Posted on Nov 05, 2019
PERTH ROTARY - PRESIDENTS UPDATE - 05th November 2019
 
Fellow Rotarians and friends of Perth Rotary,
 
It is one of the very few times that I’m starting the weekly bulletin letter with next Friday’s meeting…
 
This Friday our Club will have for the first time in its history an interactive Cultural breakfast meeting which will give an unforgettable experience to all our members and guests.
 
We will be introduced to the cultural keystones of our country through an experiential visit to the Australian history by seeing the variety of artefacts and exploring the civilization and the cultural treasures in them.
Walter Mc Guire will perform the Welcome to Country for us and from what I know he has also prepared some other interesting attractions for our members.
 
As this will not be a typical presentation but an interactive experience, we’re trying to keep the group of attendees small enough so that everyone can be part of this experience and I’d suggest that this is a great opportunity for coming with your children or grandchildren before dropping them off to school, so that they see and hear in the first place, things that they normally find in the books only. 
 
Last Friday’s meeting was one that will be remembered as well.
 
We were so happy to see our very own and much missed Barry Thornton coming through the meeting room with his unique humour and style, recovering from that unexpected adventure he had in Europe a few months ago.
 
I still remember the special prayers that we were reading instead of the usual Rotary Grace in our lunches, when the news coming about Barry’s condition were not good and I’m absolutely convinced that it is a miracle that now he’s back with us, healthy and in good shape.
 
Barry while going through this personal adventure, provided our Club with a very special guest speaker: Anthony De Ceglie.
 
Anthony De Ceglie, Senior Editor for the West Australian newspapers provided us with some very important information about the power of the print media and the significant turn-around that he achieved with the West Australian. He also described briefly the story that made him won one of his 2 Walklie Awards (equivalent to the Pulitzer Awards in the U.S.).  
 
Amanda Mc Gregor, founder of the Bluebird Mental Health which organises support groups facilitated by registered psychologists for over 25’s, introduced Anthony and she spoke about how she got to know him thanks to an article of his which helped her at a very difficult time of her life. 
 
Past President Wesley Sim introduced us to the Golden Raffle Ticket, a great initiative that is related to the Salvation Army, focusing in services to homeless in WA. Perth Rotary facilitates this 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
Our Past President Larry Hirsch performed a very interesting Sergeant’s session with so much material, news, gossip and of course fines!
 
Rebecca Tolstoy AM was given the opportunity in that Sergeant’s session to present the latest updates from the POH and the collection of Christmas presents that Helen Leach tirelessly organises every year.
 
Sue Peden, our District Governor’s better half demonstrated that in Perth Rotary family comes first but also that family helps first. Sue, assisting DG Graham in his duties, will be responsible in organising the District Conference 2020. She presented the different areas of opportunity for the volunteers who will assist and from that brief presentation it was easy to understand that District Conference 2020 will be one of the best.
 
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. I’m inviting you all to participate in the preparations of District Conference 2020 through the action teams under the mission to achieve a great result!
 
I look forward to seeing you this Friday in our Cultural Breakfast for a unique experience that Perth Rotary has booked for its members. The future of a nation lies in its history and the history of this blessed, multicultural country embraces every Australian under the cultural heritage of the most ancient population on earth, that is still in existence.
 
Let’s keep on building our future learning from the past. 
 
Yours in Perth Rotary,
Vangelis Katsaitis
Perth Rotary President 2019-2020