• NEW MEMBER WELCOMED

• THIS WEEKS MEETING - SPEAKER

• RIDING TO CONFERENCE

• GUEST SPEAKER PRESENTATION - LAST TUESDAY

• SUCCESSFUL FUND RAISER

• MEETING REPORT - LAST TUESDAY

• UPCOMING EVENTS

• GALLERY

John joined Rotary in August 1988 when the club was the Rotary Club of Port Phillip - Melbourne under the classification Banking-Insurance. During the next 25 years he held many roles in the club including President, Secretary, Club Service Director, Vice President, Horizons Committee Chair and Executive Secretary.

As club historian he wrote the club history entitled the first 13 years in 2000 which he updated to the first 20 years in 2007. John also served as Club archivist ensuring that all the Clubs memorabilia and historical documents were stored and are readily available for special functions.

John was a key contributor in the formation of the very successful Victoria Police Mentoring program and Secretary of the steering committee for a number of years he was also a key player in the start-up of club’s Community Village.

During his year as President he launched the successful Paul Harris Breakfast now in its 25^th year and due to a very successful fundraising year the club was able to donate $30,000 to the establishment of the Rotary Bone Marrow Research Centre.

In addition to his active involvement in the club John also found time to serve at District as a District Governor Representative, Vocational Service Chair, District Resources Officer for ten years and was an integral part of the District Training team for many years.

John was a co-author of a number of District policies including the early District Protection Policies and the District 9800 Club Administration Guideline Manual. He also served on the District Resolutions committee for a number of years and was part of the team to produce a common Club Constitution and Bylaws.

During his term as Vocational Chair John led the very successful Australia-wide Employ Australian campaign which was successful in finding jobs for thousands of Australians.

John was a multiple Paul Harris Fellow Recognition recipient as well a recipient of the Four Avenue of Service Award. He was also awarded the RI Service Above Self Award for his contribution to the District and was the recipient of a number of other District awards.

In 2012 John was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in recognition of his community service.

He resigned his Active Membership from the club in 2013 on moving to the seaside and was made an Honorary Member.

This is only a brief summary of John’s life in Rotary, he did so much, was a mentor to so many and made a difference to lots of people in many different ways.

John loved to meet new people making them feel welcome and at ease. He enjoyed a glass of red, conversation, a good joke and was loved by all.

His wise counsel and desire to improve the lot of others through Rotary will be sadly missed. The club and the world will be a poorer place for John’s passing.

Rest in Peace.

A Memorial Service for our esteemed Honorary Member John Meehan will be held.

When: Friday 23 February 2018

Time: 10.00am

Location : Tobin Brothers, 604 Esplanade, Mount Martha.

John will be interred at Kew Cemetery on Thursday 22 February, a family only service.

Special Program to Replace Guest Speaker (due to traffic jam on the Monash)

In the absence of the guest speaker, Peter Duras talked about the objectives of Shine for Kids. Shine for Kids is the only national charity in Australia that works solely to support the children of incarcerated parents.

He noted our close connection to this charity through ex club member Mik Wells and spoke of the need to reconnect. Through the goodwill of Caprice, many items of linen, toys, bags, shoes etc had been donated to Shine for Kids through RCM.

Greetings to our dear fellow Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Central Melbourne,

Thanks to your kind involvement and support, our Club along with the Rotary Club of Rabindra Sarobar  were able to extend financial support to 25 underprivileged boys and girls who had passed their school leaving examinations under the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education to fund their Higher Secondary courses under the same Board. These children would have found it impossible to pursue further education because of the criminal record of their parents. These students were identified by us with the support of the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Howrah Division in our Rotary District.

On the morning of 3rd February, 2018, PDG Uttam Ganguli (Suvam's father) and the undersigned handed over the cheques of Rs 2,000/- each to the beneficiaries in the office of the  Deputy Commissioner of Police, Howrah Division Ms Bhavna Gupta who personally graced the event and asked us to communicate her heartfelt thank to each and every member of your Rotary Club for your magnanimous gesture.

Thanks again and with sincere regards,

PP Rtn Jayanta Chatterji

• President Frank opened the meeting and handed over to Chair Tom Callander. 
• Visitors:
  • Uttam Ganguli Past District Governor 3291 and representimg the Rotary Club of Rabindra Sarobar, Calcutta.
  • Lauren Clark, Rotary Club of Albert Park and her guest Caitlyn Rustern
  • Nick and Jennifer Clift. Nick is a transferring member from RC Echuca-Moama
  • Temur Samarov, an overseas MBA student at Charles Stuart who has a connection to Rotary via his sponsors, the RC of Helmond, in the Netherlands. Temur is from Uzbekistan.
• Tom advised that unfortunately our guest speaker, Sheryl Forrester, The Victorian Programs Coordinator for Shine for Kids was caught in the traffic chaos caused by an accident on the Monash freeway and was unlikely to join us. He decided to reallocate the time to allow several presentations from members and guests.

• Uttam Ganguli announced that his Rotary Club of Rabindra Saobar, Calcutta had approved the documentation to enter into a sister club relationship with Rotary Central Melbourne and he handed the completed paperwork to President Frank for approval by the RCM Board.
• Rotary Club banners were exchanged between Uttam and Frank.
• Stuart Ellis sought feedback on our Youth Exchange program following the successful hosting of Flavia by our club this year. He is interested in member’s views about whether or not we should replicate this program next year. Comments to Stuart please.
• Neville Taylor, on behalf of Elias, reminded members of our commitment to White Night on Saturday February 17. Our marquee will be situated on the corner of Swanston and Lonsdale streets.
• Herb Greenwood reminded members of the Opera on the Yarra event on March 3. Please book your tickets via Try Booking. 
• Yangpu made a short presentation on the Children’s Toy Project being conducted by the Melbourne Men’s Shed. They are looking for non-profit organisations to partner with to sell the toys and share the proceeds. Any ideas to Yangpu please.
• President Frank relayed the sad news that ex member and friend of RCM, John Meehan had suffered a major stroke and was very unwell. Our thoughts and prayers are with John, his wife Lorraine and their family at this difficult time.
• President Frank commended the members to read the latest District 9800 newsletter which he had recently circulated via email.

• Rob Hines then provided an overview of the biennial Garden DesignFest which would take place over two weekends in November this year, 10th and 11th for rural gardens and 17th and 18th for Metropolitan gardens. The GDF is a joint venture between three Rotary Clubs, Kew, Brighton North and RCM. The major beneficiary of funds this year will be the End Trachoma campaign. This will be RCM’s major fundraiser in the 2018/19 year and there will opportunities aplenty for volunteers.
• John Heinrichs then spoke of his next sojourn to the USA in order to save $80 per month! That’s the storage fee for his motor home over there. He will be leaving shortly for a number of months continuing his exploration of the west coast in particular as he attempts to hike from the northern border of California to Canada, nearly 2000 kilometres. That’s if he survives his trip to the Big Sandy Machine Gun Shoot in Arizona first. Good luck John and please send us some photos along the way. Hopefully we’ll see you in October.
• Anne King then spoke of her recent trip to Bali during which she visited a project of the RC of Richmond. Anne is Assistant Governor for the Heritage cluster, a group of 6 Rotary clubs which includes Richmond. RC Richmond are sponsoring a young women to attend a hospitality school in Bali which is focused on training young people to speak English and learn skills to enable them to work on the cruise ships and in turn provide for their families.
• Lauren Clark a visiting Rotarian from RC Albert Park spoke of her club’s project “Star Carnivale”. This is your chance to swing on the Giant Ferris wheel, the Melbourne Star, while it is lit up in Rotary Colours for the evening on April 22. Tickets are $35 per person and each Pod takes 20 people. For every Pod sold RC Albert Park will donate $400 to the Rotary Foundation in that club’s name. details at www.rotaryalbertparkevents.org.au 

• As expected the Swindle jackpotted to next week’s meeting.
• Today’s chair Tom Callander handed over to President Frank who closed the meeting, on time at 8:45am

NOW OPEN

Rana's husband Peter will have an art exhibition from 28 February for three weeks. They have generously decided to give 15% of sales to our club.

Details of venue above.