Rotary Central Melbourne Face-to-Face Meeting at the RACV Club on Tuesday 2 July
Chair: Suvam Ganguli
Reporter: Paul Fowler
Photographer: Roger Thornton
Chair Suvam Ganguli opened the meeting with the traditional toast to Rotary International.
President Rhys Williams followed with the Acknowledgement of Country, and then welcomed Sue Duras. There were no other visitors.
Suvam then introduced the speaker for the day, Peter Duras.
Peter Duras: Our Tour to Olympia
Arguably Peter needs no introduction, but for the record, Peter was a sports physiotherapist who worked with elite athletes from a wide variety of sports, including five years at the Western Bulldogs and three at Essendon Football Club. He travelled extensively overseas with Australian track and field teams. This included four World Championships.
He was a member of seven Australian Commonwealth Games teams from Brisbane in 1982 to Melbourne in 2006. In Melbourne he was a team logistics officer.
Peter is a member of the International Society of Olympic Historians and a keen collector of Olympic and Commonwealth Games memorabilia. For 10 years he was a volunteer guide at the National Sports Museum.
Peter’s presentation took the form of a fascinating guided tour to the Ancient Olympic Games in 376 BC, with Peter as the tour guide. It was a fabulous presentation, and a short summary simply would not do it justice. It is recommended that you request a copy of his presentation. Please contact the Reporter, Paul (plfvic@yahoo.com.au) for a copy.
Member Announcements
Elias Lebbos reminded members that Julia Gonzales, the New Generation Services Exchange (NGSE) student will arrive on 23 August. One person has already offered accommodation for part of her stay which ends on 15 September, but additional volunteers are needed.
Peter Duras announced that he is hosting a social gathering at his home on the evening of Thursday 25 May, just before the start of the Paris Olympics. The theme will of course be the Olympics and Peter will have on display his extensive collection of Olympic memorabilia. As the Olympics this year are in Paris, the evening will be French, and the Champagne will flow! Peter and Sue are kindly providing the food and liquid refreshment. Please notify Peter as soon as possible if you are coming so that he can stock-up appropriately.
President Rhys then thanked Suvam for chairing the meeting and Peter for his presentation, and made the following President’s Announcements:
- The Club has received a District Award for its Sleeping Bag Project, which saw approximately 110 sleeping bags distributed.
- Rana Ebrahimi received the District Champion of Change award.
- Sixteen club members attended the District Changeover Dinner.
- A Strategic Advisory Group (SAG) meeting will be held to address the need to fill the roles President Elect and President Nominee.
President Rhys commented on how much he and others enjoyed Past President Michelle’s quotes at the end of meetings. He indicated that rather than sharing relevant quotations, he intended to end each meeting with an example of the activities which illustrate the Rotary theme for the year – The Magic of Rotary.
