• Lift the Lid walk – Thank you to the Club members who walked at Scarborough on Sunday, raising funds for Australian Rotary Health. It was great to have a walk together and lots of fun. Thank you also to those members who donated funds to this cause.

• Rotary Exchange Student Mathilda Hontoir – The Club has received an email from our Rotary Exchange Student, Mathilda Hontoir from Belgium and she writes that she is enjoying university, show jumping on her horse and she will travel to Scotland soon.

•         Jonas spoke of ‘My Nine Lives’ and gave interesting, humorous and dangerous anecdotes about his life in Sweden and Australia.
•         Jonas first had a brush with danger when he swallowed charcoal lighting fluid when he was five years old, he thought it was cordial.
•         When Jonas was in year 3, he accidentally swallowed a pea from a pea shooter which infected his lung and he needed surgery to have it removed. The surgeon said his lung was like a greenhouse. 
•        His first successful business venture was selling the Swedish flag outside a soccer match as suggested by his father, who was watching the game inside the stadium. He learnt that it is important to have a written contract of employment. 
•        Jonas also did very well working at a home brew supply shop, where beer, wine and moonshine were sold. His job at a patisserie in Sweden gave him pride in his work. 
•        Unfortunately as a 16 year old, Jonas was burnt in a house fire by boiling oil. It took him quite a while to recover and he was in hospital for a long time. 
•       When he was 17 years old, his family hosted an exchange student from Perth. Jonas visited Perth in 1991 for a holiday and then returned in 1993 with one suitcase and has been here ever since. From 1993 to 1998 Jonas worked very hard at Miss Maud’s and developed his pastry skills. 
•        Jonas wanted a Honda 1100 Blackbird motorcycle and bought one but unfortunately had a serious accident that broke many of his leg and knee bones. 
•        Jonas was supplying pick and mix to Ikea and building up his warehouse business when Covid hit. He lost a lot of money but picked himself up, bought Moose café and worked other jobs to keep the warehouse going. Nowadays Jonas is supplying many products to Ikea. 
•       His latest and hopefully last brush with danger was a burst appendix in October 2024 where he was in hospital for a few weeks. 

      From his talk, we heard that Jonas is resilient and a fighter, and we look forward to his coming year of leadership as Club President.