Guest speaker Summer Medley drew Isobel's ticket who picked the Ace and won $20. There was a collective sigh of relief when Andrew Womersley didn't win it for a third week in a row.

A BRAND new respite cabin for families with children battling cancer was opened in Warrnambool yesterday.

The Rotary Club of Warrnambool and Camp Quality officially opened the new holiday cabin at Surfside Holiday Park.

The new two-bedroom cabin has replaced an older one-bedroom abode.

Camp Quality’s program delivery manager Lee Emberton said the respite centre had been in Warrnambool for 22 years and was pleased the updated cabin was now officially ready to host its first guests.

“The centre itself is designed to enable families to get away from the hospital and have time to refocus as a family in a holiday setting,” he said.

“The cabin is free of charge.”

It is already in demand, with bookings until February 2015. It will host about 35 families each year.

Mr Emberton said the Warrnambool IGA supermarket donates a food hamper to all families on their arrival at the cabin.

Rotary Club of Warrnambool member and organiser Richard Hawker said the cabin only took six months to build, however planning and development took about two years.

 “This cabin will be here long into the future,” he said.

Mr Hawker thanked all donors for the project, including the Cally Social Club, Inner Wheel Club of Warrnambool, Ray and Joyce Uebergang Foundation, Warrnambool and District Motorcycle Owners and the Warrnambool RSL sub-branch.

The club raised money through barbecues, an annual dinner and manning the gates at the Warrnambool show and Port Fairy Folk Festival.

(Article from the Warrnambool Standard Newspaper 10 November 2014)

 

When Richard Hawker was approached for an article on the opening of Camp Quality, I was expecting to get the usual report style commentary. However, when Richard dropped his speech off at my place on Monday night and suggested I edit it to suit, I decided that it was so good, it could stand alone with no changes and is below. Thank you Richard.  Sharon Stark

 

 

Bunny Hinchcliff has kindly provided the guest books which were held in the previous Camp Quality House. A very small collection of the comments in these books are below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guest speaker Summer Medley aged 16, was born in Warrnambool and went to Merrivale Primary School, then Brauer College. She is currently in Year 11 studying both Year 11 and Year 12 subjects. Summer’s interests are public speaking, debating, current affairs, basketball, boxing, travelling and experiencing different cultures. She has casual work at an organic and vegetarian café in Warrnambool, Day Kitty. When she leaves school Summer would like to study in Melbourne to become a journalist and travel the world.

Summer was one of 4 Warrnambool delegates selected by Friends of Gallipoli (FoG) to participate in a cultural tour of Turkey, including ANZAC Day at Gallipoli. This tour was 50% funded by Warrnambool Legacy, Rotary Clubs of Warrnambool, Warrnambool East and Warrnambool Central.  The remainder was financed through fund raising events including raffles and a donation by Deakin students and others. Remaining shortfall was met by the RSL.

A selection panel representing the main supporters was appointed, comprising Ray Welsford OAM (Rotary Clubs), Doug Heazlewood (Legacy), Alex Gannaway (RSL), and 4 secondary students were selected. One of those students went on a fully self funded basis. Schools provided one chaperone each, joined by Alex Gannaway, Doug Heazlewood and 5 other adults, making a total travel group of 24. Chaperones and all other adults accompanying the tour were fully self funded.  The City of Warrnambool kindly agreed to fund the provision of uniform jackets with appropriate embroidery and school logos.

Each student was asked to research a local Warrnambool soldier who is interred at Gallipoli and visits were arranged to see their graves or memorials as part of the tour itinerary.

The RSL provided students with ANZAC badges and other tokens to wear and present to local students and any others they wish, and also wreaths which were layed at the ANZAC  Cove Dawn Ceremony and at Lone Pine.

Summer provided an extremely interesting  multimedia and speaking presentation of the nature of the 2014 Cultural Tour of Turkey. She summarised the itinerary and historical sites that were visited. Also discussed were the values and priceless understandings that were gained from experiencing an Islamic dominant country, Turkey’s remarkable history that has been recorded for 4,000 years and emphasizing the conditions and struggles that our brave Australian soldiers had to endure on the Gallipoli peninsula, fighting against the Turks. The group was at Lone Pine very early in the morning of the day of the Anzac Day service it was bitterly cold and unpleasant. Summer said that it gave them a taste of how bleak and difficult it must have been for the soldiers at the time. One of the highlights was "Kebabs" which according to Summer, are the best food to ever exist. Summer also highlighted the importance of this trip to our national identity and the everlasting affect that it left on all 24 Warrnambool delegates.

 

Following Summer's talk, the National Anthem was sung and everyone reflected on the significance of Remembrance Day.

 

The Danish National Anthem was also played and Astrid was asked to sing along to it, which she found challenging because the music was played too slow. Everyone felt sorry for Astrid having to sing her national anthem all alone!

Children Writing About the Ocean. (The next time you take an oceanography course, you will be totally prepared.)