Lord Mayor addresses Carlton Rotary’s 40th anniversary dinner

Carlton Rotary was delighted to welcome local resident and Lord Mayor of Melbourne Nick Reece to its very special 40th Anniversary Dinner at Graduate House on Friday, July 18.

During his warm and witty speech, the Lord Mayor reminded us of the need to build meaningful connections between people often feeling very lonely in an increasingly challenging world.

Past president Keith Ryall commented later that one of the ways that Carlton Rotary was doing this was through membership of Rotary Inner Melbourne Emergency Relief Network (RIMERN), which is all about rehoming donated furniture, appliances and homeware to often very lonely people in need of a safe place to live and sleep. Typically, these people, who must be referred by an approved social welfare agency, have experienced homelessness, domestic violence, incarceration, refugee displacement or other crises.

Another moving and humorous part of the celebration was the presentation by charter member, past president Philip Kreveld assisted by his hard-working secretary Peter Tuohy with input from honorary member Ross Hedditch, who served as president in 1993/94.

Philip, who had migrated to Australia in 1950 with his parents, related how he was invited to join Rotary way back in 1985 and told us how the legend of “Gilbert’s leg” came to be part of Carlton Rotary folklore.

Gilbert was injured in a car accident in Papua New Guinea and had to have a leg amputated. Through the sterling efforts of member Bill Ryrie (and his wife Colleen), assistance with technical schooling and an artificial leg was made for Gilbert which enabled him to live close to a normal life again.

Commitment to education, at primary, secondary and tertiary levels has been a consistent theme for Carlton Rotary since 1985. Mock job Interviews were conducted at University High for several years and Carlton Rotary is in the process of planning a similar program with Princes Hill Secondary College.

Many students were given the opportunity to attend Rotary programs such as the National Youth Science Forum, Rotary Youth Leadership Award, Model United Nations Assembly and Rotary Youth Exchange to mention just a few.

In recent years, the club has been very successful in having at least six post graduate students selected as Global Grant Scholars to enable them to complete masters programs at top overseas universities including Cambridge, Oxford and Harvard. These scholarships are typically valued at around USD$30,000.

Carlton Rotary will continue to meet at Graduate House on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 12.30pm. New members are always welcome and should contact director Ian Ada 0447 173 084 or vice president Keith Ryall 0418 589 144 for more details. •