Rotary Father of the Year Breakfast 28 Aug 2019

 

Approximately 160 people were in attendance for this years breakfast.  MC Peter Headon called the event to order with an acknowledgement to the traditional land owners and welcomes special guests Mayors Tony Herbet and Mick Wolfe, and the Manikan family.  Peter also read an apology from Denis Napthine who stated that he saw this as “one of the most important events on his calendar”.  An apology was also read during the meeting from Roma Britnell who was also effusive with her praise for the event.

 

David Brown was invited to speak and thanked everyone who participated and the sponsors.  Francis Broekman, CEO of Brophy was also invited to speak.  During the event, Raja Manikam and his daughter Vanisre spoke about their struggles.  Vanisre’s talk was especially moving, she spoke about feeling powerless throughout their struggles and to being overwhelmed by the support the family received from the local community and people from all over Australia who signed their petition. 

 

Mayors Tony Herbet and Mick Wolfe closed the event, both noting it was a privilege to be associated with the event and that events such as these were the highlights of their public service.

Rather than boring you with lots of words, I think we should let the children do the talking with a small selection of the entries.

 

Runner Ups:

Winners

As you may have seen in today’s paper, Jayce Duffy was named the overall Father of the Year.