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Good evening to my fellow Mornington Rotary Club Member's and their partners. Well another week on and another week of "to mask or not to mask" that is the quandary, with so many changes, lockdowns etc, etc, etc, the one saving grace was we were very fortunate to have our Mornington Art Show go ahead. A week either side and it could have all gone south !!! . On a brighter note, for those of the AFL Footy persuasion hopefully we may see some sort of normality, or will we ?, with the season scheduled to commence in a little over two weeks, and to that end will we see the resumption of our Clubs "Peter J 's Tipping Competition" ??? . On a community note we have a new Op Shop in town, which opened today in Progress Street. The Thrift Shop which is operated in conjunction with FUSION opened its doors today for trading and lets hope all goes well. Morington Art Show - Social Evening - Wed 24th Feb 2021 One of the many social highlights that our club undertake throughout the year was held last week on Wednesday 24th Feb 2021, and I speak of our Mornington Art Show Official Report and Social Evening. This much anticipated evening was extremely well attended with a near capacity turn out of Members, their partners a number of guests. Our Art Show Chair, Richard Vautier was the host for the evening and he did a splendid job. The evening commenced with one of our new members Peter Orton expressing his thanks on behalf of the Home Ground Coffee Shop who were afforded the opportunity to help out at the Art Show on Australia Day by providing coffee and cookies to all and as Peter said , it provided a fantastic opportunity for the staff and in particular the members, under training, for exposure in a larger and diverse setting to gain interpersonal customer relation skills, well done Home Ground and many thanks. We then moved onto some more formal Club Business and one of the most important and pleasurable moments that any Rotary Club conducts is the very special acknowledgement of a Paul Harris Fellowship. This social occasion saw not one but two of our very respected and time honoured members receive a PHF in the form of a Sapphire Citation. The worthy recipients were Edward Moore and Geoff Gilsenan. Our Club President, Ross, provided all of us with some very impressive facts pertaining to: years of service, Club Appointments and past accolades for both Ted and Geoff that were to say the least very, very impressive and reflected the outstanding commitment that these two stalwarts of our club have achieved over some 80 years of combined service. Both Ted and Geoff epitomise the ethos of " Service Above Self " and are both gentlemen are a shining example of what we within Rotary hold dear to our principles.  Club President Ross with Ted Moore accompanied by two of his Daughters, Cathy (L) & Lindy (R) Club President with Geoff Gilsenan Our two very worthy Paul Harris Fellowship Recipients Who is this good looking young man on the right in Pic No 1 and also who is the young man on the far right, above ??? We then moved on to our evening meal which was managed and co-ordinated by Eileen with the assistance of hubby Ian, who with such a large number of guests, a minor re-adjustment of seating arrangements and a quick re- shuffle of the menu selections, both did a fantastic job, well done Eileen and Ian. The focus of the evening was then to follow with the formal Art Show Report which was presented by our Art Show Chair. Richard's report very thourough covered all aspects from start to finish and all points in between . One of the main points that was presented was the unavoidable matter pertaining to the current COVID situation. Richard's analyse of this was concise and to the point, in that it overshadowed the week as was a major factor within all planning and instigation of events, but as Richard pointed out " we overcame this with good solid planning, the willingness of all involved to not let this deter us from the task at hand and to get on with the job", and with our intrepid COVID Officer, Neil Frost, at the helm ensuring all guests and Rotarians adhering to the COVID requirements all achieved a positive outcome. One new aspect of this years Art Show was the Virtual Art Show a new an innovative addition . A number of interesting facts and sales figures for the Virtual Show were presented and I'm sure this will be a " focus for the possible inclusion in the future ". As one would expect with a major change to our " normal" Grand Opening Gala Night " our sales were down and this could be attributed to the exclusion of the Silent Auction and the Raffle Ticket Sales, but never the less the overall sales and subsequent monetary gains was very worthwhile. With a number of " restrictive factors " governing this years Art Show it still proved to be a resounding success. This success could not have been possible without the many hands at work both at centre stage and especially those ' behind the scenes' , and Richard along with the Art Show Committee acknowledged the ' cast of thousands " who all came together to make the event a success. Firstly and foremost was, once again, the amazing task both Maree Renowden and Barbera Parkinson continue to do within the planning and co-ordination with Gallery 247 and all the Artists leading up to opening night, to make this event come to fruition. These two ladies both go about their work, behinds the scenes, with such professionalism and attention to detail, and as Richard pointed out " I would like to single out these two ladies, without Maree and Barbera the many challenging issues that were encountered and subsequently resolved and without their input the Art Show would not have been the success that it was", well done ladies. Richard also ensured all volunteers, helpers and spare hands, were duly paid their acknowledgment for the hard work and the many hours that they contributed to the Art Show, and to mention the "world of helpers": Peter Jay and his team of assembling and disassembling the hall ( not bad for a Saints Supporter !!) , for the Roadside Signage crew of Laurie, Ted, Peter and David, the catering team of Eileen assisted by Ted, the advertising and PR team and as an addition to this years show our Aussie Day Rep in John Renowden along with his helper Peter Orton with their patriotic Red White and Blue decor of the hall and all those guests who came to the Aussie Day final day celebrations. Richard also made special mention to Victor Sullivan and John Renowden for their invaluable underpinning knowledge and experience prior to and throughout the Art Show, to Ian Horton with his calm and professional financial governance and finally a very big thanks to Richard , he did a great job under somewhat difficult circumstances to represent our Club and present a very successful 2021 Art Show. With the unanimous recommendation and endoresment of the Board and President Elect, Richard has accepted the position as Chair of the 2022 (50th Anniversary) Art Show. The full 2021 Art Report will be available for Club Members, next week, within the Members Only Webpage. Our Next Club Meeting - Wed 03rd March 2021, at The Mornington Hotel. This week will once again gather at the Mornington hotel for a Club Meeting with a presentation on The Bay Trail. Hope to see many members turn up for an informative presentation on this major project Birthdays / Anniversaries or Engagements Our Art Show Social Evening saw a very special and noteworthy announcement that always brings a smile to everyones face and gives us all a beautiful sense of devotion and that was the public announcement of the engagement of our Club President, young Ross Kilborn, to his beautiful partner Lyn. Kept under wraps for some time it was only appropriate to share this very, very, life changing commitment with friends and Rotary colleagues. On behalf of all Members, Partners and Friends of the Rotary Club of Mornington we wish you all the happiness in the world and more celebrations to come, well done Ross and Lyn. đŸ’˜ President’s Report – 02nd March 2021 What a fabulous meeting last Wednesday. Great to see so many people there…and until after 9pm! Well done to Richard and Eileen. Congratulations again to Ted and Geoff on their Saphire Paul Harris Awards. This week, again at the Mornington Hotel, I am speaking on the Bay Trail, its potential as a Rotary Centenary Project (and beyond) and what the other Clubs in the Cluster are up to. If you cannot make it please let Eileen know. Tiny Houses – Victor, David, Denise and I went o Main Ridge last Tuesday to look at a Tiny House under construction. It is another possible way we can make a contribution to the homeless situation on the Peninsula. Victor will give us a report on Wednesday night. Fusion Bathroom – we have applied for a District Grant of $2500 towards this, and are hoping we may bet a bit more. ‘ Mens Shed – we have also received an initial enquiry from the Mens Shed seeking funding to help to complete a boat they want to donate to the Sea Scouts. More details when we have them. Interested in the growth of Rotary Membership? The Cluster has formed a working group to work towards growing membership. If you are interested in representing Mornington please let me know. Interested in being a Director of an Indigenous Art Organisation? I have been contacted by a representative of Baluk Arts who are looking to appoint a Director. You may know their retail store in Main st. If you might be interested let me know and I will give you the details. Regards Ross |
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