Meeting 1655 - 17th March 2026
Apologies: Greg Casson, Meredith Harton, Wendy Lippett, Linda Steffens, David Steinert, Ingrid Stockwell, Shannon Welk
Visitors: Honorary Member Michael Scott OAM, Past Member Kevin Hales, Phil Smith, Brian Tapping, Steve Dick and Lorenzo Sanches-Pagliuso.
Guest Speaker: Lorenzo Sanches-Pagliuso - Exchange Student
Meeting 1655 was held at the Goolwa Bowls Club on Tuesday 17th March, with a fantastic turnout and plenty of energy in the room.
A big congratulations to Greg, who took on the Sergeant’s role for the very first time, and absolutely nailed it! Well done, Greg.
Sonia opened the evening with a heartfelt invocation to Rotary and Australia, before we enjoyed a delicious dinner of chicken Kiev's.
President Debbie then took the podium, dressed perfectly for the occasion in a lovely green top, and wished everyone a Happy St Patrick’s Day. She warmly welcomed our guests before providing a number of updates, including a reminder that the Impact Summit is coming up in two weeks. She also shared progress on entries for the upcoming Goolwa Art Show and spoke about the July Goolwa Band Event, where Rotary has again been asked to run the bar. There has been some discussion around a possible date change (voted as 11th July), and Debbie will keep members informed as this evolves.
Debbie also confirmed that she has organised the wreath for ANZAC Day, with Debbie and Tamara to lay it at the Goolwa Dawn Service. Members were warmly encouraged to attend and support this important occasion.
The evening then moved into a special moment with the induction of two members. Greg introduced Kevin Hales, who was formally re-inducted into the Rotary Club of Goolwa. Kevin brings with him decades of Rotary experience, having first joined in the early 1980s. He will be joining Greg on the International Committee, particularly aligning with his interest in international money collection. Kevin was welcomed back with great applause.
Our second induction was Steve Dick, a former member of the Naracoorte and Bordertown clubs. Steve is a Past President and a Paul Harris Fellow (standard and Sapphire), with a strong passion for Polio Plus and Youth Exchange. We are thrilled to welcome Steve to our club.
For the two-minute spots, Di spoke about the incredible wealth of experience now within the club and advised that Art Show rosters will be released at the next meeting.
Tamara then proposed a change to the meeting format, which was unanimously supported. Moving forward, members will arrive from 6:00pm, meals will be served at 6:30pm, dessert before 7:00pm, with pack-up and refreshments following, allowing meetings to commence at 7:15pm. If you aren't able to come for the meal, all okay, you are welcome just to come to the meeting at 7:15pm.
In a lovely surprise, Debbie invited Kevin back to the front to celebrate his 80th birthday, presenting him with a beautiful cake made by Di. Members enjoyed cake, berries and ice cream for dessert.
We were then treated to a guest speaker presentation by Lorenzo, who spoke about his experience as an exchange student. While not a Rotary exchange student himself, Lorenzo shared that his father participated in the program in 1996, coming to Castlemaine, Victoria. Lorenzo spoke about life in São Paulo compared to the Fleurieu, and how much he is enjoying the nature, freedom and peaceful lifestyle here. A short Q&A followed before Tamara presented him with a thank you gift.
To wrap up the night, Greg returned with a new game: the Rotary Dumb Project Awards. Tables were challenged to create a “dumb” Rotary project using props, complete with a name, pitch, slogan, budget, target audience, and even how it would contribute to world peace—and whether Paul Harris would approve!
Highlights included:
- Feeding Goolwa (baked beans and a tape measure)
- Yoga for Oldies (yoga mat)
- Diesel Dunny Disaster Control (toilet paper, yarn and newspaper)
- And the wildly inappropriate Monty Burns Burn Reduction Project
The meeting ran slightly later than usual—but for all the right reasons. It was a night full of laughter, creativity and great Rotary spirit.
Well done again, Greg, on a fantastic first night as Sergeant!
