Posted on Nov 12, 2019
PERTH ROTARY - PRESIDENTS UPDATE - 12th November 2019
 
Fellow Rotarians and friends of Perth Rotary,
 
Last Friday our Club organised a unique, interactive Cultural breakfast meeting which left an unforgettable experience to all our members and guests.
We were introduced to the cultural keystones of our country through an experiential visit to the Australian history by seeing the variety of artefacts and by exploring the civilization and the cultural treasures in them.
 
Walter McGuire performed the Welcome to Country for us …and what a surprise it was when he saw his old schoolmate Peter Dawson among us! Walter quickly introduced Peter to the art of live performance, so that Peter could keep the rhythm with the instruments which were part of the artifacts collection.
 
Walter travelled us hundreds of years back, showed us some very rare photos and told us stories about the early years of Western Australia, when Australia as a country in its current structure was born. He also referred to the etymology of some of the most well-known area names and their meanings in the indigenous language and the various dialects.
 
Our Past President and District Governor Graham Peden reminded us of our Club’s role in the forthcoming District Conference 2020 where we need to demonstrate our leadership. To achieve that though we need to realise that our Club has a special role to perform in this District Conference being the Home-Club of the District Governor.
 
 
Past President Wesley Sim updated us on the extremely successful performance of the Golden Raffle Ticket. As a reminder, the Golden Raffle Ticket is a great initiative that is related to the Salvation Army, focusing in services to homeless in Western Australia. Perth Rotary facilitates this initiative and by buying a $10 ticket you may win a double 12 month pass to all the RAC Arena events for 12 months!
 
Please follow this link to purchase your raffle tickets: https://perthrotary.auraffles.com.au/purchase-tickets
 
 
Past President Larry Hirsch who is also Chairman of the Rotary Means Business updated us on the latest news from RMB and he extended his invitation for the next RMB meeting for Tuesday 3/12.
 
 
This Friday at the After Business Drinks at the Hilton we have Peter Aspinall AM, Chairman and State President of RSLWA. Peter will present about RSLWA  and the mission of “putting the veterans and the families first”.
 
 
In the same spirit we will also have Bill Munro, a Vietnam veteran who maintains his ex-service links through the Returned and Services League and the Royal Australian Regiment Association.
 
Bill will join our meeting as representative of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, and he will receive on behalf of the Foundation a contribution from our Club.
 
Bill is Chairman of PCFA in Western Australia and in the past has been Chairman of the Royal West Australian Institute for the Blind, a Director of Homeswest, and a Board member of the WA Theatre Company.
 
 
As you can tell, this Friday’s meeting and the previous one are both inspired by the history of our country from the ancient civilisation of the original owners of this land to the modern country keepers and heroes. 
 
While pursuing the growth of our businesses and the improvement of the welfare for our families, we should always keep in remembrance the history, the cultural heritage, the tradition and those who keep this country safe and prosperous through the years.
 
I look forward to seeing you and your families for this Friday’s meeting of Remembrance.
 
Yours in Perth Rotary,
Vangelis Katsaitis
Perth Rotary President 2019-2020