Thirty or so Eltham Rotarians and partners ventured up to Yarrawonga Mulwala last weekend for the District Conference which was held at Club Mulwala. What happens at Conference stays at Conference but beware this week’s fine mistress who had her little book at the ready to note ‘indiscretions’. The lead-up to the weekend's events included the Ride to Conference in which we were magnificently represented by Ken Paynter, Alan McCleary and Trevor Smith who rode the 600+ kilometres (plus a few extras for a wrong turn) in 5 days and barely whinged about sore muscles. Other Rotarians took the opportunity to detour via Rutherglen on their way to Yarrawonga and raid the wineries along the way.
A highlight for many of us was the sunset cruise on Lake Mulawala on Friday evening on which we were joined by Rotarians from Greensborough. Life couldn’t get any better as we cruised gently around the Lake, admiring the sunset, the birdlife and the sights, whilst we sipped and supped, celebrated birthdays and wedding anniversaries and danced to the onboard band. Our captain did have to pull in briefly at the Ski Club to replenish the rapidly dwindling supplies of bubbly …. The generosity of Rotarians was evident when we heard that the band (Cutest Little Monster) was playing at a charity event the following evening in support of a family whose mother had been murdered. In no time $290 had been donated by those on board.
The Conference itself was enjoyable and well organised with interesting and thought provoking speakers. Congratulations to the Rotary Club of Yarrawonga Mulwala who did a great job. Congratulations and thanks to Dale and Clayton who set up and manned the Aquabox display in the What is Rotary hall. Above all, thanks to Jules, our Conference co-ordinator who organised our accomodation and the cruise and encouraged us to attend. Next year’s conference is a multi-district one in February 2019 at the Convention Centre in Melbourne so stay tuned for more details over the coming months.
Back to Club matters, don’t forget the David McFarlane charity golf day on 6 April. Some of the proceeds will be donated to Eltham Rotary so even if you are not a golfer, come along to the cocktail party at the end of the day. See the flyer below for booking details.
I wish everyone a very happy and safe Easter.
President Judy
Lower Eltham Park BBQ 9:30 am - 2:30 pm
You are responsible for finding a replacement if you are unable to do your rostered duty and to notify Lyn Truran ljtruran@bigpond.com
Please notify Lyn Truran by email (ljtruran@bigpond.com) of your non availability/ special requests for BBQ duty for July- December 2018 by April 15th.This will enable the roster to be finalised in plenty of time to give members their duty dates well before their rostered times.Once the roster is finalised it is each members responsibility to arrange swaps for any duties they cannot attend.
The next meeting at the Golf Club will be on Thursday 29 March 2018. This meeting we have a local couple coming along to outline their charity work in Hout Bay which is a town near Cape Town South Africa. Sue and Len Horwood have created a crèche feeding program and an education support program they are involved in with the Rotary Club of Hout Bay. Sue and Len live in Eltham and have for some time supported these initiatives from their own finances. The club has donated to the feeding program and so this is a great opportunity to hear first hand the reason why a local couple are so passionate about helping children in South Africa.
