYLA 780.00

Net profit 2,456.15 Total youth 3,860.00

Foundation 3,600.00


2015 District Conference Report by Stephen Bode

The annual District 9810 Conference was held in Ballarat this year with 10 people representing the Rotary Club of Croydon. Six members, 3 partners and our returned Exchange Student attended (Roger and Dianne Paul, Joy Varughese, Stephen and Ruth Bode, Brian McDaid, Richard Gilham and Joy, David Ferres, Elijah Rowlands). The conference was opened on the Friday afternoon by District Governor Tony Monley with the theme Eureka. Speakers during the afternoon included the RI president’s Representative Bill Boyd and local identity Stephen Moneghetti. Entertainment was provided by two of the leading dancers from “Dancing with the Stars”. As accommodation had been arranged at the same Ballarat caravan park as the Rotary Club of Lilydale it was convenient to hold the Friday night “Club Dinner” at the park utilising the facilities provided. It was a great opportunity for Croydon members to socialise and also to get to know the Lilydale members. DGN Carol Lawton from the Rotary Club of Montrose also attended. A wide range of inspirational speakers presented on Saturday covering many Rotary areas of focus. These included former Police Commissioner Ken Lay on Domestic Violence, Fiona David on Child Slavery, Professor Paddy Dewan on Life saving operations overseas and Mark Balla on overseas sanitation issues impacting on education for girls. A video of the full Conference proceedings has been made available to the Club and a replay of some of the more notable speeches will feature at future Club meetings. The theme of the Saturday night dinner was -‐ Beneath the Southern Cross. It gave us an opportunity to dine and dance and showcase our 1st prize winning costume with Southern Cross masks crafted by Ruth Bode and flashing light display created by Roger Paul.

On Sunday, around fifty enthusiastic bike riders set off on a 6-‐day fundraising venture riding to raise money for Australian Rotary Health. Among them were David Ferres and Elijah Rowlands. The end of conference featured the sounds of the 70 voice strong Melbourne Singers of Gospel. DG Tony Monley is also a choir member. Shepparton is the venue for the 2016 Conference.


Rotary Ride for Research by David Ferres

This year our ride was called The Great Western Cycling Tour, conducted from 15 to 21 March 2015. The course was run over 6 days and we visited Ballarat, Ararat, Horsham, Hamilton, Port Fairy, Warrnambool, Otway Ranges, and Colac to finish back in Ballarat. We enjoyed a good lift in rider numbers to 42 up from 34 last year and were thus able to have 4 groups of riders with similar abilities. As always, it was well organised, enjoyable and devoid of any mishaps. We enjoyed all climate seasons including an electrical storm near Hamilton. The more serious riders always look forward to the free ride section on the last day. Our very talented exchange student from last year, Elijah Rowlands, joined forces with an equally impressive current exchange student from France to lead the ‘A’ graders the whole way. A serious plan evolved to put these upstarts in their place in the free ride. Past half way our 2 young renegades had blown away their opposition but sadly as I crested a ridge, here they both were with a flat tyre and very deflated egos. This year we rode out of conference, which meant our finish felt a little flat. This decision is totally dependent on Conference dates and the proximity of long weekends. This year’s fundraising total is not yet available but should finish close to $40000. On behalf of Croydon Rotary Club, my provisional sponsorship total amounted to $1584. Without my retail outlet support, I found things much harder so I guess I need to be smarter next year particularly with the new media. Looking to next year things become hugely exciting with our focus on the 1 MILLION RIDE. We will be riding to Conference from Mansfield to Shepparton from 14/3/2016 onwards. It is of paramount importance that I acknowledge my Croydon fellow contributors

1. John Hexter: Driving for the yellow group (supposedly the top brass). Fantastic John!

2. Jenny Grainger: Driving for the red group. Not easy as she often had to tidy up other people’s stuff-‐ups. Well done Jenny!

3. Elijah Rowlands: Just an absolute gun rider but a great guy. Maybe next year with Dad?

4. David Ferres: Part of a very happy Croydon team This year, our Club became involved in the promotional side of this event for the first time. Edwina Ricci and her UYM student group were planned to execute production of a promotional video/dvd of all facets of the ride. They did set up many contacts pre-‐ride in all media outlets on the ride route with some success. Unfortunately student involvement on ride was not possible but was covered by a Boronia Club Member. Spectacular go-‐pro cameras were fitted on 2 riders with results not yet on hand. It is anticipated UYM students will pull all material together for the final product. I will wrap up this year’s report by saying to Croydon Rotary let us not rest on our laurels we can do more next year.

JOIN THE FUN AND ENJOY THE SUCCESS


Rotary Foundation by Brian McDaid

The Rotary Foundation is Rotary International’s charity of choice. It incorporates such areas as Polio Eradication, Global Grants, Centurion Club, Vocational Training Teams, Group Study Exchange, Paul Harris Society and Rotary Scholarships. This year we maintained our excellent record of $100 per member per year. We also increased members of the Centurion Club, which is a personal donation to The Rotary Foundation of $100 per year from one to six. We are aiming for 10 members next year. We were the recipients of a District Low-‐Level Scholarship Grant of $1,000 for Croydon Primary School and together with $1,000 from the Community Account a cheque was presented which will assist disadvantaged students to participate in school camps and supply some computer equipment to aid classroom participation. As reported under Special Projects we were also involved in a successful Global Grant Application totalling $48,000 for a literacy project in Pasay City, Philippines.


Club Program by Ross Taylor and Jean Stuart

Date Subject Speaker July 1, 201 Forum – Change Over John Van Holsteyn

July 8, 2014 “Community for Community” Experiences in The Hotel Business. Anthony Poloso

July 15, 2014 Home stay in a foreign country Jesse Johnson

July 2, 2014 Men’s Shed John Harmer

July 29, 2014 Vocational Visit – Spa Manufacturer Richard Burton

August 5, 2014 Primary School Public Speaking Finals

August 12, 2014 Public Forum to launch “Friends of Croydon” John Van Holsteyn

August 19, 2014 Face Behind the Badge, Jean Stuart and Ian Cumming

August 26, 2014 Artists Gunter Schulze and Farimah Eshraghi

September 2, 2014 ROYALL Program Edwina Ricci

September 9, 2014 Forum “Lifestyle” Robin Daubeny

September 16, 2014 Stacey Cadman on RYLA Seminar Stacey Cadman

September 23, 2014 Wellbeing Professor Robert Cummins

September 30, 2014 Vocational visit to Ringwood MFB

October7, 2014 DG Tony Monley Visit

October 14, 2014 Forum Committee Meetings

October 21, 2014 ROTARACT Yarra Ranges Belinda Harman and Michelle Rudd (Co-‐Presidents)

October 28, 2014 Face Behind the Badge – Stephen Bode

November 4, 2014 Pegasus Car Swap Meet

November 11, 2014 District 9810 Final of Public Speaking Competition

November 18, 2014 Face Behind the Badge – Roger Paul and Craig Mentiplay

November 25, 2014 Nutrition Errol Oehme

December 2, 2014 Christmas Social Function

December 9, 2014 Sokson School in Cambodia Donna Cooper

December 16, 2014 Half Yearly Review John Van Holsteyn

December 23, 2014 Breakfast Meeting

December 30, 2014 No Meeting

January 6, 2015 Barefoot Bowls at Chirnside Park.

January 13, 2015 Malaysian Rotary Convention Dr Joy Varughese

January 20, 2015 Return of Elijah Rowland YE

January 27, 2015 Word of Mouth Marketing Martin Bailey

February 3, 2015 Rotary World Peace Fellow Rebecca Miller

February 10, 2015 Vietnamese orphanage in Nah Trang Tiffany Pham


Date Subject Speaker February 17, 2015 ‘Dear Holly Project’ Jessica Barlow

February 24, 2015 The District Youth Seminar for 2015 Carol Laughton

March 3, 2015 ‘The Babes Project’

Irabina autism services: fun run

Helen Parker

Rebecca

March 10, 2015 Mindfulness & Hypnosis Mike Welsch

March 17, 2015 2015 National Youth Science Forum Sonya Noronha

March 24, 2015 Hope City Mission Vanessa Bonica

March 31, 2015 Inter Club Croquet Challenge between RC Lilydale and RC Croydon

April 7, 2015 Face Behind the Badge: Joy Thornton and Ruth Bode

April 14, 2015 Carers of Africa Bright Chinganya

April 21, 2015 ANZAC Meeting Barry Brewer

April 28, 2015 Charter Anniversary John Van Holsteyn

May 05, 2015 RAM – Rotary against Malaria Gloria Hargraves

May 12, 2015

• The importance of knowing the correct use of CPR by Colin Petersen, MD of Resus Australia.

• Experience at Anzac Cove in Gallipoli by Year 10 student, Jemima Reid

Colin Petersen

Jemima Reid

May 19, 2015 “The Power of Music”. How music can change lives. Michael Gladkoff

May 26, 2015 Programs available for Seniors in our community by the editor of several magazines for Seniors Peter Feeney

June 02, 2015 Video Highlights of Key Note Speakers from the Ballarat District Conference. Stephen Bode

June 09, 2015 The Big Walk, Run, Crawl on the Kokoda trail. David Ferres

June 16, 2015 Janine Mahoney from Safe Futures Foundation on “What can be done about domestic violence”

Special Guests: David Tolstrup “District Governor Elect Janine Mahoney

June 23, 2015 Services offered to returned service personnel by the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital Robert Winther

June 30, 2015 Changeover Dinner


PR Communications Report by Richard Gilham

The “Chronicle” (bulletin) the weekly newsletter produced by the Rotary Club of Croydon has grown in content over the last twelve months. Local, national and international content has filled it’s pages and the Chronicle has become a must read here in the environs of Croydon, nationally and internationally. The Chronicle is delivered to a few as hard copy and is directly emailed out to over 140 email recipients. The Chronicle is made available on our Facebook Page and our website link. Our web site link to the Chronicle allows the general public to keep up with RC Croydon. The Chronicle has become a major record of our past events. The Facebook page of the Rotary Club of Croydon has developed an extensive following nationally and internationally. From a humble 70 odd page likes to 400 currently the Rotary message via Croydon’s Facebook page is spreading the word. Sri Lanka, Kenya, UK, USA, Malaysia and India are well represented amongst the followers of the Facebook Page. Facebook can have a story up in a very short time and gets the message out almost instantly. The RC Croydon’s website has grown extensively and is widely perused. The website is the foundation of the Club. It comes in two parts, one for the public and a password protected area for members use only. Sensitive information is posted in the password-‐protected area. During the year we had editorial in the local leader newspaper and got in the “what’s on” section a number of times with our concert, the golf day and the trivia night. Editorial in the Leader about our endeavour to raise funds for the Croydon Special Developmental School was encouraging. Obtaining editorial is one of the hardest things to achieve. Sadly it is one of the best tools for us. Our efforts with the local FM station 98.1 Eastern FM gave us extensive penetration in our area of influence for the various events we held for the year. We held and broadcast the drawing of our two raffles for the year at the station. We have had a very exciting year and the future looks extremely bright. Please refer to the links below for further information: http://rotarycroydon.org.au/ http://rotarycroydon.org.au/category/chronicle/ https://www.facebook.com/CroydonRotary PS: The Rotary Club of Croydon was recognised for its achievements in this area at the District Changeover dinner on 27 June 2015. Congratulations, Richard!


Fund Raising Report – Golf by Tony Wright

All those who participated in the Club's Annual Charity Golf Day thoroughly enjoyed themselves and I thank all the sponsors, donors and players for their generosity in what is one of the Club's major charity fundraising events. Players teed off at 1:00 pm and Ambrose was again the scoring format used. Winners in the various categories were as follows: 1. Best Ambrose team: Richard Goldsmith, Jason Cocks, Paul

Hartigan and Steven Scott 2. Runner-‐up: JJ Richards & Sons Pty. Ltd. 3. Third prize: Stockdale & Leggo (Croydon) 4. Nearest to pin -‐ 9th hole: Philip Glatz 5. Nearest to pin 17th hole: Peter Tsui 6. Ladies’ longest drive hole 1: Pam Spencer 7. Men’s’ longest drive hole 1: Allan Dowdell 8. Ladies' straightest drive hole 16: Heather Denelzon 9. Men’s' straightest drive hole 16: Joe Copodesasa On behalf of the Club I take this opportunity to congratulate all of the above category winners. Participants on the day contributed generously to the spinning wheel auction and the betting hole, which, together with drinks, raised in excess of $2,500.00. This, combined with sponsorship, monetary donations and player payments raised in excess of $15,000.00. The club anticipates that after expenses, it will make a net profit in excess of $12,000.00. In addition to thanking all those outside the Club who participated in the day, I would also like to thank Club members and their partners for their help and assistance in the organisation beforehand and on the Golf Day itself.

Special thanks also go Carmel and her staff at the Golf Club together with Golf Club member Greg Lewan who marked all the scorecards.


Other fundraising by John van Holsteyn

Our only concert this year with the team, from Broadway to Pavarotti, was held on Friday 14 November. The three classically trained artists, Roger, Simone, and Patrick sang a wide range of songs from musicals, cabaret, and opera. They enjoyed mingling with the audience after their performance, which was greatly appreciated by all. Unfortunately, we did not return a profit on the event due to low ticket sales. The traditional advertising through our mailing list, the competition by other non-‐for-‐profit organisations that charge less for their concerts, and a different payment method all combined to a low turnout of 300 for this quality concert.

The yearly Christmas raffle returned a commendable net profit of nearly $9,000 thanks to the generous donation of the Bendigo Bank and the efforts of our many ticket sellers. As we will not have access to the Arndale Tattslotto Agency this coming year, we will have to find alternative venues and methods for our ticket sales. Unfortunately, the Croydon Football Club decided to run the canteen at the junior games themselves, which cut off an important revenue stream. We were offered to man the ticket booths at the games of the North Ringwood Football Club through the contacts of our member Sue Jonas, which helped to balance the books. Through David Ferres, we continued our involvement with the Bicycle Network to count bikes on a dedicated morning in early March. Finally, through Glenn Lowther’s contacts, we ran again the yearly BBQ for the Pegasus car club on Cup Day, which returned a net $1700, but also provided welcome advertising our club. A good community event for our members in working together in a tight space. A special thanks to Glenn and Marlene, and the many club members and friends for their participation.


International Committee Report by David Ferres

This report includes all spending from Club resources and does not include Special Projects funded by corporate or philanthropic sources. The total budget for the year 2014-‐2015 was $14500, which did not include compulsory Foundation commitment. The following is a chronological listing of International responses for the year. 1. Jan 2015: Club annual Foundation provision $3600 2. Jan 2015: forwarding of $2000 as promised last year to assist AKCO in transport of school

equipment from McRobertson Girls High School to project in Kenya. 3. Feb 10: Guest Speaker Tiffany from a Vietnamese orphanage was given $250 to source

needed pharmaceuticals. More importantly she was offered the opportunity to use tax deductibility status through us, if the right approach was made.

4. Feb 26: Thanks to brilliant organisation by Ross Taylor our movie night was a resounding success netting approximately $1700 for the global END POLIO Project. Our Board decided to forward $1000 forthwith and then send $500 early July to attract a district grant to double that amount. Thank you very much Ross.

5. April 14: Vanuatu cyclone support of $1000 via Disaster Aid Australia. 6. May 2: Club sponsorship support for Rotary Foundation Kokoda Walk event (See separate

report). As our support was Club driven and no tax deductibility was sought, our cheque for $2000 was specifically directed to the Peace and Conflict Resolution students attending 1 of 3 worldwide University 2 year courses.

7. May 12: As a consequence of my Kokoda experience I was able to connect with community groups in Papua New Guinea and found that the bed net program for mosquito control. Was a success. The nets were effective with a 75% reduction in fatalities, but an even distribution remains an issue. Being enthused by a Rotary success story I persuaded the Board to increase my Budget allocation to $1000.

8. May: A top up of $500 was approved to help AKCO with their container costing. 9. May 20: Tragic earthquakes in April in Nepal required a response from our Club. After much

investigation Board approval was obtained for a $1000 cheque to support an existing Healesville Rotary Club RAWCS Community support project in Boudhanath NEPAL. Their operational area is right in the disaster zone and they have considerable and invaluable local knowledge. We have sought information from Alan and Ruth Davidson as to the uses of our funds and have made the point that provision of long drop toilets is a temporary solution. The year sadly saw the demise of our long-‐awaited building of the SOIBADA school in Timor Leste. The project failed primarily due to its long time frame that caused the re-‐direction of available funds. The reluctance of the Pittwater group in meeting our requests for a proposal in English with an accompanying quote gave us no option but to withdraw. From original Budget, 2 other plans did not eventuate. Box Hill TAFE Philippines project did not start and U.Y.M. provided no focus to support. I wish to personally thank all my Committee Members for their support this year. John Gander, Brian McDaid, Greg O’Neill, Julie Olney, Eric Thomas, Jim Tinney, Sue Jonas, and Joy Varughese.


My Kokoda experience by David Ferres

In 2014, the Rotary Foundation offered Rotarians the opportunity to participate in the centenary ANZAC Kokoda walk from 22 April to 2 May. Thirty-‐three members took up the challenge and could choose a local or an Australian guide (at a cost). I enjoyed the passion and wonderful knowledge of a current Australian Army Officer, Cameron James. After an overnight stay in Port Moresby, we were transported in small groups to Kokoda in a small Hevilift plane, which took up most of the day. Bert Kienzle’s family established a lucrative gold mining operation and rubber plantation in the Yodda valley near Kokoda in the 1930s, employing 160 local people. At the start of the Kokoda campaign Bert galvanized local participation, the Fuzzie Wuzzies, in support of the Australian troops. Before leaving Kokoda our trek group took the opportunity to check out all the interesting wartime sites and commemorative plaques. From there we walked with our allocated porter one hour up to Ciavelo village as our destination Deniki was out of range. Cameron explained the three historical phases of the Kokoda track in the Australian involvement: 1) .n unimpeded advancement from Port Moresby to Kokoda by the 500 inexperienced soldiers of the 39th Battalion. The airport at Kokoda was an important strategic site for both parties. Early on, the popular Captain Sam Templeton was taken prisoner. Just 10 years ago the significance of this event came to light. He had exaggerated the number of Australian troops, which led the Japanese to stall for 10 days after taking Kokoda on 29 July 1942. Templeton was shortly afterwards killed by the new General Horii. 2) A slow tactical withdrawal after the first contact with Japanese soldiers at Kokoda, where 22 men were lost to a final stand Imita Ridge. 3) Pushing the weakened Japanese soldiers all the way to the northern beaches. On our second day, we began at 5 in the morning, which from then on became the regular starting time. We first climbed to Deniki. There is no village there now but one could see it was a great defensive position. Where the 39th Battalion held out till the 14th of August before retreating to Isuarava after losing a further 16 men. We arrived there in the late afternoon. The next morning, a single shot was fired at 4.00am to wake us for a well-‐organised ANZAC service at the Australian War Memorial attended by about 1000 people. Cameron showed us the site of the sole V.C. winner in Australian territory, that of Bruce Kingsbury. Kingsbury was one of the few survivors of a platoon that had been overrun by the Japanese. At Isuarava, he cleared a path through the enemy, shooting his Bren from the hip and inflicted several casualties before being killed. His actions, which delayed the Japanese long enough for the Australians to fortify their positions, were instrumental in saving Battalion Headquarters. In this huge battle over four days, the 900 Australians of the 39th Battalion and 2/14 Battalion were outnumbered three to one by the Japanese. The 53rd Battalion was held in reserve at Alola guarding a secondary track north of Eora creek. They were a hastily convened untrained bunch of 18 year olds that despite low expectations stopped the encirclement attempt. Up till now the Japanese strategy largely had relied on full frontal assaults. Our losses in Isuarava and Abuari numbered well over 100. Our day 3 trek took us through undulating terrain to Alola, and then to a very important elevated Japanese gun site on the way to Eora Creek, where two separate gun sites inflicted huge losses. Our walk into Eora Creek was accompanied by a torrential


downpour. I personally have never seen such a wild river in Australia. The locals had just finished building a new bridge, where, one week previously there was no bridge. After a wet night we faced a 1200-‐metre steep climb followed by a descent into Templeton for lunch. In the afternoon, we faced a long climb to Mt. Bellamy, at 2200 meters being the highest point of the trek. We had been warned that our nearby campsite had an eerie ambiance, where the spirits seemed right amongst us. Our thoughts were with two of our group, who tended to lag behind the main group and on this long day came in 2.5 hours later having walked 1 hour in darkness. They were terrified of the absolute racket made by very large beetles just on nightfall. On day 5, we climbed to the Gap before a long descent to Naduri where we were delighted by the sight of 2 hands of bananas. Nearby we saw a large garden area from which locals could source income by sending produce to Port Moresby from their local airstrip. A steep descent followed to Efogi River, which unveiled a cruel climb up the other side. I made a serious mistake attempting this using only 1 pole and paid the penalty. Predictably a descent followed down to Efogi village where we enjoyed lunch. The day finished with a long climb to Brigade Hill where Cameron conducted a very emotional service, in which all our porters participated. Our 15 trekkers formed a semi-‐circle facing the cenotaph in the fast fading light. The porters lined up at the circle base with Cameron in middle of the semi-‐ circle. Candles were lit on the cenotaph. Cameron spoke of the significance of the site, an absolutely diabolical position that confronted them all. Four of our female trekkers read aloud emotional poems, all having Kokoda as their theme. With a lump in my throat I followed reading the contribution of Captain Bret Langridge, who led 2 Platoons directly into the line of fire on a bayonet charge in attempting to break the Japanese stranglehold on the escape route to Menari for the Aussies. Only 10 survived, but not Langridge. Our porters contributed with some moving songs in the background. Cameron completed the service with all 15 trekkers now drawn into a very tight circle supporting each other. Absolutely everyone had tears in their eyes. We will never forget Brigade Hill. The next day, we descended to the Vaduiaga River then rising to Menari village, then on and upwards to Mt. Tawala. A steep descent down the so-‐called Wall saw us at the Nauro River. Confronting us were 2 hours of swamps and marshes that we attacked head on without wasting time looking for dry ground as there wasn’t any. A slight rise ended our day at Nauro. As there had been no defendable positions in todays walk, we had no wartime stories to tell except to realise our troops would not have dallied at Menari for long. On day 7 we climbed to the top of Maguli Range, a climb of nine false peaks. After each peak, yet another loomed. A descent to Ofi creek led to another upward obstacle called Ioribaiwa Ridge. This site represented the last engagement with Japanese on their forward thrust towards Port Moresby. Using various strategies, including encirclement, the Japanese successfully drove the Aussies from Ioribaiwa to regroup on Imita Ridge, which was the last defendable ridgeline before Port Moresby. On Ioribaiwa, the Japanese could see the lights of Port Moresby. Aussie losses on Ioribaiwa totalled 55. From our campsite on the southern slope at Ioribaiwa village. we enjoyed a spectacular sunset. I was invited to Chai’s home (our trek leader) to meet his family. On day 8, we went down to the Ua-‐Ule creek, which we had to cross twelve times. Again, a major climb confronted us all, which matched Efogi as our most difficult ascension and we all sat in awe taking in the awesome nature of its structure. It was called Imita Ridge. Undeniably it did offer a wonderful defensive stronghold for the Aussies but ironically was never to be tested. By now the pendulum had changed in our favour for the following


reasons: 1) On Sep 7 1942 Aussies had defeated advancing Japanese at Milne Bay situated at the easternmost point of New Guinea representing their first defeat in the Pacific war arena. 2) Our supply lines now were very short, giving us access to extra troops, supplies and larger guns. 3) The Japanese experience was exactly the opposite, creating a very low morale. 4). Impact of events at Guadalcanal (Solomon Is), where a Japanese airbase under construction was successfully attacked by U.S. Marines attack. The value of an air support base meant the U.S. and Japan threw everything into the battle. The Japanese lost over 20000 from 31500 service people, whereas the U.S. lost 2000 from a base of 60000 service personnel. A massive sea battle involving four Japanese aircraft carriers fresh from Pearl Harbour, saw great losses on both sides, but the Japanese air superiority was fading. Those same aircraft carriers supported the planes that bombed Darwin on Feb 19 1942. In this context Japanese Generals ordered the withdrawal from Kokoda Track to focus all resources on the main game at Guadalcanal. Without any Japanese advancement, forward scouting patrols found Ioribiawa Ridge to be deserted. The Japanese retreat still involved stubborn resistance from proud soldiers at various locations, particularly at Moss Forest, at Templeton Crossing and Eora Ck. On reaching Eora Creek we had lost 77 troops but facing those monstrous mountain guns at Eora Creek a further 77 died with 145 wounded. Very sadly at this time, Blamey /McArthur were very critical of the speed of our advance not having spent one minute in the war zone. This shows how out of touch with reality they both were. Eora Creek was to be our last contact with the Japanese on the Track. Day 8 finished for us when our group negotiated Goldie River, which happened to be the trek’s biggest river. On the banks we all reminisced and I personally connected with our whole porter group and discussed the subject of malaria and its impact on the population. On completion of our trek, our tour guide leaders informed us those conditions were the worst experienced in the last 10 years, which just made it more meritorious. I do now have a better understanding of the Kokoda story due to the passionate Team Leader Cameron James, my personal education of conflict environment, including the exposure to mosquitoes, and the supporting documentation from Bill James’ “Field Guide To Kokoda Track”. I have been able to challenge myself to one of life’s greatest tests and succeed and I thank Rotary for making it possible.


Community Service Report by Edwina Ricci

Committee Members: John Anderson, Clive Baum, Stephen Bode, Jill Fletcher, Richard Gilham, Christina Gleeson, Jesse Johnson, Edwina Ricci, Kevin Ryan, John Van Holsteyn Community was certainly a major focus of our club this year and our President John van Holsteyn should be congratulated for driving this focus with the leading project “The Eradication of Loneliness”, an ambitious goal. So, too, was the goal to eradicate polio and Rotary, in partnership with other organisations, has managed to almost achieve that. Big things can happen when resources are pooled and goals are aligned. To raise the profile of something that has a negative impact on wellbeing is a great legacy from this year. Just like the eradication of polio, eradicating loneliness is not something that can happen quickly, and challenges us to continue working on it over coming years. I would like to thank all members of the club for their generous support with this year’s projects. You should be very proud individually and collectively for what was achieved. Our community profile has grown through working collaboratively, multiplying our resources and impact as we discover additional revenue sources to our own fundraising. Here are some of 2015’s highlights: Maroondah Hospital Psychiatric Ward Donation of welcome packs (toiletries). A big thankyou to Michael and Anne who continued with the work with the hospital to provide the much appreciated welcome packs. This is a wonderful opportunity and shows our community we care, at a time when they most need it. Treasured Babies Working in partnership with Men’s Shed Croydon to make boxes for the babies that have passed away and to provide shelving at their new location. The collaboration with Men’s Sheds makes our dollar go further and has provided an enhanced meaning and purpose for the work of the Men’s Shed, as they loved giving at such an important time in the lives of families. Safe Futures Christmas present appeal Working in partnership with Ray White and Melba College to raise the profile of the challenges facing the survivors of family violence, and to respond to this by buying presents for the children involved. It was encouraging to see our best effort yet as we filled several cars when we delivered the presents to their offices. A big thanks to Tamara and staff from Ray White Croydon, who provided the beautiful tree for our presents and purchased several too. To the students and staff at Melba College for your generous donations and we look forward to an even bigger response this year. ANZAC day service (assisting Rotary Club of Ringwood) This was a very special service to commemorate the centenary of Gallipoli. We were again given the responsibility of the programs and marshalling on the day.


Pegasus car club swap meeting The Cup Day BBQ was again a fabulous success for our fundraising team. Marlene expertly ordered the right quantities and Rowan provided the van for transporting. Most importantly we got an opportunity to work together. To laugh, cook sausages and enjoy one another’s company. Croydon Special Development School We continued with the existing project, where last year we raised $23,000 for a new playground at the senior school. Negotiations are under way to apply for a district grant to help us raise an additional $37,000 for the completion of the project. As a first for our club, the fundraising was extremely successful through the joint effort with the Lions Club of Croydon and Rotaract. United Youth Media We continue to work closely with this new media organisation of young professionals. They have recorded and edited for our special meetings and given advice on social media strategies. We look forward to furthering this relationship in coming years. Cooperation with Melba College Our close cooperation with Melba College has benefited and will continue to benefit both parties. Rotary gets access to a free venue, where school provides supper on primary school speech competition nights. Rotary in return assists in interviews for school captains, business events with year 10 students and supports students to attend MUNA. Will again think of starting an Interact club. Maroondah Festival We supported the festival again with our presence on a stand. Those who attended said that the conversations with the community were valuable, with some interested in joining as members. This community event in November is also an opportunity for public relations and marketing. Croydon Junior Football Club This year we completed running the canteen at the home games of the junior football matches. This was not only a very good fundraiser, but resulted in a true team spirit for the members participating. Croydon Senior Football Club Our club was invited to the yearly club fundraising club lunch and was recognised for the work we do in the community. Opening of X Space at Croydon Park Our club was recognised at the opening in July of the unique X Space at Croydon Park by the mayor and the Minister of Sport for being the third partner in making this fantastic project a reality. Babes Project Helen Parker from the Babes Project came to our meeting and talked about the wonderful work of her team in supporting teenage mums through pregnancy and the first year of their child’s life. These mums are taught how to look after their babies, which sets them


up for life. Our club has supported the training of two of their volunteers and we look forward to fostering an ongoing relationship with this most amazing organisation. Maroondah: City of Wellbeing The Rotary Club of Croydon is partnering with the City of Maroondah in its commitment to build a safer and healthier community through improved wellbeing of target citizen groups in the City of Maroondah. The City of Maroondah has identified the need for such a project by declaring wellbeing as a major development priority as part of their vision strategy for the next 30 years. This project aims to impact 109,000 citizens across Maroondah. The project has the support of the district (RD9810 Charitable Services Fund), which is working with us to gain tax exemption for all donations. This project over coming years proposes to develop and implement an internationally recognised program in the City of Maroondah that will build resilience and protect against mental illness and suicide. The Plus 10 Project will initially focus on schools, sporting clubs and business. In Maroondah there are approximately 15,500 young people in secondary colleges and primary schools, several major sporting associations in football and netball and a large business community battling to thrive. This Project will create awareness and provide strategies for individuals to live their lives at “PLUS 10”. We will continue to work as part of a steering committee, with key stakeholders from all partner groups, who will drive the implementation and the council will oversee it, ensuring it is meeting its aims and objectives. Edwina Ricci


Special Projects Report by Brian McDaid

The Special Projects of the Rotary Club of Croydon still make a considerable contribution to the less fortunate in our neighbouring countries and beyond.

The building of the Captains Choice Academy in N’Gope in Kenya, in partnership with Mark Sidandi and his Aussie Kenya Community Organisation, is coming together slowly and is being closely monitored and regular reports on progress being received. The cost to build an 8-‐classroom school came to $52,000 and was funded by Captains Choice donations and a grant from The Cooper Foundation of $10,000.

One other major project is a multi club, multi district application for a Global Grant from the Rotary Foundation that was approved in May 2014 with a total project cost of $148,511 to enable access to clean water, sanitation and increased hygiene education in Kali Nagra, Sumba Island, Indonesia. The Grant comprises of District Distributed Funds of US$34,150, US$30,923 from 8 District 9810 clubs (RC of Croydon contribution is US$18600 again funded via Captains Choice donations), US$22,550 from 12 clubs in USA and US$60887 from the World Fund as a Matching grant. The grant is effectively the equivalent of US$95,037 of Annual Giving from Rotary Clubs to The Rotary Foundation. This project hit a small hurdle in relation to design but is now back on track.

The third major project was participation in another Global Grant with a project cost of US$48,360. This project was a Teacher Literacy Enhancement program in Pasay City, Philippines and involved 5 D9810 clubs as well as some International clubs and districts. Our contribution was $6,000, again funded through Captains Choice donations.

We continue to assist in supplying medical equipment through the DAK Foundation. We assisted in the application from RC of Glen Waverley to supply a portable ultrasound machine, portable ECG machine, portable patient monitor, vital signs monitor, oxygen concentrator and a pulse oximeter for their Myanmar Medical Assistance Project The assistance to Philanthropic Foundations through RC of Croydon and Rotary Australia World Community Service continues with many projects being supported. The RC of Croydon would like to acknowledge the assistance given to Rotary projects through grants from these Foundations. Brian McDaid Special Projects Chair


Youth Report by Roger Paul

Student Exchange Program Our exchange student, Elijah Rowlands, arrived home in August after a very successful year in Italy. Elijah proved to be an outstanding ambassador for Rotary and Australia and has spoken at several District events since his return. Whilst living in Italy, he pursued his love of cycling and challenged himself against some of the famous mountain circuits. During the ‘Ride from Conference’ this year, Elijah showed off his strength and stamina on two wheels. The club will be hosting two international students in the coming year. Hwan You, a Korean boy, will join Julia Heringer Motta Costa E Silva from Brazil. The costs associated with hosting the Korean student will be funded by the Korean government. Naomi Mentiplay and Jemima Reid will represent our club as outgoing students, leaving in January 2016. Both girls have attended the first of the District training sessions and proved themselves worthy of selection. National Youth Science Forum Sonia Noronha was sponsored by our club to take part in this year’s National Youth Science Forum (NYSF) for year 11 students in Canberra. Sonia lives in Croydon and is a year 12 student at Mac. Robertson Girls high school in South Melbourne. Sonia was later selected by NYSF to be one of ten Australian students to attend the London International Youth Science Forum in July. Hosted by Imperial College in South Kensington, the students will attend lectures by high-‐profile scientists and see some of the finest research labs in the UK. RYLA The club sponsored a participant in the RYLA Course from 6 July to 11 July at the YMCA Lake Dewar Lodge in Myrniong.


Attendance Report

Of the 37 current members, we have 29 active and 8 who are senior active members. The year to date (May) attendance percentage is 72%. This figure is adjusted for make-‐up meetings and granted leave. At this stage, five members have attended every meeting, either at Croydon or at a recognised Rotary function. Instead of having a rotating team on a monthly basis, we benefitted from the tear-‐long dedication to the combined functions of cashier and greeter by Jean Stuart and John Hexter. Well done!

Vocational report

Our vocational visits were capably organised by Glenn Lowther. On the 29th of July, we travelled in a full bus (courtesy of the Croydon Special Development School and driven by John Hexter) to Hallam to visit the head office of Lanark spas and hot tubs, where our member Richard Burton is the national sales manager. We were impressed by the scale of the storage and manufacturing buildings, the technology involved, and above all, the critical timing of the curing of the spa moulds. On the same night, our Pat Taylor and Marjan van Holsteyn organised a Craft night at the Dorset Gardens to make Christmas decorations from recycled materials as a fundraiser for children affected by family violence. Our second visit was to the MFB in Ringwood after a pleasant dinner at Raffaele’s in Croydon. It was an eye opener to learn about the sophisticated gear the fire fighters have to wear and the high cost of the fire equipment with trucks costing up to 1 million dollars each.

Social program

In September, Ross Taylor organised a weekend away for a dozen Rotarians and partners at Marysville. We met at the Black Spur hotel in Narbethong for dinner on the Friday night, visited the trout farm at Buxton on Saturday and walked via the Sunday market to the Steavenson Falls on Sunday. It was encouraging to see the re-‐development of Marysville after the 2009 bushfires that destroyed most of the town and killed 45 residents.

Richard Gilham organised a fantastic jazz night at the Dorset Gardens with the Sammy Owen Blues Band. Sammy is a local talent, who specialises in Blues, but can also do some great cover versions of well-‐known songs like Stairway to Heaven. And then there were the recreational sporting events! On the suggestion of Stephen Bode and Ian Cumming, we continued the tradition started by the Rotary Club of Chirnside Park to have a yearly croquet match against the Rotary Club of Lilydale. This happened on the last Tuesday of March. Courteous as we are, we allowed Lilydale to win this time, but we’ll undertake some serious training to get the trophy back. Brian McDaid organised a social game of barefoot bowls on the first Tuesday of January with a good turn-‐up by young and old. We may even see a higher involvement in sport and leisure in future years.

Lastly, we all enjoyed the premiere of the Second Best Marigold Hotel in the sold-‐out Croydon Cinemas in February that Ross Taylor had organised as a fundraiser to eradicate polio. Thanks to the organisers and participants in all these events that contributed greatly in fostering the community spirit within our club.


The Ladies Probus Club of Croydon Report

President’s Report 2014/15 presented by Jan Evans to the AGM, held on 4th March 2015 at Keystone Hall. As I write this annual report of the Club’s activities over the past year, I am reminded of the fun times, the wonderful outings, the entertaining speakers and the fabulous lunches that have been prepared for us all. Of course there have been some sad times as well, and we have farewelled several members of our Club throughout the year. We have had the passing away of Joan Preston, Jean Barton, Grace Jackson, Gwen Little, Lola Lloyd and Rhonda Eagleton-‐Warren. They are all sadly missed. During the latter part of the year, we had the very sad stepping down from the position of Secretary by Rhonda Eagleton-‐Warren due to her very serious illness and her subsequent passing away. Our thoughts and prayers are with her husband Ted and their families. She was a hardworking and caring Secretary, and is sadly missed. There are many Ladies I wish to thank and I do so in no particular order. Jenn Clarke has worked exceptionally hard to keep all our books in order together with her Assistant Barbara Allen. Helen Burgess has given us some fabulous outings and a great holiday to Tasmania. We have thoroughly enjoyed our trips, morning melodies, lunches and our tours. Thankyou to the ladies on the “Outings Table” Margaret Nissinen and Pat Hill and especially Helen Burgess-‐ your energy and enthusiasm is wonderful. Our meetings are complete only with a joke or two from our Newsletter Editor, Hazel O’Hehir. Hazel has a terrific way of brightening up a meeting and making our newsletter so full of information and fun, we thank her enormously. Thanks also go to “Scoop Doussett” Heather for writing all the reports on our guest Speakers for the newsletters and Ladies unable to attend the meetings, but enjoy reading her reports. What entertaining and interesting Speakers Barbara Kaye has organised for us this year! There have been such a variety of topics covered and all have been very interesting. Thankyou Barbara. Of course our Attendance Officers are the first smiling faces we see at each meeting. Betty Smart and her team of Jana Cvach and Pearl Christie have done a great job keeping the attendance records correct and posting out the Newsletters. Thank you for doing your busy job so well. Thank you also to Pauline Williams, who although not on the Committee, has worked behind the scene to keep all our computer records up to date. Everyone looks forward to our Tea Breaks each meeting and they are only possible with the hard work of Carole Mitchell and her team of Mary Dell, Dianne Young and Faye Burke. Thank you for all the great organisation of purchasing Tea, Coffee, Milk, Biscuits and the never-‐ending dishes that must be done. We all enjoy being made a fuss of on our Birthday and Glenys Dodd is the lady to thank for our Birthday Chocolates. Glenys is also the lady who puts the delightful vase of flowers each month in the Rest Room. Thank you Glenys for your work. Unfortunately our Friendly Friday group became unsustainable during the year. This in no way reflected the hard work of Robyn Pollock and her team of Eileen Moore, Ros Waghorn and Barbara Talbert. Thank you all for your hard work and interesting projects.


Our Past President Suzanne Campbell has not been able to attend many meetings this year due to private commitments, but I thank her for her work in the capacity of Welfare Officer, an extremely important job for the operating of a Friendship Club. Lastly I have deliberately left a huge thanks to the one person we all have to thank enormously for keeping our Club afloat. Win Wood has served on many of our Committees and had thought that she would be able to enjoy club life as a General member. But as we all know, the onset of Rhonda’s illness meant that she had to step aside as Secretary. This required a new Secretary to be appointed within two weeks, or the Club would have to fold. Thankfully Win stepped up as the President Elect enabling me to step sideways to the Secretaries position. Our Club is indebted on an enormous scale to you Win and thank you from us all. I hope you have a rewarding time as our 26th President. I have greatly enjoyed being President but mostly I have enjoyed the friendship of our members. Our committee for 2015-‐2016: President Win Wood Vice-‐President Yvonne Scharpe Secretary Jan Evans Treasurer Jenn Clarke Assistant Treasurer Barbara Allen Outings Helen Burgess, Margaret Nissinen, and Barbara Talbert Welfare Margaret Nissinen Speakers Alison Smith Attendance Pat Hill, Pearl Christie and Yvonne Scharpe Hospitality Carol Mitchell, Diane Young, and Mary Dell Newsletter Hazel O’Hehir Fundraising Robyn Pollard Birthdays Glenys Dodd Inaugural speech by incoming president Win Wood I would like to thank you all very much for welcoming me back as President of the Croydon ladies’ Probus Club. It is not what I had planned for this year, but I could not bear the thought of our Club closing down, and if it had not been for Jan offering to be Secretary yet again, we would have had a problem. Thank you Jan for all your hard work on behalf of us all and I would like to give you this gift-‐ hopefully you can use it on your holiday. Don’t forget our Suggestion Box, we did receive a note last month and that was about a trip away. We desperately need an Assistant Secretary, so please if you could help us please come and speak to either Jan or myself. I would also like to welcome Yvonne Scharpe as our new Vice-‐ President. Thank you Yvonne. Lunch was served after cutting of the birthday cake by Win Wood and Jan Evans


The annual report of the Probus Club of Croydon, Inc. (year 31).

Our AGM was held in the Keystone Hall on Wednesday, 11th March 2015. President’s report: Trish Cashman. This year should be remembered as a significant year for the Probus Club of Croydon Inc. as we celebrated our 30th Charter Anniversary. We recognised the contribution made by our foundation members. Currently Kevin Johnston, Fred Griffiths, Geoff Heskett, Jim Craig, Francis Little, and Peter Walker are our longstanding members who still regularly attend meetings and functions. These members have shown, by their example, how to uphold the core Probus values of Friendship, Fellowship and Fun. We have had many enjoyable activities during the year. Dine-‐outs have been particularly popular with twenty to forty members attending each time. Lunch after the General meetings is well attended and stimulates informal communications. The three morning teas held have been very successful and thanks go to those who have hosted these events. The day trip to Marysville brought back very vivid memories for those members who had been there shortly after the fires. It was heartening to see the rebuilding of such a devastated area. Visits to Ripponlea, the Aquarium and some musical interludes were also appreciated. Our club picnic this year was held at the home of David and Judy Cairnduff. This was a nice change from the usual picnic ground environment: we thank them. Unfortunately we no longer offer the activities of cards and music and as yet have been unable to start up any other activity. We do hope the game ‘Rummykin’ will soon be running. THOIG (Travel, Hobbies and other Interests Group) continues to be well attended. Thanks go to David Cairnduff and Lindsay Horner for the organisation of this monthly event, where morning tea is provided by Colleen Webster. I thank her most sincerely. We are fortunate to have welcomed eight new members into the club this year. Combined with the attrition rate this has kept our membership around eighty. The gender balance is now a good mix of 36 female and 43 male members. I have been honoured to be your President for a second time. The success of any club is dependent on the work carried out by the Committee of Management. I have indeed been fortunate to have a very cohesive team many of them long-‐serving. John Legg has been responsible for the high standard of our newsletter for the past nine years and deserves a special mention. I thank all committee members for their contributions this year. I would also like to mention those who assist so readily in the “other positions”. They contribute behind the scenes in areas such as Hall Opening, Reception and Catering. The club could not function without their help and I thank them sincerely. From my perspective, I believe that we should be proud of our achievements this year. The core values of friendship, fellowship and fun are evident in all our pursuits, whilst we continue to care for our fellow Probians when this is required. Incoming President’s report: Allan Philpott It is with a great deal of pleasure that I have accepted the position of President for the ensuing year. I would particularly like to congratulate Trish Cashman and David Cairnduff on excellent jobs as past Presidents of our club. As your incoming President I, along with my Committee, will promote the Probus motto of Fellowship, Friendship, and Fun. I encourage all members to participate in the activities arranged, and to bring forward to your Committee any suggestions that can further help, and improve your club. I also


encourage all members to wear their name badges at all times, as this certainly helps in communicating a lot easier. In conclusion, I am looking forward to be your President. Office Bearers 2014-‐2015: President: Trish Cashman Secretary: Peter Jamison Treasurer: Judy Caspar Vice President: Allan Philpott IPP David Cairnduff Trips: Maria Atherton and Audrey Teear Speakers: Graham Woolley Audio Visual: Max Palmer Newsletter: John Legg Membership: Colleen Webster Welfare: David Cairnduff Chronicles/Records: Iris Chilton Committee: Marleen Pruys Public Officer: Peter Jamison The following Members assisted in the running of the Club: Auditor: Ralph Cousins Steward/Caterer: Allan Philpott Reception: Colleen Webster/Loris Miller/Rosemary Risstrom Assistant Welfare Officer: Trish Cashman, Peter Walker Newsletter Assistant: John Gander Insurance Advisor: Brian O’Neill Representative-‐Town Park Committee Judy Caspar Hall Opening/Closing: George Chilton / Doug Risstrom Scrapbook & Photography: Jim Craig Publicity: Peter Jamison Interests groups: Walkers: -‐ John Gander; Travel, Hobbies and Other Interests (THOIG) -‐ David Cairnduff/ Lindsey Horner a.o; Music Section -‐ Dan Kildea; Bowls – Annual Tournament -‐ Laurie Millard Membership: Membership numbers continued to increase over the year from 76 to 79. The average attendances for the year from March to February was 54, ranging from 42 to 61. The following new members were inducted into the Probus Club of Croydon during the year: Geoff Marshall, Ron and Hilla Reynolds, Ray Baker, Doris Caruana, Sonia Ellis, and Joyce and Keith Byron. The following resignations were accepted during the year: Robert and Judy Donaghey – Moved to New South Wales; Isabel Jenkinson – Moved to Rosebud, Murdoch Neilsen and Tim Webb resigned due ill health and Jean Rohde The Club is always saddened to report on the passing of fellow Members, Marney Sharp (Inducted June 2013) and Murdoch Neilsen (inducted 1987) Welfare: Throughout the year, the Club has been kept advised of the various Members on the ‘sick list’ and their progress. Our IPP undertook this function with the help from Peter Walker and Colleen Webster. Many Members have undergone successful hip and knee replacements whilst a few of our Members with long term problems have not been faring so well and could not attend our meetings. In January 2015, David Cairnduff himself underwent surgery and Trish Cashman has been looking after welfare matters. We consider that “caring and friendship” is an extremely important part of our community and ask everyone to pass on information to the Welfare Officer if they learn of health issues with other members. Publicity: The role of Publicity Officer is undertaken by the Secretary who has continued to promote the Club and its activities through local radio, Croydon Library, and various venues such as retirement villages and estates, which has earned us new members. Lifetime members: Fred Griffiths (Inducted in 1987); Life Membership -‐ March 2010 Peter Walker (Inducted in 1989); Life Membership -‐ February 2012 Lindsay Horner (Inducted in 1991); Life Membership -‐ May 2008


Guest speakers: organised by Graham Woolley April 2014 Daniel O’Reilly: The use of Aspirin May 2014 Leading Senior Constable Robert King: The Senior Register and crime prevention June 2014: Club’s 30th Birthday Luncheon – Lindsay Horner July 2014: Maroondah City Council/Eastland -‐ Redevelopment of Railway Station. Eastland August 2014: Eric Daffy, Metropolitan Fire Brigade -‐ Seniors Fire Safety Program September 2014: Robin Bowles -‐ Female Crime Writer/Investigative Journalist October 2014: John Gardner – “The Dunny Man”: Tales from his working days November 2014: Sue Schofield -‐ The Orang-‐utan Project February 2015: Helen Rayner -‐ Melbourne Travel Club ‘Getting To Know You’ Speaker – A brief ‘potted biography’ by a Club Member Trevor Brown, Audrey Teear, Carol Pratt, Mal Braham, Ron Reynolds, Joy McCracken, Hilla Reynolds, Geoff Marshall, Lindsay Hurford ‘Member Behind the Badge’ – A detailed biography by a Club Member: Doug Alkemade Social/trips/events: organised by Maria Atherton and Audrey Teear. In addition to the monthly lunch and general meetings, we enjoyed: March ’14: Lunch and afternoon Jazz with ‘Groovin Easy’ Jazz Orchestra -‐ at Club Kilsyth. April ‘14: Annual Club Picnic at home of David and Judy Cairnduff May ‘14: Bus trip to Marysville – Bruno’s Sculpture Gallery and lunch June ‘14: Lunch and Afternoon Jazz with ‘Groovin’ Easy’ Jazz Orchestra -‐ at Club Kilsyth. July ‘14: Mulgrave Country Club, – “Christmas in July” luncheon. August ‘14: Dine Out at Raffael’s Restaurant; Victorian Concert Orchestra, M’bark Sept. ‘14: Dandenong Ranges Big Band -‐ Musical Evening of jazz, blues, swing Oct. ‘14: Visit to Melb. Aquarium; Ripponlea Estate, tour of house, exhibition, lunch Nov. ‘14: Dine Out – Sweet Chilli Thai Restaurant, Heathmont. Dec. ‘14: Christmas Luncheon with musical duo, “Moonlight Shadow”. Jan. ‘15: Dine Out at Da Ricardo’s Restaurant, Croydon South

Lunch in the Hall – 30th Birthday Celebration, June The Probus Club of Croydon Inc. celebrated 30 years since foundation on 11th June 2014 with a birthday luncheon for its Members and Friends. by the Rotary Club of Croydon back in 1984 the Committee We invited David Ferres, the president of our sponsor club, the Rotary Club of Croydon, together with the Mayor of Maroondah, Cr. Les Willmott and his wife, as our special guests for the occasion. After a short general meeting, several of the Lady Members set up Keystone Hall for our luncheon. President Trish Cashman welcomed everyone and gave a brief address, mentioning those who have been Members for more than 25 years: Kevin Johnston, Fred Griffiths, Geoff Heskett, Jim Craig, Francis Little, and Peter Walker. Dessert was a specially designed mud cake that was ceremoniously cut by our longest serving ex-‐President, Kevin Johnston. Members were then thoroughly entertained by a highly amusing and interesting verbal recap of 30 years given by one of the Club’s long-‐term stalwarts, Lindsay Horner. Quite a few anecdotes and escapades together with notable happenings and chronological events were reported to those present during a pleasant spit roast meal. Graham Woolley produced and presented on the screen a photographic history of Members and events of the Club accompanied by music, which brought back so many memories and quite a few giggles when people saw themselves on a large screen as photographed by our resident Photographer, Jim Craig and his assistants over the years.


Lunch following General Meetings: The Club again continued its ‘Caring and Friendship’ philosophy, when, following the closure of each General Meeting, Members joined together for lunch at a local venue. Attending numbers at the various lunch venues have ranged from about 14 to 24. Evening Dine Outs: Our Trips/Events ladies, Maria Atherton and Audrey Teear, organised several most successful Dine Outs. Everyone has been well supported and each evening was a most successful and happy occasion. The venues have varied to cover differing types of cuisine in surrounding localities. The evening starts at 6.00 for 6.30pm so that it does not make for a late evening Morning Teas: Several morning teas were arranged during the year and the Club is most grateful for those Members who opened up their homes and their hospitality to make each event an enjoyable occasion. The idea is to issue an invite to just a small number, balancing ‘old’ and ‘new’ Members to give the attendees a chance to get to know each other. The Club sincerely thanks the following Members for their hospitality. Olive and Ralph Cousins, Geoff Marshall, and Colleen Webster Groups and other official activities The Travel, Hobbies and Other Interests/Computer Group – THOIG: Once again T.H.O.I.G has proven to be one of our club’s success stories, enhanced by the adoption in early 2014 of the Music Appreciation Group that went into abeyance, due to the loss of its then leader, Barbara Thomas. The resultant offer from Dan Kildea to take over this role and absorb it into T.H.O.I.G proved to be a real winner for which Dan has been acclaimed for his presentation and his preparation. A clientele of 27 members has ensured an average attendance of 20 members at meetings, and these contribute regularly through "Show and Tell" presentations on topical matters. Participation in a wide range of "mind stretching" activities helps to maintain a high degree of interest in proceedings. We have an amazing wealth of very talented people, with a diverse range of experiences in our club. David Cairnduff and Lindsay Horner facilitate these groups, supported by Graham Woolley who sets up the hall, and arranges the equipment etc. This group was initially established by Lindsay Horner as a Computer Group and we are hoping to re-‐kindle new interest in ubiquitous I.T. applications. Seeking a suitable venue for this appears to be our greatest hurdle. Walking Group: Intrepid Leader, John Gander has continued throughout the year to lead the small group of walkers on various ‘expeditions’. We invite new Members to join this happy band of ‘explorers’. At the General meetings John Gander gives a brief report on the previous walk and in liaison with the regular walkers arranges the date and the place/area of the next trek. John plans it with the age and mobility capabilities of the walkers in mind – more a sedate stroll sometimes in a local area, or may even involve a transport trip to the city then an interesting walk. The walk is not complete without a stop at a local coffee shop. On several occasions, a walking trip has been combined with a Club activity, e.g. a visit to Warragul where a trip and a walk was organised to meet up with some Probus friends plus luncheon at a local eatery. John also organised a walk around Ripponlea Estate and exhibition. Birthday acknowledgments by Marleen Pruys. Each birthday Member participates in a ticket draw with the winner choosing a small gift for their special day. It is amazing how often the wine is chosen!!!!!


Newsletter: Our Newsletter Editor, John Legg must produce the best and most informative newsletter of any Club in the area. Each edition covers formal information from the activities of the previous General Meeting, such as inductions, general administration business, information on any events and activities plus brainteasers (thanks to John Gander), bits of amusing nonsense, jokes and details of the various trips, and future events. If John Legg is ever absent, our Assistant Newsletter person, John Gander, has filled his shoes. Together with the written words, numerous photographs of events by our resident photographer Jim Craig, or Lindsay Horner, or Mal Braham are also included by the Editor. -‐ Thanks to John and our Photographers. John is to be complimented on the publication he produces -‐ he is now in his 10th year as the Newsletter Editor – well done John. Publication “Wartime Memories: 50 years on -‐ Part 1 – 1996 and Part 2 – 1997. During this special year when many of the older generation are remembering families and friends as well as their own experiences during World Wars 1 and II, it was felt opportune to bring current Members’ attention to “Wartime Memories – 50 years on ... “. This publication came about at the General Meeting on Wednesday, 9th August 1995, when one of our long-‐standing Members, Peter Walker arranged for Members to give several short talks on their wartime memories. Following this, the decision was taken to put such recollections into a booklet. Peter Walker assumed the role for collecting all spoken and written submissions. Lindsay Horner collated everything. “Wartime Memories – 50 years on” was published in 1996 with a supplementary Part 2 printed in 1997. A copy of these publications is available for perusal. Please check with Lindsay Horner or the Committee. The Committee and Membership of the Probus Club of Croydon wishes to sincerely thank everyone who have assisted in the Committee, its various activities and organisation of the Club during the year. Without such help the Club could not function and be a duller place. We all look forward to another successful and enjoyable year ahead. The Probus Club of Croydon Inc. promotes Fellowship, Friendship, Fun and Caring. (By I. Chilton – March 2015, edited by JVH)


Past Presidents of the Rotary Club of Croydon

1973-‐74 Harley Clappison 1994-‐95 Geoff Fraser 1974-‐75 Lloyd Smith 1995-‐96 John Sharpe 1975-‐76 John Stuart 1996-‐97 Bill Thompson 1976-‐77 Robin Clarke 1997-‐98 Jim Tinney 1977-‐78 Ron Page 1998-‐99 John Baldwin 1978-‐79 Mick Matthews 1999-‐

2000 John Gander

1979-‐80 Arnold Cooper 2000-‐01 Kevin Francis 1980-‐81 Don Plant 2001-‐02 Tony Wright 1981-‐82 Reg Girvan 2002-‐03 Roger Paul 1982-‐83 Bill Hall 2003-‐04 John Anderson 1983-‐84 Bob Craigie 2004-‐05 Brian McDaid 1984-‐85 Bruce Fryer 2005-‐06 Ross Taylor 1985-‐86 Geoff McGivern 2006-‐07 Andrew Bartholomew 1986-‐87 Fred Griffiths 2007-‐08 Clive Baum 1987-‐88 Stan Cousins 2008-‐09 Marlene Sinclair 1988-‐89 Bob Berry 2009-‐10 Eric Thomas 1989-‐90 Ron Besford 2010-‐11 James Wilson/John

Anderson 1990-‐91 Allan Jackson 2011-‐12 Keith Amos 1991-‐92 Hans Meyer 2012-‐13 Ross Taylor 1992-‐93 Lyn Davies 2013-‐14 David Ferres 1993-‐94 Dickson Blair 2014-‐15 John van Holsteyn


Paul Harris Fellows of the Rotary Club of Croydon

(As at June 2015). Meron Allen Robert Kraal Keith Amos Jack Lees * David Anderson Hans Leistner John Anderson David Liddell * Kaye, Asker Ron Love Phil Asker John McClintock * John, Baldwin Harry McEwan * Andrew Bartholomew Charles McLeod * Clive Baum David Martin * Bob Berry Alyson Matthews * Ron Besford Mick Matthews Dickson Blair Ron Matthews * Ruth Bode (Chirnside Park) Brian McDaid Stephen Bode (Chirnside Park) Hans Meyer Joe Britton Mel Moorfield * Ian Brodie * Julie Olney Stuart Brown Greg O’Neill Greg Buckridge Roger Paul Jim Burns Carmel Pieters Robin Clarke * George Pile * Harley Clappison * Don Plant * Ken Connolly * Hank Romyn Arnold Cooper * Kevin Ryan Stan Cousins * Alf Schubert * Bob Craigie * John Sharpe * Ian Cumming (Chirnside Park) Marlene Sinclair Lyn Davies Daryl Stephens Ian Drakeford * John Stuart David Ferres Bill Thompson * Kevin Francis Jim Tinney Dame Phyllis Frost * Peter Walker Bruce Fryer John Watson Cindy Furbt Win Walden * John Gander Pat Taylor Richard Gilham Ross Taylor Reg Girvan Eric Thomas Wendy Girvan * John van Holsteyn Fred Griffiths Joy Varughese (R I District 3300) Bill Hall Frank Voutier Allan Hinds James Wilson Lindsay Hurford Tony Wright Allan Jackson *

( * Deceased)


Members called to Higher Service

(As at June 2015)

Rotary International has set the week of the 27th January each year for clubs to officially remember their deceased members and to commemorate the contribution that these members made to Rotary. The date has been selected, as it was the date on which Paul Harris, the founder of Rotary, died. We remember and acknowledge the contribution to Rotary of the following known deceased past members: Geoff Berger Bill Jones Ian Brodie, PHF Jack Lees, PP & PHF Graeme Chapman David Liddell, PHF Harvey Clappison, PP & PHF Colin Luxford John Clark David Martin, PHF Robin Clarke, PP & PHF Fred McBain Kenneth Connolly, PHF John McClintock, PHF Arnold Cooper, PP & PHF Harry McEwan, PHF Stanley Cooper Charles McLeod, PHF John Cooper Frank McManus Stan Cousins, PP & PHF Ron Matthews, PHF Bob Craigie, PP & PHF Mel Moorfield, PHF Jeff Crockford, PDG Tom Morgan Alan Crook Arno Neuparth Langham Dale Ron Page, PP Howard Dunn George Pile, PHF Ian Drakeford, PHF Don Plant, PP & PHF Kevin Fisher John Roland Phillip Glascott Alf Schubert, PHF Maurice Henry John Sharpe, PP & PHF Robert Hill Lloyd Smith, PP Jack Hust John Stewart Ted Hobson Bill Thompson, PP & PHF Alan Jackson, PP & PHF George Thompson

Documents

annual report 2014-2015 final x...Rotary Club of Croydon Annual Report 2014-2015 Page 5 The!Friends!of!Croydon!approach!had!a!promising!launch!toinitiatethelong]termproject!of!the!