President Jonas Edner opened the meeting at 6.30 pm.
Welcome to our guest speaker, Laura Ellwood, and guest, Marion Cahif.
The meeting was opened by singing the National Anthem.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
What is the nationality mark on all Australian civil aircraft, what does it stand for and after what or whom is it named?
Answer: VH-. Victor Holyman, an Australian aviator and founder of Holyman's Airways Ltd, the precursor to Australian National Airways.*
Correctly answered by Lindsay Dry, who did not know that the question setter was sitting next to him (he said).
*Disclaimer by John Murdoch that the Victor Holyman part of the story is a myth, but he is not a Tasmanian, so he does not know the truth.
CLUB AND COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Cans for Christmas – Anthony McGrath thanked all members who delivered the bags and flyers or did the collection on Sunday, or both, it is a great Club campaign which was very successful. President Jonas added thanks to Nigel Johnson for having the bins at his house again. Also, many thanks for those hearty souls who manned the sorting tables on Sunday, we had four students who had received funding from the Club, Thomas, Flynn, Gretta and Lara as well as Oscar and his grandpa, John MacKinnon, and Scott and Hugh, who all worked tirelessly for over two hours in the heat. We are most appreciative of the work especially of Shelley and Anthony McGrath who are the backbone of this project. Ant works on this campaign for many months and coordinates the printing of the flyers and sourcing the bags, he and Shelley make up the members’ bags, which is no mean feat, then he fields calls on the day and resolves issues. Thanks to Ant for his work to make this campaign so successful.
• Christmas dinner – The Christmas dinner will be held on Monday, 8 December at the Weld Club. Please consider inviting the spouses of past members and any potential new members. The cost is $65 per head for a two-course sit-down dinner with pre-dinner drinks and wine throughout dinner. There has already been a strong response, thanks to the members who have booked already. Bookings close Wednesday, 3 December. To book, please cut and paste the following link https://www.trybooking.com/DHKXQ
• Steve’s – on Monday, 5 January 2026, there will be drinks at Steve’s in Nedlands from 6 pm and then dinner for anyone who wants to eat there at 7 pm. At our last meeting in a couple of weeks we will be looking for an indication of numbers, a table has been booked to dine there.
BIRTHDAYS AND ANNIVERSARIES: The following birthdays were announced by Susan Watson:
Member Birthday
Richard Ranshaw 78 years old on 6 December 2025.
Partner birthday
Vicki Stewart on 4 December 2025.
ROTARY MOMENTS:
Foodbank – Many thanks to the volunteers who went to Foodbank last week. Three hundred Give A Feed Christmas hampers were prepared for distribution. Thank you to Anthony for organising this worthwhile opportunity.
Caitlynn
Emily
MetSO concert – the Club was well represented on Sunday afternoon by members who enjoyed the ‘Timeless’ concert by MetSO. The two young artists of 12 and 14 years of age who were the soloists were superlative. They are part of the MetSO young artists’ programme, to which the Charitable Trust contributes.
SERGEANT JASON SESSION: The following members were fined by Sergeant Jason:
the wine table;
anyone who didn’t buy President Jonas’ Finnish chocolates;
anyone who did buy President Jonas’ Finnish chocolates;
Michael Bisset for his colourful shirt;
Jill Elias for parking too closely to Michael Bisset’s car.
GUEST SPEAKER:Laura Ellwood - introduced by John Murdoch
• Laura is the Clinical Education Lead Podiatrist and owner of The Foot Studio in Claremont, as well as the host of the “From the Ground Up” podcast. She is also an enthusiastic birder and nature lover who spends her spare time hiking and camping with her family.
• Laura’s talk was entitled From the Ground Up: The Hidden Key to Lifelong Health. Laura explored how modern podiatry keeps people moving better, reduces infection and wound risks, prevents falls and helps keep people out of hospital. She told us about how we can have healthy ageing and mitigate risk factors to falling.
• Laura gave some innovative approaches to movement, footwear, early detection and prevention and explained why the feet are one of the most powerful indicators of whole-body wellbeing. Podi
• Thanks to Laura for giving us some tips for healthy foot health and how it impacts our lives.
REMINDER OF COMING EVENTS:
Monday 8 December 2025 – Christmas dinner at the Weld Club
Monday 15 December 2025 – Last meeting of the year, Christmas message by Peter Smith.
Monday 5 January 2026 - Drinks at Steve’s, The Avenue, Nedlands from 6 pm, dinner at 7 pm.
ROSTER:
Monday 15 December 2025
Graeme Sansom Welcoming members and guests
Susie Rich Table duty
Richard Ranshaw Registrar 1
Kent Warburton Registrar 2
David Miller Introduction of guest speaker
Geoff Cahif Pass the microphone
THANKS:
Thanks to the Staff of the Nedlands Golf Club, Joel and Anton, for their service tonight and Chef Alvin for dinner.
WE RECOGNISE OUR VERY GENEROUS SPONSORS:
Lizzi Bee - supplier of flowers.
Dry Kirkness Chartered Accountants (Butler Settineri) – Club Auditors.
Accura Accounting & Advisory Services for providing Xero Accounting software and Sharesight Portfolio reporting software to the Charitable Trust.
Dirk Vanderstruyf from Euroz Hartleys.
MEETING CLOSE:
President Jonas closed the meeting by recognising the Rotary International presidential theme for 2025-26, "Unite for Good"
