PERTH ROTARY - PRESIDENTS UPDATE - 14TH MAY 2019
We had fun on Friday. If there was a laugh-o-meter, I believe it would have registered the loudest, longest laughs at any lunch meeting since I joined Rotary. It was a good result too. As you would expect, Past-President Larry Hirsch put up an excellent performance that very much contributed to that. At the same time, Past-President Stephen Inouye displayed his exceptional lateral thinking skills that pulled an additional $1000 just as Stephanie from Shape Hairdressing flicked on the switch to her clippers as Graham and Phillip clamoured to audition as hairdressers and everyone else turned into amateur movie-makers. It was great too to have Past-President Stephen Kobelke on stage for moral support!
We had fun on Friday. If there was a laugh-o-meter, I believe it would have registered the loudest, longest laughs at any lunch meeting since I joined Rotary. It was a good result too. As you would expect, Past-President Larry Hirsch put up an excellent performance that very much contributed to that. At the same time, Past-President Stephen Inouye displayed his exceptional lateral thinking skills that pulled an additional $1000 just as Stephanie from Shape Hairdressing flicked on the switch to her clippers as Graham and Phillip clamoured to audition as hairdressers and everyone else turned into amateur movie-makers. It was great too to have Past-President Stephen Kobelke on stage for moral support!
In all, the club raised well over $6,000 through members and friends for the Perkins Institute to support research into a cure for cancer and donations are still arriving today. We chose to support the Perkins Institute because the funds raised stay right here to support researchers in Western Australia. We heard from Judith Lane about the many innovations and new discoveries that our scientists in the laboratories here in Nedlands have contributed to our society and I’m glad that we are now able to say that Perth Rotary played a part in that, however small it may be for now. This reminds me a phrase a business mentor of mine often repeated: “have fun, make money, make a difference”.Meanwhile, in a hospital in Nice, Barry Thornton, while still in ICU, is now fully conscious and doctors there are hoping to help him recover enough to fly home. However, this may still be several weeks away. I believe the preference is for him to be treated back home in a Perth hospital. Jill has organised a card to be sent and members present on Friday have signed it. Along with the card, Jill has included some printed photos of Friday’s shave. If the card doesn’t cheer Barry up, I’m sure the image of Larry been held down and shorn should do the trick!
Rebecca and the Vocational Training Team should be on the way home from the US as you read this. After almost a month away exchanging ideas and learning from their counterparts in the US, they return home hopefully rejuvenated and ready with new ideas to take on the challenges of domestic violence in our local community. They’re just on time to join us at the Gala Ball this Saturday that raises funds to support the work of The Salvation Army in addressing the same issue.
I’ve just returned home after an evening at the Parliament House with the Rotary Youth Exchange Students of both Rotary Districts in WA. Including Rotarians and host families, I understand that up to 16 countries were represented tonight. It was wonderful to see how many friendships have formed and developed over the past year. There were a surprising number of uncontrollable sobs (Chiara can testify to this) from several students as this was to be their last combined event before returning separately to their home country in a little over a month. In creating the environment in which these bonds are formed between the future leaders of our world, each one of us as Rotarians can proudly say “Together we create lasting peace”.
Yours in Rotary,
Wesley Sim - President - Perth Rotary 2018/2019