Acting President Hugh Stowell opened the meeting at 6.30pm with everyone singing the National Anthem.
Welcome the guest speaker, Miquela Riley and guest Michael Elias.
Acting President Hugh confirmed if everyone had read the personal message from President Jonas about his health issue, which emphasises the importance of getting tested for cancer.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
Celebrated by mathematicians on 14 March each year, what is the name given to the day and why?
Answer: It is called Pi Day, because it is 3.14 correctly answered by Ross MacKellar.
FAMILY AND FRIENDS:
Acting President Hugh led family and friends news with news that Nigel Johnson is in Hollywood Hospital and would welcome visitors.
Susie Rich reported what a wonderful day the golf Day was and that David Miller deserved a big vote of thanks.
BIRTHDAYS AND ANNIVERSARIES: Announced by Susan Watson.
Partner’s birthday
Igor Bray on 16 April 2026.
CLUB AND COMMITTEE REPORTS:
· Anniversary dinner – The Anniversary dinner will be held at the Weld Club this Monday 20 April. Please book by noon this Thursday 16 April to attend the dinner, attendance is only through Trybooking. No harder than making a restaurant booking. Great menu and the guest speaker will be Keegan Crage, founder of the charity On My Feet, which is supported by RCD.
· Lift the Lid UWA walk – Anita spoke about the Lift the Lid UWA walk in the coming weekend and if you cannot make it you can still make donations. Antia ten spoke on the need for volunteers for the Science & Technology Challenge in May.
· Quiz night – Hugh reported that the final donation to the Fawcett Foundation will be $9,000 and congratulated everyone for their support of the event.
· Golf tournament – The golf day held on Friday raised over $5,000, which will be donated to the Angelman Foundation. The competition was won by Team Watson, congratulations! Thanks to David Miller for his organisation of the event and to the generous donors who donated prizes.
Susie Rich forgot to mention earlier that she won the Rotary “David Faulks Award” and that she and Susan Watson won the team event.
Football tipping – John Bolto read out results for two weeks.
Board meeting tonight is cancelled. However John Bolto would like to see Committee members present for five minutes after the meeting.
NO SERGEANT SESSION, so the Wine Table and the two Susans get off lightly!
ROTARY MOMENTS:
· St. Edward’s Kingo Senior School Water Project – Michael Bisset has received a further report of how the water project has progressed. This was a combination of the Club, Charitable Trust and District funding this project.
Grace Agnes from the school has written “…the excavation has reached 115 feet. The rainfall has recently reduced, allowing work to resume more consistently.
The students and teachers at Kingo Secondary School are very excited to witness the progress of this important project. Your support is making it possible for the school community to move toward a safe and reliable water source and we sincerely thank you for your generosity.”
Grandcarers – Well done to Lindsay Dry for his great initiative to collect clothing for grandchildren, his car was chokka block full of clothes and household items. The grandcarers are really appreciative of the quality contributions.
GUEST SPEAKER:Miquela Riley – timely as we move towards ANZAC Day. introduced by Lindsay Dry.
Miquela Riley spoke on “A Naval Career” – Lessons, challenges and resilience
Miquela joined the navy in 2006 as a mid-shipman
Her first posting was to a ship on which there was a helicopter crash, with the loss of 2 lives
Spent three years at ADFA and was then posted to a Patrol Boat out of Cairns
Was a leader of boarding parties onto boats with refugees off Christmas Island
Was part of a peace keeping mission in the middle east
Sailed on the Young Endeavor circumnavigating the world
Since leaving the Navy, Miquela has worked in management consulting, construction management and has recently set up her own management consulting business. She also ran (unsuccessfully) for public office.
She currently serves as a Vice President of the RSL in WA
She drew lessons from these experiences, including around:
Personal resilience
Keeping focus on the mission
Speaking up when things aren’t right
Value of routines to build high-performing teams
Compassion
The talk generated much interest and many of these themes were taken up in further discussion after the meeting had formally closed.
Appropriately for a navy person gave Miquela a fruit cake laced with rum.
REMINDER OF COMING EVENTS:
Monday 20 April 2026 – Anniversary Dinner
Monday 27 April 2026 – no meeting, public holiday
Monday 4 May 2026- Amy Duong, Youth led leadership
ROSTER 4 May 2026
Welcoming - Russell Hawkins
Table duty - Steve Halbert
Registrar 1 - Richard Gorham
Registrar 2 - Bruce Fiegert
Introduction of Speaker - David Ellis
Microphone - Kent Warburton
THANKS:
Thank you to Staff of the Nedlands Golf Club, Sean 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:
Past President Hugh closed the meeting by recognising the Rotary International presidential theme for 2025-26, "Unite for Good"
