Bryan Rofe (Tom’s grandfather) led a group of Australian airmen in a daring escape from West Timor during WWII. When Tom decided to research and write about what happened to Bryan in Timor, he uncovered an extraordinary story which was largely unknown.
A group of airmen, led by Bryan, were forced into hiding when the Japanese invaded. For almost two months they endured extreme hardship, illness and the loss of many men. Tom describes their eventual rescue by the US Navy as one of the war’s most daring.
Tom has lived his whole life in Melbourne and has worked in journalism, policy development, copywriting and book retailing. He has studied music, history and journalism and is the author of Rescue at 2100 H
The Rotary Youth Program of Enrichment camp at Camp Weekaway, Lancefield, was a great success last weekend with 54 students attending from all over Victoria. They were looked after by 14 young leaders from Rotaract, RYLA, and Young Rotary.
Our club despatched two students from Mount Alexander College, namely Daniel Aristotle and Tyler Legudi. We also transported Shirin Giesel, a youth exchange student from Germany being hosted by Southbank Rotary.
The car trips there and back were an example of the impact of the camp. On the way there, our driver tried unsuccessfully to get a conversation going, eventually ran out of questions, and the car-load made most of the trip in silence. On the return trip, Neville John (who is RYPEN program chair for the District) reports that the same three students were animated and chattering the whole way. Moreover, Shirin began inquiring whether there were RYPEN camps in Germany, and when Neville said, “Probably not”, she said she would badger her Rotarian father to get RYPEN camps established there.
Also in the car was Rithy Lay, a Rotarian who is coordinator for the World Of Difference projects in Cambodia. He had been a guest speaker at the camp and told the kids just how difficult life was in that country. In the car the kids and Rithy were talking animatedly about his life and situation.
The bonding and fun process at Weekway seemed to start within minutes of the camp starting at 5pm on the Friday. Our driver approached the camp car park and with the windows down, he could hear a racket of excited screams and yells from the gym 100m away. This excitement was over a series of fun icebreaker games where the students are allocated to one of six colour groups, where they remain as a team for the weekend. Student attendees were up by about six on last year, when our own club ran the camp.
The Saturday night Rotary meeting was hosted by Altona City RC, which was chartered the same year as RCCMS. Since October last year, the self-catering by clubs ended and Weekaway took over the catering. The role of the host club is to now conduct the Rotary meeting on Saturday night, which includes setting up the dining room to look special, and to wait on tables over dinner. This requires approximately five volunteers from the host club.
Neville agrees that many clubs have difficulty sourcing high school kids to go to RYPEN. He says that a club can’t expect to contact a school ‘cold’ and expect the school to whip up a few RYPEN candidates – the whole concept of the camp will seem strange to the school management. But when a club goes to the trouble of establishing a relationship with the school, and a bond with the school administration, teachers will take pains to find kids for RYPEN. An example last year was our own club, which ran a presentation for the final year Mount Alexander College kids on what RYPEN was all about, and Neville’s daughter, Katrina John gave kids a young person’s perspective. We probably would have got more kids sourced from the school than two, but the camp clashed with preparations by a dozen or so senior kids for an expedition to the Kokoda Track.#
Ten members of Roy and Annie Garrett’s expedition to Laos last November re-united at the Garrett Fitzroy pad for dinner on Saturday March 29.
Guests were Alan and Robin Seale, Peter Johnson (RC Shepparton Central) and Carmel, Guyon and Bron Wilson (Geelong), Sally Edwards, and Tony Thomas and Marg (Marg didn’t go to Laos). Kay and Robin Stevens and Jane Camphin (Brisbane) couldn’t make the dinner.
Roy and Annie were terrific hosts. The party began at their back courtyard and continued at their elegant dining room.
The menu began with salmon cured in beetroot with avocado (entree), and mains were Asian style tender steak sourced from Viccy Market with a dressing including black bean, soy and sesame. Dessert was a coolie of white peaches with meringues doused with Fragolo Cielo strawberry liqueur.
In conversation, the group solved the mystery of Flight MH370 and found a formula for peace in the Middle East. Musical accompaniment was by Guyon on the guitar which he played so entrancingly to Laos school kids last year. By midnight the fine wines had rendered members even more perspicacious. This applied especially to the Seales, who had walked 20 minutes from their East Melbourne specifically to escape 0.05 convictions en route home.
FRom left: Frank O'Brien, Alan Seale, Guest Speaker Jack Blayney, Richard Stone and Neville John.
VISITORS
Rob Hines, Guest
Terry Valentine, Visiting Rotarian
Reporter: John Price
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Roger Thornton reminded members about the Royal Talbot working bee Saturday 5th April.
Allan Driver noted that the Echuca Steam Rally which RCCMS supports is set for the Queen’s Birthday weekend 7-9 June.
Roy Garret noted that our nomination for the THE ONE International Humanitarian Award had not been taken up by RI District 3450
Jillian Cavanagh said there would be a Vocational Service event early May visiting a Fire and Emergency Services facility.
SERGEANT’S SESSION led by Mary Voice. David Jones managed to convince me that he had crashed a sailing vessel into a container off Norfolk Island. Gerard Hogan provided some extra lines to the poem which both rhymed and made sense.
GUEST SPEAKER
Assistant Commissioner Jack Blayney, Victoria Police discussed the effect on the community of the drug methamphetamine commonly known as “ice”.
Since 2011 Jack has been the Region Commander for Western Region, Victoria Police. He is responsible for the delivery of police services within the region which is a large part of the State and includes Geelong, Warrnambool, Ballarat, Horsham, Bendigo and Mildura. There are 145 police stations serving a population of 950,000. He has been a member of Victoria Police since 1975 in a variety of roles and has received many awards including the Australian Police Medal.
The drug ice is one of the most devastating drugs seen in the community. The growth of its usage in country Victoria has been very fast. The drug is rapidly addictive. It promotes euphoria, increased energy, sociability and increased physical sensation. Addiction has been found in children as young as 12.
People using the drug start to exhibit a number of disturbing effects such as hysteria, aggression and violent behaviour. Eventually there is an uncontrollable craving leading some users to resort to crime to support their habit. The addicts’ mental and physical health can be seriously affected. There are major impacts on families, increased road trauma and overdose deaths.
Jack recounted several cases provoked by ice usage and how it affects both men and women. Cases included burglary, deliberate pedestrian deaths, agression to parents, theft from family members and bashings and murders. Police officers in the Western Region have been stabbed while attempting to control an argument. In 2013 trafficking charges rose 78% and possession charges increased 33.3% in the region. One of the characteristics of the crimes being committed is that people who have never offended before suddenly become involved in extreme crime.
The drug mostly affects the deprived communities and in Victoria most of these communities lie in the country. Jack described some methods which are being used to tackle this rapidly growing problem. These included making the seriousness of the problem known through the community by working with the media and education. One defence against the problem is to develop the social cohesion in the towns to strengthen communities to attack the problem. A Parliamentary Enquiry is examining the issue and Jack hopes that this will result in law reform and new enforcement strategies. Ultimately this is a battle that confronts us all.
Only one letter today in my Inbox, here it is! Editor.
Letter to the Editor
From Tony Thomas
Dear Editor,
I noticed at last week’s meeting that Jillian Cavanagh is organising two more vocational talks. I thought I had misheard Jillian and went over to her and asked,
“Did you really say that these Vocational Talks are only allocated three minutes (180 seconds) each?”
Jillian: “Yes.”
Well, I think they should be 10 minutes, including time for a question or two. Imagine members trying to compress in to 180 seconds an account of their domestic and professional lives, their career stage in life’s great journey, the interface of their profession with the information age, and trends in their chosen field.
With 50 or so members, we often have little opportunity to get to know about what someone is up to. Let’s make the most of the opportunity of these vocational talks!
Sgd Tony Thomas
The Editor replies:
I think the 180-second vocational slot gives too much opportunity for the speaker to waffle on and on, and I’d personally prefer the slot to be tightened to 120 seconds (2 minutes) including questions.
In any event, you seem unaware that the 3 minute period is embedded in the meeting running-sheet template, and this key club document is not lightly to be interfered with.
Thank you anyway for your letter, muddle-headed and impertinent as it may be, or indeed, is.
Notice is hereby given of Special General Meeting to be held on Tuesday 15 April at 8am to enable members to vote on the election of the President Nominee for 2015-16. The Nominations Commitee advised the nomination of George Mackey as President Nominee. ... Bruce McBain
Laos Re-union at the Garretts
FRom left: Frank O'Brien, Alan Seale, Guest Speaker Jack Blayney, Richard Stone and Neville John.
Only one letter today in my Inbox, here it is! Editor.
