Special occasion: A parade of past presidents in front of the new honour board at Echuca-Moama Rotary Club.
They might not seem as fashionable as they once did, but service clubs are, in so many ways, still the very heartbeat of a community.
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And if you ever wanted to see community in action, you should have been at Rotary Park on Saturday, September 23, when the proud club based there, which has served the twin towns for the past 75 years, unveiled the new honour board in its clubrooms.
Great turnout: Echuca-Moama Rotary Club celebrated 75 years of serving the twin towns on Saturday, September 23.
An honour board which listed every president since the Rotary Club of Echuca-Moama was founded in 1948 (and saw a swag of current and past presidents line up in front of it for a group photo).
Big day: Echuca-Moama Rotary Club president Rob Foran speaks to guests at the 75th birthday lunch on Saturday, September 23.
And that community connection was spectacularly celebrated at the unveiling ceremony:
1. A team of researchers led by Matt Wilson at Echuca Historical Society scoured the records to come up with all the names of those presidents, and along the way also catalogued a comprehensive list of every major project and/or donation the club has made in those 75 years.
2. Echuca-Moama Men’s Shed (one of Rotary’s eight tenants at Rotary Park) produced the stunning timber honour board for the occasion.
3. Given just one week, Signarama in McMillan St, Echuca, added all the details to the board in time to have it ready for the big day.
4. Bakes by Steph (bakesbysteph.com.au) kicked in with some delicious catering.
5. Past president Teresa Carlson couldn’t sleep thinking about all the details for the big day, so was up soon after 4am to sew Velcro onto the black sheet used for the unveiling so it didn’t prematurely reveal the highlight of the day. And then with time to spare, whipped up a batch of fresh scones for morning tea.
6. The Workies hosted a lunch for the more than 50 Rotarians, family and friends as a fabulous finale for the occasion.
7. The Nationals leader and Member for Murray Plains, Peter Walsh, himself a former member of service group Apex for more than a decade, also attended the function as a sign of support and recognition of the “amazing work done by Rotary and our community’s volunteers”.
Add that up any way you like and it spells community, and community co-operation, and is a trademark of the many service clubs and groups which do so much valuable and often unsung work in Echuca-Moama.
Milestone: The special birthday cake celebrating 75 years of Echuca-Moama Rotary Club.
Rotary president Rob Foran said even more impressive on the day, Rotary district governor Ron Payne, and assistant district governor Alison Bacon, both from Eaglehawk, made the trip to support the day.
As too representatives from every Rotary club in the cluster.
Mr Foran said Bendigo Rotary president Daniela Ionescu also attended, and spoke at the club lunch to mark the occasion, giving a short address on the changing face of Rotary.
“And then Daniela reenacted the formation of our club 75 years ago, which was founded with the sponsorship and support of the Bendigo club, re-presenting us with our charter, which was a delightful gesture and a fitting way to mark the event for us all,” he said.
“During the morning part of the day, long-time member Rex Dorman, who has done more than 40 years with the club, following in his father’s footsteps, gave participants a tour of the Rotary Park grounds before fellow enthusiast Neil Sproal gave a talk about Rotary Park at the lunch.”
Through the years: Past presidents and long-time club members Jack Quinn (30 years), left, and Rex Dorman (40 years) pull down the sheet to officially reveal the honour board containing every president in the club’s 75 years.
Some of the club’s stalwarts were also recognised at the lunch, with Rex Dorman (40 years), Jack Quinn (30 years), Alan Whitten (25 years), and Mike Stansbury (10 years), all acknowledged and thanked for their efforts.
Mr Foran said the day was also an opportunity to provide more information on the club’s next big project, which is being done in partnership with the Bendigo and Rochester clubs in Australia and Melawati club in Malaysia to bring eight special needs teachers to our region to observe and learn how these vital educational roles are done here.
“The eight Malaysians are due here in April next year and we will be finalising the itinerary in the coming weeks and hopefully we can follow that up the next year by sending some of our experts to Malaysia to do some further training there,” he said.
“Rotary is a great vehicle to get things done.
“If you have a project and you need help, give us a call. You don’t have to be in Rotary — although we would love it if you did join — but when it comes to getting stuff done, Rotary is very good at it.
“We meet on the first, second and third Tuesday of each month, with the fourth Tuesday set aside for social occasions or events, so if you want to join a club which gets things done, meet some new people and be a proactive part of your community, give our membership officer Teresa a call on 0407 433 321 — we’d love to hear from you.”
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